Haibike rc29 first ride.

[Pipion]

I purchased my Haibike yesterday afternoon from crank cycles in Alton, cheers Martin. On returning home I had a 5 mile road run to get used to it. When I returned I charged the bike ready for today. After doing work this morning I put the bike in my van and headed off to a local disused train line. Wickham-West Meon for info.
I had a 25 mile range showing in turbo mode and an expected 25 mile round trip to cover. Interesting to see how this pans out! I set off at a brisk pace, dongle inserted as off road, I was seeing speed equating to 18-26 mph for the start, gentle incline with gravel. After a few miles the surface became muddy and wet, I contemplated turning back but throwing caution to the wind I carried on!
I was astounded..... I found that the sport setting with gentle speed of 5-6 mph would take you through anything. I also had to cross a flooded section that involved a very steep detour, this was also dispatched with minimal effort. I have spent a lot of time on moto-x bikes and found that in wet mud you get wheel spin that can skew the machine in a similar way (very cool).
I travelled circa 20 miles off-road then decided to do some road riding, the range was now down to 7 miles.
On road I locked out the suspension and covered about 5 miles on various inclines at circa 15 mph............. When I suddenly felt the front tyre deflating. I slowed quickly to find that I had a very flat hoop of rubber. I then started to push my bike the last 3 miles back to my van and could hear a clicking sound, on investigation the speed sensor cable had snapped.
I contacted Martin whilst walking to discuss latest development and was assured that this was not a common fault and to drop it back to him for rectify. (Glad he is only 25 miles away).
I would like to add that puncture and cable aside I am absolutely chuffed with the bike. I feel that the whole concept is bang on, if not better than I could have hoped for.
When bike running again I will let you know how my 15 mile each way commute to work goes, all road with a mega hill in the way!
Regards peter

 

[Martin@e-bikeshop]

Hi Peter,

Glad to hear your loving the bike. I said in store you'd be impressed and it's a whole other level to what your used to

Shame about the puncture these things happen. Also I have a speed sensor set aside for you so we can get you sorted in the week for Slime tubes and the sensor etc.

Look forward to the full review..

Regards
Martin

 

[Pipion]

Update. I have been using bike for regular short runs but today woke with the urge to get out! I started out using Eco/tour settings along disused railway line, after a few miles I set off along a 5 mile stretch of road with portsdown hill at the end of it, I averaged 18 mph on the flat and in turbo setting 10 mph up the mile long hill! I came back down and tried a top speed but only managed 36 mph which seems poor when reding other people pb's. I completed 23.79 miles with average speed of 16 mph which was 35% off road remainder on Tarmac and was down to one bar battery and 1 mile range showing. I purposely relied on high power to see range and feel this could easily be stretched to 30 or perhaps 40 miles, it is so hard to not use the power though! I did not use lowest gear so will probably get 44t front cog when I take bike to Crank Cycles for its service. Still amazes me how much enjoyment I am getting from this bike. Rough calculations show cost per mile cycled at £20 so I'm expecting this to plummit once I purchased a second charger to live at my office for summer commuting. Will update soon. Pip

 

[bonerp]

how do you find the limited gearing from the bosch crank system?

Been considering different bikes and earlier today got to a ktm e cross....

Would be interested to hear...

 

[Pipion]

I had a cytronex powered canondale fatty with 21 gears before and I do not feel at a loss for gears tbh, I will be upping the ratio as I find not high enough at top with haibike but then I felt the same with the 21 gears! The power assist means you always want higher averages, I went up some severe mud inclines and found gears 1&2 easy so hope 44t front cog will mean 1st will still act as a go anywhere but with ability to cruise 3-5mph faster in top. I will let you know when I do alteration.

 

[bonerp]

thanks pip

 

[Pipion]

So at last I cycled to work and back today, 16 miles each way with 358ft hill in the way with a few other not insignificant gradients to conquer. I used tour and Eco settings as much as possible on way to work, I stayed at 10+ mph up the largest hill which was impressive using max assist. When I arrived at work my range was down to 10 miles and 3 bars showing. I averaged 15 mph. I recharged and on the way home up the assist and managed 17.5 mph, 55 mins commute, (takes 35 mins in a car) so all in all I am impressed still. I do want to adjust gearing as I keep looking for a higher gear though. Also I am hoping to bring handlebars up and back for flat road comfort. Plus I need another charger so will be chatting to Martin shortly. I had hoped to make the 30+ round trip on one charge but this is not an option when factoring in battery usage.

 

[RobF]

Don't take too much notice of the range indicator - it goes up and down all the time.

You arrived at work with three bars on the battery which is a good indication you have more than half left.

This is supported by the general notion that an 11ah Bosch battery will do about 40 miles.

So I think it's at least worth a try doing the round trip on one charge before you lash out on a second charger.

 

[Pipion]

Another update! Bike has been very good, added a suntour suspension post and 44t front sprocket. The post has made off road tracks a much more comfortable affair. I suffered yet another puncture on a local disused rail line though, this was with slime tyres, 5-7mm cut, managed to ride 7 miles home with very low psi but could not save the tyre. I have now purchased a continental X-King protection tyre in the hope that this will allow an extended ride without disaster. My haibike has otherwise been faultless and with the 44t change I can with turbo average 24-26 mph with effort. Amazing how far you travel with this ability at your disposal. We'll I will keep you informed of any news I get over the coming weeks as the sun starts to show a bit more of itself!

 

[Pipion]

Today I cycled to work, 15.2 miles each way. I put map my ride on for return leg and results were ft gain 781 with max of 355ft and average speed of 17.7mph max speed 34.8mph. I had to really work to achieve these figures and used turbo setting a lot. It did only take 51 minutes though which is outstanding in rush hours. It take 35 mins by car at these times. The bike was faultless however I think the off-road nature of the tyres was against me as I could not free roll much at all. I used 3 bars out of 5 each way but I know this could be greatly if I eased up on assistance. The gearing with the 44t has become what I wished for prior to having front cog changed. All in all still very impressed. I have covered in excess of 500 miles now with a lot of that on tracks. Here is hoping for a good summer so I can increase that mileage!

 

[Martin@e-bikeshop]

Hi Pete,

Nice to see an update, glad the gearing is working better for you now.
Sounds like the bike is getting lots of use

Now you have had the bike a while, feel free to fire over some words to us, we can add these as an article on the blog for other subscribers to read.

Speak Soon.
Martin