Reviewer: Nevil Hutchinson
Purchased From: e-bikes direct
Purchase Price: £2450
Time Owned: 4 months
Local Terrain: Moderate Hills
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Strengths:
Looks good. Is actually pretty easy to pedal with no assist. The components are robust and it rides very smoothly and quietly. I rarely ride in High mode (High; Standard; Eco; Eco +) and in fact probably ride at least half the time in Eco mode. It feels much more like riding a 'normal' bike compared with riding my wife's Trek Verve-style 2016 model Bosch ActiveLine bike. So I find I do actulaly get a bit out of breath going up hills whatever mode i'm in. I get a sense that the harder I pedal, the more assist I get (or perhaps it's the higher the cadence?).
The inbuilt lighting system is good and just about adequate to see if there's no additional lighting and you go slowly enough.
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Weaknesses:
I don't like that you can't remove the control display. Surely this would be simple to allow?
It's a bit annoying that they don't have standard frame mounts for bottle cages - you have to buy an adapter to use on the Modular Rail System (MRS) which appears to be unique to Haibike.
At the start I had trouble with the power cutting out seemingly at random, although the bike shop recognised that this was due to insufficiently tightly adjusted battery mounting. I adjusted this and it's been fine since.
Like all ebikes, the Range information is utterly pointless and worthless. I really don't understand why they bother with it: It depends on level of your input, terrain, and the fact that battery discharge is often non-linear.
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Summary:
Overally I absolutely love this bike. It is more than powerful enough. It performs as well (if not better) than the top of the range R&M equivalent for less than half the price. I got it to commute to work over the South Downs (off road but not in any way 'technical') and it is a joy to do so.
Purchased From: e-bikes direct
Purchase Price: £2450
Time Owned: 4 months
Local Terrain: Moderate Hills
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Strengths:
Looks good. Is actually pretty easy to pedal with no assist. The components are robust and it rides very smoothly and quietly. I rarely ride in High mode (High; Standard; Eco; Eco +) and in fact probably ride at least half the time in Eco mode. It feels much more like riding a 'normal' bike compared with riding my wife's Trek Verve-style 2016 model Bosch ActiveLine bike. So I find I do actulaly get a bit out of breath going up hills whatever mode i'm in. I get a sense that the harder I pedal, the more assist I get (or perhaps it's the higher the cadence?).
The inbuilt lighting system is good and just about adequate to see if there's no additional lighting and you go slowly enough.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Weaknesses:
I don't like that you can't remove the control display. Surely this would be simple to allow?
It's a bit annoying that they don't have standard frame mounts for bottle cages - you have to buy an adapter to use on the Modular Rail System (MRS) which appears to be unique to Haibike.
At the start I had trouble with the power cutting out seemingly at random, although the bike shop recognised that this was due to insufficiently tightly adjusted battery mounting. I adjusted this and it's been fine since.
Like all ebikes, the Range information is utterly pointless and worthless. I really don't understand why they bother with it: It depends on level of your input, terrain, and the fact that battery discharge is often non-linear.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary:
Overally I absolutely love this bike. It is more than powerful enough. It performs as well (if not better) than the top of the range R&M equivalent for less than half the price. I got it to commute to work over the South Downs (off road but not in any way 'technical') and it is a joy to do so.
