Heads-up! 2019 Ebco centre-drive e-bikes £1099 (£500 off).

[RichB]

Just to add an alternative view to this.

I picked up a cheap Carrera Vulcan E locally and it’s got me back into ebikes. On a whim (with a 10% off Halfords code), I ordered the Ebco MH-05 for £989.
Firstly the box it came in was huge, the biggest bike box I’ve ever seen! It was well packaged and had decent components. Took about 15-20 minutes to get set up and charged the battery for 24hrs.

I then took it to work on a 12 mile round commute (which I have been doing daily on the Vulcan). It looked pretty good but that’s where the praise stops. Firstly it’s a very heavy bike and the resistance from the mid drive motor made it pretty much impossible to cycle unassisted. Some thing to bear in mind if you are using daily.

The assistance it offers is very on and off, as expected powers up to 15.5mph but then cuts off VERY abruptly. I mean almost over the handle bars abruptly. I have had a few hub and crank drive bikes and this was by far the worst. I’m a fairly fit cyclist and ride the vulcan at about 18.5/19mph on the flat but struggled to get this up to 17mph. The only comfortable way to ride it was to try to keep it below 15mph so the assistance remained. This made for a very annoying ride having to constantly monitor the speedo.

Also the controller is very strange. Looks like a very dated set up with simple leds rather than a proper lcd display. There is no trip meter and a very basic battery level meter (green/Amber/red) so you don’t have much of a clue about remaining battery. In terms of battery life, again disappointing. My 12 mile route has two large hills but otherwise fairly flat. I always use full assistance and get two days out of my Vulcan with one bar remaining. For the Ebco I returned home after 12 miles (all in top level of assistance) with the control display showing red. I presumed that must have been a fault of the display but checking the actual battery it only had one segment remaining. Only 12 miles on a mid drive motor was unbelievable.

I put the bike away had a think about it and boxed it back up the next day. Just about managed to fit the box in the car and returned it to Halfords.

As I say this is the MH-05 version so the other version may be different but as far as I understand it the battery and motor are the same in both.

One good thing is that it’s shown me how good the Vulcan is (when it works properly- doesn’t like the rain for some reason!) and I prefer hub drives as they are easier to ride unassisted.

 

[cyclebuddy]

Interesting appraisal. It surprises me!

Firstly it’s a very heavy bike...

According to Halfords, it's exactly the same weight as a Vulcan-E - 24kg. The road version has thinner/lighter wheels/tyres, and a less cumbersome suspension - that came with a shipping weight of 20kg. 20-24kg seems to be pretty average, in comparison to Cube, Haibike et al. Frame size I guess also has a part to play.

The assistance it offers is very on and off, as expected powers up to 15.5mph but then cuts off VERY abruptly.

Did you try changing the Power Trim settings? I'm certainly not experiencing that. You need to see Courts EBR video to understand how that works.

the mid drive motor made it pretty much impossible to cycle unassisted... I have had a few hub and crank drive bikes and this was by far the worst. I’m a fairly fit cyclist and ride the vulcan at about 18.5/19mph on the flat but struggled to get this up to 17mph.

Really? I had a hub-driven MTB and still have an 80Nm MaxDrive hybrid mid-drive. Your opinion surprises me. It's not a difficulty I've had on the road-going version of this ebike.

Also the controller is very strange. Looks like a very dated set up with simple leds rather than a proper lcd display. There is no trip meter and a very basic battery level meter (green/Amber/red) so you don’t have much of a clue about remaining battery.

The lack of trip/mileage display was an issue for me too, but in practice, the "always-on" 5 x battery leds also give you the same information as most LCD displays - 1-5 power bars. The handlebar display does give you a fairly accurate mileage Range assessment based on battery use (quick press of the on/off ). Did you try that? In practice, I find it works quite well, although for under £80, you can change the display for a more conventional DP16 widescreen LCD (which also gives basic diagnostics) or a DP29 with Bluetooth for use with a smartphone (a la Bosch Cobi). The battery BMS knows the trip and total mileage (which is how in calculates the range remaining), it just isn't shown on the supplied simpler DP27 display.

Only 12 miles on a mid drive motor was unbelievable.

Yes, it is unbelievable. The Ebco battery is 11.2Ah. Halfords Vulcan-E is 11.4Ah. I've so far had 36 miles with 2-bars remaining on varying terrain, including severe gradients. And I'm a lard-arse pudding in comparison to you. Did you try conditioning/balancing the battery? It has been sitting uncharged in the box before you bought it.

and I prefer hub drives as they are easier to ride unassisted.

I'm guessing that says it all really. We all have biases, preconceptions, prejudices and preferences (including me!). I for one HATE hub-drives, having sold my own brand new hub-drive Vulcan-like MTB ebike to a mate after just two weeks - I just found the ride totally unnatural, permanently cruising at 15.5 mph. But that's just me, I guess.

 

[RichB]

To clarify, I've owned 2 crank drives before, a BBS homebrew Carrera Hellcat 29'er and a Cube Hybrid One, both were a lot smoother than the Tranz motor on the EBCO.
I've also had a couple of hub motors a cyclotricy and the one in the Vulcan (Suntour) so I'm fairly experienced in the way they perform. Perhaps I may have had a dud but this bike was the worst of them all.
I'm glad you enjoy yours but it wasn't for me so just wanted to give an alternative view.

 

[cyclebuddy]

That's interesting, but I don't understand what you mean by "a lot smoother"? I test rode a couple of Cubes, with specific interest in a Cube Hybrid One before buying the Ebco as a second hybrid. The Cube had worse gearing, similar brakes, a little less torque at 50Nm, 23kg, 400Wh, Bosch AL+. It wasn't a bad bike, but it was no better overall IMHO. The Cube was £1900. Each to their own I suppose.

 

[Michael Love]

30 mph can be yours easily with this speed sensor placement

I cannot access this video, was it deleted?
Thanks.

 

[cyclebuddy]

I cannot access this video, was it deleted?
Thanks.

It was a video showing the £1700 Raleigh Strada TS, 2017 model. It was near identical to the Ebco USR55 road-going ebike discussed here: Same frame/motor, but with minor gear/suspension/component changes, branding, colour etc.

It suggested cable-tying the wheel speed-sensor back to the outside of the frame, and attaching a new magnet to the crank-arm to fool the controller. It's a trick also used with some other centre-drive motors to increase assisted speed. I haven't tried it.

 

[wildrover1888]

So after 6 weeks I thought I'd give a review of the USR-55 and electric bikes in general

First the bike.

This bike has been rock solid. Its heavy with the panniers etc ..very heavy. Its a nightmare to get it into the office foyer where i park it and i'm pretty fit. That being said its solid in a good way.

In case you don'y know my other bikes are a boardman hybrid and a felt roadbike ..which I can hold in one hand.

So to get back to the story. The big difference . Well thats the fact that it is now automatic to cycle to work . I live in Devon on the coast and unless its pouring I get on the bike for my 7 mile each way commute which is very hilly. No lycra . No racing and competing just a nice ride. I'll also be honest and say that I havent been on my road bike since i got it. Now don't get me wrong this isn't because its a breeze and I glide to work . Far from it. This is still a decent workout. Not a grind on the hills as on my roadie but a decent daily workout. And that is THE big difference . Doing it daily.

Like it or not ( and personally I don't ) getting lycra on just gets you into this strava / compete mode for a cycle . I can see non pedlecs do it every day and I used to be one. Now I don't care. I love cycling I can race at a weekend but for me cycling should be about a means of transport not racing times daily. Thats why I love Amsterdam so much. Just people dressed normally cycling because they can. I'll admit I dont get the road bikers nod of ( were in this together bear grylls ) in the morning as soon as they see the battery but I really don't care. Battery life been great ..oh and centre hub is great i couldn't go rear wheel after this.

I've lost more weight on this bike than my sporadic lactic acid hill climbs in Devon. As I'm doing it daily.

So all in all I think I got a bargain. thanks @cyclebuddy .

One gripe . One BIG Gripe. As I was a pretty decent cyclist beforehand man o man does that 15.5 mph cut off hacks me off. It's too slow. I can cycle around 17-18 mph on the flat so the bike becomes sludgy... and sometimes around the 15mph is kicking in or cutting out . It's a pain. I personally believe this is dangerous and the bike should be set to 19mph max. Not the bikes fault it's the legal setting which is wrong but it's too slow for most cyclists.

I also have to say I bought the Luvall helmet so no instead of cycling gritting my teeth I cruise listening to radio 4 ( which over the last months is more stressful than the ride). All in all I'm converted . Everyone should have one.

 

[wildrover1888]

It was a video showing the £1700 Raleigh Strada TS, 2017 model. It was near identical to the Ebco USR55 road-going ebike discussed here: Same frame/motor, but with minor gear/suspension/component changes, branding, colour etc.

It suggested cable-tying the wheel speed-sensor back to the outside of the frame, and attaching a new magnet to the crank-arm to fool the controller. It's a trick also used with some other centre-drive motors to increase assisted speed. I haven't tried it.

ahh . I read your post after I wrote mine. This is my only gripe and its not the bikes fault. I'd love to do this but am errr shall we say utter crap when it comes to mechanics fixing things . Do let me know if you try it. See my post on how this really bugs me.

 

[RichB]

You say that the 15.5mph cut off is not the bikes fault but I would disagree with that. All of the bikes I've had have had the legal cut off but none have implemented it as harshly as the Tranzx motor. Makes the experience a bit too much like hard work for anyone whos natural pace is above 15.5mph (which is a lot of people).

 

[Michael Love]

You say that the 15.5mph cut off is not the bikes fault but I would disagree with that. All of the bikes I've had have had the legal cut off but none have implemented it as harshly as the Tranzx motor. Makes the experience a bit too much like hard work for anyone whos natural pace is above 15.5mph (which is a lot of people).

Agreed, see my posts on ebco and tranzx.

 

[BazP]

You say that the 15.5mph cut off is not the bikes fault but I would disagree with that. All of the bikes I've had have had the legal cut off but none have implemented it as harshly as the Tranzx motor. Makes the experience a bit too much like hard work for anyone whos natural pace is above 15.5mph (which is a lot of people).

Just as a matter of interest, I imagine a motor cut-off to be just that, like a light switching off. Are you implying that some motors do this in phases like cutting to half power or quarter power before the big cut-off. Not trying to be funny here ( you have to be careful on this forum) just a genuine question.

 

[vfr400]

Just as a matter of interest, I imagine a motor cut-off to be just that, like a light switching off. Are you implying that some motors do this in phases like cutting to half power or quarter power before the big cut-off. Not trying to be funny here ( you have to be careful on this forum) just a genuine question.

Some ramp down the power, so you don't notice the cut off. All motors have to give no power above 25km/h to be legal. That means that those that ramp down power have less power at 24km/h than one that cuts off dead at exactly 25.5 km/h.

The rule says that the motor must ramp down the power, which implies that a sudden cut-off isn't allowed, but they forgot to mention how steep the ramp is allowed to be, so it can be .00001 deg away from vertical.

 

[Michael Love]

Takes me back to the days I was studying 3phase power, star and delta and PID control. Oh how I don't miss those days

 

[RichB]

Just as a matter of interest, I imagine a motor cut-off to be just that, like a light switching off. Are you implying that some motors do this in phases like cutting to half power or quarter power before the big cut-off. Not trying to be funny here ( you have to be careful on this forum) just a genuine question.

Hi,
I dont think its so much the fact it cuts off abruptly rather than in phases, they all seem to just cut off however where the EBCO bike scores so poorly is that when the power cuts the bike becomes very difficult to pedal.
On other bikes the power cuts above legal limits but they continue to be fairly easy to pedal with limited resistance. The Tranzx has a LOT of resistance.

 

[cyclebuddy]

where the EBCO bike scores so poorly is that when the power cuts the bike becomes very difficult to pedal

I'm going to continue to disagree! I followed vfr400's suggestion and popped the chain off to hand turn the cranks. Yes, there is some mild resistance (it's the same in both directions) and not free-spinning as my lightweight non-powered expensive hybrid (I can't compare against my MaxDrive M400 as that's not here). But it is slight resistance, not crippling. Maybe the addition of wide nobbly tyres adds more to the drag on the Ebco MTB bikes you and ML tried whereas the road version has fast rolling 35x700c? WR seems to be carrying a fair bit of additional pannier weight on his road version too.

Useful input @wildrover1888. I may try that magnet trick when I have time.

My only gripe with this bike so far: I don't like the lack of trip/mileage on the display (even though the BMS stores mileage). I'm looking at a simple gps/computer such as the Sigma Pure GPS to add basic route, altitude, and trip/total time/mileage recording (it's only £38 at the moment). These older videos show the can-bus TranzX systems working with cobi.bike... @vfr400: It seems both iZip and Raleigh were only using crank-driven TranzX M16 and M25 or Shimano motors on their (US) ebikes then. Does cobi.bike only work with Bosch now since they acquired it?

 

[Michael Love]

2 against 1 cyclebuddy
RichB and myself had the same issue, nearly impossible to cycle faster after the motor cuts out at 15mph.

 

[cyclebuddy]

2 against 1 cyclebuddy
RichB and myself had the same issue, nearly impossible to cycle faster after the motor cuts out at 15mph.

The only 3 Halfords Ebco EMTB reviews posted so far all give it 5-stars: nothing mentioned about that! The only road-review Halfords posted gave it 5-stars (it sold out so fast it was only available for about a week).

No one else is whinging, are they?

And there aren't any other negative reviews I can find referencing the TranzX M16 motor - either US Currie-branded or Raleigh, including the UK Raleigh Strada TS. So both of you, both of whom have wrecked your current ebikes with A) a home brew hub-drive and B) a second-hand 12-month old Halfords Vulcan, remain in a distinct minority .

The only Halfords USR-55 review posted before it sold out:

I have been researching E bikes for several months, I've ridden several, from low spec low cost to high spec high price, but by far this British bike beat the so say best in my opinion. From the first time I sat and rode the bike i was hooked... Very responsive, great build quality and electric assistant that is just superb with 4 assistance settings with a noticeable change between the ranges.

Raleigh Strada TS 2017/18 (no negative comments that I can find here either):

 

[Michael Love]

And I put a review on the Halfords site too, questioning the other reviews, but then the bike went out of stock and my review probably will not be seen. I have searched high and low for reviews about the M16 motor and I could find nothing either about above 15mph. The Ebco tech support guy phoned me today and said there would be some resistance but not what I described to him. I told him the bike was back at H anyway and we left it at that. He did say though that the fazua system was good and had no resistance when motor not assisting, and that I should look up that system, that's why I have asked about it in another post.

 

[RichB]

The only 3 Halfords Ebco EMTB reviews posted so far all give it 5-stars: nothing mentioned about that! The only road-review Halfords posted gave it 5-stars (it sold out so fast it was only available for about a week).

No one else is whinging, are they?

And there aren't any other negative reviews I can find referencing the TranzX M16 motor - either US Currie-branded or Raleigh, including the UK Raleigh Strada TS. So both of you, both of whom have wrecked your current ebikes with A) a home brew hub-drive and B) a second-hand 12-month old Halfords Vulcan, remain in a distinct minority .

The only Halfords USR-55 review posted before it sold out:

I have been researching E bikes for several months, I've ridden several, from low spec low cost to high spec high price, but by far this British bike beat the so say best in my opinion. From the first time I sat and rode the bike i was hooked... Very responsive, great build quality and electric assistant that is just superb with 4 assistance settings with a noticeable change between the ranges.

Raleigh Strada TS 2017/18 (no negative comments that I can find here either):

View attachment 33431

Cyclebuddy,
I actually find this quite offensive. With respect you've never owned this bike and yet seem to have more knowledge than people who have owned and used it.
The Halfords reviews tell you nothing, if you've never owned an ebike before of course it would seem great (as I'm sure we all felt when we first got on an ebike).
As for your comments about having both wrecked our ebikes, what are you on ? I bought a Vulcan as it was fairly cheap and it's far from wrecked. I'd wager I've probably ridden/owned more ebikes than you, so feel just as qualified to offer my opinion.
I'm not sure why you continue with this EBCO crusade. You have the road going version and you like it, fair enough but don't keep quoting irrelevant and outdated articles to justify your choice and knock anyone who disagrees.
Which ever way you look at it 2 people have bought the EBCO, haven't liked it and returned it, fact.

 

[cyclebuddy]

And I put a review on the Halfords site too, questioning the other reviews, but then the bike went out of stock and my review probably will not be seen. I have searched high and low for reviews about the M16 motor and I could find nothing either about above 15mph. The Ebco tech support guy phoned me today and said there would be some resistance but not what I described to him. I told him the bike was back at H anyway and we left it at that. He did say though that the fazua system was good and had no resistance when motor not assisting, and that I should look up that system, that's why I have asked about it in another post.

I agree, there is some resistance with the M16, but it's minimal. I'd suggest there are no negative reviews to be found about the M16 because it is a budget option, and it performs that role brilliantly. You can't begin to compare the M16 with the Fazua - it's a totally different concept. I too would buy a Fazua in a heartbeat. But the battery is small, and the power (at the moment feels) weak. No-one other than Boardman is offering that system for anything near Halfords £2000 (it's been as little as £1600 with various discounts).

Maybe in a few years, when that technology has evolved

Which ever way you look at it 2 people have bought the EBCO, haven't liked it and returned it, fact.

No offence intended. You both tried the Ebco EMTB. WR and I am talking specifically about the USR-55, which we both did buy (fact), and I for one think is brilliant value for the money. Let's just leave it at that shall we?