Hello from the New Forest

[JasonB]

Hi all, my name is Jason and I live down south near the coast. I am extremely new to the world of pedelecs and in fact only heard the term a few days ago.

I had a quick go on a Haibike at a local show recently and I was smitten.

I received a back injury whilst I was serving in the forces and I find that riding any distance I tend to get back and leg pain. From what I've read, the e-mtb could be just the ticket.

It will be a considerable outlay (that I have to justify to SHMBO) but I hope it will be worth it. I am also expecting regular MTB riders to be a little stand offish, I don't see that bothering me too much to be honest.

So next week I am going along to www.e-bikeshop.co.uk to have chat and a proper look at them.

Is there anyone else from around these parts?

That's all for now.

JB

 

[soundwave]

have a look on here and save a few hundred quid

http://www.mhw-bike.com/

 

[JasonB]

Thanks soundwave, there is certainly money to be saved but I am also going to see if my company offers a cycle to work scheme. If they do, that might work out a similar price. But otherwise that site does look to be a great saving.

 

[soundwave]

only problem will be with warranty ect but all bosch systems have to go back there anyway as no uk dealer can service them.

its simple enough to take of the motor tho if you have any problems with it and send it back to them for a replacement if needed.

id also get a bad ass ebike dongle as 50 quid cheaper than ebike shop.

https://www.badassebikes.com/en/

spare parts motors, batts ect here all cheaper than any uk dealer.

http://www.pro-cycling-golla.de/E-Bike_Teile/Bosch_Active_Performance_Line.html

 

[JasonB]

Top tips, thanks, soundwave.

 

[soundwave]

this was my last ride up forest ,they can fly

 

[baldylox]

You can always convert your current MTB.
I am based New Forest-ish (Salisbury) and tend to go off road mostly on a full sus MTB with an oxydrive kit fitted (check the oxydrive kit thread for information).
I would suggest trying a few more e bikes than just the haibikes (good as they are).

 

[soundwave]

id not go down hill on any diy kit bike it will fall to bits taking jumps.

why i want more stopping power on mine like jumping a tank lol

 

[baldylox]

I don't do any extreme down hill riding or wear body armour when I go off road (played rugby not american football) but I do give my oxydriven trance x some serious abuse off road, nothing has yet fallen off or failed (ummm, I came off once but nothing bad happened). I maintain that it'll take the Pepsi challenge with an equivalent haibike or KTM but are these extreme down hill bikes I wonder?
A friend who competes in down hill has bikes (extremely ruggedized) which are around the same weight as my e-trance.
Horses for courses and all that.
I'll qualify my statement about converting an MTB that the result does not substantively change the ruggedness of the original bike. It will add weight and therefore braking could be compromised.
There is no replacement for common sense.

 

[JasonB]

I don't do any extreme down hill riding or wear body armour when I go off road (played rugby not american football) but I do give my oxydriven trance x some serious abuse off road, nothing has yet fallen off or failed (ummm, I came off once but nothing bad happened). I maintain that it'll take the Pepsi challenge with an equivalent haibike or KTM but are these extreme down hill bikes I wonder?
A friend who competes in down hill has bikes (extremely ruggedized) which are around the same weight as my e-trance.
Horses for courses and all that.
I'll qualify my statement about converting an MTB that the result does not substantively change the ruggedness of the original bike. It will add weight and therefore braking could be compromised.
There is no replacement for common sense.

Admittedly, I've never done anything like this to a bike but I have upgraded many aspects of cars and motorbikes. I assume it is the same for a MTB as it is for any other mode of transport in that upgrading the motor requires upgrading of all the supporting parts first i.e. suspension, brakes etc?

I would not be keen of a bike, capable of nearly 30mph on my current set up.

 

[Alan Quay]

Admittedly, I've never done anything like this to a bike but I have upgraded many aspects of cars and motorbikes. I assume it is the same for a MTB as it is for any other mode of transport in that upgrading the motor requires upgrading of all the supporting parts first i.e. suspension, brakes etc?

I would not be keen of a bike, capable of nearly 30mph on my current set up.

Yes and no. If all you want is a little assistance, say for climbing hills on the road, then nearly any modern mountain bike of reasonable quality will suffice. V-brakes as a minimum.

If you want to go beyond 250w, then you need to start thinking about disk brakes.

But all depends on the terrain, weight and riding style.

Another point, if you are a keen fiddler, then the DIY route may suit you better. Those that say DIY bikes fall apart have probably only seen badly put together machines. I could just as easily argue that commercially built pedelecs are no good off road, and give this as an example:

 

[baldylox]

To be fair I have upgraded a few things on the bike (most before I added the oxydrive kit), brakes being the main one. If you are using a robust bike in the first place (and I will quite happily go more than 30mph down hills) adding an extra handfull of kilos is not going to make too much of a negative impact.
In all honesty though, if I had unlimited funds and a real requirement for extreme off roading I think I would probably go for a high end full sus eMTB such as one of the haibike models.
If you want an all round commute on/off road bike then I'd look at other options as well.

 

[Cyclezee]

Hi Jason,

Welcome to the forum.

There are a few forum members around the New Forest area, those who have asked be on our map can be found via the following link:
http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/threads/where-do-you-live-v2-0.1573/