First of all, great site and discussions! THANKS!
I'm in need of help/advice for which bike / kit to choose.
I live in the south eastern part of France (between Nice and Monaco), I'm Dutch (so I've been used to biking all of my life), and I've been taking my mountain bike in this region for years now, almost every day.
However, since 2 years my home - work trek is slightly longer and more uphill and over time I stopped taking my bike, mainly due to having to take a shower & 40 minute trek uphill (instead of a 10 minute car ride).
I miss my biking so I'm going electric.
Here are my needs:
- I weight almost 100 kg (luckily that's mostly muscles)
- Home to work (Antibes --> Sophia Antipolis) is 40 minute continuously uphill (230 meters elavation difference)
- (preferably) more than 8 gears needed due to my weight & steep hills
- A bike that works even when the battery is dead
- No speed limitations (on average on the flat I go slightly over 25 km/hour)
- Robust bike since I continuously have to go on off curbes / into forest trails to avoid traffic (there are no bike paths
here )
I've tried about 6 different bikes and the BionX kit. Each of the bikes, although great in many ways, had some problem that prevented me from wanting to buy them (noise, vibrations, speed limitations, not enough gears).
The only option that I really liked was the BionX kit mounted on a mountain bike. It was wonderful: silent, quick, easy.
Vibrations when braking (due to the battery recharging) was slightly annoying but nothing serious.
Having said that there are two things that I have slight problems with:
1) the price - around 1500 euros.
2) the power & lifetime of a battery - after having arrived at work the fully charged battery was flat
The battery was new. I'm a bit concerned that the battery, since it is Lithium, degrades over time and that in no time I'll have to buy another one (and the replacements are expensive). I do the home --> work route 5 times per week.
Considering options and what I've seen I'll most likely go out and buy the Bionx or a Matra iStep (which has a BionX motor).
However, the price is REALLY putting me off. It'll be over 2000 euros, with probably a new battery every year.
A yearly bus subscrition is 2/3 the price of a new battery, so biking will actually cost me money...
Does anyone have any suggestions for a cheaper option than the BionX, but with at least as much power?
Robin
I'm in need of help/advice for which bike / kit to choose.
I live in the south eastern part of France (between Nice and Monaco), I'm Dutch (so I've been used to biking all of my life), and I've been taking my mountain bike in this region for years now, almost every day.
However, since 2 years my home - work trek is slightly longer and more uphill and over time I stopped taking my bike, mainly due to having to take a shower & 40 minute trek uphill (instead of a 10 minute car ride).
I miss my biking so I'm going electric.
Here are my needs:
- I weight almost 100 kg (luckily that's mostly muscles)
- Home to work (Antibes --> Sophia Antipolis) is 40 minute continuously uphill (230 meters elavation difference)
- (preferably) more than 8 gears needed due to my weight & steep hills
- A bike that works even when the battery is dead
- No speed limitations (on average on the flat I go slightly over 25 km/hour)
- Robust bike since I continuously have to go on off curbes / into forest trails to avoid traffic (there are no bike paths
here )I've tried about 6 different bikes and the BionX kit. Each of the bikes, although great in many ways, had some problem that prevented me from wanting to buy them (noise, vibrations, speed limitations, not enough gears).
The only option that I really liked was the BionX kit mounted on a mountain bike. It was wonderful: silent, quick, easy.
Vibrations when braking (due to the battery recharging) was slightly annoying but nothing serious.
Having said that there are two things that I have slight problems with:
1) the price - around 1500 euros.
2) the power & lifetime of a battery - after having arrived at work the fully charged battery was flat
The battery was new. I'm a bit concerned that the battery, since it is Lithium, degrades over time and that in no time I'll have to buy another one (and the replacements are expensive). I do the home --> work route 5 times per week.
Considering options and what I've seen I'll most likely go out and buy the Bionx or a Matra iStep (which has a BionX motor).
However, the price is REALLY putting me off. It'll be over 2000 euros, with probably a new battery every year.
A yearly bus subscrition is 2/3 the price of a new battery, so biking will actually cost me money...
Does anyone have any suggestions for a cheaper option than the BionX, but with at least as much power?
Robin
