help with recommendation

[stevieb]

hi ,
just joined the forum after fitting an alien conversion on my bike.
i,m very impressed and so is my friend.
i.ve always been a regular cyclist but my friend , although he has a bike isn,t.
by his own admission he is unfit and can,t be bothered cycling .
it,s been years since we had a cycle together but the other day i gave him a try on my electric bike and to say he,s impressed is an understatement.
i used his non electric [hardly used] bike and we did over 10 miles which was a revalation for him and he did put some effort in and felt the benefit afterwards.
he does,t have much cash but his employer is going to be starting the cycle to work scheme soon so that may be the answer.
he would prefer a model with a throttle rather than peddle assist and also to buy from a local supplier for back up service and a try before you buy.
being new to all this the are few models that seem to fit the bill but i can,t really advise him there is a model by giant at about £1000 and gocycle but i don,t know anything about how good these are.
he would be using the bike for getting to work [5miles each way]
we live near edinburgh.
can anybody advise on a suitable model please.
thank you
stevie

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Can he afford £450 for a Cycl0tricity or an 8Fun kit.

Use the credit card or get a bank loan. It'll be cheaper in the long-run:
http://www.cyclotricity.com/electric-bike-kit/
http://www.8funbike.com/store.asp/d=5/c=45

You can get them by mail-order. Cyclotricity are a spomsor of this forum, so you can guarantee good support,

 

[stevieb]

that,s great info thanks very much
i,ll let him now.
it would be the best option but if he decides to go down the ready made bike with the cycle to work scheme what would you recommend
thanks

 

[hoppy]

that,s great info thanks very much
i,ll let him now.
it would be the best option but if he decides to go down the ready made bike with the cycle to work scheme what would you recommend
thanks

How much will he spend?

 

[trex]

If buget is tight, this £585 Woosh Sirocco has a range of 30 miles.
Your friend can get it on cycleschemes.




or the £695 LEBC Vita Uno with similar range:

 

[hoppy]

Yes, super value.Sirocco 2 only £599 with 10ah battery or £699 with 15 ah.
I love Tonaros myself.Demos available for £850.Excellent support on both makes.

 

[D C]

Can he afford £450 for a Cycl0tricity or an 8Fun kit.

Use the credit card or get a bank loan. It'll be cheaper in the long-run:
http://www.cyclotricity.com/electric-bike-kit/
http://www.8funbike.com/store.asp/d=5/c=45

You can get them by mail-order. Cyclotricity are a spomsor of this forum, so you can guarantee good support,

I just noticed that Cyclotricity's batteries are two weeks waiting list which they were when I bought mine last year. I would think this would be a good reason to order as you hopefully wouldn't to be getting last years stock, feel free to correct me if that doesn't make sense

 

[RobF]

A shop near me is offering ready-converted Cyclotricity Trek mountain bikes.

Looked quite a neat job to me, although the pics don't show the sheaf of cables cable-tied to the other side of the down tube.

http://www.directcarparts.co.uk/product/1733/trek3500e/trek-3500-mountain-bike-with-electric-conversion-kit-fitted.html

 

[trex]

I just noticed that Cyclotricity's batteries are two weeks waiting list which they were when I bought mine last year. I would think this would be a good reason to order as you hopefully wouldn't to be getting last years stock, feel free to correct me if that doesn't make sense

yes, Lithium batteries are a bit like bananas, they don't sit well on the shelf. They need to be used as soon as.
Always check manufacturing date when you buy battery.

 

[stevieb]

thanks for all the info folks
on the scheme i think his limit was about £1000.
some of the bikes above look good value .
he,s only seen my kit conversion and a giant twist in a local shop
these bikes are a lot cheaper than the giant, is there much difference between them?

 

[trex]

if he wants to go up to £800 - then get the much nicer Big Bear.

 

[stevieb]

looks like the choice is more varied than we first thought.
glad i joined the forum
this is getting very interesting
does anybody know how the ready made bikes from woosh and cyclotricity compare with my alien 36v 250 watt kit that is fitted to an old rigid framed 3 speed edinburgh bike
thanks

 

[Deleted member 4366]

The Big Bear has a lot more torque. The CD bikes can also climb better, but slowly. They can also be derestricted to give help up to about 24 mph. The TS bike is really nice. It just seems to make pedalling so pleasant, but I think it has a bit less climbing power than yours. Their other bikes have more or less the same motor as yours, so power is similar. All the Woosh bikes have LCDs with several levels of PAS, so PAS is a more realistic proposition.

 

[stevieb]

by cd bikes which manufacturer are you refering to , cyclotricity or woosh?
sorry for my ignorance on this matter being a newbie

 

[trex]

the Woosh Sirocco CD. Woosh and Kudos use the TCM motor. It's not as refined as the Bosch motor but it's not bad, about same pulling power as the new Bosch (60NM torque). Woosh put crank drive motor on quite a few frames, even folding bikes, Kudos put it on the Ibex and the Eiger (with NuVinci CVT hub gear).
Cyclotricity doesn't sell crank drive bikes.

The £1,495 Kudos Eiger, probably the best crank drive for the price:

 

[stevieb]

thanks for clearing that up for me.
so the bosch motor is slightly better ,
do any of the mentioned bikes / kits use this ?

 

[trex]

You'll need excellent credentials before they answer the phone!
Bosch only sell to the top 100 European bike manufacturers, not exported to China and not available as kits. It's difficult to define better. Chinese products are cheap and rough. German products are well designed and expensive. It depends on your priorities. A TCM crank drive costs about $70 more than a BPM hub drive. Both are good on hills, the BPM hub gives better acceleration, the TCM is faster because it extends your maximum speed using your gears.

 

[hoppy]

If he wants a throttle, Bosch no good.Too dear anyway.Chinese bikes are ok!
Keep researching!