Hiya all. Big/heavy newbie.

[Bazzatt]

Good day all.

I'm Barry or Baz. I'm 50 and due to my un physical job and years of eating junk I am very overweight. I do suffer from joint and back problems and after a few years of consideration and more recently this Damn covid situation and the kick up the butt encouragement from Boris to get on your bike and lose weight i have for the past few days been doing some research.

It's got a bit overwhelming with all the info regarding bikes and then conversion kits, uk legalities etc.

I have read some encouraging bits about the woosh big bear plus which covers me for weight. Im a little worried about burning out the motor but have seen some great reviews on these bafang bpms.

Has anyone got the big bear plus which I think is the new model that can give me a yay or nay on its performance.

Also during my research I have seen dongles mentioned a lot. Is this something that de restricts an ebike (probably rendering it illegal on UK roads)?

I was trying to explain this to my uncle who is lucky enough to own land and fishing lakes that he patrols on a 50cc motorbike scooter to catch the poachers (he's getting on) but the paying fishermen complain about the noise it makes. Being a big guy too, could an ebike for bigger people be dongled for off road use and not road use?


Many thanks

Barry

 

[Benjahmin]

My wife has a Big Bear (older model). Yes it's a real torquey motor, the bike itself is no gazelle and built like a tank...Front hub motor renders it more suited to roads with some tracks, old railways, paths etc., not really suited to off road. It will climb steep hills with plenty of input from you, good bike for getting the body moving in relative comfort. (Let's be honest no bike is Comfortable, hence relative). No hesitation in recommending Woosh as a supplier.
Dongles are mainly used on mid drive bikes to fool the speed registration, so defeating the maximum speed setting. They will not work on the Big Bear as far as I'm aware - but really, 16mph assist is plenty on a bike like that.
Strict legal situation is that to be legal a pedelec must have assistance restricted to 15.5mph. If it is not it can only be used on private land, which the public have no access to, with the ownwers permission. Various advertised 'Off road' switches are bunkum and illegal to use.

 

[sjpt]

Absolutely as Benjahmin says above.

If you do decide to risk the illegal route, still avoid the high power direct drive motors. Especially if you do a conversion of an old bike they are temptingly cheap and with high power numbers; but they are very inefficient in most uses except high speed on the flat, need a beefy (expensive) battery and are poor at hill climbing.

Dongling increases max speed but does not increase available power.

 

[Fat Rat]

Hi welcome
I can not add anything to the above
Enjoy whatever you choose

 

[Nealh]

My 700c Norco with the Big Bear kit fitted would top out at 19mph and was plenty pokey enough on hills, the only con I could find really was some steering torque affect.

 

[Bazzatt]

Thank you all for your responses and kindness.
I was thinking about trying to see if my employer takes part in the cycle to work scheme. Also Boris I believe has something in the pipeline regarding help for big boys like me to buy a bike?

My brother says he has a decathlon B twin bike I can use and it has a similar frame to the big bear plus crossbar shape. The only thing is it's just pedal and I'm not sure if it would put me off due to my ailments and joint probs.
Do you think a emotor kit for the btwinbike would be a good move or just plump for the ready made bike?

Thanks

Baz

 

[Benjahmin]

Conversion is a great way to go. You are more invested in the bike as a whole. If you were to use a rear hub you would overcome the slight downside of the Big Bear (it's a front hub and can be a little tricksy on loose surfaces) and gain a lot of knowledge in the process. You end up with a bike you know wellI and so are not reliant on bikes shops for repairs etc.
I remember B Twin's being mentioned on here as conversions, don't think there'll be any issues, thing to check would be what type of bottom bracket it has.
I'd say try the B Twin for fit (see if you sit well on it) ride it a bit on the flat and if all's well go for it. Woosh can advise and supply a kit suitable for the 'larger unit', and comes well recommended.