I've got my Synergie Mistral :D

[roguesolo]

It arrived as promised this morning, and this afternoon I unpacked it and put it together.

I'm lucky in that I used to "mess about" with bikes a lot when I was younger, and found the build relatively straightforward.

I decided not to fit the supplied dynamo and lights as I have some opticube lights that I find work very well. I used to have them fitted to my Dahon folder, and with a bit of thought found a place to mount them on the bars. If it wasn't for the Shimano index shifter, throttle control, bell and large brake lever clamps it would've been a lot easier!

While I was putting the bike together the battery was put on charge and by 6pm, the charger was showing a green light.

I took it for a brief ride and found it a bit heavy and sluggish. This was entirely my own fault. When I got home I checked the tyre pressures. 1.5bar of pressure was far too low. After chastising myself I got busy with the footpump and with 4 bar in the tyres, I took the bike for another brief ride. It was much, much better.

The always available throttle control is excellent for giving a burst of speed when pulling out of junctions and using roundabouts. The economy and speed modes when using the bike in pedelec mode worked very well. I think i'm probably a stronger cyclist than I thought as I often found myself quickly reaching a speed at which the motor assistance cut out.

Its not as lively and certainly not as freewheeling as the Wisper 905 that I tried at Presteigne last weekend, but for a third of the price of the Wisper, I'm suitably impressed at the build quality and comfort of my Mistral.

I'd like to also say thank you to everyone that contributes to this forum. It was as a result of the knowledge and experiences shared here that allowed me to understand the concept of electric bikes, the battery technologies, the legal aspects and ultimately to me spending some of my hard-earned cash to buy a Mistral.

All the best, and may your summer be long and your journeys suitably electrified

 

[flecc]

Glad you are enjoying it RogueSolo. Some Mistral owners have changed the tyres to improve the bike since the standard tyres left much to be desired.

If your's still has the knobbly ones fitted, changing them at some time could improve the rolling efficiency quite a lot.
.

 

[roguesolo]

Glad you are enjoying it RogueSolo. Some Mistral owners have changed the tyres to improve the bike since the standard tyres left much to be desired.

If your's still has the knobbly ones fitted, changing them at some time could improve the rolling efficiency quite a lot.
.

They're knobbly towards the edges, but with a less severe tread towards the centre. They're not as smooth as the tyres fitted to my Dahon, but for the time being, a bit more resistance won't hurt my efforts to get fitter

 

[rgardiner]

I've had mine for over a week now and I am very pleased as well with it as well. Again, it was due to the information on this site that I decided to go for it. It definitely seems like a good buy. I am never out of breath going up a hill, and it is very comfortable. It certainly is tempting when I see other bikes with more power, but as you say, the price seems to climb exponentially.

I also didn’t bother connecting the dynamo. All I have done for now is connect a computer. The assembly isn’t that bad either. Again, I am used to dismantling and assembling bikes. It was very well packaged and very quick delivery (ordered on a Tuesday morning and delivered to Ireland on a Thursday).

I'd recommend strongly to the budget conscious

 

[roguesolo]

All I have done for now is connect a computer. The assembly isn’t that bad either. Again, I am used to dismantling and assembling bikes. It was very well packaged and very quick delivery (ordered on a Tuesday morning and delivered to Ireland on a Thursday).

I'd recommend strongly to the budget conscious

Hello rgardiner

If you don't mind me asking what sort of bike computer have you got? I've never used one, but it would be good to know the mileage i'm doing on a charge so that I can plan ahead for longer trips.

Edited: Don't worry about it rgardiner. I bought one for a fiver from Aldi on Saturday.

 

[roguesolo]

A brief update...

Due to work commitments I haven't been able to ride my bike any great distance until today.

I fitted an Aldi Bikemate computer this morning, and with the bike battery fully charged I headed out into the "rolling" (plenty of hills; up and down) countryside to the SouthWest of Birmingham.

I covered a distance of 18.2 miles at an average speed of 12.5mph. My Mistral and I are not going to set any speed records! However, it was good to be out and about and away from work and the city for a while.

If I hadn't bought the bicycle, I wouldn't have bothered going out. The extra help afforded by the electric motor has given me the motivation to use a bicycle more often.

 

[flecc]

I covered a distance of 18.2 miles at an average speed of 12.5mph. My Mistral and I are not going to set any speed records!

That's a perfectly good average, shared by many e-bikes including the majority of Panasonic powered bikes as A to B's tests show. Even a large number of owners of the sporty Cytronex have reported the same 12 to 13 mph average.

It's just a few of the high powered e-bikes like the eZee and Wisper models and upgeared Panasonic equipped models that tend to return around 15 mph averages.

The 15 mph limit to the motor assistance tends to hold all "legal" e-bikes down to similar averages.
.

 

[fishingpaul]

That's a perfectly good average, shared by many e-bikes including the majority of Panasonic powered bikes as A to B's tests show. Even a large number of owners of the sporty Cytronex have reported the same 12 to 13 mph average.

It's just a few of the high powered e-bikes like the eZee and Wisper models and upgeared Panasonic equipped models that tend to return around 15 mph averages.

The 15 mph limit to the motor assistance tends to hold all "legal" e-bikes down to similar averages.
.

Do these averages mean anything unless two bikes are compared along the same route,if you stop and start at traffic lights a lot and encounter steep hills,i guess your average speed would be far lower than somebody,riding along a flat road with no need for stopping at traffic lights or islands etc.

 

[Fecn]

Do these averages mean anything unless two bikes are compared along the same route,if you stop and start at traffic lights a lot and encounter steep hills,i guess your average speed would be far lower than somebody,riding along a flat road with no need for stopping at traffic lights or islands etc.

According to my SportsTracker stats, I record averages from 6.5mph to 17.4mph depending on the route, the wind, the weather how heavily laden I am, and what kind of mood I'm in. All in all, average speeds are pretty meaningless.

 

[fishingpaul]

According to my SportsTracker stats, I record averages from 6.5mph to 17.4mph depending on the route, the wind, the weather how heavily laden I am, and what kind of mood I'm in. All in all, average speeds are pretty meaningless.

Thought so a basic 1000cc car can average 70mph on the motorway,a ferrari would be unable to beat the average on any other public roads.

 

[flecc]

Do these averages mean anything unless two bikes are compared along the same route,if you stop and start at traffic lights a lot and encounter steep hills,i guess your average speed would be far lower than somebody,riding along a flat road with no need for stopping at traffic lights or islands etc.

According to my SportsTracker stats, I record averages from 6.5mph to 17.4mph depending on the route, the wind, the weather how heavily laden I am, and what kind of mood I'm in. All in all, average speeds are pretty meaningless.

They only have value for riding on the open road, the averages reported by A to B magazine in their testing being for that and often on the same routes. Therefore they are useful for comparing bikes that they've tested. Likewise most of my riding is of that sort and I can compare in the same way, so it has some use.

My averages are far more consistent than those you report Fecn. For example, in well over four years of riding a Lafree the overall average was 12 mph, with the individual journeys consistently at around 11.5 to 12.5 mph average riding solo. Trips with the trailer dropped the average of course.

My eZee bikes averages are similarly consistent.

The route makes no difference for me, when hilly my letting bikes have their head downhill easily compensates for the slowing uphill, the averages unaffected by hills, however steep.
.

 

[Barnowl]

Nice purchase Rogue. South West of Birmingham is very hilly. You did well to get an average 12.8mph. I agree average speeds are a bit meaningless when compared to other bikes with different riders in other areas at different times etc etc. I usually average about 12mph give or take a bit, at very best 16mph. Unless you are doing 30 - 40 mile commutes the difference isn't worth a damn. Much more important is how comfortable you are with the bike and how much you enjoy riding it.

 

[roguesolo]

South West of Birmingham is very hilly.

It certainly is! The range of hills that include Waseley, Lickey, Romsley and Clent can be a bit of a "knee breaker"!

As you are aware of the area, one of my routes includes the climb from Halesowen to the top of Romsley along the Bromsgrove Road and past the old BlueBird Toffee factory. It was that hill that led me to buying the Mistral. I had to stop three times when i tried to cycle up it with my Dahon folder!