Kudos Alamo/Stealth v G-tech e-bike.

[Crockers]

What would have been the extra cost of the Alamo to have had a 8speed hub gear with carbon gates belt drive??

 

[Kudoscycles]

If I lived in a second floor flat, had a 5 mile commute to work with no hills I'd buy the Gtech. If I had a garage for storage and a 5-10 mile hilly commute to work I'd probably go for either the Alamo or the Carerra Crossfire. The lightness and simplicity and belt drive would mean I could carry the Gtech upstairs easily without getting oily. The gears would be needed if I had any hills to contend with. (I live on the Devon/Cornwall border where the word "flat" is only used in relation to tyres with no air in them). At the moment the Crossfire would shade it on price - especially if it is still available at a discount - and on the fact that it is sold through Halfords which, despite being sometimes staffed by spotty youths with zero knowledge, is still a national chain that has a local shop I can return the bike to in the event of any problems and there is usually one member of staff in the bike department who knows what they are doing. A Kudos sold through a bike shop near me would be a more attractive option. Buying on the net isn't. I've got a Crossfire - purchased for all the reasons given above - and it's great although it is now my wife's bike as I got the ebike bug and bought a Cube 400 Cross. This from my local bike shop - always the best source if all else is equal. So I suppose the answer to your question is "horses for courses". I get the feeling that the Gtech is aimed at people who don't know much about bikes (especially Ebikes) All that "no complicated gears" stuff would suggest that. I would guess that their initial newspaper ads attracted interest but the silly price put off non bike people who thought "Bloody hell! £1800 for a push-bike!!!" and didn't take the bait. Dropping the price to under £1000 and the lifestyle TV ads has made it look much more attractive to those potential buyers and those that fit the profile of the urban flat-dweller I described above.

Andy,excellent reply,was the sort of response I was hoping for. The Stealth and Alamo I think are now available through e-bikes direct who have a working relationship with Halfords.
Our experience with Halfords is mixed,we have had some branches who are useless and some who are very good,it just depends on the staff at any particular branch.
The Crossfire looks good at their current price level,I suppose it then comes down to details of which suits. I had a customer once who was trying to buy 2 KTM bikes from me versus 2 Kalkhoff bikes,he was horse trading on price...the difference in price was small,my answer was you should first decide which bike you like then consider the price,he bought the KTM's but could have just as easily settled on the Kalkhoffs,price is not everything,being happy on the bike is the most important factor.
KudosDave

 

[Kudoscycles]

What would have been the extra cost of the Alamo to have had a 8speed hub gear with carbon gates belt drive??

Just guessing because I dont know the cost of the belt drive and not sure that you can combine it with the Nexus hub,probably £100 max.
But the big problem for me would that would involve moving the motor to the front,on a sports style bike with narrow tyres I dont think that would produce a nice handling bike,especially in the wet.
KudosDave

 

[Yamdude]

I think there's three sorts of people that buy the G Tech.....
1) People who dont know much about Ebikes and cant be bothered to research them.
2) People who buy things solely on the look of them and see the G Tech as cool and ultra modern looking, in the same way that Iphones and Ipads have the cool factor.
3) People who specifically want a simplistic, single speed Ebike and are attracted by its carbon belt and light weight.

Anyone who doesn't fit into this will look elsewhere, so i dont really see the G Tech as competition against other types of Ebikes.

 

[anotherkiwi]

Just guessing because I dont know the cost of the belt drive and not sure that you can combine it with the Nexus hub,probably £100 max.
But the big problem for me would that would involve moving the motor to the front,on a sports style bike with narrow tyres I dont think that would produce a nice handling bike,especially in the wet.
KudosDave

Yes you can combine with the nexus, the nexus uses the same parts as the Alfine.

Or moving the motor to the middle which would me even better handling. I have ridden all three and mid-drive is the absolute best handling. I feel that a sports type bike would need 28-622 (28 x 1.10, 700x28C) with a hub motor.

 

[KeithMac]

The Carbon Drive requires a split stay rigid frame.

A mid motor, rear geared hub and Carbon Belt would be an ideal bike, but how much £?.

 

[Crockers]

Isn't a mid motor more expensive? I was thinking as a differentiator to Gtech. Have their gates drive...but add gears ..no derailleurs so as to keep it simple...if that could be done for not much more then it will spank the Gtech.

Also Gtech has no right to their colours....so a white frame with a few touches of say red....then that's one sharp cookie....

Another thought is for an extra let the buyer choose from a suit of colours...maybe with the ability to mix & match frame and mudguards...

Let Discs be an option....take a tip from the motor manufacturers....cheap base but let the extras cost more..

All just thoughts

 

[KeithMac]

It would have to be front wheel hub drive if you want Gates Belt IGH and hub drive?.

 

[trex]

yes.

 

[anotherkiwi]

No, sorry trex There is a screw on freewheel sprocket. But you may have beltline issues with a hub motor. You would need an eccentric bottom bracket to tension the belt.

More seriously a chain fully enclosed in a Hebie Chainglider is just as clean and the quarter of the price of a belt drive and works in any frame with horizontal dropouts.

I prefer the Hebie Chainglider partial and a normal frame with mid drive and nexus 8. BUT you are limited to a 42 tooth chainwheel so I guess that would mean using a 16 tooth cog on the back.

 

[trex]

AK, Keith was asking about hub drive and IGH. This IGH305 may do it but it's a DD motor, won't look right on the Gtech.

 

[anotherkiwi]

I skipped the IGH bit sorry!

 

[KeithMac]

AK, Keith was asking about hub drive and IGH. This IGH305 may do it but it's a DD motor, won't look right on the Gtech.

Interesting!, how many gears?.

 

[trex]

that motor is fitted with Sturmey Archer 5-speed IGH.
http://www.sturmey-archer.com/en/products/detail/rx-rf5
The whole motor + IGH weighs more than 6kgs though.
It'd look nice and stealthy fitted to a frame like the woosh Big Bear but with the rear rack battery, it would be very back heavy. A good thing about this sort of bikes is you can expect 10,000 comfortable miles without maintenance.