let's pretend...

[Helen C]

... that I can have an ebike (just a dream at the moment).
My regular ride would take in a 20% incline (so the Woosh site tells me) and I can only pedal very gently, due to a knee condition. I read that centre drive is best for hills but does this still hold true if you can't pedal very hard? I definitely need a throttle, so that I can stop part way up a hill and then restart without first having to turn the pedals around (I can pedal once it's moving, just not with a lot of pressure).
I weigh 8st 2lbs (inside leg 29") but would be carrying shopping up the hill. I'd expect most journeys to be less than 15 miles total.
Wheel size needs to be 26" or more.
Can't think of anything else at the moment. I don't have a budget yet.
Thanks
-H

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Any of the Woosh CD bikes would do it, or the Woosh Big Bear or any of the Tonaros. There's other bikes too, but slightly more expensive.

 

[trex]

agreed. The Tonaro Compy is on special offer @ powerpedal at the moment

£1000 Compy:

 

[Helen C]

Thanks for the replies. The Compy looks good (if a bit like a "girls' bike" - I've only had men's before). A concern is the rear carrier; will that take full size panniers?

 

[trex]

I should think so. Close up:

 

[John F]

I should think so. Close up:

Not so sure. The battery looks wider than the carrier, so panniers would be in contact with battery all the time. You need 3 good fixings each side for safety, and this might be a problem with this bike. Is there a mounting point on the frame at the bottom?

 

[trex]

http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/threads/tonaro-panniers-that-fit.8829/

scarrabri seems to have done it.

 

[Geebee]

This will take standard paniers and is a very adjustable for riding position. 1050 pound. http://www.powerpedals.co.uk/our-products/esprit.html

 

[trex]

then again, the £799 Santana-CD can do pretty much better (bigger battery):

 

[Helen C]

Thanks again, all. These all seem like good bikes but I'm not very taken by the look of them.
The only ebikes i've tried are the heavy-weight Powabyke, my son's Paratrooper (great but I couldn't face fitting another kit) and a Volt Pulse. I like the look of the Pulse but of course it is not crank drive (I haven't ridden a CD, I guess my first step should be to try one). Just musing
-H

 

[trex]

do you mean this £1,399 Volt Pulse?

it won't get you up 20% gradient on throttle alone, you'll have to pedal quite a bit for that and you said at the beginning that you can't pedal very hard.
The Volt's hub motor has a similar response like this Woosh Big Bear, it will climb 10% hill on throttle but not 20%:

http://www.wooshbikes.co.uk/?motorcharts

Woosh Big (polar) Bear:

 

[Helen C]

do you mean this £1,399 Volt Pulse?

it won't get you up 20% gradient on throttle alone, you'll have to pedal quite a bit for that and you said at the beginning that you can't pedal very hard.
The Volt's hub motor has a similar response like this Woosh Big Bear, it will climb 10% hill on throttle but not 20%:

http://www.wooshbikes.co.uk/?motorcharts

Woosh Big (polar) Bear:

Thanks Trex, that looks good. And no, I can't pedal hard, just turn the cranks around, sort of thing.
-H

 

[Deleted member 4366]

There's two versions of that bike. IIRC the high-powered one is £2000. Which one did you try? Don't get confused between the two.

 

[trex]

the Volt pulse has an 8-Fun motor, it looks like an 8-Fun SWXK5.
The problem is low motor efficiency at low speed. The hub motor is perfectly good up to 12% gradient (12% for BPM, 10% for SWXK5), then becomes inefficient quickly for anything above.
The crank drive is better in this respect. The Sirocco CD (8-speed 11-34T) can climb 15% on throttle alone. I guess the 36V 25A BBS01 should be good enough to climb 20% hills on throttle alone.

 

[Helen C]

There's two versions of that bike. IIRC the high-powered one is £2000. Which one did you try? Don't get confused between the two.

It was the lower power one, but I only rode it on the flat. I hadn't realised just how steep the hill from the shops is until I used the Woosh predictor. The steepest I tried on the Powabyke was 12% - and I managed that fine (pedal & throttle together) but I understand now that a hub drive just won't do the 20%. Thanks to all for clarifying this.
-H

 

[Helen C]

Would this be suitable? (will a carrier fit?)
-H

 

[trex]

definitely yes, it's one of the best bikes currently on the market.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

The Big Bear has a hub-motor that gives a lot of torquue. I'd be surprised if you couldn't get up a 20% hill on one. I went up a 30% hill on one, and I weigh twice as much as you.

 

[flecc]

This from the original post:

My regular ride would take in a 20% incline

I can only pedal very gently, due to a knee condition.

stop part way up a hill and then restart without first having to turn the pedals around

Those are unlikely to be possible on any mainstream legal e-bike, no matter what hub or crank motor.

 

[Geebee]

... that I can have an ebike (just a dream at the moment).
My regular ride would take in a 20% incline (so the Woosh site tells me) and I can only pedal very gently, due to a knee condition. I read that centre drive is best for hills but does this still hold true if you can't pedal very hard? I definitely need a throttle, so that I can stop part way up a hill and then restart without first having to turn the pedals around (I can pedal once it's moving, just not with a lot of pressure).
I weigh 8st 2lbs (inside leg 29") but would be carrying shopping up the hill. I'd expect most journeys to be less than 15 miles total.
Wheel size needs to be 26" or more.
Can't think of anything else at the moment. I don't have a budget yet.
Thanks
-H

Helen, what length is the hill and how much of it is 20%?
I can climb 20% grade inclines on my Tonaro and I can put out close to no power ATM, if it is intermittently 20% it will be a peice of cake if it is long and all 20% it would require similar pedal power as riding on the flat at low speed at worst, correction I just checked your weight (25 kg less than me) it will require no effort to climb a 20% grade but will be slow 7 to 8 kph maybe.
The beauty of a crank drive is that if it is to hard you can swap the sprockets to lower the gearing even further.