Looking for a reliable ebike to do the London knowledge on, please help!

[Knowledge boy]

Get a Woosh Karoo e road bike with 15ah/540 wh battery good for 70ish miles and a second battery is only circa £300, when all done and dusted the bike if not required will sell easily and quickly on their website. We know it is good for 70 miles because EPJ did an independent unbiased review/evaluation of it and posted it on here.

Nice one thanks, great info! Are good general bikes though?

 

[D8ve]

Thanks gents, how reliable is the 50-70 miles though? Just looking at the site and i think the http://wooshbikes.co.uk/?bigbear would be more suitable for me and still only just over a grand so alot more reasonable, how are they on the reliability factor??

They can brake but woosh have a good reputation for prompt support. No worries choosing them they will do the job at a good price.

 

[Knowledge boy]

They can brake but woosh have a good reputation for prompt support. No worries choosing them they will do the job at a good price.

Thanks d8ve!

 

[Nealh]

EddiePJ was sent a Karoo to review, he lives in hilly Crowboroug in East Sx.
http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/threads/2016-woosh-karoo-hub-drive.23864/

For your needs then nearly any bike will do the job you require with a spare battery, if you are thinking of the bike as a permanent fixture then by all means spend wisely.

 

[Knowledge boy]

EddiePJ was sent a Karoo to review, he lives in hilly Crowboroug in East Sx.
http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/threads/2016-woosh-karoo-hub-drive.23864/

For your needs then nearly any bike will do the job you require with a spare battery, if you are thinking of the bike as a permanent fixture then by all means spend wisely.

Can they have a dongle fitted?

 

[Nealh]

Dongle not needed as the speed restriction can be removed via the lcd by pressing a few button.

 

[D8ve]

Remove the speed limit and the range drops verrry quickly.
15 mph is nippy compared to most MTB,s.
And will out drag race most cyclists to 15.

 

[Knowledge boy]

Dongle not needed as the speed restriction can be removed via the lcd by pressing a few button.

Nice! The big bear is a big heavy bike and im a big heavy bloke so sounds like it could be a perfect match.
How would i know what buttons to press or is there something on google about it? How fast will it go upto? Thank you.

 

[Knowledge boy]

Remove the speed limit and the range drops verrry quickly.
15 mph is nippy compared to most MTB,s.
And will out drag race most cyclists to 15.

Sounds good but itd be nice to 'just have it there' incase i needed it for whatever reason..

 

[Danidl]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/322025572774?lpid=122&chn=ps&adgroupid=36165537022&rlsatarget=pla-277568668550&adtype=pla&poi=&googleloc=9045572&device=c&campaignid=738474636&crdt=0

tho you could use that and the charger you get with it then 4hrs to charge the 500w.

... Not a good call. I am also suggesting that a 12v to 220v AC invertor /convertor , used in conjunction with your vendor supplied battery charger rather than a specialised 12v charger Is the way to go. The difference being that you require a 350w inverter not the powerful beast suggested. That type of inverter is intended to power a chop saw or similar power tool, while the engine is running.
A bigger inverter will not charge the battery any faster, and will discharge your vans battery quicker.
As an example the Bosch battery charger needs 220v AC at a current of 1.5amp and will output a DC voltage rising to 41v at a current of 4 amps is input power of 330w and outpost power of 160w. The 330w number would be a worst case turning on load and would probably be closer to 200w after switch on. The inverter will draws maximum of 27amp from the car battery and would need to be connected accross the battery rather than via the cigarette lighter socket
Other chargers from other bike vendors will be different, but in the same ballpark.
I would agree that bringing the battery with you into coffee shops and charging up for an hour on the trot, while taking lunch or breakfast would be the way to go.

 

[soundwave]

well thats the ps4 and the 55inc tv out the window then

 

[Knowledge boy]

... Not a good call. I am also suggesting that a 12v to 220v AC invertor /convertor , used in conjunction with your vendor supplied battery charger rather than a specialised 12v charger Is the way to go. The difference being that you require a 350w inverter not the powerful beast suggested. That type of inverter is intended to power a chop saw or similar power tool, while the engine is running.
A bigger inverter will not charge the battery any faster, and will discharge your vans battery quicker.
As an example the Bosch battery charger needs 220v AC at a current of 1.5amp and will output a DC voltage rising to 41v at a current of 4 amps is input power of 330w and outpost power of 160w. The 330w number would be a worst case turning on load and would probably be closer to 200w after switch on. The inverter will draws maximum of 27amp from the car battery and would need to be connected accross the battery rather than via the cigarette lighter socket
Other chargers from other bike vendors will be different, but in the same ballpark.
I would agree that bringing the battery with you into coffee shops and charging up for an hour on the trot, while taking lunch or breakfast would be the way to go.

Thanks dan, even if i didnt totally understand it, im a chef by trade so the most technical i get is switching a blender on but i catch your drift and thanks again.

 

[Nealh]

The Big Bear unrestricted (don't tell Woosh schhh) will cruise nicely along at 18 - 19.8mph on the flat and about 22 on slight declines find a big hill to go down and you will have a . The J-Lcd is simple just switch it on and long press the up/down buttons together for 5-10secs to enter in to the options to set time, wheel size, speed, imp or metric. The controller will deliver the full 20amps as and when needed going up hill is effortless. Two batteries and you should be good for 3 days I reckon, the problem is you won't want to stop.

 

[Knowledge boy]

The Big Bear will do about 19.8mph on the flat and about 22 on slight declines find a big hill to go down and you will have a . The J-Lcd is simple just switch it on and long press the up/down buttons together for 5-10secs to enter in to the options to set time, wheel size, speed, imp or metric. The controller will deliver the full 20amps as and when needed going up hill is effortless.

Niiiiiiice! Im grinning like a cheshire cat Just thinking about it!

 

[soundwave]

a bosch bike will be a bit faster tho as with the dongle you have all of the 700w motor power. it cost a lot more tho.

what the avg speed you get depends how fit you are and what gearing you have.

 

[Danidl]

Really?! Thats crap, how do the manufacturers get away with saying theyve got 150km range?! Its absurd!

.. my advice might be contrary to some you have already been given. The Motus is a lovely bike, i have one and am very pleased with it. It may not be optimal for your needs. I see it as better as a suburban or country road type bike, rather than for the city. A bike with smaller wheels is better for inner city use and maybe even a folder which would be easy to get into the van. Small wheels allow faster acceleration and braking and are more manouverable .
There are problems with folders as the geometry is not optimised, so a non folding smaller wheeled bike.

In reference to your complaint about distances and batterys...
There is a huge amount of fantasy about ebike ranges. It takes a certain amount of energy to propel a body up to 15 miles per hour, and whenever the bike brakes to stop all that energy is lost. There is no efficient method of recovering that kinetic energy. If a bike goes up a hill then it requires additional energy, which may or may not be recovered when it comes down the next hill. The tyre pressure contributes to energy loss ... High pressure being better efficiency. Wind and air resistance and rider stance are all major contributors to energy loss. Power loss goes up as the cube of the wind speed. So a bike travelling at 10 miles per hour will consume 8 times more energy than one travelling at 5 miles per hour , in still air...
So a lightweight person travelling slowly on level ground in a aerodynamic like stance , without stopping or starting could easily achieve the published target,
On a legal bike and if they got up to a speed of 27km hr they could cycle indefinitely without consuming battery power!

 

[Knowledge boy]

a bosch bike will be a bit faster tho as with the dongle you have all of the 700w motor power. it cost a lot more tho.

what the avg speed you get depends how fit you are and what gearing you have.
View attachment 18195

I think im about avg fitness although havent cycled for years... Gearing? I guess itll be whatevers on the bike when i buy it?! I could get two whoosh batts for one bosch so for the sake of 2-3 mph i dont really think theyres much contest imho

 

[Danidl]

well thats the ps4 and the 55inc tv out the window then

... No they will probably fit within the 350w ceiling. New TVs are really low power.

 

[Nealh]

For the money it has too be one of the best buys in e bike world, the bpm hub is almost bullet proof may be every 1 - 2k miles or so just open it up and dob some more grease in if it gets a bit noisy and also every 1k check for any grinding noise from the side plate sealed bearing which is a quick 10 min or so replacement job. Gearing wise the bpm (big powerful motor) doesn't really need many but the big bear has plenty to cope.
Bloody hell I should be a Woosh salesmen .

 

[Knowledge boy]

.. my advice might be contrary to some you have already been given. The Motus is a lovely bike, i have one and am very pleased with it. It may not be optimal for your needs. I see it as better as a suburban or country road type bike, rather than for the city. A bike with smaller wheels is better for inner city use and maybe even a folder which would be easy to get into the van. Small wheels allow faster acceleration and braking and are more manouverable .
There are problems with folders as the geometry is not optimised, so a non folding smaller wheeled bike.

In reference to your complaint about distances and batterys...
There is a huge amount of fantasy about ebike ranges. It takes a certain amount of energy to propel a body up to 15 miles per hour, and whenever the bike brakes to stop all that energy is lost. There is no efficient method of recovering that kinetic energy. If a bike goes up a hill then it requires additional energy, which may or may not be recovered when it comes down the next hill. The tyre pressure contributes to energy loss ... High pressure being better efficiency. Wind and air resistance and rider stance are all major contributors to energy loss. Power loss goes up as the cube of the wind speed. So a bike travelling at 10 miles per hour will consume 8 times more energy than one travelling at 5 miles per hour , in still air...
So a lightweight person travelling slowly on level ground in a aerodynamic like stance , without stopping or starting could easily achieve the published target,
On a legal bike and if they got up to a speed of 27km hr they could cycle indefinitely without consuming battery power!

Interesting dan, thanks