My Gtech eBike Sport review!.

[Kudoscycles]

Keith....Richmond Park is our test route for any new Kudos bikes....we have a new batch of bikes due next week and will be tested on that route.
The Park has a typical terrain that most Pedelecers want to overcome.
It has 2 steepish short hills-Dark hill and Broomfield Hill and a longish shallower climb-Sawyers Hill.
Most bikers ride the Park anti clockwise,the route is about 7 miles and has an altitude difference 50-200 ft.
We usually find a 10 Ah battery with normal Pedelec use manages 3 laps and runs out of juice within the 4th lap,occasionally we get 4 full laps but that is rare,but that is 12 climbs so probably fair.
Do you think it would be a good idea for me to invite G-tech on our next testing day to fairly test on the same test route?
The testers are average fit guys,but that is only so they can continue testing all day,we use max power on all the climbs.
The problem I have with the G-tech is that the wonderful publicity programme does persuade customers that they are going to get 30 miles plus range and climb hills without effort-in particular the lady overtaking the Lycra guy looks to be climbing without any effort or sweat.
My customer bought into that advert,he thought he was buying a mini motorbike,the reality was for him very disappointing and he assumed all e-bikes were the same,the difference when he rode the KTM was a revelation,he's fed up that he will lose £500 by the time he sells his G-tech,not surprisingly he's fed up.
G-tech should be more honest about the bikes performance and range.
I rode the bike just up the road,not really a fair test,to be fair I am 100 kgs,but it felt very placid.
If you speak to G-tech I would gladly let them in my test day,it will be interesting to compare with the new Kudos Stealth.
KudosDave

 

[D8ve]

Is there a speed limit in the park?

 

[Kudoscycles]

Is there a speed limit in the park?

20 mph.

 

[Kudoscycles]

Just don't understand why G-tech didn't put a 10Ah concealed battery and some gears,with their advertising investment they would have sold thousands.
The additional cost would have been minimal
It wasn't necessary to be pioneers with the little battery and carbon belt drive,they would have been the first seller to do a proper marketing job in the UK,but the lack of gears was a risk that wasn't necessary.
Having said that I admire their bravery of spending so much on marketing to a country which has very low e-bike usage.
KudosDave

 

[KeithMac]

Would be interesting to run a Gtech on your track (even a customer supplied one if anybody's local?).

The lack of gears and Carbon Drive were actually the selling points for me (due to less maintenance etc).

I can see the point if a rider struggles to maintain 10mph on the flat then there would be better choices, for me it was bought as a no nonsense commuting bike.

One of it's strong points is the weight, if they load it up with bigger batteries etc it moves it into a machine that's no different to the majority that are already out there for sale..

 

[Kudoscycles]

Would be interesting to run a Gtech on your track (even a customer supplied one if anybody's local?).

The lack of gears and Carbon Drive were actually the selling points for me (due to less maintenance etc).

I can see the point if a rider struggles to maintain 10mph on the flat then there would be better choices, for me it was bought as a no nonsense commuting bike.

One of it's strong points is the weight, if they load it up with bigger batteries etc it moves it into a machine that's no different to the majority that are already out there for sale..

It is true that if you add mudguards,additional 5Ah battery,lights and gears you would add about 3kg to the weight,which makes it pretty much identical to my new Stealth/Alamo bike at 19kg.
But all those features are desirable in the UK....the lady in the G-tech video with white clothes would not ride a bike in the UK without mudguards,I am criticised as having too small a battery at 10.Ah,you can't go out without some form of lighting and we live in a hilly country gears are essential to go up steep hills....they ended up producing a niche bike but their expensive advertising campaign needed volume.
I agree that would be following the crowd,but that spec is what most of the crowd wants.
There are many e-bike users who struggle to get the bike moving on a hill,many on this forum,the Bafang BPM motor was 'tuned' to give low speed high torque to get the bike away,some will not be able to get up to 10 mph,the BPM starts giving useable toque from 4 mph.
I think the e-bike industry has a few years of development behind its technology,we probably don't give ourselves credit for the state of the art that e-bikes have currently reached.
KudosDave

 

[trex]

Just don't understand why G-tech didn't put a 10Ah concealed battery and some gears,with their advertising investment they would have sold thousands.
The additional cost would have been minimal
It wasn't necessary to be pioneers with the little battery and carbon belt drive,they would have been the first seller to do a proper marketing job in the UK,but the lack of gears was a risk that wasn't necessary.
Having said that I admire their bravery of spending so much on marketing to a country which has very low e-bike usage.
KudosDave

there are a couple of reasons I think. They wanted the carbon belt making derailleur impossible, the only choice for adding gears would be a hub gear or the 2-speed SRAM automatix and the motor will have to be at the front. The battery on the Gtech looks not strangely similar to the battery on their lawnmower.

I think their markup is sufficient to pay for TV advertisement, about £50 per bike.

 

[anotherkiwi]

Remember that very large companies do not pay the same advertising rates small companies do. They have the negotiating power to pay much less.

They also have large battery volume sales so their buying price will be lower.

And nobody knows how many did they have made, unit price may be very low indeed.

 

[Kudoscycles]

Remember that very large companies do not pay the same advertising rates small companies do. They have the negotiating power to pay much less.

They also have large battery volume sales so their buying price will be lower.

And nobody knows how many did they have made, unit price may be very low indeed.

The advertising I agree with,they must get a good deal.
I got a quote for one of my bikes 1000 units including batteries,it was cheaper than the 200 off rate I currently pay but not much,I buy from the biggest e-bike producer in China so the volume scale is already there.
G-tech direct sell so no dealer margin.
KudosDave

 

[Tompattison]

Good review Keith! I too am surprised about the lack of YouTube videos or reviews on the Gtech.

I've got mine turning up on Saturday so quite looking forward to it. I'm glad you still have to 'cycle' it too. I'm looking to improve my fitness along with a little bit of help on the hills or on the way home etc.

It was a toss up between the gtech and the crossfire from halfords. I chose the gtech because it looks clean, uncluttered and 'simple'.

Guess I'll see if I've made the right decision on Saturday!

 

[KeithMac]

Let us know how you get on with it, sound the same as me.

The Carbon Drive is lovely .

 

[KeithMac]

33 miles down still 3 bars out of 4 showing on battery .

 

[Tompattison]

That's pretty impressive! Gtech's 30 mile range sounds quite conservative then obviously depending on how it's ridden!

 

[KeithMac]

Just hit 2 bars at 36 miles when I got home.

It does depend on how you ride it, I'm normally around 16mph, mainly use the assist on starts, hills and wind (assist is always on I just slow down a bit till it kicks in).

Another awful head wind tonight and it dealt with it very well!.

 

[David McCarlie]

It was the Gtech tv advert that gave me the idea for an ebike. It had never entered my mind before. After researching, I didn't go for the Gtech, I guess I'm too heavy and tall for it, so I went for the Ebco instead.

I wonder how many others were enticed into looking further into ebikes as a result of the only ebike tv advert.

 

[KeithMac]

Finished work for the week, bike still had 2 bars showing at 49 miles but I decided to charge it up tonight as busy tomorrow.

It took 2hr 37min to charge to full on a 2amp charger.

I work out 2.62hr x 2a = 5.24 amps put into the battery, therefore 5.24 amps used for 49 miles.

Sounds about right?.

 

[LeighPing]

I work out 2.62hr x 2a = 5.24 amps put into the battery, therefore 5.24 amps used for 49 miles.

Sounds about right?.

Sounds cheaper than a taxi and quicker than waiting for a bus.

 

[trex]

that's very low power consumption. 5.24AH is roughly 200WH, divided by 49 miles = 4WH per mile, about half the average consumption for most riders. You must be a strong pedaller.

 

[KeithMac]

I have been feeling my way recently with the bike, you can feel the assistance and can lean on it where necessary or alternatively you can add more in (or come out of it completely).

I'd estimate sometimes I'm using 25% motor which is enough to take the edge off it, first 500m roll out on a moring I'm using all motor while I loosen up.

Brunt of the assist is around 12-13 mph, sometimes I'm at that speed but putting in half my normal effort in so I presume as the hub is only under half load it only uses half the current?.

Still quite new to all this really!.

 

[craiggor]

Having a small battery increases millage per ah.I run Twin 4ah.When I add more batteries my bike becomes more slug like.Best I have done is 33miles on 8ah,fully loaded with 24 ah and clothes in panniers. If I lost a couple of stone and run with out mudguards and rack and just two batteries I bet my 33 mile best would increase.Time to get fit,I have put on weight with having a ebike.I used to push my pedal bike up the hill I just glide up it now.