I said in my intro post that I would let folks know how order with Cycle Solutions went and my first impressions of the bike, here goes:
The order
The bike arrived 3 weeks from order (they had no stock) on the day they said they would deliver it (and earlier than their first estimate of mid-August), fully assembled (except for pedals and the handlebar sideways) in a big cardboard box. 20 mins later I had the pedals on and the handle bars square, using the free toolkit they shipped with it and was riding round the car park, everything just worked, so I guess Cycle Solutions did the build and set up well.
I have the bike through the Cycle to Work scheme with a 1 year salary sacrifice of about £75pm before tax and about 39% less after tax. Technically it is leased from Cycle Solutions by my employer until the end the year, they hire it to me for the salary sacrifice, then ownership passes back to Cycle Solutions who have signed a free 5 year hire agreement with me after which ownership passes to me free of charge which seems better that some other schemes. They also discounted the bike by 10% allowing it to come under the £1000 scheme limit, so pretty good deal I think adding it all together 50% off RRP with the down side that I don't actually own it for a long time.
The bike
Very pleased with the bike. Before today I had not ridden a bike for maybe 10years, I have an total knee replacement in my left leg and have not even done much walking this year due to bladder problems following surgery and radiotherapy a few years ago, but the lack of exercise was taking its toll. So when my employer announced the scheme and Cycle Solutions came with their roadshow and I saw the Wisper and found it was in the scheme I thought I would go for it.
Rather than cop out and put the bike in my car, I left my car at work and rode the bike home, the first 2 Km on the flat, that was easy and I was often managing more than the 15mph limit, it was nice cruising past the traffic jam on the cycle lane. It took the first hill - about 1:10 for maybe 200m in its stride giving noticeable assistance. I played about with the twist grip and the assist level
Down the other side of that, the hydraulic brakes really showed themselves off, I had V brakes on the last bike, and have never used hydraulic brakes on a push bike before, I was very impressed.
Then a short ride to the bottom of our lane, with a 180m climb over 2km with a bit of level ground in the middle. The steepest part is about 1:6 for maybe 20m. I and the bike managed the first climb, where I took a rest for a few minutes. The assist (now at maximum) was very noticeable and powerful enough to keep my speed up to about 10 mph on the 2nd largest cog. While I was taking a rest I felt the motor which was hardly warm.
No problems on the "level" bit and then came the second climb. The first part of that was again OK but mostly using the largest cog and and about 8mph ... then it goes steep. At that point I was getting tired, the assist wasn't assisting that much, so I got off and walked up the 20m or so. I got a chance then to to try the walk feature which worked fine, I just had to guide the bike.
I got back on after that and cycled the rest of the way home up the rest of the (more moderate) hill to mu house.
Another good thing was that the battery was still going string, the old Lead Acid Powabyke and Currie kit I had were both pretty much flat by the time I got home. The other thing that used to happen was that both of those would often over heat and cut out, the Wisper did not show any sign of overheating
All in all I would say a success for me, I like the bike, though it is perhaps bit tall at the front. I think that once I get my fitness back up and my weight down (about 89kg at the moment) I reckon I'll be able to manage the steep bit too.
I wish the scheme had a higher limit or allowed you to put extra cash in, then I would have got a 905 Torque.
Hope I did not ramble too much
Cheers
The order
The bike arrived 3 weeks from order (they had no stock) on the day they said they would deliver it (and earlier than their first estimate of mid-August), fully assembled (except for pedals and the handlebar sideways) in a big cardboard box. 20 mins later I had the pedals on and the handle bars square, using the free toolkit they shipped with it and was riding round the car park, everything just worked, so I guess Cycle Solutions did the build and set up well.
I have the bike through the Cycle to Work scheme with a 1 year salary sacrifice of about £75pm before tax and about 39% less after tax. Technically it is leased from Cycle Solutions by my employer until the end the year, they hire it to me for the salary sacrifice, then ownership passes back to Cycle Solutions who have signed a free 5 year hire agreement with me after which ownership passes to me free of charge which seems better that some other schemes. They also discounted the bike by 10% allowing it to come under the £1000 scheme limit, so pretty good deal I think adding it all together 50% off RRP with the down side that I don't actually own it for a long time.
The bike
Very pleased with the bike. Before today I had not ridden a bike for maybe 10years, I have an total knee replacement in my left leg and have not even done much walking this year due to bladder problems following surgery and radiotherapy a few years ago, but the lack of exercise was taking its toll. So when my employer announced the scheme and Cycle Solutions came with their roadshow and I saw the Wisper and found it was in the scheme I thought I would go for it.
Rather than cop out and put the bike in my car, I left my car at work and rode the bike home, the first 2 Km on the flat, that was easy and I was often managing more than the 15mph limit, it was nice cruising past the traffic jam on the cycle lane. It took the first hill - about 1:10 for maybe 200m in its stride giving noticeable assistance. I played about with the twist grip and the assist level
Down the other side of that, the hydraulic brakes really showed themselves off, I had V brakes on the last bike, and have never used hydraulic brakes on a push bike before, I was very impressed.
Then a short ride to the bottom of our lane, with a 180m climb over 2km with a bit of level ground in the middle. The steepest part is about 1:6 for maybe 20m. I and the bike managed the first climb, where I took a rest for a few minutes. The assist (now at maximum) was very noticeable and powerful enough to keep my speed up to about 10 mph on the 2nd largest cog. While I was taking a rest I felt the motor which was hardly warm.
No problems on the "level" bit and then came the second climb. The first part of that was again OK but mostly using the largest cog and and about 8mph ... then it goes steep. At that point I was getting tired, the assist wasn't assisting that much, so I got off and walked up the 20m or so. I got a chance then to to try the walk feature which worked fine, I just had to guide the bike.
I got back on after that and cycled the rest of the way home up the rest of the (more moderate) hill to mu house.
Another good thing was that the battery was still going string, the old Lead Acid Powabyke and Currie kit I had were both pretty much flat by the time I got home. The other thing that used to happen was that both of those would often over heat and cut out, the Wisper did not show any sign of overheating
All in all I would say a success for me, I like the bike, though it is perhaps bit tall at the front. I think that once I get my fitness back up and my weight down (about 89kg at the moment) I reckon I'll be able to manage the steep bit too.
I wish the scheme had a higher limit or allowed you to put extra cash in, then I would have got a 905 Torque.
Hope I did not ramble too much
Cheers
