Other impressions of the BS10:
This thing is fast, obviously. 25-27mph cruising on the third (Sport) and fourth (Turbo) power settings. The top power setting isn't actually a lot more than the one below it. On the second power setting (Tour) i find myself cruising at 15-16mph, but i can spin it up to about 18 too. Eco seems to be best suited for dawdling at 10-13mph, which is what i would use mostly for most leisure rides. These are all on the flat of course.
The excellent HMI display on the handlebars gave me the following ranges when i set out:
Turbo 26 miles
Sport 32 miles
Tour 44 miles
Eco 68 miles
My ride out to the hills today was done mostly in Eco with me just hitting Tour whenever i had a normal hill (in hilly north Manchester, so up to 10%). This worked just fine. The ride to the hills was around 7 miles and by the time i came to the first of the two big climb the range in Eco/Tour with a range of about 50/30 miles showing in those modes. None of five battery bars was out however.
Conditions were horrible, it was raining when i set off and didn't stop at all during the ride. Winds were high on exposed parts of the ride too. New bike and a day off work saw me heading out anyway.
The first serious climb was The Rake, a road climb that has now been used as the venue for the National Cycle Hill Climb Championship, it's basically 1000 metres of pain for most cyclists. The BS10 went up the first section easily, but i began to struggle on the second part at the steepest section. I actually think the bike would've done this fairly easily, but i was mindful of a queue of cars following and pushed too hard too soon. I had to take a 30 second breather and curse my lack of fitness. So steep is the road that as the cars accelerated to pass me while i took my break, they spun their tyres alarmingly. After this break i knew the remaining part of the climb was fairly short so i sprinted up out of the saddle, and the bike verily shot up the remaining part like a rocket.
Almost immediately at the top of The Rake is the climb up Holcombe Hill to Peel Tower, this is an off-road climb with gradients between 20 and 30%, steeper than The Rake and the surface is very rough in place. It's also twice as long, but despite this i managed to get 2/3rds of the way up before i had to take another short breather.
On the way to the top i watched the power meter on the display closely, it seems that to acheive peak assistance in bottom gear i have to be spinning fast enough that the bike would be doing 9mph. On the steepest parts of both climbs my cadence dropped to such that i could only make 5mph, and this meant i was only getting 2/3rds of the possible assistance the motor could give. 9mph on gradients of up to 30% is a LOT, a testament to the power of the bike that i could maintain it for several minutes though.
At Peel Tower the conditions were so bad with driving rain and high winds that i didnt even stop, just turned around and rode back down, carefully with both brakes on all the way on the slimy mud and rocks. I'm not sure i went down any faster than i went up. It did give me a good idea of just how capable the Magura MT2 brakes are though. Superb, better than any of the hydraulic disc brakes i've used, and i've had lots from the first Hope discs onwards. The feel is fantastic, and the long (if not fashionable) levers give you confidence than you can put in enough power to stop the bike whenever you want. There was no sign of fade.
I had quickly glanced at the ranges remaining at the top and the HMI unit said 5 miles in Turbo (highest) and 12 miles in Eco. I was fairly sure it was expecting more insane climbs and would re-adjust once it realised there weren't any. The battery indicator still showed 4 out of five bars remaining.
At the bottom i found a little shelter under some trees and stopped for a quick vape of my e-cig. While i was there i got a call that i was needed back home as soon as i could get there.
I knew the ride back would be easier and opted for the roads and engaged Turbo for the whole thing. I covered the distance back without incident at a high speed. Travelling at 25-27mph with cars just slowly passing you feels a lot safer than having a higher speed differential.
On arriving back home i checked the HMI unit and it was still at 3 out of 5 bars remaining, and the remaining range had increased to 11 miles in Turbo and 28 in Eco. In total the ride was a smidge over twenty miles and i was very pleased to have used less than half the battery with the huge gradients involved and the heavy use of the highest assistance.
Gear shifting on the bike was faultless, Shimano XT has always been good and this 10-speed version is no exception.
The seat was very comfortable, but i found the ride a little harsh, my Wisper had a suspension seat post, so it may just be that i'm not used to a rigid rear triangle and solid seat post.
Heavy rain caused no issues with the electronics.
The mudguards did a good job and they do not rattle or catch the tyres at all. Speaking of tyres, the Continental tyres never slipped and i felt quite confident on them.
The Ergon grips were welcome, i've always fitted them to my bikes for a good few years now, so they were what i am used to.
The adjustable stem, this seemed to develop a little movement, i had tightened it when i got the bike, but only with a multi-tool. It looks as though i need to apply more torque with a proper allen wrench.
The forks were amazing, simply superb. I've had many hybrid type forks and they had all previously been so bad as i considered them to be dead weight. The Suntour NCX-D on this bike feels like a proper mountain bike fork, no stiction, smooth action and good damping. It has a remote lockout, but i never used it and probably never will.
Overall i am very happy with the bike so far. The high gearing was an issue i expected, to me having the speed for utility use is more important. The sort of climbs i did today are not the sort i would take on for fun, they were purely to test the limits of the bike.
I will update this thread with longer term reviews as i put miles on the bike. Tomorrow i will try the same ride on the Agattu.
