New Gtech ebike

trex

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 15, 2011
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very funny croxden. I will get used to the new regime eventually.
Back to why I like the Gtech so much, the truth is customers like to know that support is good but no need for support is better or best though.
from that perspective, the Gtech is great. The derailleur may be a great invention but it has its problems. Chain can come off, hanger bend after a fall, people don't know how to adjust the gear cable, grease and black muck. Yuk, yuk...get rid of it and quick.
 

Gubbins

Esteemed Pedelecer
very funny croxden. I will get used to the new regime eventually.
Back to why I like the Gtech so much, the truth is customers like to know that support is good but no need for support is better or best though.
from that perspective, the Gtech is great. The derailleur may be a great invention but it has its problems. Chain can come off, hanger bend after a fall, people don't know how to adjust the gear cable, grease and black muck. Yuk, yuk...get rid of it and quick.
How often have I heard said when just nipping to the shop. Don't you be going biking in those jeans......
Not that Jean would mind but you can easily get that hard to remove dark stain at the bottom of your right leg.
Is there some reason why we don't see this type of drive with hub gears? I am sure someone will post a link but I have never seen one in the bike shops.
 
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trex

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May 15, 2011
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I can put belt drive and Nexus hub gear on the next revision of the Karoo but would you pay £100-£125 more for them?

sorry for going off topic.
 
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trex

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May 15, 2011
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thanks Phill.
 

Croxden

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jan 26, 2013
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Rohloff don't recommend belt drive with their hub gears, don't know why, I would have paid the extra. Whether it would have done eight thousand miles the chain has so far clocked up without drama I couldn't say. What's the longest anyone has managed with a belt drive, is it known?
 

Gubbins

Esteemed Pedelecer
I suppose that on an off road bike there would be a risk of debris getting stuck in there and where a chain would cut through twigs and mud a solid belt may have issues.
If it was viable we would see them in use.
 

flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
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I suppose that on an off road bike there would be a risk of debris getting stuck in there and where a chain would cut through twigs and mud a solid belt may have issues.
If it was viable we would see them in use.
The necessity for a split fame is the major objection to belt drive.

A second one is the need for perfect alignment. I worked for years on equipment using these, and know that the slightest misalignment results in the belt self destructing very rapidly.

A third one is that, despite protestations to the contrary, they are a little less efficient than a chain and sprockets.

And a fourth is that a quick repair on the road is impossible, unlike chains which can often be "get-home" repaired on the spot with a splitter and quick link.
.
 
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the_killjoy

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May 26, 2008
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Obviously one can avoid the split frame by either using a single suspension unit with a narrow 'swinging arm' or carrying the 'sprocket' on an outrigger but obviously that means an extra bearing.
 

flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
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Obviously one can avoid the split frame by either using a single suspension unit with a narrow 'swinging arm' or carrying the 'sprocket' on an outrigger but obviously that means an extra bearing.
Those are indeed solutions, and they've been used on motorcycles. But they incur more weight, very unwelcome on bicycles.
.
 

RobF

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Sep 22, 2012
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How often have I heard said when just nipping to the shop. Don't you be going biking in those jeans......
Not that Jean would mind but you can easily get that hard to remove dark stain at the bottom of your right leg.
Is there some reason why we don't see this type of drive with hub gears? I am sure someone will post a link but I have never seen one in the bike shops.
Cube make a few belt drive bikes, including a Bosch ebike with moto tyres.

http://www.cube.eu/uk/products/e-bike-hardtail/suv-hybrid/cube-suv-hybrid-race-500-275-blackngrey-2016/
 

Izzyekerslike

Esteemed Pedelecer
Apr 3, 2015
455
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Leeds, West Yorkshire
Everyone just seems so vague about the range?
Do you have to push it up steep hills?
It's not rocket science,fully charge the battery,find a route which has some mix of flat,inclines and say one steep hill. Use the PAS to optimum to suit the climbs,use an average unfit rider.
How far did it go?
I am tempted to get one under the 14 day deal and test it myself,but I am hardly impartial.
KudosDave
Who better to test one than you as a professional and you should test it against your nearest product. As long as it's factual, honest and fair go for it. I for one would look forward to reading such a test. + it should really liven up this thread.
 
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BrendanJ

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 6, 2016
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Cheshire
Hi All,
So I have now had the GTECH for 1.5 weeks. I wont go over my earlier post which you can refer back to but will update on how it has performed,
I am approx. 90kg male aged 57, so not belonging to the lycra brigade. Simply I liked the idea of some exercise and pleasure cycling with my wife, she's got one too, is about 60kg and 59 years, so the result so far
In the last week we have done 28 miles and still not empty but close to it, its on the last red bar, but I will run it down completely and it is possible that I will get the 30 miles.
My usage has been predominantly on half power position changing to full power on the hills (because im lazy) why do more than you need, same as having gears but not using them!!!
We have one quite steep hill close to us and we achieved it from a sitting position which we definitely did not expect. In fact my wife shouted out loud "incredible" we were so chuffed. Most of our journeys were admittedly reasonably flat, but I find even slight inclines and wind against you can really be draining and this is were it really performs with what seems like a brisk pace of 10 /11 mph with little effort.
My wifes bike on the other hand is only down from 4 bars to 3 but she would insist on switching it off saying she wanted the exercise, which by my view somewhat defeats the object, but the point is also demonstrates that the single gearing of the bike is ok, she also fired it up for hills and inclines
At my age and weight I was really unlikely to get back into cycling with my standard bike, for me its meant to be the pleasure I had when I was young and not some kind of fitness torture and for sure it really brought the pleasure back. I cannot describe the feeling at each stop start when it drives you back up to cruising speed with no more than a little pressure on the pedals and for sure this low intensity exercise is for sure the right way for me and I expect will indeed improve my fitness anyway as well as opening up the countryside which with walking is even more limited range for me with arthritic hip

So on balance our decision (unanimously) is we are keeping them and look forward to many more rides, other than walking into the pub with the helmets and having to explain to everyone what they are like!!!

A few points on the GTECH strategy that seems contentious, but only my opinion
- Gears. I think the bike is just fine without them, its clearly less complicated, crucially less weight and they have done their homework on getting the base gearing right and the motor torque right, so why would you need both unless you are clearly in the lycra brigade for which this bike is not designed for you
- The carbon drive is really neat, again light weight, clean and enables a very tight and precise control of the torque, ie no slack or play etc

- For those that somehow resent GTECH entry to the market and decry their credentials, I would point out that their design nouse so far has been spot on with all there pducts and they are clearly developing some "know how in battery technology" and the bike seems designed for the western market and not just CHina with some small niche sales in the West.
I admit that I did not really look at E bikes till the GTECH came along but after some research "my god some of the bikes out there are dam ugly and clunky technology. I certainly wouldn't be seen dead on one no matter what the range!, and the better ones that you do see are not cheap

- So a classic situation of horses for courses. My view is this bike is for either city workers of all ages, or for older types who use it for pleasure and fitness, pleasure put first and as such there is clearly a market.

Now to the point about price, at £1000 it is a little expensive, £700 would be nice but be realistic they are not yet shifting volumes so it will come down in time and they have to cover development. This has clearly be designed from the bottom up, not like some of the bikes out there that have just be bolted together is a Chinese workshop, and the quality is really top notch
One big criticism they seemed to get from some of you was the original £1700 price tag. Um!!! I have a feeling they new exactly what they were doing. They are market building / exploring, better to bring the price down once they have gauged the market, but I also understand manufacturing and I bet 100% they had limited start-up supplies so did not want to oversell and not be able to supply or have too many that they could not shift.
As far as the spec is concerned and the range. They have clearly aimed at a specific market, so why over engineer but again my experience is this is probably there opening price point model so don't be surprised in 12 months they don't find the way of increasing the range for the rest of the market and add a few gadgets such as odometers etc, sat nav, anti theft locking devices etc

I for one will enjoy my bike but look forward to the development of this market and indeed this thread, which whilst it has been very negative so far with perhaps some vested interests being a little protective, I do believe that GTECH could actually develop a market which could be good for everyone
Only one negative for me, it won't hoover the stairs:)
 

Tonegee

Just Joined
Feb 21, 2013
1
7
I don't normally post on forums like this but was reading reviews on here about the Gtech eBike before I committed to buy one for my wife.

I've read mixed reviews but most of them from people who haven't even tried the Gtech so I assume they are just comparing written specs.

Seeing as Gtech offer a 14 day free trial I decided to get one and test it for myself. I've owned 3 eBikes myself to date, two of which I sold on due to lack of hill climbing power so I have something to compare too and here are my conclusions....

The Gtech didn't loose too much speed on some very long hills. Portsdown Hill on the edge of Portsmouth being one of them, we cycled both sides of it and the speed only dropped down to 12-13mph from 15mph and kept it constant all the way up. Two of my previous eBikes with 250w motors slowed down to 7mph and I had to changed down gears to compensate. ( 24v Cyclomatic and 36v Rover were the eBikes )

Distance wise... Today we traveled 10.2 miles on a full charge which included Portsdown Hill plus a few other shorter hills on the way and by the time we got home the indicator was showing 2 bars. Gtech claim 7 miles per bar in their manual I think so if you take into account the long hills traveled today then I'd say that was about right. I believe we could have turned around and done the journey again.

So 20 miles including hills is doable with the 5.6Ah battery in my opinion, 30 miles maybe if the terrain was just flat, but my wife only wants it for local traveling to the shops with the occasional longer trip which wouldn't be more than about 8 miles anyway. She hates gears and hates hills too !

The Gtech eBike gets a thumbs up from us ( tested )

Only downside so far... no suspension, but has been rectified by fitting a suspension seat post and a BIG BUM gel seat, not saying she has a big bum !

My current bike for the past two years after by bad experience with the Cyclomatic and Rover is a XIPI 1500w 28mph Diamondback Response with a 16Ah battery but would still ride the Gtech any day of the week.
 
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anotherkiwi

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jan 26, 2015
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How often have I heard said when just nipping to the shop. Don't you be going biking in those jeans......
Not that Jean would mind but you can easily get that hard to remove dark stain at the bottom of your right leg.
Is there some reason why we don't see this type of drive with hub gears? I am sure someone will post a link but I have never seen one in the bike shops.
labrador.jpg
I dreamt of putting a mid-drive on a Winora Labrador when I first got into this pedelec lark last year. But it has an eccentric BB shell (note to Bafang et al - design a motor adaptor for eccentric BB shells). An old model was on promotion at 1500€, when you know the sum total of all the bits they have on this bike bought individually it was quite a bargain!
 
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gray198

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Apr 4, 2012
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2 very good and thought provoking reviews there. I have seen there have been a lot of negative comments about the Gtech bike but I don't think they have been made by people who have ridden it or own one. I think there is definitely a place for them and worrying about the range could be solved by carrying a spare battery. I would imagine they are not too heavy. I am thinking that one of these with mudguards fitted would suit me. I tend to go between 15 and 20 miles on flat trails (old railway lines ). Very tempted
 

BrendanJ

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 6, 2016
339
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Cheshire
Batt
2 very good and thought provoking reviews there. I have seen there have been a lot of negative comments about the Gtech bike but I don't think they have been made by people who have ridden it or own one. I think there is definitely a place for them and worrying about the range could be solved by carrying a spare battery. I would imagine they are not too heavy. I am thinking that one of these with mudguards fitted would suit me. I tend to go between 15 and 20 miles on flat trails (old railway lines ). Very tempted
battery weighs 1.4kg and as my wife insists on keeping hers switched off, when mine runs out I'll just swap! Ha!!