New Gtech ebike

[gray198]

I don't think they sell it at a loss. The Gtech is cheaper to produce than the woosh Karoo and the price is similar.

To me the Karoo looks a better bike and at a very good price. What would worry me about the gtech is follow up support should gtech decide not to continue with production. I do however like the look and the concept but their undoing might be a lack of experience in the market. It is a bit of a strange leap from vacuum cleaners to ebikes. Maybe they had got some spare batteries lying around

 

[trex]

Maybe they had got some spare batteries lying around

their cordless vacuum cleaner is well liked.

 

[flecc]

It is a bit of a strange leap from vacuum cleaners to ebikes.

Bosch did it with some success.

And Hoover made the C5 recumbent trike.

.

 

[Crockers]

I really should resist this but life without a bit of spice!

That super duper car in the showrooms?
Salesman...yes sir,not long in,its very light
Can I sit in it,I see its got 5 gears?
Salesman...no sir,its only got one gear,5th
How do you set off on a hill

Maybe it's a Tesla....

 

[Alan Quay]

Gtech battery sticker with capacity.

5.5 aH. As KD says, lucky if you get 15 miles.

That'll be why the are so vague on the website then.

 

[lukewilson78]

5.5 aH. As KD says, lucky if you get 15 miles.

That'll be why the are so vague on the website then.

I'll let you know next week, I plan to ride it as much as possible and I won't recharge until it dies. I'll log every ride on Runtastic and post on here. I'm confident that it'll blow 15 miles away.

 

[Alan Quay]

I'll let you know next week, I plan to ride it as much as possible and I won't recharge until it dies. I'll log every ride on Runtastic and post on here. I'm confident that it'll blow 15 miles away.

It'll be interesting, but ultimately it will only prove how efficiently YOU can ride an electric bike. I guarantee I could drain that to LVC in 10 miles or less.

 

[lukewilson78]

It'll be interesting, but ultimately it will only prove how efficiently YOU can ride an electric bike. I guarantee I could drain that to LVC in 10 miles or less.

Which is exactly what I said earlier today in an earlier post. 2 pedelecs with 2 different riders on the same route will have totally different battery life. So rendering this discussion pointless. But, we all continued the battery discussion anyway.

 

[Alan Quay]

Which is exactly what I said earlier today in an earlier post. 2 pedelecs with 2 different riders on the same route will have totally different battery life. So rendering this discussion pointless. But, we all continued the battery discussion anyway.

Yes, but the claim of 30 miles range is ridiculous. As Kudos Dave says, 12Wh/mile is a good real word figure. That gives it a range of about 16 miles.

 

[anotherkiwi]

Yes, but the claim of 30 miles range is ridiculous. As Kudos Dave says, 12Wh/mile is a good real word figure. That gives it a range of about 16 miles.

But I'm over 60 and get 6.75...

You can't generalise (god I'm sounding like some of my secondary school teachers, I really am heading into "grumpy old man" territory) about energy use it depends on the rider, her bike and the state of the battery...

 

[Alan Quay]

But I'm over 60 and get 6.75...

You can't generalise (god I'm sounding like some of my secondary school teachers, I really am heading into "grumpy old man" territory) about energy use it depends on the rider, her bike and the state of the battery...

As has been mentioned in the other thread, if you only use 6-7 Wh/mile there's not a lot of point in the added weight, cost and complications of an electric bike. It's at least borderline.

The Gtech guys use this same figure to calculate it's range, which I think is misleading. They are effectively saying that if you don't need an ebike, you can get it to go 30 miles. It's a bit like saying you have invented a walking frame that can do the 100m in 10 seconds because you sellotaped it to Usain Bolt.

The Freego Raptor (similar bike) quotes range figures that use values between 13 and 8.8Wh/mile.

 

[Fingers]

Yes, but the claim of 30 miles range is ridiculous. As Kudos Dave says, 12Wh/mile is a good real word figure. That gives it a range of about 16 miles.

I've had 24 miles approx with a single full bar of charge remaining.

 

[lukewilson78]

I've had 24 miles approx with a single full bar of charge remaining.

So how will the doubters and nay-sayers explain this? Surely gtech couldn't claim 30 miles if it wasn't possible. I appreciate they are like car mpg figures but perhaps the Gtech has an efficient system. The 'brain' of the bike might be better at conserving power. So "real world" figures are the ones in the actual real world, not just made up. So, Fingers got 24 miles with a bar of battery left,not bad for a wee battery the size of a water bottle,I'm not surprised at all. I'll push mine as far as it'll go next week until it's dead, then I'll stick my gfs battery on it and see how far i get with that battery too. I'm totally confident that I'll be giving you similar readings from what I've had out of the bike/battery so far.

 

[trex]

The 'brain' of the bike might be better at conserving power.

of course, that's true. The brain, or controller, can conserve battery capacity by being parsimonious with assistance. Bosch and other manufacturers publish their figures for different assist modes. In eco mode, you supply half of the power requirement and the Bosch battery the other half, by keeping the speed at around 13mph, the power consumption for a 20kg Bosch bike is 6WH per mile, giving 33 miles max for your 5AH battery. There is no reason why the Gtech can't do the same. A lot of members ride much faster and put in far less effort in pedaling though.
Don't trust the battery meter totally though, it can be deceptive. At the end of the day, the same bike will go further with a higher capacity battery and it should be quite easy to replace the battery with a larger one if need be (or carry a spare one).

 

[Izzyekerslike]

Maybe (just maybe) you bike retailers are missing a trick here. Could there be a ready market for a very simple, uncomplicated, good looking, sub £1000 eBike. Sometimes when your very involved in your business you can be a little too focused and not able to see the big picture. The way I see it is that your offerings are technically superior but not as good looking and a lot of consumers will buy on looks. The 14 day trial is excellent as if the customer is happy they have accepted the shortcomings and if they return it it will have had very little use and could easily be sold at a small discount.... Then again I could be talking crap. What do you think?

 

[trex]

Maybe (just maybe) you bike retailers are missing a trick here. Could there be a ready market for a very simple, uncomplicated, good looking, sub £1000 eBike.

most specialist e-bike retailers need to make £400+ on a bike to keep their head above water. To run a shop with typically 4 staff members, you need to clear £150k net a year. From £1,000, you take out the VAT, (£166.33), at 25% margin, you would have to sell 720 Gtechs a year to stay in business. It's a noticeable percentage of the UK market for e-bikes, about 25,000 to 35,000 e-bikes a year. That's why bikes under £1000 can only be retailed by large surfaces or mail order.
Personally, I can't see Gtech continue to make e-bikes. One reason: too small turnover for them and secondly, the Gtech fits a tiny percentage of the market, most e-bike customers are 60+, they need more assistance and comfort.

 

[anotherkiwi]

Maybe (just maybe) you bike retailers are missing a trick here. Could there be a ready market for a very simple, uncomplicated, good looking, sub £1000 eBike.

Yes it is called a hub kit but not everyone wants to get their hands dirty building their own bike. Several of us have dreamed of becoming kit fitters and I believe there is a a guy in Brighton who has bitten the bullet and actually does that.

My business plan isn't for sub £1000 but rather for +£2000 tailor made bikes using the best components money can buy. The client rides away on a German or Swiss quality pedelec but with options that a factory bike cannot (or do not yet) offer. Cars have gone from the any colour if it is black Ford T to the often bewildering array of options on today's models. Pedelecs have a way to go before getting there, we are still at the "choose between black or white options for this model" stage.

 

[anotherkiwi]

most specialist e-bike retailers need to make £400+ on a bike to keep their head above water.

About 510 € I would say and no shop overhead, just a web shop and enough space for assembly and stockage.

 

[trex]

..we are still at the "choose between black or white options for this model" stage.

very much so.

 

[Kudoscycles]

Maybe (just maybe) you bike retailers are missing a trick here. Could there be a ready market for a very simple, uncomplicated, good looking, sub £1000 eBike. Sometimes when your very involved in your business you can be a little too focused and not able to see the big picture. The way I see it is that your offerings are technically superior but not as good looking and a lot of consumers will buy on looks. The 14 day trial is excellent as if the customer is happy they have accepted the shortcomings and if they return it it will have had very little use and could easily be sold at a small discount.... Then again I could be talking crap. What do you think?

Izzy.....no you are not talking crap but simple is not always easy or cheap to supply. The technology is not quite there yet to provide such a bike.
The design work in such a bike to use off the shelf parts is actually quite involved. It can be done with bespoke components but then the price rockets....look at the Freygeist.
Don't think the industry is going to sleep but it does take time to persuade the motor and/or battery manufacturers to produce parts to enable such a bike to be light and attractive to the eye. The Woosh Karoo is about as close to what can be achieved with currently available low cost parts but most would agree that it is still a compromise.
As Trex has pointed out this e-bike industry in the UK is not a wealthy industry,with a £1000 threshold point and such a small market it would be a brave man who went off to Asia and produced 1000 plus units....you guys are also fashion conscious,it would be easy to get it very wrong.
I am working on a completely different bike at the moment,it is the result of conversations on this forum,but it should meet the requirements of many Pedelec members...it has taken 18 months to get it right,so often the devil is in the detail and it needed many bespoke parts,the Asians cannot understand why the detail is so important,that bike will be released in May/June this year....there is an embargo on further info at this time,except to say that it will retail at about £700,produced in very big numbers.
KudosDave