New Gtech ebike

[trex]

it won't take you long to figure out how to add a parallel battery.

 

[Gubbins]

I see Gtech are advertising this on National TV!!!
So for 99% of the population that watch that particular channel this will be a new thing..

 

[BrendanJ]

Well, now received the bikes, one for the wife and one for me.I have to say they look quite impressive and arrived safely, although the box they came in is huge, the 2 completely filled my largish hall especially when having to pull the bike out from one end,
The set up was very easy and impressed with the very normal look of the bike, very reasonable weight 16kg all in, and the discrete water bottle battery is very good, the battery itself only weighs in at 1.4Kg so really feasible to carry a spare if needed (especially in my case if only one of us going out, can carry the other battery as spare, which for sure in my case completely eliminates range issue.
It is intended just to use as pleasure bike but combining some exercise which I dont get currently.
After adjustment went for its first outing and just like in the video adds this is really a revelation. I completely agree with all the comments on the video, its so light smooth and on half a turn of cycling cuts in smoothly to give support, either to get you up to speed or to overcome inclines with ease. Frankly it really put the pleasure back into cycling but at same time is finely balanced to allow genuine exercise, 2 levels of support and also off. My luddite wife insisted on riding with it off (so she could get some exercise!!!) which at least proves that the base gearing is reasonable, but the greatest experience is when hitting inclines were it really excels.

So, so far I have just confirmed the marketing spiel and video which you can view on GTECH website, but I of course realise the key point now is about the range. For me I rationalised that as a pleasure bike I would in reality not want more than 2 hours riding overall so on average of 10 - 15 miles per hour feel that the claimed range of 30 miles may be ok, even 20 might be ok so am minded to risk it, but have today immediately bought a wifi milometer to give it a real test during its 14 day trial period. As an over weight guy living in an area of hills I will be happy with 20miles range, we will see

I will report back on the results, as you can probably guess I really want this result to be good. It was a good experience so far

 

[Gubbins]

Really interested to see how you get on up the hills. Looking at my own bike I can't see a gear that
will comfortably ride at 15-20 mph would get me up most of the hills around here.
However, my wife's cousin (70+) rides a fixed gear. and having seen the tv advert I can see how this could be popular.
And you can't beat a money back guarantee.

 

[BrendanJ]

Really interested to see how you get on up the hills. Looking at my own bike I can't see a gear that
will comfortably ride at 15-20 mph would get me up most of the hills around here.
However, my wife's cousin (70+) rides a fixed gear. and having seen the tv advert I can see how this could be popular.
And you can't beat a money back guarantee.

Yes, my experience with gears was the more you went down the gears the slower you got which still means plenty of effort, but with the GTECH it trys to maintain speed, ie up to 15mph and for sure it tackled it with ease, just how expensive is that in terms of battery consumption
I can really see it being embarrassing when my fat frame cruises past a lycra man with 28 gears!!!! looking forward to it

 

[Gubbins]

Called in chipy today and was asked if mine was as good as the GTECH that's advertised on tv.

 

[paul lansley]

Hi, Thanks for advice and passionate debate on the pro's and cons of the Gtech - Ive been following this thread for a while now and it's interesting how arguments have swung and evolved since the 1st thread was posted.
I have become aware of ebikes only recently - but what really spiked my interest was my neighbor has just bought the Gtech and loves it. This got me thinking/dreaming whist puffing up the hill to Crystal Palace of how nice it would be to enjoy my journey home rather than spend it with a fixed grimace on my face!

I'm in my late forties and in the past would never have considered getting an e-bike as i am to my shame, self-conscious and too aware of the snobbery which exists around them - 'You're fit, why should you need an electric bike - Lazy git!'.
My neighbors Gtech has somewhat changed my opinion on this. This is not to say Im going to immediately ditch my Trek hybrid and spend a grand on a bike that seems to lack any sort of in depth independent review. (Thanks though to Finger and the other chap for interesting and informative opinions)
I feel a little from earlier reactions to posts from some others (notably some with bikes of their own to sell) that they are missing the point of why the Gtech might be attractive to users under 50 who use their bike to commute to work and back (or they get the point but write this off as a fad). This is possibly a huge emerging market. In this market looks will be as important as the spec.

A good point bought up by an early contributor was that once a commuter feels the joy of riding a e-bike they will want to take it further and the Gtech just cant meet that requirement - This has made be think i might wait 12 months and continue puffing up Crystal Palace hill on my Trek - as the way technologies are progression by then Gtech or someone else picking up the baton will create a light, good looking road bike under 1K that can handle those longer journeys.

Thanks to all for an engaging read - and more information on pedelecs on one thread than i'd found on the rest of the net!

 

[RobF]

Hi, Thanks for advice and passionate debate on the pro's and cons of the Gtech - Ive been following this thread for a while now and it's interesting how arguments have swung and evolved since the 1st thread was posted.
I have become aware of ebikes only recently - but what really spiked my interest was my neighbor has just bought the Gtech and loves it. This got me thinking/dreaming whist puffing up the hill to Crystal Palace of how nice it would be to enjoy my journey home rather than spend it with a fixed grimace on my face!

I'm in my late forties and in the past would never have considered getting an e-bike as i am to my shame, self-conscious and too aware of the snobbery which exists around them - 'You're fit, why should you need an electric bike - Lazy git!'.
My neighbors Gtech has somewhat changed my opinion on this. This is not to say Im going to immediately ditch my Trek hybrid and spend a grand on a bike that seems to lack any sort of in depth independent review. (Thanks though to Finger and the other chap for interesting and informative opinions)
I feel a little from earlier reactions to posts from some others (notably some with bikes of their own to sell) that they are missing the point of why the Gtech might be attractive to users under 50 who use their bike to commute to work and back (or they get the point but write this off as a fad). This is possibly a huge emerging market. In this market looks will be as important as the spec.

A good point bought up by an early contributor was that once a commuter feels the joy of riding a e-bike they will want to take it further and the Gtech just cant meet that requirement - This has made be think i might wait 12 months and continue puffing up Crystal Palace hill on my Trek - as the way technologies are progression by then Gtech or someone else picking up the baton will create a light, good looking road bike under 1K that can handle those longer journeys.

Thanks to all for an engaging read - and more information on pedelecs on one thread than i'd found on the rest of the net!

Looks like you've grasped the ins and outs, so you can weigh up if a Gtech will suit you.

Don't expect too much in terms of development over the next year, or even few years.

Lithium batteries was a step forward a few years ago, and the motors are refined a tiny bit each model year.

But the ebike market is too small for anyone to commit a decent development budget to push things on at pace.

From the point of view of ebike market watching, the new Brompton ebike will be worth a look.

Brompton have been talking about it for five or more years, but it seems it's finally close to release.

A business innovation grant paid for some of the development, and Williams F1 engineers are involved.

Sounds exciting, but I bet it won't be a lot more than a well integrated - and ludicrously expensive - hub motor design.

 

[Kudoscycles]

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

 

[Alan Quay]

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

You buy it, I'll test it.

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

 

[Kudoscycles]

You buy it, I'll test it.

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

Alan,why don't you buy one and test it on the Devon Alps....they offer free delivery and no quibble return,so the cost should be zero.
Your test would be impartial.
KudosDave

 

[Alan Quay]

Alan,why don't you buy one and test it on the Devon Alps....they offer free delivery and no quibble return,so the cost should be zero.
Your test would be impartial.
KudosDave

I have considered it.

I did ask earlier in this thread about range, but no results ever came back.

On my geared MTB, with road tyres I can get down to 6.2 wh/mile. I cannot imagine getting close to that on a single speed machine, which is what's required to get the quoted 30 miles.

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

 

[flecc]

On my geared MTB, with road tyres I can get down to 6.2 wh/mile. I cannot imagine getting close to that on a single speed machine, which is what's required to get the quoted 30 miles.

They say their claim relates only to use of the lower power setting, but I still doubt it then. In a hilly area I can see that only getting 15 miles at best, using around 12 Wh per mile.

12 Wh per mile is the most common consumption across a wide range of e-bikes and circumstances, something we established some while ago.
.

 

[Alan Quay]

They say their claim relates only to use of the lower power setting, but I still doubt it then. In a hilly area I can see that only getting 15 miles at best, using around 12 Wh per mile.

12 Wh per mile is the most common consumption across a wide range of e-bikes and circumstances, something we established some while ago.
.

I can only get down to 6.2 wh/m with my controller on low, which is 4A.

To be honest, at 4A its almost not worth having, and would certainly disappoint an non/new cyclist.

 

[Gubbins]

Can you imagine doing a hill start? It will have to be run and dive on Cyclocross style...

 

[Croxden]

So all those Saturday mornings watching Roy Rodgers and the like would not have been wasted.

 

[Kudoscycles]

My E-bike,288 Wh battery,I get about 21 miles,I am 100kgs and in very hilly terrain,but I do use the gears and pedal a lot,especially on the steep hills.
That's about 13 Wh/mile
The G-tech has 198 Wh battery,but without gears it is going to be difficult to help the motor up the hills,but ignoring that it gives about 15 miles range.
KudosDave

 

[Nealh]

Hi, Thanks for advice and passionate debate on the pro's and cons of the Gtech - Ive been following this thread for a while now and it's interesting how arguments have swung and evolved since the 1st thread was posted.
I have become aware of ebikes only recently - but what really spiked my interest was my neighbor has just bought the Gtech and loves it. This got me thinking/dreaming whist puffing up the hill to Crystal Palace of how nice it would be to enjoy my journey home rather than spend it with a fixed grimace on my face!

I'm in my late forties and in the past would never have considered getting an e-bike as i am to my shame, self-conscious and too aware of the snobbery which exists around them - 'You're fit, why should you need an electric bike - Lazy git!'.
My neighbors Gtech has somewhat changed my opinion on this. This is not to say Im going to immediately ditch my Trek hybrid and spend a grand on a bike that seems to lack any sort of in depth independent review. (Thanks though to Finger and the other chap for interesting and informative opinions)
I feel a little from earlier reactions to posts from some others (notably some with bikes of their own to sell) that they are missing the point of why the Gtech might be attractive to users under 50 who use their bike to commute to work and back (or they get the point but write this off as a fad). This is possibly a huge emerging market. In this market looks will be as important as the spec.

A good point bought up by an early contributor was that once a commuter feels the joy of riding a e-bike they will want to take it further and the Gtech just cant meet that requirement - This has made be think i might wait 12 months and continue puffing up Crystal Palace hill on my Trek - as the way technologies are progression by then Gtech or someone else picking up the baton will create a light, good looking road bike under 1K that can handle those longer journeys.

Thanks to all for an engaging read - and more information on pedelecs on one thread than i'd found on the rest of the net!

There is already a bike with much better range ( approx. 70 miles) and climbs very well, it has similar styling and some better components. Woosh Karoo.
Also need to add the retro looking Kudos Stealth road bike .

 

[DAJ]

I think the g-tech is genius, range isn't important as the target audience are not cyclists. They won't be able to sit on the saddle after an hour never mind cover 30 miles!

No gears, again nothing to worry about, nothing making funny noises and needing adjustment. If you have to push that last bit of a steep hill so what you are out for pleasure not to hang your lungs on the handlebars.

No hydraulic disc brakes is great, what none cyclist would know how to bleed them or even need them where this bike is going.

No chain, no ruined clothes and no need for bike clips that might crease your trousers.

Comes with free mudguards and lights allows the buyer to believe it isn't a whim purchase and they will use it all year round - even though they won't.

Doesn't look like a cheap Chinese bike with electric gubbins straped to it as nearly everyone of its competitors does. It looks like it was properly thought out for it's target audience.

These bikes will go round the local park, the pub on a summers evening and very occasionally the short commute to work.

The price reduction from £1800 to £1000, well everybody loves a bargain.Clever marketing, it deserves to be a sales success.

Not for me I am a keen cyclist, but even so my eBike is a means of transport I am struggling to love it even though I grudgingly admire the way it carries loads and flattens hills.

If I was restricted to all the Chinese no names or the g-tech then it would be the g-tech I tried first and if that wasn't suitable I wouldn't bother!

 

[Croxden]

There is already a bike with much better range ( approx. 70 miles) and climbs very well, it has similar styling and some better components. Woosh Karoo.
Also need to add the retro looking Kudos Stealth road bike .

Oh, come off it Trex, we know it's you.