Hello. New here. Been looking into e bikes for a few years but always been priced out. Now I can get a brand new Carrera vulcan 2019 spec for £900 I am thinking about it. Test rode it today and was impressed. First E bike ive ridden. Now knowing the possible faults on this model with cutting out etc and being aware that they dont seem serious and could be overcome, and the fact that I get 2yr warranty. Do you guys think its a good first step? I am very capable of working on bikes and the warranty helps. Thanks in advance for any advice. Cheers.
newbie . am I making a mistake?
- Thread starter Pentozoom
- Start date
An unpowered Carrera Vulcan is about £400, so you get a battery and motor for £500.
Seems an incredible bargain or current builders are just ripping people off. Halfords do a lot of bikes so can't see them selling stuff that would result in a lot of warranty claims.
Seems an incredible bargain or current builders are just ripping people off. Halfords do a lot of bikes so can't see them selling stuff that would result in a lot of warranty claims.
Anyone can get caught out; reliability on a new model won't be clear until too late. Halfords (and their customers) were caught out on the Crossfire. Not sure if the 2019 Vulcan has the same electrics or not.
Certainly sounds like a good deal if it works reliably; if it doesn't it could be a big hassle even if finally fixed under warranty.
The numerous problems with the older Crossfire and Vulcan bikes may well have been sorted out, but Halfords will continue to fire them out the door regardless. If you are on a tight budget, have you considered fitting a kit? If you already have a bike, then you have already saved money. Have a look a Woosh's offerings on their website. They have an excellent reputation for CS and after sales support. IMO, if you have a sub £1000 budget, you will end up with a better bike than the Vulcan.
I am not saying that £900 for a Carrera Vulcan is a bad deal, it has a 36V 11.6AH battery, Suntour geared hub motor with a decent torque and torque sensor.
The problem with special offers on last year's model is that some parts are upgraded in the new models, making you feel uneasy about out of warranty repairs.
Typically, I was looking at supplying larger batteries for Halfords Carrera bikes, the battery manufacturers of those batteries explained to me the subtle difference between 2018 and 2019 models, one has 5 pin plug, the other 6 pin plugs. Needless to say that I dropped that idea.
if, as you said, you are very capable working with bikes then you should perhaps consider a conversion.
For about £500-£600-£700 budget, you'll get a larger, more standard battery, more standard electrics that you can modify over time.
The problem with special offers on last year's model is that some parts are upgraded in the new models, making you feel uneasy about out of warranty repairs.
Typically, I was looking at supplying larger batteries for Halfords Carrera bikes, the battery manufacturers of those batteries explained to me the subtle difference between 2018 and 2019 models, one has 5 pin plug, the other 6 pin plugs. Needless to say that I dropped that idea.
if, as you said, you are very capable working with bikes then you should perhaps consider a conversion.
For about £500-£600-£700 budget, you'll get a larger, more standard battery, more standard electrics that you can modify over time.
Not one I would touch one with the Suntour system mainly because apart from Halfrauds, bike spare late on can't be sourced. Any ebike should have a life of a lot more then when warranty runs out after two or three years.
Though it doesn't mean later on you can't rip out the electronics and replace it with readily available after market kit.
Though it doesn't mean later on you can't rip out the electronics and replace it with readily available after market kit.
Convert a decent new bike or a really good used bike, select one that doesn't utilise thru axles. There is a good choice of lightweight or heavy weight hubs on the market as well as various mid drive kits and hub complete kits.
Hubs you can choose from front or rear and various rpm windings to suit the terrain you are going to use it on. Batteries are available with integrated controller base so no need for extra wiring and with KT a wide range of lcd's to choose from (approx. 10) that are all compatible with their controllers.
Hubs you can choose from front or rear and various rpm windings to suit the terrain you are going to use it on. Batteries are available with integrated controller base so no need for extra wiring and with KT a wide range of lcd's to choose from (approx. 10) that are all compatible with their controllers.
Any decent engineer and I am assuming bike builders have them, would check the bathtub before they release. There is also a lot of computer simulation available. May not be used by smaller organisations.
Bathtub curve - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
If that is the case Darby cycles /Kalkhoff failed badly with the impulse drive then, as has been noted on here and the German pedelecs forum the drive is very short on reliability. 1400 miles seems to be a common failure rate for regularly used bikes.Any decent engineer and I am assuming bike builders have them, would check the bathtub before they release. There is also a lot of computer simulation available. May not be used by smaller organisations.
Bathtub curve - Wikipedia
The Suntour electronics system also not reliable, cutting power half way across a road junction is down right dangerous as a few have mentioned when it has happened to them.
You should be able to pick up a well looked-after Vulcan, with hydraulic brakes, for around £200. Motor and battery another £400 on top of that.
In my experience Infant mortality failure also includes the customer expectation versus reality alignment period.Bathtub curve:
shame that they don't have a curve for design issues, our weather and our high depreciation rate.
Thank you for all the replies. I am now looking into the Woosh geared rear hub kits. Sent them an info request about which kit they would recommend for this bike I am looking at converting. Going to look at this bike for a conversion tomorrow. Nrly new and £80. I have some Magura hs33s I can stick on it too. Any tips? TIA
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Hi Welcome
Looked at the Carrera and didn;t like them - probably just me
Went for a Raleigh with the same Suntour motor etc instead
After 5 months I had so many problems that Raleigh upgraded me to the Motus - with Bosh motor etc
massively better
OK - the problems - actually one single problem - the charger plugged into the battery with a very fragile and thin set of pins - and a screw thread that was made of fairly soft metal
Hence - you couldn;t feel when the pins were engaged with the sockets - and when you screwed it down to fix it in place it was VERY easy to mess up the threads
Easy fix - new charger when it starts taking 10 minutes (yes 10) to get the battery on charge - but when I was on my 3rd (or maybe 4th??) charger I got fed up and just left it at the LBS (who were brilliant and very helpful) and told them to fix it while I went on hols
but
I THINK that carrera use a different connector to charge the battery - but check it first - basically you need to be able to ram it in place while the bike is in the shed and you are leaning over a lawnmower and several other things - and not have to take it indoors and spend several minutes fiddling with it under a strong light to get it on charge
SO far I have had 4 ebikes (including my wife's folder) and all had been dead easy to charge - except the Raleigh Array with the Suntour battery and charger
so check it out first
P.S. Raleigh were actually great - supplied new chargers when needed, admitted the problem right at the start and generally made sure that neither I - nor the LBS - lost out in any way other than inconvenience
LBS actually came out quite well as I tended to buy something whenever I went to to get a progress report - you know how that goes!!!
Looked at the Carrera and didn;t like them - probably just me
Went for a Raleigh with the same Suntour motor etc instead
After 5 months I had so many problems that Raleigh upgraded me to the Motus - with Bosh motor etc
massively better
OK - the problems - actually one single problem - the charger plugged into the battery with a very fragile and thin set of pins - and a screw thread that was made of fairly soft metal
Hence - you couldn;t feel when the pins were engaged with the sockets - and when you screwed it down to fix it in place it was VERY easy to mess up the threads
Easy fix - new charger when it starts taking 10 minutes (yes 10) to get the battery on charge - but when I was on my 3rd (or maybe 4th??) charger I got fed up and just left it at the LBS (who were brilliant and very helpful) and told them to fix it while I went on hols
but
I THINK that carrera use a different connector to charge the battery - but check it first - basically you need to be able to ram it in place while the bike is in the shed and you are leaning over a lawnmower and several other things - and not have to take it indoors and spend several minutes fiddling with it under a strong light to get it on charge
SO far I have had 4 ebikes (including my wife's folder) and all had been dead easy to charge - except the Raleigh Array with the Suntour battery and charger
so check it out first
P.S. Raleigh were actually great - supplied new chargers when needed, admitted the problem right at the start and generally made sure that neither I - nor the LBS - lost out in any way other than inconvenience
LBS actually came out quite well as I tended to buy something whenever I went to to get a progress report - you know how that goes!!!
It depends on the terrain you want to ride, hubs have different speeds (rpm ). For hills you need a low wound hub <230rpm, where as on fairly flat terrain you can use a faster wound hub though if you are going to stay legal a fast wound hub isn't necessary.
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