Overwhelmed by options

[PaulNorwich]

I'm currently looking for an electric bike to replace my cheap, ancient mountain bike.

I am mainly encouraging using it on cycle tracks: disused railway lines, dirt, gravel, some mud, but nothing very extreme. If it was tough enough (mountain bike) to occasionally play in woodland with steep hills that would be a nice bonus but not absolutely essential.

I'm not in the best of health. Having RSI (Repetitive Strain Injury) in my wrists, front suspension would be highly desirable, as vibration aggregates this.

Rear suspension or suspension piller on seat would be nice from a comfort perspective, but not essential.

I injured my knees a few years ago, so am also interested in models that would allow me to propel it along with a throttle and little or no pedalling, so I could always be assured of getting back. Having said that moat of the time if be wanting it to be a normal pedal assist if possible.

My absolute maximum budget (based on financing it) would be £3,800. But I would rather spend much less.

So far I've test ridden a GTech ascent 650b which seemed reasonable, but didn't set my heart racing. I also road a crazy expensive Haibike mountain bike that was fun to ride but electric assist was broken which wasn't to inspiring about is reliability.

At the cheaper end of things, I'm currently short listing:
GTech ascent 650b
Wisper 905 torque
Whoosh Krieger

I haven't managed to view the Wisper or Whoosh as neither are available to view or test ride (as far as I know) where I live in Norwich.

Also in my price range, are various bikes from:
EBCO
KTM
Haibike
Corratec

I appreciate the best advice is to try them, but even the most helpful bike shop in the world is likely to be underwhelmed if I want to test ride 40 different bikes.

If anyone could help me narrow the list a bit, views on relative quality and reliability of brands I mentioned, or anything else worth considering then I would greatly appreciate it. Also any recommendations on stores in Norwich or nearby would be appreciated. I've found Cycle Republic in Norwich pretty helpful, and am considering checking out Electryfying Cycles in Cromer. To test ride the Woosh Krieger looks like a rather long trip to Southend would be required.

Thanks,
Paul

 

[signwave]

Electrifying Cycles are Wisper dealers, as are The Electric Bike Shop in Gorleston. See here.

 

[Rutland Cycling]

Hi Paul,

For your £3800 budget you will be able to get a more than capable full-suspension eMTB. The Specialized Turbo Levo would be one to look at, we do currently have a very good offer on the Expert model @ £3749.99 currently, you wont find a better specc'd bike for the money.

If you are looking at the slightly cheaper bikes, I would more than recommend a Diamondback Corax 2.0 - for £2639.99 currently you get a Bosch Performance CX motor, 500Wh battery, RockShox suspension, dropper seatpost and a Shimano XT 11-Speed drivetrain. - Ive ridden the bike myself and it does ride exceptionally well!

In terms of searching for a bike, I would recommend sticking with a crank-drive motor, rather than a hub drive. The crank drive motor's are much more responsive and deliver a more natural riding experience for mountain biking.

Our Cambridge stores are only an hour and a half from you and the staff would be more than happy for you to try some different bikes, alternatively, we do have a demo fleet of bikes where we can deliver one to your door to try for a weekend and we'll collect it on the monday again for £49.99, which would be fully refundable upon purchase of a bike.

We do also have a very good selection of electric mountain bikes on our website ready for home delivery, feel free to have a browse and let us know if you have any questions!

https://www.rutlandcycling.com/mountain-biking/bikes/electric-bikes

Many thanks
Luke

 

[KTM Bike Industries UK]

I'm currently looking for an electric bike to replace my cheap, ancient mountain bike.

I am mainly encouraging using it on cycle tracks: disused railway lines, dirt, gravel, some mud, but nothing very extreme. If it was tough enough (mountain bike) to occasionally play in woodland with steep hills that would be a nice bonus but not absolutely essential.

I'm not in the best of health. Having RSI (Repetitive Strain Injury) in my wrists, front suspension would be highly desirable, as vibration aggregates this.

Rear suspension or suspension piller on seat would be nice from a comfort perspective, but not essential.

I injured my knees a few years ago, so am also interested in models that would allow me to propel it along with a throttle and little or no pedalling, so I could always be assured of getting back. Having said that moat of the time if be wanting it to be a normal pedal assist if possible.

My absolute maximum budget (based on financing it) would be £3,800. But I would rather spend much less.

So far I've test ridden a GTech ascent 650b which seemed reasonable, but didn't set my heart racing. I also road a crazy expensive Haibike mountain bike that was fun to ride but electric assist was broken which wasn't to inspiring about is reliability.

At the cheaper end of things, I'm currently short listing:
GTech ascent 650b
Wisper 905 torque
Whoosh Krieger

I haven't managed to view the Wisper or Whoosh as neither are available to view or test ride (as far as I know) where I live in Norwich.

Also in my price range, are various bikes from:
EBCO
KTM
Haibike
Corratec

I appreciate the best advice is to try them, but even the most helpful bike shop in the world is likely to be underwhelmed if I want to test ride 40 different bikes.

If anyone could help me narrow the list a bit, views on relative quality and reliability of brands I mentioned, or anything else worth considering then I would greatly appreciate it. Also any recommendations on stores in Norwich or nearby would be appreciated. I've found Cycle Republic in Norwich pretty helpful, and am considering checking out Electryfying Cycles in Cromer. To test ride the Woosh Krieger looks like a rather long trip to Southend would be required.

Thanks,
Paul

If you've got any questions about the KTM range Paul, just ask and I'll try and help out. Cycle Republic are our dealer in Norwich as I'm sure you're aware. They have some eBikes but can easily get more if you wanted something they don't have in stock.

 

[Electrifying Cycles]

Hi Paul,

We have some great offers on at the moment including up to 20% off all Haibikes we currently have in stock this includes both trekking and mountain bike models. We would recommend coming down to try some out. Our range of e-bikes starts at £1099 for a non folding model.

If you buy from us you get several benefits that I doubt a non local retailer could offer. This includes free personal delivery within 2 hours of our address. Free loan bike if your bike is in for repair as well as personally collecting it for free if it is a warranty issue. Accessory and workshop discounts. Plus we can service your bike. We have been selling electric bikes for nearly 7 years so we are very careful about the brands we stock. All come with 2 years warranty on the electrics including the battery. We have more than 30 e-bikes in stock to try.

Feel free to give me a call. I am off tomorrow but Peter, Scot and Myrton are around to help you.

All the best
David

 

[Electrifying Cycles]

Should mention you can try as many of our e-bikes as you like

 

[Wisper Bikes]

Hi Paul, I would highly recommend a trip to Electrifying Cycles in Norwich. David will give you completely impartial advice and will deliver your bike to you. The guys at EC are ebike specialists, extremely knowledgable and reliable.

 

[PaulNorwich]

Thanks for all the great replies, I really appreciate it.

David at Electrifying Cycles has been really helpful. I've spent several hours there today looking at and trying lots of bikes. Whilst I haven't bought anything yet, I'd wholeheartedly recommend electrifying cycles to anyone in the region whose looking for any electric bike. David was really friendly, patient, ready to explain anything, and whole process was unhurried and relaxed with no hard sell. Very impressed.

Back to the bikes though.
At the cheaper end of things I tried:
- Freego (can't remember model), at £1099.
- Wisper 709 torque
Both of these struck me as a very sensible and practical commuting bikes. I preferred the Wisper, but at 1.5x the price of the freego that's probably to be elected.

However, I felt I wanted something a bit bigger and with a bit more oomph that of enjoy riding longer distances.

Moving on to more expensive touring bikes and mountain bikes...
David also let me try the new 2018 model of the Riese & Muller Delite, which unfortunately is well out of my price range. It looks like quite a big beast, but handled really beautifully. I was really impressed with this phenomenal bike, but unfortunately need to return to reality...

The Haibike FullSeven 5.0 with its full suspension, and powerful CX motor really impressed me.
However my initial favourite became the Reise & Muller Charger. Whilst this bike doesn't strike me as being suited to any significant off-road usage, I found it the most comfortable in terms of riding position, and the smoothest of the bikes I tried. It delivered plenty of power assistance, but so smoothly. David was kind enough to let me take this on a slightly longer test ride, taking in some of the slightly more challenging surfaces I intend to mainly ride on: dirt tracks, the odd tree route etc. On these challenges the bike felt a little lacking in poise/ stability. I wonder if some chunkier tyres might be sufficient to fix this. The ride also felt rather bumpy and uncomfortable at that point, making me wish for full suspension (I know on a wimp). Again I wondered if some small adjustments like a slightly more well padded seat, and suspension seat post would solve these issues. I really really like this bike, but suspect I want to push it a little outside it's main comfort zone

I think I've still got a lot more thinking and pondering to do. And will probably take another look at the Haibike FullSeven 5.0 (which might work week for me with a little adjustment of handle bar position and a comfier seat.

Thanks again four all the help and advice.
Cheers,
Paul

 

[Rohloffboy]

Hi Paul.
I have been sitting on the fence for years now, waiting for the right ebike to roll along.

For me the bike has to have an igh or better still gears built into the motor.

Crank Drive is a given as far as I am concerned, and it's good to see that Yamaha have come into the 21st century and are now using an ISIS interface for cranks, same goes for Bafang who have gone down the same route with there OEM motor, of course Bosch went with ISIS from the get go.

Why they still fit derailleur gears to £2k+ Ebikes is almost beyond a joke, but the do.

I guess the problem is that the Rohloff igh is over priced to include in the spec, although R&M do, so hat's of to them.

As for Shimano Alfine, and SRAM igh, I fear that they were never intended for ebike and would fail on all but the lowest of torque motors.

Nuvinci seems to be a decent compromise, although I don't think CVT gearing is for everyone, although I like to try it before knocking it.

I will probably get fed up of waiting for the right ebike to come along, and I can see my Rohloff igh being transferred from my none ebike, to my ebike of compromise choice.

To add insult to injury, I am now also waiting for ebike battery packs to come with the newer 2170 Cells, and will pass on Ebikes that are comming with the outgoing 18650 Cell.

I really do blame this forum, for all my hanging around, far to much good information abounds, as often ignorance can be bliss!

 

[soundwave]

if you want those cells then the wait will be long min 2025 or more like 2030.

tesla will take all of them so unless they make more than they need there wont be any for others to buy for a long time yet.

 

[Rohloffboy]

Don't worry soundwave, there will be plenty of Grade "B" reject 2170 Cells that the Tesla machine will spit out, and will come the way of the ebike industry and others, well in time for Christmas 2018!

 

[soundwave]

well thats not what the guys that work at ev west said you got no chance according to them

 

[tommie]

Hi Paul.
I have been sitting on the fence for years now, waiting for the right ebike to roll along.

For me the bike has to have an igh or better still gears built into the motor.

Crank Drive is a given as far as I am concerned, and it's good to see that Yamaha have come into the 21st century and are now using an ISIS interface for cranks, same goes for Bafang who have gone down the same route with there OEM motor, of course Bosch went with ISIS from the get go.

Why they still fit derailleur gears to £2k+ Ebikes is almost beyond a joke, but the do.

I guess the problem is that the Rohloff igh is over priced to include in the spec, although R&M do, so hat's of to them.

As for Shimano Alfine, and SRAM igh, I fear that they were never intended for ebike and would fail on all but the lowest of torque motors.

Nuvinci seems to be a decent compromise, although I don't think CVT gearing is for everyone, although I like to try it before knocking it.

I will probably get fed up of waiting for the right ebike to come along, and I can see my Rohloff igh being transferred from my none ebike, to my ebike of compromise choice.

To add insult to injury, I am now also waiting for ebike battery packs to come with the newer 2170 Cells, and will pass on Ebikes that are comming with the outgoing 18650 Cell.

I really do blame this forum, for all my hanging around, far to much good information abounds, as often ignorance can be bliss!

I like the look of this one, Continental and NuVinci have got together..

http://ebiketips.road.cc/content/news/first-ride-continental-48v-mid-motor-system-with-automatic-gearing-664

 

[Rohloffboy]

Yep Tommie, that's my kinda ebike, I would probably ditch the suspension forks, but apart from that it is near perfect for what I am looking for.

Although I am not to keen on the belt drive, as I prefer a chain but would give it a go all the same.

OK the battery pack is no doubt using 18650 Cells, but on this occasion I would still go for it, as it could be a while before 2170 Cells come onto the scene.

You may have just found for me the ebike that I have been waiting, well almost.

Did not see a price, so will look into that.

 

[PaulNorwich]

Arggghh. I may go insane. I thought I had it almost narrowed down, and now I'm adding Diamondback Ranger into the mix.

I've got the option of getting a competitively priced ex-demo Ranger 2.0 for £2652, but this reflects it having a fairly significant paint chip on the rear fork. It was an amazing ride. I'd really like to be able to find this new or with a less significant paint chip at a price I can afford. Unfortunately my budget has had to be revised downwards due to a change in personal circumstances, plus I hadn't factored in buying various accessories (helmet, lights, mudguards, 12v car charger, sold secure gold standard lock... etc). My max budget for the bike is now approx £2800.

Feeling a bit sad that I'm probably going to have to compromise far more than I'd wanted.

Has anyone tried both the Diamondback Ranger 1.0, and 2.0? Is there much difference? I was told by shop owner that only real difference was weight, as components were pretty much equal in quality, other than that they were a bit heavier. Do others agree with this assessment?

Thanks again to everyone for all their help and patience.
Paul

 

[Nealh]

20700/21700 Sanyo 4250mah are available from Holland and Samsung 48G are now available according to ES techies.