Hi,
Let me start by saying I have recently advertised my Smart E Bike in the Classified sections but will still be as honest as I can in this review.
I am 6'3 and had more bacon sandwiches than is good for me and the plan for the bike was to gradually replace my 20 mile each way commute along mix of hills and flat roads / canal paths. I was going to ease up to this by using a mix of driving and biking , gradually extending my ranger.
I had been interested in Electric bikes for a while and the Smart was the first one I tried. From the outset I was really impressed by the service from the Smart Dealership in Edinburgh. They offered me a free weekend trial , delivered the bike to the door for the trial and basically treated me no differently as I would if buying a car. You may know the Smart E-Bike carries a premium price tag of £2,200 but at least some of this is made up by this level of service. It is clear from the service and the bike itself they are marketing this as a transport / commuter solution not just a bike.
My first impressions of the bike we fantastic. It is beautifully designed, and well specced. The carbon fibre belt in place of a chain is much cleaner and lower maintenance. The hydraulic disc brakes better than any I have had on a bike and the 3 Speed hub gear seemed to have perfect range and much more practical for a commute rather than 27 gears and I only use 4. Even the installed lights are really powerful and I used them a few times on an unlit canal path.
The bionx kit worked perfectly. It has 4 levels of assist but I immediately found out Level 4 would have a range of less than 10 miles. Level 1 and 2 provides a reasonable level of assist and even with my weight on it could easily achieve 40 miles (quoted maximum range is 60 miles).
Since purchasing the bike though I have been dissapointed with a few aspects:
It is heavy. At 26KG probably heavier than other similarly powered bikes. I wasn't too concerned with this at first but soon realised to transport the bike reliably I would have to invest in a "tow bar" bike carrier.
There is only 1 frame size. This is the main reason I am selling it. I would say it's a smallish Medium sized frame and would suit anyone up to 5' 10. What was not apparent in my demo trials was that what is fine for a 2 or 3 miles quickly becomes uncomfortable when travelling over 10. It could really do with more adjustment in the handlebars as well.
It could do with more power. I dived in with this bike before doing proper research. It has a 200W motor but 48v battery and is plenty powerful for anyone under 200lbs but perhaps understandably struggled with me on steeper hills on anything below Level 4.
So my conclusion is for anyone under 5'10 and 200lbs the Smart E Bike is possibly one of the best you can buy. It sounds like marketing speak but it really is an alternative to a car/ moped not just a bike. It is beautifully made and engineered and the Customer Service from Smart been great. For anyone else I would actually recommend converting a bike you are comfortable with and will do a follow up on this thread on that very subject shortly.
Let me start by saying I have recently advertised my Smart E Bike in the Classified sections but will still be as honest as I can in this review.
I am 6'3 and had more bacon sandwiches than is good for me and the plan for the bike was to gradually replace my 20 mile each way commute along mix of hills and flat roads / canal paths. I was going to ease up to this by using a mix of driving and biking , gradually extending my ranger.
I had been interested in Electric bikes for a while and the Smart was the first one I tried. From the outset I was really impressed by the service from the Smart Dealership in Edinburgh. They offered me a free weekend trial , delivered the bike to the door for the trial and basically treated me no differently as I would if buying a car. You may know the Smart E-Bike carries a premium price tag of £2,200 but at least some of this is made up by this level of service. It is clear from the service and the bike itself they are marketing this as a transport / commuter solution not just a bike.
My first impressions of the bike we fantastic. It is beautifully designed, and well specced. The carbon fibre belt in place of a chain is much cleaner and lower maintenance. The hydraulic disc brakes better than any I have had on a bike and the 3 Speed hub gear seemed to have perfect range and much more practical for a commute rather than 27 gears and I only use 4. Even the installed lights are really powerful and I used them a few times on an unlit canal path.
The bionx kit worked perfectly. It has 4 levels of assist but I immediately found out Level 4 would have a range of less than 10 miles. Level 1 and 2 provides a reasonable level of assist and even with my weight on it could easily achieve 40 miles (quoted maximum range is 60 miles).
Since purchasing the bike though I have been dissapointed with a few aspects:
It is heavy. At 26KG probably heavier than other similarly powered bikes. I wasn't too concerned with this at first but soon realised to transport the bike reliably I would have to invest in a "tow bar" bike carrier.
There is only 1 frame size. This is the main reason I am selling it. I would say it's a smallish Medium sized frame and would suit anyone up to 5' 10. What was not apparent in my demo trials was that what is fine for a 2 or 3 miles quickly becomes uncomfortable when travelling over 10. It could really do with more adjustment in the handlebars as well.
It could do with more power. I dived in with this bike before doing proper research. It has a 200W motor but 48v battery and is plenty powerful for anyone under 200lbs but perhaps understandably struggled with me on steeper hills on anything below Level 4.
So my conclusion is for anyone under 5'10 and 200lbs the Smart E Bike is possibly one of the best you can buy. It sounds like marketing speak but it really is an alternative to a car/ moped not just a bike. It is beautifully made and engineered and the Customer Service from Smart been great. For anyone else I would actually recommend converting a bike you are comfortable with and will do a follow up on this thread on that very subject shortly.
