Thinking of new ebike

NoToneS

Finding my (electric) wheels
Nov 28, 2013
16
1
58
Paignton,Devon
Hi i'm looking to upgrade from my now tired cyclematic and looking for a reasonable price crank/mid drive bike

looking to stay legal as police here have once checked my old cyclematic out to see if it was within the legal limit so what is the best 36v 200w mid drive bike available?
 

Emo Rider

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jan 10, 2014
659
414
Both the Bosch and Yamaha crank drives work well. The Yamaha feels more torquey off the start but the Bosch has a wider power curve. There are also two types of Bosch drive, the sportier, lower range one is usually found on MTBS. The less torquey, greater range version on treking bikes.

Haibike has the Yamaha drive while the Bosch is found across a wide range of brands. What boils down to is what's offered as spec for price, what your cycling needs are and taking test ride across a several brands and bike types. A tried and true formula for finding what is right for you and your budget.
 
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JohnCade

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 16, 2014
1,486
736
looking to stay legal as police here have once checked my old cyclematic out to see if it was within the legal limit so what is the best 36v 200w mid drive bike available?
As of today 250w bikes are officially legal. Though they have been de facto legal for some time. So you can smile at dibble as you cruise past him.
 

JohnCade

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 16, 2014
1,486
736
I would add the Kalkhoff Pro Connect 9 which is good value and well road equipped. The Impulse 11 is powerful and the motor interrupt feature for gear changes works well.
 
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NoToneS

Finding my (electric) wheels
Nov 28, 2013
16
1
58
Paignton,Devon
Thanks for replies (choosing a ebike is hard work)
and thanks trex that looks like a real good bike for the price and I do like its specs.
Not available until May but I can wait a little longer or look elsewhere for it.
 
D

Deleted member 4366

Guest
........... and looking for a reasonable price crank/mid drive bike
It seems to me daft to limit yourself to any one type of drive system. Surely, you just want a bike to do do want you want it to. Why is it important how it does it?
 

Kudoscycles

Official Trade Member
Apr 15, 2011
5,566
5,048
www.kudoscycles.com
I agree with d8veh that restricting yourself to crank drive bikes is rejecting some really good hub drives,the hub drive has developed considerably over the last few years,the Bosch marketing machine has done a good job of promoting crank drive and there are some who have a vested interest in upholding the idea that crank drive is best,it suits some who like the type of ride it achieves but it is not for everybody.
However,if you want crank drive our Kudos Eiger bike with dérailleur gears,hydraulic brakes is on special offer at £799.00,I think there are about 20 bikes left in stock,see www.kudoscycles.com
You will notice a dramatic difference in the performance of most of the current e-bikes over your cyclamatic,having said that the cyclamatic was an inexpensive route into the e-bike world and many on this forum enjoyed those bikes.
Good luck
KudosDave
 

NoToneS

Finding my (electric) wheels
Nov 28, 2013
16
1
58
Paignton,Devon
I probably should have included more info.
My current bike was listed as 15-20 miles, however in the terrain I live in the battery is flat after only 6 miles limiting me to within 3 miles range from home.
The bike has to basically do most of the work as i'm disabled and even pedal assist is hard work sometimes.
I was mainly looking at crank/mid drive as in reviews they seem to give better torque range and battery life.

The cyclematic was a good eyeopener to getting back into riding but i'd now like to get much better range and torque to deal with the hills in and around my area.

I'm currently browsing all the threads in this topic - the thing I'm going to do differently this purchase is read more reviews as test riding is near impossible as there are only a few suppliers around here and not much choice
 

flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
53,163
30,580
The bike has to basically do most of the work as i'm disabled and even pedal assist is hard work sometimes.
I was mainly looking at crank/mid drive as in reviews they seem to give better torque range and battery life.
This means you really should be looking at powerful hub motor e-bikes. Many of the decent crank drives have torque controlled power, with the output depending very much on how much the rider puts in. That limitation is what is giving the better range you mention, since they just force the rider to do more.

In your position aim for a BPM or BPM/CST hub motor from Woosh or Kudos, or one of the eZee models since their own eZee motor has similar power to the BPM. Then you can let the motor do most of the work as you require. Ezee also have a good range of larger battery options for better range.
.
 
D

Deleted member 4366

Guest
That's right. You have to pedal much more with a crank drive bike. Your Cyclamatic is only 24v and 12 amps. There's a few hub-motored bikes with 36v and 20 amps, so that's two and a half times the power of your Cyclamatic. They are also much more efficient than your Cyclamatic because they have the power to keep the motor spinning in its most efficient zone. You should be able to do an easy 30 miles with one of these more powerful bikes and a 13Ah battery.

The Woosh Big Bear is probably the best bang-for-buck one. If you want comfort, go for the stepthrough version. It's like riding on a motorised armchair.

Other ones at the cheaper end are Ezee bikes, Kudos (look for the bigger motor). More expensive are the Volt X models, Oxygen MTB, KTM P (Panasonic) series and BH Emotion Neos. Finally, there's a plethora of bikes with big direct drive hub-motors like Giant, Kalkhoff and Annsmann, though I prefer the non-direct drive motored bikes.
 
C

Cyclezee

Guest
The Woosh Big Bear is probably the best bang-for-buck one. If you want comfort, go for the stepthrough version. It's like riding on a motorised armchair.
Looking for an armchair, check this out
20150326_143125 copy.jpg
or super smooth direct drive
DSC_3667 copy.jpg
 

Kudoscycles

Official Trade Member
Apr 15, 2011
5,566
5,048
www.kudoscycles.com
I probably should have included more info.
My current bike was listed as 15-20 miles, however in the terrain I live in the battery is flat after only 6 miles limiting me to within 3 miles range from home.
The bike has to basically do most of the work as i'm disabled and even pedal assist is hard work sometimes.
I was mainly looking at crank/mid drive as in reviews they seem to give better torque range and battery life.

The cyclematic was a good eyeopener to getting back into riding but i'd now like to get much better range and torque to deal with the hills in and around my area.

I'm currently browsing all the threads in this topic - the thing I'm going to do differently this purchase is read more reviews as test riding is near impossible as there are only a few suppliers around here and not much choice
I have several dealers near to you,but cannot remember all their demo bikes....if you look on kudoscycles website...Plymouth bike hire,Plymoouth...Bike Higher,Torrington,they have a Tornado...DS Automotive,Weston super Mare,they have an Arriba,Tornado,Sonata....they are all nice people and won't heavy sell,good chance to try a 36v BPM motor against your current 24v SWX motor.
KudosDave