Volt VS Cyclotricity?

[Manobilla]

Evening ladies and gents!

I'm a bit confused, looking for some advice/guidance from the good folks here before I part with my hard earned ££££'S

my work does do the halford cycle 2 work scheme. I have spoken to the Halfords folks on the no provided via work and Halfords stated I can NOT buy a bike £1 over the £1000 limit, but when I spoke to a rep from VOLT he stated I could use the voucher and pay the difference? wanted to know if anyone had experience of this??

Now the important bit ... choice of bikes..

http://www.e-bikesdirect.co.uk/Item/Brands/Cyclotricity/Cyclotricity_Revolver_500W_9AH_or_15AH_-Revolver_500W_20_Frame_36v_16AH.aspx £949 (if the voucher cant be used through VOLT)

OR

http://www.voltbikes.co.uk/pulse-hybrid-electric-bike.php £1399

OR

http://www.voltbikes.co.uk/continental-electric-road-bike.php £1449

My commute is 11 Miles each way, mainly flat but does have a few 12% hills. How do you folks rate VOLT? Bafang motor? (overpriced?) They are the only ones I've seen that offer a 2 year warranty which does give me some peace of mind.

With regards to Cyclotricity bikes being unrestricted to go off road? once unrestricted whats the legality with insurance? tax etc? sorry if these have already been answered.

Any help is appreciated!

Thanks

 

[Deleted member 4366]

500w is not legal, so speed restriction is pointless. You can't t get tax and insurance for it, so you can't ride it legally. Having said that, nobody is checking, neither can anyone provide any record of anyone ever being prosecuted for riding an illegal ele tric bike. That's not to say it won't happen. The Volt is one of the few bikes that are not easy to derestrict, so if speed is important to you, look elsewhere. Other than that, they're good solid reliable bikes with well-sorted electrical stuff.

 

[Manobilla]

Out of the 3 bikes listed above which do you think would be the best for hills?

u used a cyclotricity front hub drive bike today ... really struggled with the hills ... started to whine even when I was peddling ... just didn't feel nice ...

I've spoken to a rep from VOLT and they said they would let me use the cycle to work voucher and I could pay the difference which is something HALFORDS said I would not be able to do ?? Theres so many bikes so much choice its a bit daunting ! (New to the world of ebiking!)

 

[trex]

to help you choose the right bike, we need to know:
- where you live
- how much you weigh
- the range you need

 

[Manobilla]

I stay in Glasgow, weigh about 105KG, so not the lightest of blokes, relatively active (looking to improve fitness levels hence reason for bike)

As mentioned in initial post. Commute 11 miles each way, mainly flat, some gentle uphills but 4/5 major bills about 10% incline.

Ive posted some bikes on my initial post wanted to know which would be the best out of the 3 ... for my needs. (unless you can think of something better around the same price )

 

[Deleted member 4366]

The 500w Cyclotricity would not the best climber. Although it's a 500w motor, torque is not its strongpoint. It's better suited to constant high speed. If you want a hub-motor, it has to be one of the larger geared ones like they put in the Woosh Big Bears, Ezee bikes, Oxygen MTB, Kudos Tornado and Volt Plus.

A crank-drive bike is also a possibility, but not quite as relaxing as a hub-motor. The Woosh Krieger is the only one I can think of in your budget that would handle your weight.

 

[trex]

Big Bear:
http://wooshbikes.co.uk/?bigbear

Just ask Hatti to help you with Cycle to Work.

 

[rustic]

I have owned a Volt Continental since March 2015, I am generally really pleased with the purchase. It has a nice look and feel to it, I'm no expert, but I weigh a similar amount to you and the bike pulls me along at a decent speed and is generally a nice smooth ride.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

I have owned a Volt Continental since March 2015, I am generally really pleased with the purchase. It has a nice look and feel to it, I'm no expert, but I weigh a similar amount to you and the bike pulls me along at a decent speed and is generally a nice smooth ride.

...but what about steep hills?

 

[rustic]

Untested on that front I'm afraid Dave. I live in relatively flat East Anglia and haven't yet taken the bike outside of my locality, although I strongly suspect significant pedalling would be required for steep hills. I chose the bike as I am 6' 5" tall and this bike is just about OK for me size wise, although a 23" frame would have been preferred.

 

[Ian Morrison]

Hi

I have a Revolver 500W 15AH battery and the first bit of my route is a hill 0.7miles climbing 197 feet according to Google maps, i am 85 kilos with probably another 3-4 kilos in the backpack and it gets up this hill with a bit of effort.
No idea if this is steep (although it feels it to me).
Battery has about a 1/4 left after the rest of the 15.6 mile trek.

No idea about the Volt but the Revolver will easily cover your 11 miles.

 

[Kudoscycles]

If hill climbing is your priority and lets be honest that is the most important reason for most to buy an e-bike then look for any bike that has the BPM motor.
The 250 watt pulls my weight,similar to yours,up most steep hills and you can stay legal. Some of the 500 watt motors are direct drive,direct drive is good once you get up to speed but is usually poor accelerating,especially on a hill.
KudosDave