Voodoo Zobob E

Hi.. New member here. Been on the look out for an ebike for a while now, have tested several bikes/systems. Seen that Voodoo have just released there first ebikes I gave the Zobob a try.. Bosch CX drive, 500 battery, dropper post, 27.5+ tyres. £2700. Halfords had 20% of ebikes, combined with BC discount and cashback, I couldn't refuse and ended up paying about £1,850. Bike is now sat in my living room, fully charged, waiting for it's first trip out tomorrow... and I can't wait!!

Hi.. New member here. Been on the look out for an ebike for a while now, have tested several bikes/systems. Seen that Voodoo have just released there first ebikes I gave the Zobob a try.. Bosch CX drive, 500 battery, dropper post, 27.5+ tyres. £2700. Halfords had 20% of ebikes, combined with BC discount and cashback, I couldn't refuse and ended up paying about £1,850. Bike is now sat in my living room, fully charged, waiting for it's first trip out tomorrow... and I can't wait!!

Looks great let us know about the specs and ride when you get time

 

 

edit: quite similar to something I was looking at but without the import duty/vat and legality issues, so I'm interested

 

Edited March 31, 20188 yr by TZC

great first ride today done about 20 miles. mixture of roads and woods. loved the power of the Bosch motor, but was a little scared when coming to wash it. now I'm back home, I want to get back on it.

Being a mountain biker for many years who is now getting on a bit and can't quite keep up the pace these days with the dodgy old knees, so I also took the plunge and after many hours reading up on all the bikes in my budget I went for the Voodoo Zobop because of the reasonability good spec components .. Son also owns the non electric Zobop and that has prooved to be a great bike over the last 18 months on the trails, I would even say it was better than my Boardman FS pro.

Having now done 150 miles + on the Voodoo all I can say is wow, what a bike, deep energy sapping muddy trails .. no problem, steep hills in the forest.. not found one I couldn't ride up yet and coming down the other side, I like the extra weight it feels really planted and still able to throw it about a bit (although the arms and shoulders knew about it next morning)

 

Love it and I took it out last Sat to do a range test. Trails, canals some steep hills and some road. I got to 44 miles and my body battery ran out, the bike was still showing 6 miles left in the battery ..

hey great to hear from another Zobop owner, glad you are enjoying the bike.

 

I've just gone over the 100 mile mark on mine and loving it. Been up the woods tonight straight from work thrashing it about.. handles great and grips well with the plus tyres.. Surprised at how much I'm using the dropper post.. Glad it had the 500 battery.. I'm not getting the range as you, but live in a very hilly area and I'm a bit of a lump, so can't grumble.. It's on charge now, ready for tomorrow!

 

Already own another Voodoo so agree on them being great bikes..

 

 

Please keep us on updated on how you are getting on with the bike!

As you we also own another Voodoo, my son has the Voodoo Zobop non electric and that's been a great bike on the trails for the last 18 months, I'd even say its better than my Boardman FS that cost reasonably more.

I use mine on Tour and Eco most of the time only switching to eMTB when I hit a hill that gets my puffing a bit, I think that's why I get the miles. Using it in the forest on eMTB I recon I get about 25 miles+ on it.

I have just took the plunge and added Slime to the tube, I heard that those tyres can be a Bas***d to get off the rims, so hopefully it will help with the punctures this year (tubes on the Voodoo are Presta valves, but with a removable core, so easy to get the slime in)

Loving it, yet to use it in anger, but now the weather is improving I hope to get out and throw down some hillsides :-)

Also Made a few additions .. Bottle cage on bars and a couple of mudguards, I found when up on the pedals I was getting a face full of crap .. Rear mudguard really helps to keep shock and battery cleaner.

I was in halfords the other day and I had a quick look at them and for the money they look a fab buy and I bet halfords will sell a truck load.

What size frame did you get?

 

I have just ordered the 18" frame and I am 5ft8.

Great choice .. I have the 18" Med and I'm 5'9" its perfect fit. (Hope you haggled for a good Discount)

I'm 6ft and have the 18" frame.. it's a brilliant bike! Just got mine back from the 6 week check-up/service..

Has anyone managed to see one of these in a shop before placing an order?

 

I went in to my local Halfords today and asked about it and they said I'd have to order one. I'm a little reluctant to do that. I don't know what Halford's policy is about returns of bikes ordered unseen (though you would think that a sensible company would have to be pretty flexible about things like that). And as I'm not sure which size would be right for me, there's a chance that even if I did like the bike, it would be the wrong size. (I'm 6ft with 34" inside leg, but I tend to prefer mountain bikes on the smaller size. I rented a Trek Powerfly the other weekend and the 21.5", while a lovely ride, felt a bit large for me.)

 

I might pop in to the Cycle Republic near work and see if they can be any more helpful.

Can you try another halfords, they have them in my local shop and they do a free 48 hour bike trial

Steve, thanks for giving me some hope that I might yet get to see one in a shop! Yes, there are other Halfords locally. I'll definitely give them a go if the Cycle Republic near work can't help.

I seen mine in Halfords leicester, they had it on show .. checked it out, haggled 25% discount and walked out with a bike 20 min later

Popped in to a different Halfords this morning and they told me the Stirling branch has the Zobop E in stock. Confirmed with them over the phone and went up there for a test ride this afternoon. Very impressed! Just need to sort out the money side of things...

 

In theory I can get 10% off in store using a voucher that I get through my AA membership. However, I note that the voucher says "cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer". Given that the Zobop E is part of their "10% off all electric bikes over £1,500" promotion, does this mean that the voucher couldn't be used?

Popped in to a different Halfords this morning and they told me the Stirling branch has the Zobop E in stock. Confirmed with them over the phone and went up there for a test ride this afternoon. Very impressed! Just need to sort out the money side of things...

 

In theory I can get 10% off in store using a voucher that I get through my AA membership. However, I note that the voucher says "cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer". Given that the Zobop E is part of their "10% off all electric bikes over £1,500" promotion, does this mean that the voucher couldn't be used?

Join British Cycling and get 10% off, a saving of £115 when you take in the membership fee. Plus you are also insured.

I can't see why the voucher can't be used. I have used my 10% British cycling discount on my Boardman FS Pro last year that was discounted 10% by Halfords.

Thanks David and Neal, that sounds encouraging. One of the assistants in Halfords yesterday did mention the 10% British Cycling discount, with a sort of a nudge and a wink and an "I didn't tell you this". When I got home and checked their web site, the Ts & Cs for the British Cycling discount were the same as for the AA one ie can't be used in conjunction with another offer. If they've accepted the British Cycling one against already discounted bikes then that gives me some confidence.

 

How does the British Cycling discount work? For the AA one you have to print off a voucher which carries the "cannot be used..." condition, albeit in very small print. For the British Cycling one do you just flash them a membership card?

 

The other question in my mind after yesterday's test ride is the size of bike I should go for. The one I rode was the 18". They handed it over with the dropper post as low as it would go in the seat tube, which was obviously too low after just a few yards of pedalling. I stopped and raised it - I think the 7cm mark was showing - and that felt just right for pedalling, if a teenzy bit precarious mounting and dismounting. However, the sitting position felt a little too upright. I'm thinking that, given the amount that I raised the seatpost on the 18", then the 20" should be spot on, and have a fraction more reach in the top tube. The thing is that, after being saddled with a Trek 6500 many years ago which, while bang on according to the charts, always felt a bit too on the big size for me, I tend to prefer to err towards the smaller frame size when facing a choice. Ho hum, still a few things to think about...

I just used my British cycling membership number add a few accessories and got the discount on them too. On my Voodoo I got 25% discount, but I was also buying 5 other bikes at the same time for my employees on the cycle to work scheme (I have done this for the last 3 years, couldn't manage to the away with having the E-Bike on the Cycle to work scheme though :-) ) so the manager at my local Halfords is very forthcoming with discounts when I ask.

 

On the sizing, I am 5'9" and the 18 is perfect when I stand across the frame my man parts just touch the frame, a 20" would be too big and I'd get crushed nuts when I stand over the frame.

 

I have the dropper post set up perfect now, its about a inch out of the down tube, and then when fully extended its perfect hight. The riding position is a little more upright than my analogue Boardman FS Pro, but I kinda like that, of all the bikes I have owned over the years, this is the only one that I didn't have to spend ages messing with to get a comfy fit, set the bars, levers, and seat and I haven't touched it since, very comfy bike.

Thanks again David for that extra info.

 

Can I just ask, without wanting to get too personal about it, what your inside leg measurement is? Mine is 34" and I definitely needed at least 2" of the dropper post showing on the 18" bike to be able to pedal efficiently.

 

I've compared the top tube length on the Zobop to my current MTB (Calibre Line 10, size L - 635mm), and to the eMTB I rented the other week (Trek Powerfly FS8 LT 21.5" - 662mm). My Line 10 feels spot on; the Trek felt a bit stretched out (as well as a bit too tall), with a lot of weight on my wrists which I think was due to the longer reach to the bars. The 18" Zobop E's top tube is 610mm whereas the 20" is 630mm, much closer to my Line 10. If the saddle height on the 20" isn't going to be too tippy-toes tall then I think that would be the size for me.

 

Can I also ask what charger you got with the Zobop? Halfords list the charge time as 7 hours, whereas other bikes with the same 500Wh Bosch battery quote a lot less than that. I assume this is the difference between the standard Bosch charger and the compact one. (I ask only out of interest: it's not a show-stopper if it comes with the slower charger. My legs were jelly after using up half the battery on the Trek in a half day at Glentress, I suspect a full battery's worth would take me more than 7 hours to recover from, never mind the battery!)

I'm a bit of a shorty in the inside leg department 29" (short length jeans drag) so maybe your right on the 20" frame, I think with a 34" inside leg the 18" frame might be a little cramped. Friend of mine 6'4" and long legs wanted a blast on mine and said it was too small for him when he was done, he has a Boardman FS pro same as me but large 20" frame and that too big for me to stand a across, but he fits it fine ( Boardman very different geometry though )

 

The charger that comes with it is the lower powered 'compact charger' I think they have tried to save costs but still having fairly decent spec components, so the charger you get is the cheaper one. Having said that, I have never needed to charge the battery in any hurry, after a full day riding I just plug it in and let it do its thing for the 6 or 7 hours it takes. I have ridden the full loop of Rutland Water 24 miles twice one day 48 miles in total and the battery still showing 9 miles range when I was done. ( I don't think many of us need to be able to do more than 40 odd miles a day .. My internal battery ran out long before the bike battery was going to It only takes 7 hours empty to full, more often than not, I do 25 - 30 miles and still have 40-50% battery left so only takes a few hours to charge.

 

I noticed the Trek Powerfly has a 60mm stem, the voodoo stem is 45mm so the large frame won't be quite as stretched out for you as you think, the 45mm stem will bring the bars closer by a lot.

Edited July 4, 20187 yr by DavidWylie

Best upgrade by far, Hope brakes .. Stops now