What e-bike to buy? Advice sought, please.

[keithhazel]

Yes Rog, I don't know how these things keep happening, but it sure looks like I'm being targeted at times.
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no Tony im sure you are not, its just as you are a prolific poster there are so many going to get crossed and misread and with people thinking you are replying to theirs when you are not..just a case of copying and pasting everything as a quote that you are replying to, im guessing you probably will do that too....people are people and nothing as queer as folk............... bet i get told off for someone saying ive said they queer now....haha

 

[Tim]

Best picture I could find, the lazy Google man didn't bother to drive up it.
Google Maps
Looks like a fair slog.

That's the lower, not-so-steep bit! Where it makes a turn about 2/3 of the way up, it steps up a gear.

 

[Wisper Bikes]

Range

Hi CJB

Range is a tricky one, as Flecc says it so much depends on how you would use the power. On the Wisper you have the standard pedelec mode plus the use of a throttle so you can decide exactly how much power you require for any given circumstance. This wide choice and unlimited access to power does tend to give massive variations in range, depending on how the bike is being ridden. On road tests we have achieved over 120km (70miles) from one charge so it does very much depend on the rider. If you set the Wisper to the low range you would get at least 50 miles out of it probably more, however if you were to use the throttle flat out for the whole journey you may as much as halve that.

I have just finished a survey of some popular bikes which you may find interesting, on the whole it shows that the larger the capacity of the battery the longer the range. If you look at the figures (all published on the various websites) the range correlates quite nicely with the battery capacities.

This was not a scientific survey and I may have made some errors but most ebike manufacturers are claiming about 1 mile for every 10Wh.

All the best David

Bike Volts Amps Capacity Range (Minimum published)

Wisper 905se Li Po 37V 14A 518Wh 56 miles (90km)
Wisper 705se Li Po 37V 14A 518Wh 56 miles (90km)
Urban mover Li Po 26V 12A 306Wh 28 miles (45km)
Wisper 905eco Li Po 37V 8A 296Wh 29 miles (47km)
PowaCycle Li Ion 26V 10.5A 273Wh 27 miles (43km)
Kalkhoff Li Ion 26V 10A 260Wh 26 miles (42km)
Swiss Flyer Li Ion 24V 10A 240Wh 25 miles (40km)
Giant Twist Li Ion 26V 9A 234Wh 30 miles (48km)
Urban mover Li Ion 26V 9A 234Wh 21 miles (34km)
Wisper 806fe Li Ion 24V 9A 216Wh 24 miles (39km)
Izip Li Ion 24V 9A 216Wh 23 miles (37km)

 

[winterdog]

am i doing some thing wrong but when using the lo setting i find it hard to notice the help.
Do you have any idea about didtance using the hi(but no twisting )option

david

 

[rog_london]

am i doing some thing wrong but when using the lo setting i find it hard to notice the help.
Do you have any idea about didtance using the hi(but no twisting )option

david

Hi David. Having a similar model of Wisper to you, I can appreciate that the 'lo' setting is just a bit subtle.

It does help, but not much. You appreciate it more if you switch off entirely (red button). I think that it's a good point personally - it will assist you, but not so much that it takes over - unlike the 'hi' setting, where you might find the bike runs off as soon as it sees you are interested....

I haven't really considered how much of a range you might get on 'hi' though David at Wisper says (I think, allowing for the vagaries of memory) worst case (i.e. full throttle all the time) it's generally about a 25 mile range. That's more than just using 'hi' though - that's pushing it hard.

As the battery on the Wisper is the most generously rated of those on e-bikes presently in general use, if you ride anything else you might get rather less, although it does depend on the 'psychology' of the individual bike as well as on how much you contribute yourself. It's a complex subject. Some bikes *require* you to make an effort, and assist you in direct proportion, others just need you to be spinning the pedals, and others don't need either (the Wisper is in this last category).

Rog.

 

[Wisper Bikes]

Hi Lo

Hi David

As Rog says, at 20% the current Lo setting will only give you minimal assistance which allows you to use the twist throttle to increase the power all the way from 20 to 100% of the power available if an when required.

On the high setting without using throttle and the de-restrict off you should be able to achieve at least 50 miles and in the right conditions as much as 70 depending on the road, weather and your weight.

To maximise your range on any e bike never use the throttle to pull away from stand still and don't go for long periods with the throttle fully open as by throttling back just a few millimeters will save masses of power. Much the same as driving a car, if you go everywhere with your foot on the floor you will probably achieve half the fuel efficiency of the same car being driven carefully.

All the best David

 

[Wisper Bikes]

Post from Tonyo made yesterday.

http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/electric-bicycles/3915-wisper-905se-city-750-mile-review-2.html#post50931

 

[rustic]

Rider weight seems to be a factor for consideration, at 95kg I reckon you'd need to cut all ranges posted by a fair old percentage.

Not too sure about East Anglia being flat. I live in the Colne Valley in North Essex, despite a fair level of fitness I really struggle with several of the hills on my commute into Colchester on a non assisted push bike, nothing as punishing as Shropshire / Peak district etc..., but by no means flat.

 

[flecc]

Not too sure about East Anglia being flat. I live in the Colne Valley in North Essex, despite a fair level of fitness I really struggle with several of the hills on my commute into Colchester on a non assisted push bike, nothing as punishing as Shropshire / Peak district etc..., but by no means flat.

Historically speaking East Anglia is Norfolk and Suffolk, but it's now generally accepted to include Cambridgeshire as well. Some consider Essex is a part of the region, but that's not widely accepted and I didn't include it in my description of East Anglia as "fairly flat".
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[Mussels]

Rider weight seems to be a factor for consideration, at 95kg I reckon you'd need to cut all ranges posted by a fair old percentage.

Not too sure about East Anglia being flat. I live in the Colne Valley in North Essex, despite a fair level of fitness I really struggle with several of the hills on my commute into Colchester on a non assisted push bike, nothing as punishing as Shropshire / Peak district etc..., but by no means flat.

I'm 95Kg and when unfit I could get 40 miles out of the Wisper (off road mode with full throttle all the time), mainly flat with a few steep hills.
Colchester has a lot of hills but I usually just think of Norfolk and Suffolk, now after checking I realise it's much bigger.

 

[cjb295]

First of all, thanks for all the great replies. They were very helpful. On Saturday I hired a Pro Connect and went round Richmond Park on it for 2 hours (I stuck mainly to the roads just inside the perimeter). My opinion of its performance compared to the Wisper was that I much preferred the Wisper. After 1 hour on the Wisper I didn't feel very tired, but after only 30 mins on the Pro Connect, I was noticing that I had to put in much more effort than I wanted to. I felt there was much more assistance from the Wisper in throttle mode compared to the Pro Connect in "high", even up hills. I know that mode will drain the battery faster, but the Wisper has a larger battery, so I don't see that as a big problem.

I do have reservations over the reliability of the Wisper. Does anybody have any experiences with this, and any mods that they've done to their wisper to make it more reliable?

So, it seems that the Wisper is the way to go, but I've noticed from their website that there are 2008 and 2009 models for each of their range. Does anybody know what the differences between the 2008 and 2009 905 city models are? (Apart from the fact that the 2009 model costs £115 more)

Thanks, Chris

 

[Wisper Bikes]

Upgrades

Hi Chris

Thanks for you kind comments.

There have been a lot of upgrades and changes recently and I would be delighted to send you an email with all the details. Please email me at miall@aol.com and I will send a list by return. Unfortunately though much of the price increase is down to the weak position of the £ against the Euro and other currencies.

Regarding reliability, we have had issues with brakes and one or two other small items in the past however, without exception, we have always put the faults right or sent the components for home fitting. We do pride ourselves in giving a 100% service.

The problems with the brakes and rear wheel have now been rectified on all new models.

All the best David

 

[Mussels]

I do have reservations over the reliability of the Wisper. Does anybody have any experiences with this, and any mods that they've done to their wisper to make it more reliable?

Electrically my 905SE has been faultless over 5000+ miles*, I had some problems with the bike parts but the only major headache was the back wheel problem which Wisper put right. The brakes are much improved now but they could be better (Something I'm working on), hopefully on the 09 model it all works well out of the box.
Other than those the only real mod I have done is to change the gear ratios to suit my locality and riding style, this was easy to do by changing the chainring.
There are a few compromises in the design but these are because cycle components aren't usually designed to work with motors. The only thing that I wish Wisper designed differently is making it possible to fit a front mech.

* I've lost count because I've had several failed cycle computers, they seem to be fragile and unreliable no matter how much one spends on them.

 

[Wisper Bikes]

Front Mech

Hi Mussells, excuse my ignorance but what is a front Mech?

And congrats on the 1000th post!

All the best David

 

[Alex728]

front mech is a front derailleur with multiple chain rings, as found on most mountain bikes, hybrids and road bikes. MTBs and hybrids/tourers usually have three chain rings, whilst road bikes normally have two.

 

[Wisper Bikes]

Mech

Thanks Alex, I have always called it a front dérailleur . Mussells I am looking into the possibility now.

All the best David

 

[Mussels]

Thanks Alex, I have always called it a front dérailleur . Mussells I am looking into the possibility now.

All the best David

Thanks, I dont' think there is an easy or cheap way to do it, an eclamp might work but they seem very rare. A braze on mouning would work but I don't think they can be done on an aluminium frame, a normal clamp won't work as the battery is in the way so the usual methods are no good.
I did discuss options on here a while ago and chasing down the elusive e-clamp seemed to be the only option.