What is the best legal crank drive bike available?

[GaRRy]

That are hardly any of you can be bothered to even test ride better specified e bikes says quite a lot I think.

Come on Eddie you are guilty of this your self saying there is no way you will ride xyz because its obviously a waste of time and a pile of rubbish.

Do agree there is a attempt here to try and compare (with no disrespect) the equivalent of Halfords sub £150 Apollo to a £1000+ Boardman bike. But then that the diffenrence with pedalecs at the moment they are all bunched together under one roof rather than cheap and acceptable to the masses and expensive for the diehard enthusiasts.

All this is a bit like comparing a Mondeo and a Ferrari and saying the Mondeo is obviously rubbish as its components are no where as good but I know which id rather go and do the family shopping in.

we are lucky to live in a world where we have the choice.

 

[eddieo]

but I have already said I looked at the bike and had no interest wasting my time riding the thing. the Ferrari/ford comparison makes little sense and hardly comparable...Trabant maybe?

 

[GaRRy]

but I have already said I looked at the bike and had no interest wasting my time riding the thing. the Ferrari/ford comparison makes little sense and hardly comparable...Trabant maybe?

Sorry if you are not prepared to ride a bike you are not in a posistion to critises it and certainly not to claim its the equivalent of a Trabant. It may be rubbish but unless you ride it how do you know ?.

There are many members on here who have owned (or still own) low endish chinese bike as well as something more up market and I dont see many of them attacking the cheaper bike (in fact quite often the opposite saying it would be a good start for someone). I have kept my Urban Mover as well as my NEO as there are times when its the better option (ie if need to leave for a long period somewhere i dont consider that bike safe). Sure the one is much better than the other but doesnt make the other rubbish just not as good.

 

[Kudoscycles]

Dave, I dont know why, if a bike isnt represented at a big cycle show, it would necessarily mean it was a 'moped type' bike, Im sure I dont need to remind you how expensive these shows are to attend.

Powerpedals are a small family company who found the Tonaro range of bikes, fell in love with them and just wanted to bring them to the UK market,(coupled with an ethos of after sales service over and beyond the norm) and I for one am pleased that they did.

On a personal and business level I would love it if they could/would attend more shows etc because they can certainly give a lot of importers, including yourself, a run for their money with an inexpensive crank drive range of bikes......you obviously must know this, hence your intention of bringing reasonably priced crank drives into your range in the future.

Hearing of your plans Im surprised you didnt try out all the opposition first......try one Dave, I think you will be very pleasantly surprised.......they are nice, decently put together bikes that do exactly what they say they will do, and, as you know from this forum, have an ever growing band of satisfied owners.

Personally, I had been looking at, and could have afforded to buy, a more expensive crank drive bike, the USP for me, and what finally swung it ....was the throttle.......

Lynda

Lynda,I think I apologised for making sweeping statements about moped style e-bikes and including the Tonaro range. I must say making a posting late at night,without doing the homework of looking up the website after half way down a bottle of Norton Reserve was a mistake.
My perception of the Tonaro was like the Bighit,I did not realise that the range extended into a trecking style and step through(the Esprit),in fact looking at that Esprit I have to say with the crank drive and throttle that is probably a unique bike at the moment especially suitable for the lady who because of health problems needed maximum assist on hills and easy mount,the step through is very low like our Safari bike.
I would welcome the opportunity to try a Tonaro but have never ever seen one,so no possibility to ride one. I agree that shows are expensive but 'try a bike' days such as our Rutland water event or Redbridge day are almost cost free even to our competitors. Maybe one of you could bring a Tonaro along to one of our events to try. The Electric Bike magazine does independent free reviews and they cost nothing to the importer.
However I have ridden some of these moped style bikes at the Cycle show and in particular the Shanghai show, many of them were clearly designed never to be ridden without power,the ergonomics and weight just makes them ponderous to ride,anything over a short distance is exhausting. I tried one at Shanghai and turned the power off,the salesman immediately ran over and put the power back on-by the way,there was only on/off,the throttle did the control-he gave me a strange look as to why I would possibly want to ride his machine without power,the price was only 185.00 dollars!!!
Anyway,my thread seems to have been somewhat hijacked by Tonaro discussions both for and against.
The object of the posting was to ask members what they thought of the Bosch or Panasonic powered bikes. One of the problems we have in the UK is that the germans effectively restrict the supply of these bikes because importers will not stock the product,both KTM and AVE now have distributors in the UK but they don't stock the product-it is left to individual retailers to make decisions on what bikes to stock and therefore give customers a chance to ride these bikes.
Kudos will not advertise any product unless that product is available for immediate purchase but it is difficult to decide customers tastes.
I personally like the following bikes,interested in others opinions?
KTM Macina HS
KTM Macina Bold
AVE TH-5
AVE SH-9
AVE XH-3
AVE MH-7
AVE MH-E
All these bikes have recently reduced in price due to the strength of the pound against the euro,the MH-E town cruiser is only £1699.00,all have Bosch crank drive.

 

[eddieo]

Your point about stock is very true, I was looking at both Corretec and Cube for test rides, before I went for the AVE, and while plenty where advertised, they were strictly order on demand, on bikes costing nearly 3k It is an absurd situation not being able to try one...I did find a Cube up north but had decided against it by then after doing some homework.



I like the KTM range and a good alternative to Haibike and others, the KTM Race 29'er a lovely bike and only 18.5kg. The AVE MH E cruiser is a bit of an oddity and will have even a more limited market then mine dont you think....

the AVE range you quote dont say weight and I'm personally not interested in bikes more then around the 20kg mark.

surprised that you can not find any other makes to import at these shows you attend, as there are loads.....and arent EBCO UK distributers for AVE?

Hercules Roberta and Kreidler Bosch bikes and the like now available for about £1100 - £1300

 

[Kudoscycles]

Eddie...Ebco are distributors for AVE,their terms are very fair and I have no problem dealing with them but they will not stock the product,all bikes are to order. Similarly KTM,we have to make decisions now for spring 2013 delivery. I approached Scott and Merida who both said they were not interested in the UK,Hercules-Winora-Haibike will be distributed through the Raleigh bike shops,I bet they don't bother.
I do think importers should stock the product and keep spares but this is not happening.
It's a bit of a 'chicken n egg' situation-unless we retailers stock the product,then there are no bikes to test but until the market expands nobody will take the risk and stock the product,the market won't expand unless.....
What concerns me is that bikes with a price point above £1500 sell on a ratio of 1-50 to bikes about £1000. Maybe the UK market is just not mature enough to accept these higher priced product.
Dave
Kudoscycles

 

[GORDONAL]

Eddie...Ebco are distributors for AVE,their terms are very fair and I have no problem dealing with them but they will not stock the product,all bikes are to order. Similarly KTM,we have to make decisions now for spring 2013 delivery. I approached Scott and Merida who both said they were not interested in the UK,Hercules-Winora-Haibike will be distributed through the Raleigh bike shops,I bet they don't bother.
I do think importers should stock the product and keep spares but this is not happening.
It's a bit of a 'chicken n egg' situation-unless we retailers stock the product,then there are no bikes to test but until the market expands nobody will take the risk and stock the product,the market won't expand unless.....
What concerns me is that bikes with a price point above £1500 sell on a ratio of 1-50 to bikes about £1000. Maybe the UK market is just not mature enough to accept these higher priced product.
Dave
Kudoscycles

Kreidler ? Any details other than German website the Compact 20" Bosch drive looks "interesting" at the right price . Dave you obviously know the market far better than most on here I agree with your £1500 price point thats my absolute max. point for any bike I could neither justify or afford any higher .

Alan

 

[gray198]

this has just been posted and may be worth a look

http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/introduce-yourself/12665-ktm-macina-yorkshire-dales.html

 

[eddieo]

Kreidler ? Any details other than German website the Compact 20" Bosch drive looks "interesting" at the right price . Dave you obviously know the market far better than most on here I agree with your £1500 price point thats my absolute max. point for any bike I could neither justify or afford any higher .

Alan

slightly over £1500 + postage

But Gordon if you need a folder/semi folder its not as compact and is a tad heavier then mine...The full size step through better value

TOP KREIDLER Elektro-Fahrrad Vitality Compact Bosch-Antrieb 8-Gang Nabe nur 90km | eBay

 

[NRG]

Good grief guys, stop wittering on and go for a ride like Dave, it will do you the world of good.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Well, I just got back from my 25 mile ride and I really enjoyed it. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, the scenery along the River Severn at Ironbridge is lovely and mike bike was making effortless power even up the very steep hills, so I was totally relaxed. I came to the conclusion afterwards that my £200 crank-drive bike is the best, because I don't think I could have enjoyed the ride more.

So, this whole thread is totally futile and pointless because the question, "Which is best?", is unqualified. Every bike has good points and bad points. What's good for one person can be bad for someone else. So questions like "Which is fastest/least maintenance/most comfortable/longest range/cheapest/lightest/torquiest/etc/" make sense, but not "Which is best?"!

 

[Eagle]

What's good for one person can be bad for someone else. So questions like "Which is fastest/least maintenance/most comfortable/longest range/cheapest/lightest/torquiest/etc/" make sense, but not "Which is best?"!

Spot on, Dave. I couldn't agree more.

 

[GaRRy]

Good grief guys, stop wittering on and go for a ride like Dave, it will do you the world of good.

would of loved to but i was supposed to be working

 

[Scimitar]

eddieo wrote...
...Turdaro
...Turdaro
...Turdaro
...Turdaro

...yawn.
For gawd's sake, get a life.

 

[funkylyn]

Lynda,I think I apologised for making sweeping statements about moped style e-bikes and including the Tonaro range. I must say making a posting late at night,without doing the homework of looking up the website after half way down a bottle of Norton Reserve was a mistake.
My perception of the Tonaro was like the Bighit,I did not realise that the range extended into a trecking style and step through(the Esprit),in fact looking at that Esprit I have to say with the crank drive and throttle that is probably a unique bike at the moment especially suitable for the lady who because of health problems needed maximum assist on hills and easy mount,the step through is very low like our Safari bike.
I would welcome the opportunity to try a Tonaro but have never ever seen one,so no possibility to ride one. I agree that shows are expensive but 'try a bike' days such as our Rutland water event or Redbridge day are almost cost free even to our competitors. Maybe one of you could bring a Tonaro along to one of our events to try. The Electric Bike magazine does independent free reviews and they cost nothing to the importer.
However I have ridden some of these moped style bikes at the Cycle show and in particular the Shanghai show, many of them were clearly designed never to be ridden without power,the ergonomics and weight just makes them ponderous to ride,anything over a short distance is exhausting. I tried one at Shanghai and turned the power off,the salesman immediately ran over and put the power back on-by the way,there was only on/off,the throttle did the control-he gave me a strange look as to why I would possibly want to ride his machine without power,the price was only 185.00 dollars!!!
Anyway,my thread seems to have been somewhat hijacked by Tonaro discussions both for and against.
The object of the posting was to ask members what they thought of the Bosch or Panasonic powered bikes. One of the problems we have in the UK is that the germans effectively restrict the supply of these bikes because importers will not stock the product,both KTM and AVE now have distributors in the UK but they don't stock the product-it is left to individual retailers to make decisions on what bikes to stock and therefore give customers a chance to ride these bikes.
Kudos will not advertise any product unless that product is available for immediate purchase but it is difficult to decide customers tastes.
I personally like the following bikes,interested in others opinions?
KTM Macina HS
KTM Macina Bold
AVE TH-5
AVE SH-9
AVE XH-3
AVE MH-7
AVE MH-E
All these bikes have recently reduced in price due to the strength of the pound against the euro,the MH-E town cruiser is only £1699.00,all have Bosch crank drive.

If I manage to get up to any of your test ride days Dave I will be sure to bring my bike ......you try mine and I will try yours

I have tried many Panasonic system bikes and liked them a lot, as I said before it was the Tonaro throttle that swung it for me.
I havent as yet had the chance to try any Bosch powered bikes but look forward to it........I love trying different bikes and comparing them.....I think at one time I drove poor Jim at Reaction Electric in Taunton mad with my indecision.

I can assure you I dont have any health problems but for me the benefits of an electric bike has been the ability to go on far longer rides, 20 to 40+ miles and I freely admit I could never in a month of sundays do that on an unassisted bike.

Norton Reserve eh ? Nice one... although I prefer Rose' ......but I can see how you got lulled into a false sense of security...hope you finished the bottle afterwards lol

Lynda