What would be your ultimate spec ebike,money no object

[billadie]

"A Mercedes badge.......it doesnt actually have to BE mercedes, just have the badge....ok ok Im shallow"

First car I ever drove was a Wolseley 1500. Wolseley's only unique point was its illuminated badge. Now if i could have a bike with a Wolseley badge featuring a high power LED, that would be useful. And a comfy saddle.

Bill

2 bikes, 4 saddles, sore bum

 

[Kudoscycles]

The response that came back was not what I expected.
I thought members would construct a bike using their selected components.
For example
Mtb style frame,
Magura Julie disc brakes
Bosch motor
Dave

 

[funkylyn]

The response that came back was not what I expected.
I thought members would construct a bike using their selected components.
For example
Mtb style frame,
Magura Julie disc brakes
Bosch motor
Dave

Sorry Dave.....did you want us to do YOUR job ? lol

We arent ALL techie you know.....you now have the general drift of what most people want, and most people just want the simple things.....good battery, enough power,reasonable weight, decent quality and a comfortable seat

Lynda

 

[morphix]

Sorry Dave.....did you want us to do YOUR job ? lol

We arent ALL techie you know.....you now have the general drift of what most people want, and most people just want the simple things.....good battery, enough power,reasonable weight, decent quality and a comfortable seat

Lynda

I'm with Lynda, I couldn't care less about the components as long as it delivers on looks and speed, light-weight etc. I don't know one make or part from another

 

[RobF]

Gates Carbon (belt) Drive - chains are so the century before the last century, dahling.

Quality hub gear - Rohloff or possibly NuVinci.

Puncture proof tyres - I've seen a vid of a mountain bike with lattice tyres which have no air pressure or tube - they seemed to be working so might not be far off production.

 

[Kudoscycles]

What about the spec of the Kalkhoff pro connect XTR,S10 but with legal 250 watts motor-it looks to me that £3.5k should buy some good parts?
Dave
Kudoscycles

 

[flecc]

The response that came back was not what I expected.
I thought members would construct a bike using their selected components.
For example
Mtb style frame,
Magura Julie disc brakes
Bosch motor
Dave

Trouble is that it's probably not possible Dave. I gave this some thought but came up with various answers for different purposes. There is no one perfect for anyone, the various components have differing advantages, for example I'd like a crank drive bike with hub motor advantages, or a hub motor bike with crank drive advantages. Disc brakes have their advantages but can be vulnerable to damage, V brakes are attractively simple but wear rims, hydraulic brake operation is excellent but makes adaptations and maintenance more difficult. Tbe NUVinci CVT copes with all gearing needs but is very inefficient, other hub gears are low maintenance but also lose efficiency, derailleur gears are very efficient but are a pain to maintain and lubricate adequately. Suspension is comfortable but loses efficiency and vice versa for rigid bikes.

No matter what "ideal" bike I specify, it will be equally not ideal in so many ways. Hence so many members having two or more e-bikes, as many as seven in some cases.

 

[Kudoscycles]

Gates Carbon (belt) Drive - chains are so the century before the last century, dahling.

Quality hub gear - Rohloff or possibly NuVinci.

Puncture proof tyres - I've seen a vid of a mountain bike with lattice tyres which have no air pressure or tube - they seemed to be working so might not be far off production.

You obviously prefer hub gear to derailleur gears. What about the Shimano Alfine 11 versus say the shimano Deore 9?
Dave
Kudoscycles

 

[Kudoscycles]

Trouble is that it's probably not possible Dave. I gave this some thought but came up with various answers for different purposes. There is no one perfect for anyone, the various components have differing advantages, for example I'd like a crank drive bike with hub motor advantages, or a hub motor bike with crank drive advantages. Disc brakes have their advantages but can be vulnerable to damage, V brakes are attractively simple but wear rims, hydraulic brake operation is excellent but makes adaptations and maintenance more difficult. Tbe NUVinci CVT copes with all gearing needs but is very inefficient, other hub gears are low maintenance but also lose efficiency, derailleur gears are very efficient but are a pain to maintain and lubricate adequately. Suspension is comfortable but loses efficiency and vice versa for rigid bikes.

No matter what "ideal" bike I specify, it will be equally not ideal in so many ways. Hence so many members having two or more e-bikes, as many as seven in some cases.

Yes,I agree but by discussion about individual components I can ascertain what knowledgeable members prefer . Not only about the type,for example-assuming most members prefer disc brakes,is the Magura brakes better than the tektro Auriga. Is the BM lights better than Spanninga. I mentioned the Kalkhoff bike above because at that price point Kalkhoff have no price restrictions when it comes to selecting components.
The ulterior motive is to try to improve the breed,my latest Kudos Arriba bike is about as good as I can produce with the Chinese parts bin I have available to me but I am starting to look at shows to more high end components which are made in china,but which are hype and which are really an improvement?
I thought it would be interesting for members to be part of that selection process.
Dave
Kudoscycles

 

[funkylyn]

-it looks to me that £3.5k should buy some good parts?
Dave
Kudoscycles

My god Dave....."should" ?

I think if a £3.5k bike doesnt have top of the range parts then there is something seriously wrong.

However, as you know, the vast majority of us have no wish to spend that sort of money, just give us the best you can for a reasonable amount of money.

We all put different things in different positions of importance, for example, I would happily shell out whatever it cost for completely puncture proof tyres, to me personally it would be worth a lot of money for peace of mind.... as a woman cyclist who just cannot get her head around changing 'tubey' things, and who also cycles many miles in fairly deserted out of the way places......that really would be money well spent......for ME.

Lynda

 

[morphix]

Do high performance/spec components even matter that much on e-bikes? On normal cycles I can see the benefit.. for the lycra types that are into lightweight, high performance etc.. but for e-bikes, the motor compensates for cheaper/lower performance components?

 

[RobF]

You obviously prefer hub gear to derailleur gears. What about the Shimano Alfine 11 versus say the shimano Deore 9?
Dave
Kudoscycles

My ideal bike with a belt drive would have to have hub gears, or just a single sprocket - now there's a thought.

I don't know much about the Shimano hubs, but instinctively fewer gears to me equals greater reliability so I'd be inclined to go for the nine speed.

My ideal road going ebike wouldn't need many gears, so would probably be fine with a Sturmey three speed hub, or a SRAM hub, which I think comes in three and four -or maybe five - gears.

 

[GaRRy]

Yes,I agree but by discussion about individual components I can ascertain what knowledgeable members prefer . Not only about the type,for example-assuming most members prefer disc brakes,is the Magura brakes better than the tektro Auriga. Is the BM lights better than Spanninga.

Hell we cant agree which is better Hub or Crank what chance do you have on getting us to agree on the best components . and thats true in the cycling world for all the other components one person will say one manufacturer and another will say completely the opposite.
and its true for almost all products.
iPhone/android
mac/windows/linux
Virgin/Sky
iPad/?????


Still say my spec is what you should be aiming for

 

[flecc]

Once you move up the specification scale Dave, the somewhat indefinable matter of quality comes into play. Those who buy the BikeTec Flyers, Koga and Sparta e-bikes love the quality of those above anything else, since it gives them immense pride of ownership.

That quality is not just a matter of specification or even performance, more a matter of obviously outstanding design detail, impeccable finish and faultless build quality.

Take the Sparta Ion M-gear model. It has an instantly lever adjustable seatstem and handlebar stem. The average owner only needs to use those expensive parts just once after which they are surplus and unnecessary, but the owner thinks just having them is wonderful. It has a headlamp streamlined into the suspension fork crown, expensive and difficult to repair or replace if damaged, but it looks so good those don't matter. And it's finish just glows quality in the manner of a new Rolls Royce.

 

[themutiny]

My ideal bike?
As others have said, it depends on how/where it will be used, however as an all rounder, and at the risk of abuse:

Ezee Torq mk1 (offroad mode)
Marathon plus tyres
20ah battery
Twin lumicycle lights

Oh - that would be my bike

 

[Geebee]

Once you get above the bottom tier of components the operational differences are not that great, given the option I would put all the extra money into weight reduction and preferably with a crank drive.
A complete bike with battery around 14 kg or less? and a removable battery so that a spare can be taken for longer rides.
Having a basically normal bike with a crank drive means the component\weight weenies can go to town over time and the rest of us can just enjoy it as is, plus any bike shop can work on 90% of the bike without panicking over the electrics.

 

[morphix]

The holy grail for e-bikes will be batteries that are very small and light, yet extremely powerful for long distance and also very fast charging in 30 mins or less.

Toshiba or Panasonic and some others were doing work in this direction as I recall.. they did launch a 30-min charge battery...

The big ugly bulky batteries is at present the limiting factor I think... but you can always buy several small light 9Ah or 10Ah batteries (bottle type or the 2kg cube-type from BMS) and just carry 1 or 2 extra in your back pack or panniers I guess without needing a single big metal battery on your bike or taking up rack space.

I wonder if solar technology improves and becomes much more efficient and cheaper to produce, it may be possible someday to have solar panels on the face of the battery or ones built onto the rack which are smash-proof, and allow the bike to charge all the time.