What's The Difference?

[Cyclezee]

What's the difference between a 'German' Wisper Works 905se and the latest 2008 model soon to be available in the UK?
I along with several other members have been trying to fathom that one out for quite a while.

Checking out the spec Works 905e it would seem the main improvement is a new Lithium Polymer battery and charger, apart from that a much needed new saddle and a wireless speedo. Other than that no other improvements as far as I can tell.
I note that some items have been removed, the stripped down entry level Eco model which would appear to be the old 905e, no longer has mudguards. The Sport model has lost the speedo, power meter which most people thought was as much good as a chocolate fireguard, personally I thought it was rather funky and the power meter wasn't bad.
Finally the City model has lost its front suspension and gained a dyno hub.

I almost forgot, the 'German' model came with what looked like a mickey mouse solar powered rechargeable led front light which actually worked very well.

In conclusion, the only actual improvement might be the new battery, but I have yet to hear of any problems with the 36v 14amp Lishen Li Mn one and although the Li Po type is claimed to be lighter, the total weight of the bike is not.
Therefore if you bought a 'German' bike, which would appear to be identical to the ones currently being sold by the Electric Transport Shop, and sorted the minor wiring fault, you got a relatively good deal and should be happy with your purchase.
Unfortunately, the soaring Euro has made a big dent in cost advantage of buying from Germany.

John

 

[frank9755]

Sounds like a pretty comprehensive summary to me, John!

There are a couple of other things I have read, which are a new saddle and flip-top seat post and, I'm pleased to say, a torque arm!

Overall though, the German (and UK 2007 - reward never claimed!) models are pretty good; what is there to change?

Frank

 

[flecc]

One other difference John.

With the German one you get the opportunity to moan about the warranty.
.

 

[frank9755]

Good one, Flecc!

The other difference of course is that you can buy the German one now whereas the 2008 model gives a free months waiting time, ideal for those on the site who may place a premium on deferred gratification!

 

[Wisper Bikes]

Changes

"What's the difference between a 'German' Wisper Works 905se and the latest 2008 model soon to be available..... I along with several other members have been trying to fathom that one out for quite a while."

Hi John

Thanks for your post.

The bikes that will be here in a couple of weeks have had many upgrades on the German model including the ones you mentioned.

Many are small changes such as only using stainless steel or alloy fixings on the bike, having a molding made to increase the length of the new soft feel throttle grips and fitting a torque arm. We have also made larger changes such as new brakes and brake levers back and front and better forks. The new battery is important as we are getting a far greater range now, but as you kindly pointed out we have had no problems with the Lishen pack since the first delivery. The motor has been upgraded with better and quieter gearing and the confusing on off handle bar buttons have been completely changed so one simply turns the motor off and the other is the de-restrict button. We don't itemise each and every improvement as I believe it would become a little boring to prospective customers.

We will continue to improve the model, but in future to avoid any confusion will not be talking about changes until the bikes are here in the UK or at least on the sea.

The 905Eco, has most of the new features and improvements we have simply made a bike that is more affordable. Many people question the need for front suspension, saddle suspension and disk brakes so we have made a new frame that gives us a different angle of attack on the front forks so we can offer the choice of with/without front suspension. The battery is smaller and less expensive but is from the same factory as the powerful 37v 14a version and is also the new Li Po model.

The Sport model still has the speedo (thanks for pointing out the omission) but a new better wireless version and still carries all the other goodies.

The City as you quite correctly point out has lost the front suspension and disk brake but has gained a dyno hub and full polycarbonate mudguards.

The only major problems with the German bike were the wiring problem and lack of a fitted throttle, although I do agree with you about the saddle.

The initial batch coming into the UK are Sports but we do have full mudguards if people prefer them.

We now only have 24 left to sell from the full container and the next consignment of bikes will not be here until June.

Best regards David

 

[Cyclezee]

David,
Thanks for pointing out the more detailed improvements which you have made to the 905 range. I always thought the bike was basically good and these changes can only make it better.
In my opinion it is a better bike than the Ezee Torq, probably it's closest rival. The motor on the rear wheel and a reliable battery being the main differences between the Torq and 905.
I would suggest however that you add all these detailed changes to your web page so people can see the difference between the 'German' imports and the 2008 905

John

 

[Wisper Bikes]

Changes

Hi John

Yes I will add the detail to the site, thanks for your advice and kind comments.

I have just started the long and laborious job of learning to build, and then building our own web site so we can update on a daily basis if necessary without having to pay £100's for each update.

I am in the process of putting together a very detailed and technical spec sheet with road tests and full details on all the components, but will not publish until I have our home built website available.

Best regards David

 

[ElephantsGerald]

Wisper Web Site

I have just started the long and laborious job of learning to build, and then building our own web site so we can update on a daily basis if necessary without having to pay £100's for each update.

Apologies for going off-topic here.

David,

I do things to web sites for a living (wiring up databases and writing web applications rather than creating and manipulating graphics), so I know that starting from scratch is no joke!

If you want to control the site yourself, do daily updates, and generally make life easy for yourself I suggest you check out a CMS system (CMS meaning Content Management System). There are plenty of open-source (i.e. free) CMS packages out there that are very easy to use, and highly functional.

In a nut-shell a CMS provides the framework for a web site (it includes all the security, user registration, wiring up of menu's and pages, content editing tools, etc., etc.). Essentially all you have to do is provide a template (or skin) that defines the "Look and Feel", and write the content.

One that I've used before and found to be very good is called Joomla. Some examples of Joomla sites can be found here: Joomla! Community Forum; 1.5 Site Showcase

There are loads of (free) extensions for Joomla too (e.g. shopping baskets, catalogues, discussion forums, calendars, multiple languages, image libraries, etc.): Joomla! Extensions Directory

I'm not touting for work here (I get quite enough of that doing the 9 to 5!), but I'm happy to chat if you'd like any advice or help.

Regards,

Elephants

 

[Wisper Bikes]

Web site

Thanks Elephants, I will write to you in PM's later today.

All the best David