What's the Smart e-bike really like...

[Kudoscycles]

All the raving about the Smart e-bike made me relook at this bike to see if I had missed something.
I first rode one of these bikes at Eurobike and really wanted to like it,with Mercedes support and built by Grace I thought it would be a quantum technology leap forwards.
The styling was quite radical and the engineering very solid,it had a belt drive to a 3 speed gear,weighed 26 kilos and 200 watt power....the result was underpowered up the Eurobike hill,it was difficult with only 3 speeds to find the correct climbing gear,with the result you usually selected a lower than ideal gear,other testers came thundering past up the hill in higher gears with more power.
I think Mercedes were more concerned about styling than usage.
Pocket-Lint.com put the bike through a long term test and concluded similar.
For....the smooth gear system and clean belt drive,the contemporary styling and built in lights
Against....very heavy(26kgs)impractical for urban living due to weight, Overpriced and underpowered.The claimed 60 miles range was not realistic,25-30 miles more reasonable.
Their conclusion was that the Smart e-bike was a Boris bike with style and electric added.
They noted ......what you absolutely,completely and utterly do not let happen is to run out of power in the sticks,with no power you feel every one of those 26kgs,it's a bit like cutting the floor out of a Hummer and then pedalling it like the Flintstones....not my words,don't shoot the messenger,hehe!!!
KudosDave

 

[RobF]

Dave, you are a very naughty boy.

It's almost worth tinkering with my ignore settings to see all the replies.

Almost, but not quite.

 

[Jimod]

All the raving about the Smart e-bike made me relook at this bike to see if I had missed something.
I first rode one of these bikes at Eurobike and really wanted to like it,with Mercedes support and built by Grace I thought it would be a quantum technology leap forwards.
The styling was quite radical and the engineering very solid,it had a belt drive to a 3 speed gear,weighed 26 kilos and 200 watt power....the result was underpowered up the Eurobike hill,it was difficult with only 3 speeds to find the correct climbing gear,with the result you usually selected a lower than ideal gear,other testers came thundering past up the hill in higher gears with more power.
I think Mercedes were more concerned about styling than usage.
Pocket-Lint.com put the bike through a long term test and concluded similar.
For....the smooth gear system and clean belt drive,the contemporary styling and built in lights
Against....very heavy(26kgs)impractical for urban living due to weight, Overpriced and underpowered.The claimed 60 miles range was not realistic,25-30 miles more reasonable.
Their conclusion was that the Smart e-bike was a Boris bike with style and electric added.
They noted ......what you absolutely,completely and utterly do not let happen is to run out of power in the sticks,with no power you feel every one of those 26kgs,it's a bit like cutting the floor out of a Hummer and then pedalling it like the Flintstones....not my words,don't shoot the messenger,hehe!!!
KudosDave

The 3 speed gears would put me off it straight away. I like lots of gears so I can climb hills easily. I don't like the looks of it, if I was 14 or so It might look OK. I also dislike the claim of more than 60 miles battery range. If you can make a bike like that get 60 miles from the battery, you don't need an ebike.

 

[Plasmadaddy]

Ah but no mention of the 250W version.
That'll be a whole different (designer) story!

 

[Alan Quay]

I've heard that its a great bike for running over dogs in the park. If you put suspension forks on it you barely even notice.
Just a slick, designer B-dump, B-dump.

 

[tillson]

The 3 speed gears would put me off it straight away. I like lots of gears so I can climb hills easily.

That's not been my experience with EBikes. I find lots of gear ratios to be unnecessary, but wide ratio spacing to be more desireable.

However, I don't think that the 3 speed hub fitted to the Smart delivers the wide ratio spacing.

 

[flecc]

I think Mercedes were more concerned about styling than usage.

They basically followed their previous effort Dave, the Mercedes e-bike of 2001 which similarly only ran for a while and was just a promotional for their cars.

That was built by motorcycle maker EMC Puch in Austria and had the similar battery tank arrangement, belt drive, with again a direct drive rear motor but single speed and very low pedal gearing to cope with it's weight. You can see the brand similarities in the photo of it below:

 

[Jimod]

That's not been my experience with EBikes. I find lots of gear ratios to be unnecessary, but wide ratio spacing to be more desireable.

However, I don't think that the 3 speed hub fitted to the Smart delivers the wide ratio spacing.

It's horses for courses I guess. The last mile up to my house is all uphill with various gradients. I use more than 3 different gears going up it. If I only used 1st middle and top gear it would be harder to climb the hill. Sometimes when the gradient stiffens going down 1 gear on a multi geared bike is enough and obviously vice versa when the hill flattens slightly.

It's like driving an old car with 3 speeds or a modern one with 5 speeds. The 5 speed one is better to drive.

All in my humble opinion of course.

 

[flecc]

However, I don't think that the 3 speed hub fitted to the Smart delivers the wide ratio spacing.

You're right, it's just 200% range, an 8 gear hub typically being about 300%.
.

 

[mike killay]

after more than a few years, I have concluded that the gears that I need on my ebike are 32 inch, 60 inch and 100 inch. Two intermediate gears are also handy.
Hub gears rarely deliver that wide a ratio.

 

[Artstu]

I dare say that if you live somewhere flat and are happy to compromise 3-gears will do. It's not flat here and I like to be in the most efficient gear, so 3-gears just wouldn't cut it.
Nexus-8 covers it all just fine, and with the motor to help on the hills you can run with a pretty high 1st gear and therefore have a nice high 8th gear.

 

[shemozzle999]

All the raving about the Smart e-bike made me relook at this bike to see if I had missed something.
I first rode one of these bikes at Eurobike and really wanted to like it,with Mercedes support and built by Grace I thought it would be a quantum technology leap forwards.
The styling was quite radical and the engineering very solid,it had a belt drive to a 3 speed gear,weighed 26 kilos and 200 watt power....the result was underpowered up the Eurobike hill,it was difficult with only 3 speeds to find the correct climbing gear,with the result you usually selected a lower than ideal gear,other testers came thundering past up the hill in higher gears with more power.
I think Mercedes were more concerned about styling than usage.
Pocket-Lint.com put the bike through a long term test and concluded similar.
For....the smooth gear system and clean belt drive,the contemporary styling and built in lights
Against....very heavy(26kgs)impractical for urban living due to weight, Overpriced and underpowered.The claimed 60 miles range was not realistic,25-30 miles more reasonable.
Their conclusion was that the Smart e-bike was a Boris bike with style and electric added.
They noted ......what you absolutely,completely and utterly do not let happen is to run out of power in the sticks,with no power you feel every one of those 26kgs,it's a bit like cutting the floor out of a Hummer and then pedalling it like the Flintstones....not my words,don't shoot the messenger,hehe!!!
KudosDave

I rode a demo bike being used by local Mercedes employee and was impressed by it and believe Smart eBiker has picked one up a bargain price.

It was a shame that MIFA/Grace insolvency saw the end of the brand but the new company created out of it is coming online and I would not be surprised to see Smart climbing on board again.

. http://www.hnf-heisenberg.com/index.php/md1-men.html/

 

[trex]

http://www.hnf-heisenberg.com/index.php/md1-men.html/

Very nice bike. Do you have any experience of the single shock forks?

 

[shemozzle999]

No but if you want to try them:

HNF Heisenberg test drive
The website says a lot already, and the motto of the American aircraft manufacturer "what looks good, flys good" you can trust us that our eBike drive at least as good as they look. But who wants to test anyway one of our bikes, can come by appointment by calling 03337-450376 like after Biesenthal near Berlin and our entire fleet on Brandenburg Trails or the cycle path Berlin Usedom, the front of our office passes accurately test.

When buying a HNF Heisenberg bikes like we'll refund the travel costs.

 

[anotherkiwi]

I dream about these forks at night. 40mm travel which is more than enough for road use and (drumroll...) Weight: approx. 1.200 g (incl. steerer)

http://www.rosebikes.com/article/rst-m-7-single-shock-28700-c-suspension-fork/aid:399514

read the critics - not strong enough for disk brakes. Should be great with Magura hydraulic rim brakes though

 

[RobF]

I dream about these forks at night. 40mm travel which is more than enough for road use and (drumroll...) Weight: approx. 1.200 g (incl. steerer)

http://www.rosebikes.com/article/rst-m-7-single-shock-28700-c-suspension-fork/aid:399514

read the critics - not strong enough for disk brakes. Should be great with Magura hydraulic rim brakes though

It's got disc brake mounts and is from a reputable manufacturer. so it will be fine for disc brakes.

 

[oldtom]

Do you have any experience of the single shock forks?

I have. On one occasion, I had a lengthy test ride aboard a Koga E-special with a similar suspension unit. It was really very nice, just doing enough to smooth out most of the road imperfections without being wallowy and causing lots of wasted effort uphill.

I have also ridden a Cannondale Bad Boy with the 'headshock' front fork which was very similar. On my Kalkhoff, I have had my front fork locked out for most of the time I have owned it and only on a couple of occasions when I have encountered some really nasty surfaces, have I unlocked it to ease the thrum and chatter disturbance. In my experience, very little suspension travel is required to provide comfort on most road surfaces.

Tom

 

[RobF]

I had a brief ride on a Cannondale Monoshoc push bike and liked it.

Seems to me a good solution for road and cycle path riding.

The sus forks on most ebikes - including my Rose - are the worst of both worlds.

Heavy, but they still don't provide much in the way of smooth, hydraulic suspension.

I think patents and royalties on single heashocks have restricted their more widespread adoption.

Having said that, there are a handful, including Giant.

 

[supersneak]

Having used my Smart Ebike for a couple of weeks, I would like to pass on my experience of the bike.

It has certainly transformed my commute to work, and I have been impressed by the performance - especially on my home commute which is predominately uphill. One particular section of road where I struggle to reach 6mph on my non-powered bike can be climbed with the bike reaching the legal cutoff - so perfectly happy with that, possibly an extra 50w does make a difference. There is also an uphill section of road which narrows from the left, and I had started to use the pavement as a place of safety to avoid being cut up by traffic, but the acceleration of the bike has given me the confidence to hold the primary position and stay on the road.

I am a fan of hub gears for commuting, and find the spread of the gears reasonable - especially when combined with the available power levels. The belt drive is nice and quiet - and the weight is only noticeable when initially pulling away - but this can be overcome by more liberal use of the power levels The weight does give the bike a very stable feeling, especially when the wind starts to blow.

The fit and finish seem to be of a good standard, with comfortable Ergon grips and I'm impressed with the fitted mudguards and integrated lighting. I'm not sure about the Ergon pedals, they are nice and big, for my size 11's, but tend to ground when cornering, reminiscent of a much loved Honda 400/4, but this could be because of the 26" wheels. The rack is of a good size with built in straps, and my existing Altura panniers fit - so all is good there.

Range is not an issue for me, my commute is approximately 10 miles round trip - the battery meter drops by one segment, but the bike is charged overnight.

As to value, at the imported price - I am quite happy, the extra over a Carrera Crossfire E, for example, can easily be justified with the rack, mudguards, integrated lighting and belt drive. At the UK price, with lower power - the value would be more open to question.

Would I like a Kalkhoff Integrale? Damn right I would, but the Smart is doing the job fine at little more than a third of the cost.

 

[Plasmadaddy]

Nice to be able to read a "sensible" review!