which kit

[poptop]

do you have any negatives on the big bear? motor in front?

 

[Andy88]

do you have any negatives on the big bear? motor in front?

Advantages and disadvantages.
Please go to this page it is very informative.

http://www.ebikeschool.com/front-hub-motors-vs-rear-hub-motors/

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[mike killay]

Which model are you riding Mike?

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The Gale.

Sent by Biddy, my best carrier pigeon

 

[poptop]

Mike , would you buy the Gale again? any down points to it?
cheers
Pete

 

[mike killay]

Mike , would you buy the Gale again? any down points to it?
cheers
Pete

You must understand that the Gale is my folding bike. I have another bike as well.
Only downside to the Gale is that the motor tops out at 12mph.
On the other hand it is a good climber, so it suits me just fine.
It lives in the boot of my car, so that if I go to town, I can park on the outskirts and ride in.
Also, it rides inside my Campervan and gets a lot of use (and abuse) when I go sailing.

 

[trex]

thank you for your support, Mike.
@poptop
The silver Gale had 10Ah battery and costs £549 if I remember correctly.
The new Gale paintted in gunmetal, blue grey colour, now has 13Ah, can reach easily 15mph because the battery can support higher current, costs £749.
If you need a higher speed folding biike, check out the £1,099 zephyr-B which has front and rear hydraulic brakes, Suntour XCM forks, 12AH battery and much more powerful motor.

 

[IR772]

thank you for your support, Mike.
@poptop
The silver Gale had 10Ah battery and costs £549 if I remember correctly.
The new Gale paintted in gunmetal, blue grey colour, now has 13Ah, can reach easily 15mph because the battery can support higher current, costs £749.
If you need a higher speed folding biike, check out the £1,099 zephyr-B which has front and rear hydraulic brakes, Suntour XCM forks, 12AH battery and much more powerful motor.

A folding FS eMTB, what ever next!

 

[trex]

it's got the lightest 12ah battery in the market.

 

[pgrange]

First time poster here and new to e-bikes . My experience
is extremely limited but if your interested I'll give my thoughts .

Poptop, I too was looking at a folder and looked into all the popular makes. Also looked at converting Brompton, dahon, tern etc. I weighed up all the options and read the reviews and trawled the forums . In the end it was information overload.

The thing is each bike has its good and bad points. I didn't see a bike that ticked all my boxes. Anyway a kudos secret came up on eBay and I bought it .

So my only experience with an e-bike is the 70 odd kilometres I've ridden the kudos .

First thing being a 20 inch wheel makes it skittish . Don't get me wrong I have complete confidence when I'm riding it but just watch the curbs . The smaller wheel can catch you out . The small wheel coupled with no suspension can be a harsh ride and you do feel the bumps . I've bought some big apple tyres to see if that helps . Where I live here the roads are riddled with potholes so the hands and backside feel it . I did buy a different saddle and it's improved that aspect of the ride dramatically .

The bike came with I think a 44 tooth chainring . I found that I was always out peddling myself . In order to slow the peddle rate down I upped the chainring to 52T. Much better but would be even better with a taller top gear . In fact where I ride a 3 speed hub would be more suitable for me as I rarely need to drop below 4th.

The previous owner did less than 120km so the battery is practically new and it always surprises me how much energy it supplies . Mine has the 8ah but I think the newer version comes with a 11ah and 52T chainring as standard although I could be wrong. With full assist on and a general mix of gentle hills and the odd steep ones I can get about 25km (85kg + 5ft 10). If I'm prepared to work at it and with medium assist I get closer to 45km to 50km which for me is perfect . The V brakes are OK and offer adequate stopping power considering the limited top end speed .

All in all I needed a folder so there was always going to be compromises but I'm pleased with bike and the distance limit isn't an issue for me . A taller top gear would be nice but considering the 20 inch wheel it's fast enough . I got the bike used and for a bargain price but would I have been happy to pay the full whack £750? Most probably but I don't think I'd be happy paying a grand for an electric folder .

Peter

Oh and btw my dilemma at the moment is 2.5 T4 caravelle or 1.9 T5 shuttle !

 

[poptop]

Thanks so much for your reply, really appreciated from someone in a similar position.
Firstly and most important don`t buy a T5 unless your heart is really set on it. They are know for mechanical issues, and very costly to repair. A T4 is much better, the last of the good VW campers. I found a 2002 one with all the works on it with only 42k on clock. They are around. Its slow 2.4d. engine but bullet proof. will last my lifetime. I could go on , and on having years of vw camper experience, but that's another story.
Thanks for info about folders, the secret is in my opinion a lovely design and interesting to hear your comments on it. The Gale though is not as good looking does come with bigger tooth ring, fatter tyres etc so seems to fit the bill unless anyone else persuades me otherwise, and at roughlu750.00 with 13ah battery doesn't seem bad. [if you cough it out quickly] 5 years time as more come on the market I imagine demand will bring their prices down and manufacturers will have to reduce their profit margins to a sensible level. supply and demand stuff.
Thanks again for commenting, not sure how you pm on here but if I can help with VW camper thoughts let me know.
Pete.

 

[Andy88]

Thanks so much for your reply, really appreciated from someone in a similar position.
Firstly and most important don`t buy a T5 unless your heart is really set on it. They are know for mechanical issues, and very costly to repair. A T4 is much better, the last of the good VW campers. I found a 2002 one with all the works on it with only 42k on clock. They are around. Its slow 2.4d. engine but bullet proof. will last my lifetime. I could go on , and on having years of vw camper experience, but that's another story.
Thanks for info about folders, the secret is in my opinion a lovely design and interesting to hear your comments on it. The Gale though is not as good looking does come with bigger tooth ring, fatter tyres etc so seems to fit the bill unless anyone else persuades me otherwise, and at roughlu750.00 with 13ah battery doesn't seem bad. [if you cough it out quickly] 5 years time as more come on the market I imagine demand will bring their prices down and manufacturers will have to reduce their profit margins to a sensible level. supply and demand stuff.
Thanks again for commenting, not sure how you pm on here but if I can help with VW camper thoughts let me know.
Pete.

Peter more or less nailed it when he said information overload.

Look how you could easily ascertain the strength and weaknesses of the T5 but we are all struggling to find the value point in an ebike.

In your case your dilemma is compounded by the number of options available to you multiplied by the lack of reliable reviews.

Im sure we are like minded in buying the right product at the right price so one line of attack im approaching is looking at traditional cycles where clear feedback and forums galore exist.

In terms of the electric side of things are concerned, im always one for minimising risk so will be looking along the lines of cost of replacement vs a top notch brand like ktm, cube and others.

BTW did you look at the VOLT cycles?

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[poptop]

I agree Andy, minimise risk, of something which in theory sounds good in an electric bike, but just like an electric car [ of which my brother in law has one, and that's got its problems, not least the bloody government changing its policies over fuel costs and subsidies].
Volt? yes but ruled them our, can`t remember why though.
Onward and upward, one day the right one hopefully will be there and I shall make the move .[almost there].
secret does not have bigger battery and motor sadly otherwise decision may have been made for me.
Pete.

 

[Andy88]

I agree Andy, minimise risk, of something which in theory sounds good in an electric bike, but just like an electric car [ of which my brother in law has one, and that's got its problems, not least the bloody government changing its policies over fuel costs and subsidies].
Volt? yes but ruled them our, can`t remember why though.
Onward and upward, one day the right one hopefully will be there and I shall make the move .[almost there].
secret does not have bigger battery and motor sadly otherwise decision may have been made for me.
Pete.

Pete, I've just looked at freego they have a 5 day repair or replace policy in the first 12 months, 100% feedback on fb with a good dealer network, do you know anything about them?

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[Andy88]

I agree Andy, minimise risk, of something which in theory sounds good in an electric bike, but just like an electric car [ of which my brother in law has one, and that's got its problems, not least the bloody government changing its policies over fuel costs and subsidies].
Volt? yes but ruled them our, can`t remember why though.
Onward and upward, one day the right one hopefully will be there and I shall make the move .[almost there].
secret does not have bigger battery and motor sadly otherwise decision may have been made for me.
Pete.

They have promotion £100 off throughout November

http://freegoelectricbikes.com/electric-bikes/freego-folder/

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[poptop]

cheers, Andy, have looked once at them, will do again soon. Going to be away tomorrow for week. Working now until 10.00 tonight so I may go quiet for a while. Thanks for support and help.

 

[fildok]

I've also looked at the Freego Folder and am still trying to understand what you get extra for paying 200 and odd quid more than you would for the Gale

 

[Andy88]

I've also looked at the Freego Folder and am still trying to understand what you get extra for paying 200 and odd quid more than you would for the Gale

The main problem is that many manufacturers lack clarity in the components if each bike.

Shimano Gears but which model and number?

Shimano front sets run from £1 to £100s of pounds, frame composition, EU compliance certification, tyres, brakes, etc can have huge variables within a brand and so on and so on.

When emailing dealers and manufacturers some are forthcoming some are not, some don't even bother to reply.

Not easy working it all out and even more difficult to view all brands and models in one town especially in more remote areas.

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[trex]

you are correct. In fact, the derailleur and shifter are usually less critical than the crankset, because you don't need to change gears much on a bike like the Gale with hub motor, you can leave the shifter on gear 6 or 7 on any terrain, the motor is powerful enough to climb any thing. The quality of the crankset is more important, forged alloy cranksets have much better rigidity than cheaper cranksets with stamped chainring. The Gale has the Prowheel 50T chainring, I think the same is fitted to the Wisper 806 judging by the picture. The deralleur is Shimano Tourney SIS and the freewheel is Shimano 7-speed MF-TZ21. The Gale is Woosh's cheapest bike, with modest pretention.
The more expensive Woosh bikes like the Karoo, Big Bear, Zephyr etc are fitted with better drive train components. The Zephyr-B mentioned in this thread for example have Pioneer 244A 44T forged crankset, Shimano 8-speed Acera derailleur and shifter. The Big Bear has Ounce 239A also forged alloy, Acera mech. The Karoo has the best crankset, Ounce 245A with external ball bearings and GXP bottom bracket, the kind of components you'd find on £1,000 push bikes.
The chain in the Gale is KMC Z series, the chain in the more expensive bikes are all KMC X8 - a very good quality chain.
I do try to use reasonable quality components on all Woosh bikes.

 

[Andy88]

you are correct. In fact, the derailleur and shifter are usually less critical than the crankset, because you don't need to change gears much on a bike like the Gale with hub motor, you can leave the shifter on gear 6 or 7 on any terrain, the motor is powerful enough to climb any thing. The quality of the crankset is more important, forged alloy cranksets have much better rigidity than cheaper cranksets with stamped chainring. The Gale has the Prowheel 50T chainring, I think the same is fitted to the Wisper 806 judging by the picture. The deralleur is Shimano Tourney SIS and the freewheel is Shimano 7-speed MF-TZ21. The Gale is Woosh's cheapest bike, with modest pretention.
The more expensive Woosh bikes like the Karoo, Big Bear, Zephyr etc are fitted with better drive train components. The Zephyr-B mentioned in this thread for example have Pioneer 244A 44T forged crankset, Shimano 8-speed Acera derailleur and shifter. The Big Bear has Ounce 239A also forged alloy, Acera mech. The Karoo has the best crankset, Ounce 245A with external ball bearings and GXP bottom bracket, the kind of components you'd find on £1,000 push bikes.
The chain in the Gale is KMC Z series, the chain in the more expensive bikes are all KMC X8 - a very good quality chain.
I do try to use reasonable quality components on all Woosh bikes.

The other thing I'd like to add is in some cases with unscrupulous Chinese manufacturers because it says HEINZ on the tin it doesn't always mean the BEANS inside are Heinz

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[trex]

I thought you may be interested to know what you get if you spend £150 extra on a bike?
May be not much in a shop but you will get a surprising amount from Woosh.

let me compare the two Woosh bikes, the £749 Woosh Gale and the £899 Woosh Karoo. The Karoo costs £150 more than the Gale.
Both have the same Bafang motor (not same winding but otherwise costing the same), same capacity 13Ah battery, same Lishui 15A controller, throttle and PAS.

The extra money buys:

- £50 go on the more expensive drive train components, eg the Ounce 245A costs £35 more than the Prowheel 50T on the Gale.

The Karoo has the posh crankset:

The Gale has the Prowheel 50T with short pedal arms (I think the same is fitted to the Wisper 806):

- £25 go on the the more expensive Samsung celled battery on the Karoo

- £25 go on the brakes. The Karoo has Avid brakes on both front and rear. The Gale has Tektro brakes.

- £25 go on the better Karoo frame, wheelset and graphics

The remaining £25 go on marketing fund.
The Gale sells in higher volume, so costs less to sell.