Which would be best? Or something completely different?

[Graham Archbold]

Earlier this year I tested a few electric bikes at The Gadget Show Live at the NEC and was really impressed by the whole concept. I think one was a Wisper. I wasn't seriously considering one at the time. I've started researching them now though and have found this forum to be a useful resource (thanks everyone!) I hope if I describe my circumstances and objectives, you can steer me in the right direction of a bike that will be good for me.

I think the main complicating factor is that I want it to serve two purposes:

1) Commuting 2-3 times each week during the summer months on a journey of 15 miles each way. It includes a couple of steep hills (between Tunbridge Wells and Sevenoaks)

2) Distance - a few times a year doing about 110 miles. That's a journey between my home in Tunbridge Wells and my girlfriend's in northern France.

Things to bear in mind:
- I'm 6 foot tall and reasonably fit at 30 years old
- My budget is about £1000 and I'm hoping to take advantage of the Cycle to Work scheme
- For the touring I need to carry some gear comfortably (not terribly heavy - laptop and a few clothes)
- I must be able to test ride the bike - i.e. not just order online
- I'm not a bike enthusiast in the sense of working on the bike myself - if something needs adjusting or mending I want to be able to take it somewhere relatively nearby to get it fixed

There are some bikes that caught my eye through web searches:
The Citronex Cannondale 5 appealed to me initially because it is lightweight and built around a good quality bike but I'm not clear on the range it can achieve. It's actually above my price range too.Secondly, I like the look of the Kudos Duke because of the practical styling and the price. On the downside, it looks to be a heavy bike and only has three gears. Third, a similar one is the Woosh Aspen, which seems particularly keenly priced. I'm not wedded to any of those three, they just caught me eye.

Also, a question on something I'm not clear about - ranges. If a bike's specified range is 30 miles, then if I put plenty of effort in and say, only use the power on hills, can I get 60 miles out of it say? I ask in part because if that's the case then I'm assuming that with a second battery I could do the France trips.

You forum members have a lot of knowledge and experience in this subject so I'd really appreciate any and all of your advice.

Archie

 

[banbury frank]

Hi A report from one off our customers He just finished a Charity Ride from Stokenchurch to the Eden project 250 miles on one off our bikes His Bike is a year old in use every day

Boys

For info - scroll down..

The bike had it's most gruelling road-test ever last week; 250 miles of roads and muddy towpaths in storm conditions, persistent rain, hail stones, long climbs (often 1 in 4), averaging 65 miles on a single charge each day for 4 days.

No punctures (thanks to Dutchperfect) just a knackered pedal and new front brake pads. Oh and I think the chainrings are on their way out and the freewheel wants changing again.

Interestingly the electrics were the most reliable part of the set up despite the awful weather. All credit to you.

Cheers!

Hear is a link for a bike with the same specification

Commuter




Frank

 

[JuicyBike]

By far the most extensive range of bikes to try is in South London - a bit of a jaunt for you, but well worth the trip to see plenty of bikes: E-Bikes Direct in Battersea - excellent shop (and they stock Juicy).

 

[flecc]

Range is rarely better than the quoted one and sometimes much worse Archie. If the 30
miles is realistic for most on average, I wouldn't think even a fit rider will get above 40 miles on a hub-motor e-bike. Another thing to bear in mind is that as a battery ages, it's capacity and therefore the range reduces. For this reason it's best to aim for a realistic range that at least equals your need and preferably exceeds it somewhat. I can't see the Cytronex meeting your needs, mostly giving about 20 miles range for owners and rarely around 30 miles.

In hub-motor bikes I'd say aim for a 36 volt model to ensure the power for those two hills, coupled with a battery of 14 Ah or more. A crank drive bike does not need to be 36 volt since it has the drive through the gears advantage for hills, but aim for a battery of at least 12 to 15 Ah.

Of course to cycle for best range and cope with 100 mile touring with hardly any assist power available, you need a very free running bike when without power. For that it's essential you try anything out before you buy, as you propose, and I suggest you also try at least one Panasonic powered crank-drive bike since they have low drag. Some of the Panasonic powered BH E-motion models from Onbike are light as well. Alternatively the Kalkhoff models from 50cycles.
.

 

[eddieo]

E bikes direct main branch is in East Sussex

 

[Eaglerider]

Range.

I have a hub drive with a 17 amp/hr battery. If I'm feeling lazy and there's a few hills, I can get 50 miles to flat. Worst I've had is 34 miles, but that was very windy on full power all the time. If I only use the power for hills and I'm happy to take my time then over 60 miles is quite feasable, and I have done this on several occasions. Most proprietry E Bikes are pretty heavy and you should certainly try one out to see if your plan is feasable. With two big batteries and with some effort, I think your plan is achievable.

In addition, don't underestimate the opportunist top up. It seems that the first hour of charging occurs at a high rate. A one hour top up whilst having lunch at a pub or cafe will add at least 15 miles extra range, maybe more. As such if you can plan your stops to include a top up opportunity, and be disciplined about not wasting electrons I reckon you would be OK.

I'd quite like to do a similar trip, and its got me fired up as I like Northern France a lot.

Perhaps we should have a Pedelec Rally where we all get the shuttle across the Manche and take in a night away to investigate some of the war memorials dotted along the French coast!

 

[Kudoscycles]

Graham...many of the bikes on your list will be available for test rides at the Kudos London try an e-bike day at the Redbridge Cycling Circuit this Sunday,May 27,12.00 to 17.00. This will be a unique upportunity to try a number of different e-bikes including both hub and crank drive bikes on a proper cycling race circuit with hills and sweeping bends. Others attending are e-bikes direct,BH Bikes,Freego.
Dave
KudosCycles

 

[Graham Archbold]

Thank you all for the advice and suggestions so far, I’ve done my best to take heed! As well as doing more research I’ve been on a bike testing binge over the Jubilee weekend. I’ll do a quick run through of the bikes I’ve tried out, albeit based on my specific needs (for the 30 mile roundtrip commute and the occasional longer trek to France).

FreeGo Hawk
The first bike I tried and one I might go back and try again because it was impressive. It’s got a lot of ommpf, which you can really feel on the hills (rode around near Bodiam Castle). Seemingly that’s coupled with great range of up to 70 miles. It’s solid and compared with some of the others, very keenly priced. I played with the throttle but I don’t think that’d be much use to me. On the downside, the frame is small for me (I’m 6’) and some of the kit like the power display panel and the gear levers don’t appear to be good quality. Additionally, and admittedly not the most important criteria, it’s a bit ugly!

Kudos Sport (I think, it was covered in its packaging still)
Seemed good but unfortunately the fuse went before I even got to the end of the drive! I was reassured that they always change the fuses before selling them. I think it was too far to the mountain bike end of the spectrum anyway for me.

Trek Valencia+
The technology on it is far superior to any of the others I tried out – lots of power options and even regenerative braking. It coped with the hills in Lewes well. It’s heavy and doesn’t have a great range though (might have had to recharge for each leg of the commute). Even the discounted ex-demo model was the best part of £500 more than the others. Apparently an extra battery would cost £700!

Giant Twist Express
A very short demo (end of the street/hill and back) didn’t give me a feel for the bike properly although it didn’t seem to have the pull of some of the others, because of the lower spec battery I suppose. Smart in the looks department I thought. The handling was good too and that spurred me to find another place to try one out.

Giant Twist Esprit Power
Another shop let me loose on this higher spec Giant and I really enjoyed myself. It demands more rider contribution than the other bikes but I didn’t mind that. I took it up a killer hill outside Paddock Wood and although I had to put some effort in I didn’t break a sweat or need to get out the saddle. I like the riding position and the fact it’s available as a large frame. The hub gear system has a nice smooth and seamless feel. The range 22-80 miles depending on conditions is good (the brochure explains what range you should expect based on which conditions). The only negative is the price.


So what I think I’ve learned is that I’m going in the right direction with getting a pedelec but that I need to increase my budget to really get what I want. Often the case isn’t it? The bikes I started looking at were sub £1000. My plan is to look at some others in the higher price bracket. It occurs to me that the Twist Esprit Double with its twin batteries might be the right package given that it should give great range and it’s a bike I’ve tried and liked. Still not ruling anything out though – probably spend this weekend doing some more research and testing. If there’s anything I’m missing that you think I should be taking into consideration, let me know – I appreciate the advice.

 

[banbury frank]

Hi Graham We are delivering a bike to a customer in Strood in Kent Tomorrow

Just wondered if we could meet and you can have a test ride

or if you send me a mail at sales@xipi.co.uk I will Get him to Give you a ring so you can have A ride

Frank

 

[Tim]

You should definitely consider a Kalkhoff Impulse. The Agattu C8 HS has a sixty mile range, strong hill climbing, great brakes, lights and other equipment. We've had some excellent early customer reviews in and there are press reviews to follow.

We have a spacious new showroom in Hampton Wick, just over the river from Kingston upon Thames. Much better parking than our old place (ie ranging from free to cheap)

I'd also recommend the Oxygen Emate City too, though we just sold our demonstrator bike, again, so give us a few days before expecting to see one of them.

 

[Woosh]

Earlier this year I tested a few electric bikes at The Gadget Show Live at the NEC and was really impressed by the whole concept. I think one was a Wisper. I wasn't seriously considering one at the time. I've started researching them now though and have found this forum to be a useful resource (thanks everyone!) I hope if I describe my circumstances and objectives, you can steer me in the right direction of a bike that will be good for me.

I think the main complicating factor is that I want it to serve two purposes:

1) Commuting 2-3 times each week during the summer months on a journey of 15 miles each way. It includes a couple of steep hills (between Tunbridge Wells and Sevenoaks)

2) Distance - a few times a year doing about 110 miles. That's a journey between my home in Tunbridge Wells and my girlfriend's in northern France.

Things to bear in mind:
- I'm 6 foot tall and reasonably fit at 30 years old
- My budget is about £1000 and I'm hoping to take advantage of the Cycle to Work scheme
- For the touring I need to carry some gear comfortably (not terribly heavy - laptop and a few clothes)
- I must be able to test ride the bike - i.e. not just order online
- I'm not a bike enthusiast in the sense of working on the bike myself - if something needs adjusting or mending I want to be able to take it somewhere relatively nearby to get it fixed

There are some bikes that caught my eye through web searches:
The Citronex Cannondale 5 appealed to me initially because it is lightweight and built around a good quality bike but I'm not clear on the range it can achieve. It's actually above my price range too.Secondly, I like the look of the Kudos Duke because of the practical styling and the price. On the downside, it looks to be a heavy bike and only has three gears. Third, a similar one is the Woosh Aspen, which seems particularly keenly priced. I'm not wedded to any of those three, they just caught me eye.

Also, a question on something I'm not clear about - ranges. If a bike's specified range is 30 miles, then if I put plenty of effort in and say, only use the power on hills, can I get 60 miles out of it say? I ask in part because if that's the case then I'm assuming that with a second battery I could do the France trips.

You forum members have a lot of knowledge and experience in this subject so I'd really appreciate any and all of your advice.

Archie

With £1000 budget, you could get a Woosh Sirocco or an Aspen, a saddle bag, two spare batteries (3.8kgs each) and still have some loose change.
You would have a massive 1,080WH that would cover 100 mile trips with ease.
It's just a thought.

Regards

 

[Graham Archbold]

Thanks for the bike recommendations - I've looked at them all.

Tim, the Agattu appeals but is out of my price range. The Oxygen Emate seems to have similar spec to the Freego Hawk I tried but is a good bit pricier.
Frank, I'm afraid I don't like the styling of those bikes - the look isn't aligned with the pricing for me.
Hatti, the Aspen is one I'd like to give a go - is there anywhere in West Kent to test ride one?

Thanks again for the help.

 

[Wisper Bikes]

Hi Graham, why not pop along to the E Bike Fest in Chester Road The Regent's Park at the weekend, most of the best bikes available (From Fast Forward to Kalkhoff) will be there and available for test riding. Google "London Green Fair" for details.

All the best

David