White Bear e-bikes - any good?

[IslandGirl]

Hi! I am new here, have been thinking about getting an electric bike for a while. I live in Guernsey so have a limited number of options re which bike to get, I don't want to spend much more than £1,000 so have been looking at Freego, EBCO and Giant (bikes are slightly cheaper here as we are outside the EU so no VAT). When I google 'e-bikes Guernsey', the first thing that comes up is White Bear e-bikes, but I can't find any reviews or anything on these forums. The white Discovery model looks really nice (yes I'm a girl and these things matter!) and hopefully with the VAT deduction won't be too much over budget. The specs seem very good, much better than the other Guernsey options in this price range (there aren't many!). I will be cycling to work and back during the week, 5 miles each way, very hilly. I want a 'step-through' bike.

Has anyone had any experience with White Bear bikes? The website is http://www.whitebearebikes.com
They seem to just do two models, the Discovery and also a folding bike (which I'm not interested in). The specs for the Discovery are:

Battery
Lightweight Li-iron 36V, Samsung fuel cells, Range 50-70 miles, Charge time 4hrs

Motor
250W Brushless power motor, Front hub

Gears
Shimano Nexus 3 speed internal hub gears

Brakes
Front Tekro V brake, Rear integrated Shimano roller brake

Wheels
Double walled alloy rims, All weather tyres

Lights
Front and rear (x6 AAA batteries included)

Complimentary Starter Tool Kit
8mm & 10mm spanner, 3mm, 4mm, 5mm & 6mm Allen keys, flathead and Phillips screwdriver

Max Load
Rider + Luggage 125kg

Colour
Matt white, Matt black

I'd be really grateful if anyone has any experience with them and could comment please. Since I'm in Guernsey I really need an electric bike that can be serviced and repaired on island, which is why I'm worried about White Bear - they offer test rides and free delivery here, but there is no mention of service and repairs, and I certainly can't take it all the way to London!

Thanks in advance for any replies

 

[hoppy]

Hi! I am new here, have been thinking about getting an electric bike for a while. I live in Guernsey so have a limited number of options re which bike to get, I don't want to spend much more than £1,000 so have been looking at Freego, EBCO and Giant (bikes are slightly cheaper here as we are outside the EU so no VAT). When I google 'e-bikes Guernsey', the first thing that comes up is White Bear e-bikes, but I can't find any reviews or anything on these forums. The white Discovery model looks really nice (yes I'm a girl and these things matter!) and hopefully with the VAT deduction won't be too much over budget. The specs seem very good, much better than the other Guernsey options in this price range (there aren't many!). I will be cycling to work and back during the week, 5 miles each way, very hilly. I want a 'step-through' bike.

Has anyone had any experience with White Bear bikes? The website is http://www.whitebearebikes.com
They seem to just do two models, the Discovery and also a folding bike (which I'm not interested in). The specs for the Discovery are:

Battery
Lightweight Li-iron 36V, Samsung fuel cells, Range 50-70 miles, Charge time 4hrs

Motor
250W Brushless power motor, Front hub

Gears
Shimano Nexus 3 speed internal hub gears

Brakes
Front Tekro V brake, Rear integrated Shimano roller brake

Wheels
Double walled alloy rims, All weather tyres

Lights
Front and rear (x6 AAA batteries included)

Complimentary Starter Tool Kit
8mm & 10mm spanner, 3mm, 4mm, 5mm & 6mm Allen keys, flathead and Phillips screwdriver

Max Load
Rider + Luggage 125kg

Colour
Matt white, Matt black

I'd be really grateful if anyone has any experience with them and could comment please. Since I'm in Guernsey I really need an electric bike that can be serviced and repaired on island, which is why I'm worried about White Bear - they offer test rides and free delivery here, but there is no mention of service and repairs, and I certainly can't take it all the way to London!

Thanks in advance for any replies

Hi! I am new here, have been thinking about getting an electric bike for a while. I live in Guernsey so have a limited number of options re which bike to get, I don't want to spend much more than £1,000 so have been looking at Freego, EBCO and Giant (bikes are slightly cheaper here as we are outside the EU so no VAT). When I google 'e-bikes Guernsey', the first thing that comes up is White Bear e-bikes, but I can't find any reviews or anything on these forums. The white Discovery model looks really nice (yes I'm a girl and these things matter!) and hopefully with the VAT deduction won't be too much over budget. The specs seem very good, much better than the other Guernsey options in this price range (there aren't many!). I will be cycling to work and back during the week, 5 miles each way, very hilly. I want a 'step-through' bike.

Has anyone had any experience with White Bear bikes? The website is http://www.whitebearebikes.com
They seem to just do two models, the Discovery and also a folding bike (which I'm not interested in). The specs for the Discovery are:

Battery
Lightweight Li-iron 36V, Samsung fuel cells, Range 50-70 miles, Charge time 4hrs

Motor
250W Brushless power motor, Front hub

Gears
Shimano Nexus 3 speed internal hub gears

Brakes
Front Tekro V brake, Rear integrated Shimano roller brake

Wheels
Double walled alloy rims, All weather tyres

Lights
Front and rear (x6 AAA batteries included)

Complimentary Starter Tool Kit
8mm & 10mm spanner, 3mm, 4mm, 5mm & 6mm Allen keys, flathead and Phillips screwdriver

Max Load
Rider + Luggage 125kg

Colour
Matt white, Matt black

I'd be really grateful if anyone has any experience with them and could comment please. Since I'm in Guernsey I really need an electric bike that can be serviced and repaired on island, which is why I'm worried about White Bear - they offer test rides and free delivery here, but there is no mention of service and repairs, and I certainly can't take it all the way to London!

Thanks in advance for any replies

Welcome to the forum.It's always a good idea to try out some bikes first.If you test ride any you can about serviceand repairsthen. I notice there are severalshops selling ebikes on the island. Best wishes.

 

[Chainring]

There seems to be no mention of the battery capacity, or even the size of the wheels. Seems rather like a London marketing approach. The Ezee Sprint Primo, Woosh Sunbear and Emu bikes all tell you more, give you more and cost a lot less! I would advise you to keep looking, until you get the hang
of what is actually on offer for the money. Test rides would help, but are not always easy, I realise.

 

[Alan Quay]

Looks to me like standard Chinese stuff bolted an a low step frame. I'd guess 12 a/h battery and Bafang SWX motor. Realistic range will be 20-30 miles.

Somewhere in the info it mentions 26" wheels.

A half decent bike shop could create this from a kit in about 2 hours.

There's a lot of lifestyle and design BS in this webpage. Claims that all the team 'live the eBike lifestyle'. What on earth does that mean?

There's a bloke rides past my house every day, rain or shine, in full wet weather high viz for most of the winter. He works at the recycling centre sorting plastic bottles in a large shed. He lives about 15 miles away, this is the only way he can afford to get to work.

Is this how the 'team' at White Bear live the 'eBike lifestyle'?

£600 of bike, £700 of bullsh1t.

 

[Nealh]

Adventure Cycles in St Martin look very good and do every thing a LBS should do and they offer Amps, Wisper bikes for sale but these are more expensive, even the workshop in the drop down menu shows charges for parts replacement not bad. Don't just buy because you like the looks of the bike, you need it to do what you want it to do and ideally go on test rides first and then take your pick and find some hills or inclines, the 50-70 miles range maybe possible but you would have to peddle a lot with very minimal assist so to be fair expect 50-75% of the range. An offering of two bikes isn't much of choice, don't rush in and buy the first you see.

 

[Kudoscycles]

Island Girl....you don't say how tall you are?
I recently had a trip to the Channel Islands...both Guernsey and Jersey...I saw a number of e-bikes in Guernsey but almost none in Jersey,yet the terrain in Jersey seems ideal for e-bikes.
Kudos have shipped some bikes to both islands,I think they are shipped vat free,any good local bike shop will look after the bike.
The companies you list will supply the normal Chinese spec bikes with V brakes ,SWX motor but you can buy better hill climbers with hydraulic brakes and BPM hi-torque motor,the latter makes a big difference in hill climbing power and you will grow to love hydraulic brakes when going steeply downhill.
With the vat deleted my Kudos Sonata is a very high spec bike and not much over your budget .
The cycle show at the NEC next week will show almost every e-bike available in the UK,I think Easyjet or Fly-be fly direct to Birmingham,the NEC is next to the airport.
KudosDave.....www.kudoscycles.com

 

[Nealh]

The issue I see with any online sale is any repair if Island Girl has an issue whilst under warranty unless of course said supplier has an agreement with a LBS, having said that her options are much greater with more on offer. As well as Kudoscycles offering of 1k ish bike Woosh bikes are all mainly sub 1k bikes and the Sunbear is a nice girly step through style though it is for the taller rider also they will authorise a LBS to carry out repairs under warranty, the only issue is not being able to test ride first.

 

[RobF]

I agree the White Bear bikes look OK, but are over priced for what they are.

It also looks unlikely they have much in the way of service back up, remote or otherwise.

Kudos or woosh is a good shout, or a bike from Cycleezee assuming they can ship to the island.

There is a Sprint which is suitably girly:

http://www.cyclezee.com/ezee-sprint-8.html

 

[Nealh]

Island girl all of the 3 above mentioned dealers offer good robust tried and tested bikes for around 1k or under and have a v.g reputation on the bigger island over here, just your location makes your choice a bit tricky as you can't try them out, but KudosDaves idea of a day trip out is a very good one.

 

[IslandGirl]

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply and for all the useful information, I am very grateful!

Especially for the suggestion of the cycle show at the NEC - as chance would have it, I am in the UK next weekend, renting a car and flying back from East Midlands - so I can actually go!! Now I will get chance to try the bikes, ask the dealers themselves if they can ship to Guernsey and how repairs and maintenance would work here.

Thanks again, this is a great forum!

 

[RobF]

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply and for all the useful information, I am very grateful!

Especially for the suggestion of the cycle show at the NEC - as chance would have it, I am in the UK next weekend, renting a car and flying back from East Midlands - so I can actually go!! Now I will get chance to try the bikes, ask the dealers themselves if they can ship to Guernsey and how repairs and maintenance would work here.

Thanks again, this is a great forum!

Go to the bike show by all means.

But if last year is anything to by, there won't be many ebikes in your price range.

 

[Kudoscycles]

Rob....the exhibitor list includes a number of suppliers that should have step thru bikes under £1k...
Batribike.....K190
Byocycles...K145
Freego.......H141
Juicy...........K152
Kudos.........J151
Powabyke...H140
Powacycle...K121
Roodog.......K153
Eco Voltz....J136
Island Girl......your height is important because a lot of the lower priced bikes are designed for Dutch use,Dutch ladies tend to be taller. The choice for smaller height people is somewhat less.
Hope this helps
KudosDave
..

 

[RobF]

Are you strolling along Dave?

I wasn't, but now am so will be there on Friday.

 

[Kudoscycles]

Are you strolling along Dave?

I wasn't, but now am so will be there on Friday.

Rob, I will be on our stand every day,J151....please come along and introduce yourself,look forward to meet with you. Actually I have 3 shows to exhibit at the NEC over the coming months....the cycle show,the classic show and Autosports show,Birmingham is second home this time of year.
KudosDave

 

[RobF]

Rob, I will be on our stand every day,J151....please come along and introduce yourself,look forward to meet with you. Actually I have 3 shows to exhibit at the NEC over the coming months....the cycle show,the classic show and Autosports show,Birmingham is second home this time of year.
KudosDave

Thanks Dave, I will aim to do that.

Hopefully the OP will do the same.

 

[Croxden]

Despite what I may have said on another post, someone is taking me on Sunday. I hope there is so where to lie down.

 

[IslandGirl]

Thanks all. For the record, I should get the VAT off anyway and I can be flexible with the budget (depending on my husband ).
Although I'm 5'7" I have short legs - always have to buy 'petite' trousers.
Looking forward to next weekend!

 

[trex]

For your height, if you weigh under 14st, Woosh Petite:
http://wooshbikes.co.uk/?petite
Over 114st, Woosh Big Bear LS:
http://wooshbikes.co.uk/?bigbear-ls
Woosh ship VAT free to the Channel Islands.

 

[Kudoscycles]

Thanks all. For the record, I should get the VAT off anyway and I can be flexible with the budget (depending on my husband ).
Although I'm 5'7" I have short legs - always have to buy 'petite' trousers.
Looking forward to next weekend!

You are advised to look towards a 24" or 26" wheeled step thru,the Dutch style 700 c bikes would I suspect be too big for you.....for example my Kudos Liberty would be too tall.
If you look on my website there is a bike known as the Kudos Tempo with 24" wheels,price £865.00 incl vat,it is a bike for short height people....so as to give you impartial advice Woosh bikes have a similar bike called the Petite,not sure of the price.
My best bike ,with a low saddle height is the Kudos Sonata,I built that bike with quality more than price in mind,price £1395.00....everybody knows on this forum that the BPM hub motor in that bike is one of the best hill climb available,without vat it would cost about £1150.00.
Look forward to meet with you at the NEC.
KudosDave