Wisper 705 Torque or Raleigh Motus step thru with hub gears.

[Woosh]

But heck I'm old, and I come from a time when suspension on bikes was almost unheard of, my 'racing' bike tyre pressures were 100psi and I sat on a saddle a bluebottle would fall off,

I sold more bikes with rigid forks (the Woosh Karoo) to the over 80 than to the under 60.
Those of us who did not know WW2 are too soft.

 

[Monty's Dad]

It's a road commuter and cycle path bike, so really doesn't need any more suspension than the comfy saddle and good sized tyres it came with. I can ride it quite comfortably at 6'4", and so can my Wife at 5'6". It's got a nice feel and easy riding style.

But heck I'm old, and I come from a time when suspension on bikes was almost unheard of, my 'racing' bike tyre pressures were 100psi and I sat on a saddle a bluebottle would fall off, so the SE is quite luxurious (to me) in comparison.

Gaz

What a great forum. Lot's of useful information from people who know from experience of using a bike being able to give honest feedback to prospective buyers.
Point taken about the forks on the 705se. I don't intend to use the bike off road, so with less weight to carry seems a no brainer!

Thanks to all.

 

[cyclebuddy]

...Suntour NEX ...can be set for the riders weight and riding style. For road use our lightweight forks are superb but for trails and canal paths etc the suspension forks are better.

Given the state of our roads today, I'd say many roads aren't much better than a trail or canal path in terms of pot-holes, drain covers, tree-roots, cracks, ridges and other "lumpy" hazards that often get hit at speed.

Of the three "economy" forks I've had on bikes (Zoom, RST, Suntour), the NEX is my favourite. Even on a 20-mile road ride I'm never really sure if or how hard that fork is working... until you get home and see the road-dirt mark around the stantions, showing it's been working very hard indeed.

I often wonder how many pinch flats, broken spokes, and/or buckled wheel rims I've avoided by having front fork suspension?

 

[Woosh]

I often wonder how many pinch flats, broken spokes, and/or buckled wheel rims I've avoided by having front fork suspension?

quite a few I reckon.

 

[Monty's Dad]

Given the state of our roads today, I'd say many roads aren't much better than a trail or canal path in terms of pot-holes, drain covers, tree-roots, cracks, ridges and other "lumpy" hazards that often get hit at speed.

Of the three "economy" forks I've had on bikes (Zoom, RST, Suntour), the NEX is my favourite. Even on a 20-mile road ride I'm never really sure if or how hard that fork is working... until you get home and see the road-dirt mark around the stantions, showing it's been working very hard indeed.

I often wonder how many pinch flats, broken spokes, and/or buckled wheel rims I've avoided by having front fork suspension?

Point taken. It's bad enough in the car riding over/in them!

 

[Wisper Bikes]

At least one of the Motus models actually has the Active Line Plus (the Grand Tour models, at least). You comments might still apply! Or not?

The Active line Plus, is better with 10Nm more torque at 40Nm than the Active line (Maximum possible drive torque (Nm) when converted to a gear ratio of 1:1 crankset to chainring). Our Torque motor produces about the same as the Bosch performance CX i.e. 75Nm.

All the best, David

 

[Woosh]

i.e. 75Nm

not at the wheels.

 

[Wisper Bikes]

Given the state of our roads today, I'd say many roads aren't much better than a trail or canal path in terms of pot-holes, drain covers, tree-roots, cracks, ridges and other "lumpy" hazards that often get hit at speed.

Of the three "economy" forks I've had on bikes (Zoom, RST, Suntour), the NEX is my favourite.

We used to use Zoom and Top Gun on another brand I worked with, they basically a spring in a tube, RST and Suntour on the other hand are good mid range and work well, the key is to make sure you have pre tensioning available and use it to set to your weight and damping preference.

 

[Wisper Bikes]

not at the wheels.

No not at the wheels, when roughly converted using the same criteria. (i.e. Maximum possible drive torque (Nm) when converted to a gear ratio of 1:1 crankset to chainring).

 

[Wisper Bikes]

Tyre width and pressure is also important when considering ride quality, we standardise on quite big 1.95" tyres for this reason.

When run at the max 65psi the ride is hard but a rider will achieve more range, at the minimum 40psi the bike is much more comfortable, but range is less.

 

[Woosh]

No not at the wheels, when roughly converted using the same criteria. (i.e. Maximum possible drive torque (Nm) when converted to a gear ratio of 1:1 crankset to chainring).

for those readers who are not used to these comparisons, if you ride on the highest gear, front to rear ratio of 44T/11T = 4, the Bosch CX would give to the rear wheel 75NM/4 =18.75NM. Any geared hub would win. When you ride on the lowest gear, front to rear ratio of 44T/32T = 1.375, the CX would give 75NM/1.375 = 54.5NM, the CX would beat most hub drives.

 

[footpump]

I went into a local lbs that do Raleigh ebikes, they only had the pioneer front wheel drive on show.
I asked about the newer updated bosch moter active line plus (50nm) which has the large front chainring vs the smaller front sprocket of the older models.

it appears both are avliable 2018. the newer active line is 40nm as opposed to older active line being 50nm.
I have the 50nm activeline , but find I would like more grunt for hills, it is also a torque sensor system which means in some cases harder peddling. although range is good,

I also miss a throttle which I have on my other kit bikes.
not sure if the whisper has a throttle option

they also had some very nice haibike mtbs which had small front sprockets and bosch cx units, wonder wether the bearing seals are still an issue?

 

[Gaz]

We've got a 705SE that's about eight years old now. It's been faultless and remains a cracking bike. I can't comment on the Motus, but I doubt very much you'll be disappointed with the 705 Torque.

Gaz

How on earth did I end up with an 'Offensive language' tag for that post??

 

[Wisper Bikes]

Must be an error Gaz!

 

[DBrown67]

for those readers who are not used to these comparisons, if you ride on the highest gear, front to rear ratio of 44T/11T = 4, the Bosch CX would give to the rear wheel 75NM/4 =18.75NM. Any geared hub would win. When you ride on the lowest gear, front to rear ratio of 44T/32T = 1.375, the CX would give 75NM/1.375 = 54.5NM, the CX would beat most hub drives.

Doesn't this mean you'd be pedalling like billy 'o though in a lower gear?

I've just test ridden a Carrera Crossfuse from Halfords and I wasn't too impressed. It wasn't a bad bike but it wasn't as impressive as the Crossfire which uses a rear hub motor. Reliability with the Crossfire is such a shame. I returned mine for a full refund last year. And yet it's increased in price?!

That's why I'm now looking for a rear hub kit for my Giant Escape. I think they offer better hill climbing ability though I'd appreciate any clarifications from experts. Been looking at your kits on offer and will ring you this morning.

 

[Woosh]

And yet it's increased in price?

Halfords may have anticipated anti-dumping duty that will come to force next month.
We'll have to say goodbye to cheap Chinese bikes by the end of the year when pre anti dumping duty stocks are sold off.

 

[denwyn]

We have had 2 Wisper 705 t bikes for 6 years and love them, unfortunately one is broken, Wisper have been extremely helpful, and have offered to repair it at there factory, after giving it a lot of thought we have decided it’s probably better we bought a new bike,. As we have enjoyed the 705t so much we will probably buy another one the same. Lovely bike to ride.

 

[Peter.Bridge]

My wife has a 2019 second hand 705 (not the torque model) and I can verify it is very powerful from trying to keep up with her ! Also thinking about customer service outside the guarantee period
Depending on your usage I would go for one of the larger batteries. We are planning a 50 mile trip tomorrow, which sounds a long way but you can go further and and faster on an ebike than you would have thought