Wisper 705se Review and question

[Brian Field]

Bit of a review, and question
So i like to cycle my wife likes to walk, so to meet in the middle i go for walks and she said she would bike, so i purchased a Marin bike for her, but as i normally ride 40 + mile's she struggled to keep up, and stay the distance,
So i started looking about for an alternative after reading reviews and youtube vids, i finally purchased a Wisper 705se for her last year, magic she can zip along at 15mph my average is around 16.5 but hey i don't mind as long as she feels ok i can slow a little,

Now the waffle starts,
So whilst out running in Feb i had a knee injury which kind of stopped me riding my bike to work each day, i know i'll use the wife's bike, this is how i found it fantastic it rolls along nicely on the flat but struggles on the hills and needs a bit of effort, ( 95kg ) but its better than no riding or running until my operation later this year,
Good points,
Mudguards do a great job of keeping you clean,
Range on the 375wh with my imput has been 55 miles,
Lights are ok on front but lack a bit of power
Back light is brill,
Screen is easy to see and battery level indicator,
Assist modes are handy
Build is quite good for the price, £1049
My little girl loves being collected from school on it,

Bad Points
The screws that hold the rack on always came loose until i used loctite,
Cant for the love of money get a pannier set to fit no room between battery and rack for clips to fit under,
Brake cable had to be changed to much stretch in original one's
Rear wheel can only be taken off with spanners, no quick release, ( found that out to late ) 6 mile walk
Front light keeps blinking and falling to one side,
Hills for this bike and my 95kg weight it really struggles, and needs good input to keep going, ( Cumbria ) hilly country,
Seat is so uncomfortable
Copes ok with the wife half my weight,
Purchased from ebikesdirect who were very helpful

Conclusion
I loved riding this bike even though the lads at work ribbed me for it being a girly bike, so much so i have just ordered a 905 torque mk11 for myself until i am able to get back on my own Cannondale Synapse carbon, the bad points are nothing serious just the rack makes it harder to carry work gear with no pannier set fitting it, and the light just means i had to use my ayeup off my bike, if your thinking about this as a purchase, then you wont be disappointed, i have cycled over 1200 miles on the bike and the wife around 400 miles change the seat the original kills your bum,

 

[Wisper Bikes]

Thanks for the review Brian and the order for another Wisper, the Torque bikes are very different, I hope the power is better for you on those hills!

Re your constructive criticisms. (Much appreciated, without them we couldn't improve)

The screws that hold the rack on always came loose until i used loctite.

This was an issue on bikes earlier this year, now all the bolds are loctited.

Cant for the love of money get a pannier set to fit no room between battery and rack for clips to fit under.

The new design rack had pannier bars. If you are confident changing the rack I will send you a new one.

Brake cable had to be changed to much stretch in original one's

Brake cables have now been done away with and all our SE bikes come with hydraulic brakes. All other cables are now "Jagwire"

Rear wheel can only be taken off with spanners, no quick release, ( found that out to late ) 6 mile walk

Sorry no change there, we are worried about people pinching the motor, so we are staying with the nuts.

Front light keeps blinking and falling to one side

It sounds as if you need to tighten the bolt holding the light in position. Please check the connections under the light, if it keeps blinking send the old one to us and we will replace it with a new one.

Hills for this bike and my 95kg weight it really struggles, and needs good input to keep going, ( Cumbria ) hilly country.

The motor is for assistance and will give you up to about 500W, you may need to put in more power on steeper hills, you will find the Torque version more powerful.

Seat is so uncomfortable

Seats are such an issue as everyone's bottoms are different. We supply our bikes with a good average, sometimes it is necessary to change them for one that fits better.

Thanks again for you help and continued custom, all much appreciated.

All the best, David

 

[Brian Field]

Hello David thanks for the response, yeah i can fit the rack no problem buddy this would be handy as we are going to france in August and could put a set of panniers on both bike's, how do i go about getting the different rack. i'll have a look at wires on the light i fixed it going over to one side by applying loctite to the fastening screw seemed to work fine,
Cheers Brian

 

[Wisper Bikes]

Hi Brian, please email your address and telephone number, we need a couple of measurements to make sure we send the correct one. David@amps.bike

All the best, David

 

[Brian Field]

Sorry for a delay in my response to this, David from Wisper bikes was ever so kind to sort a rear rack for the wife's bike which landed in time for our France trip, yipee easy panniers, its reasons like this that companies like Wisper will always have a very good loyalty fan base, i personally have never encountered such a fantastic customer service like this, i take delivery of my 905 torque mk2 next Wed, and will post a full review of that and my wife's 705se on youtube, and post the link on here for you all.
once again David and all the staff at Wisper sterling job guys keep it up, and world domination will be yours i'm sure.
So my install of the rack i thought would be quite straight forward, but it took around an hour as i never realised you had to take all the speed controller out and wire's disconnected, but taking it slowly helped and pictures before removing any wires, well worth the effort,
On my return from France we were booked in at a Premier inn at warrington, after getting off the euro tunnel at midnight, and a hellish road closure journey from folkestone to Warrington, we finally arrived and as we pulled in at 5.30am for a couple of hours sleep, i tried to drive under the entrance canopy and duly cleaned the wifes Wisper off the top of the car,
Not much damage only broke the digital dash off the handle bar, fixed with epoxy resin, but while fixing it, i came across some settings on the clocks, so had a fiddle, her bike now does 17.5 mph before tapering off altogether at 18mph, result and rather than only doing 4mph walking pace it will zip along throttle only no pedaling at 15mph, not sure which setting but defo worth a look if you own one.
Happy Days

Thanks for the review Brian and the order for another Wisper, the Torque bikes are very different, I hope the power is better for you on those hills!

Re your constructive criticisms. (Much appreciated, without them we couldn't improve)

The screws that hold the rack on always came loose until i used loctite.

This was an issue on bikes earlier this year, now all the bolds are loctited.

Cant for the love of money get a pannier set to fit no room between battery and rack for clips to fit under.

The new design rack had pannier bars. If you are confident changing the rack I will send you a new one.

Brake cable had to be changed to much stretch in original one's

Brake cables have now been done away with and all our SE bikes come with hydraulic brakes. All other cables are now "Jagwire"

Rear wheel can only be taken off with spanners, no quick release, ( found that out to late ) 6 mile walk

Sorry no change there, we are worried about people pinching the motor, so we are staying with the nuts.

Front light keeps blinking and falling to one side

It sounds as if you need to tighten the bolt holding the light in position. Please check the connections under the light, if it keeps blinking send the old one to us and we will replace it with a new one.

Hills for this bike and my 95kg weight it really struggles, and needs good input to keep going, ( Cumbria ) hilly country.

The motor is for assistance and will give you up to about 500W, you may need to put in more power on steeper hills, you will find the Torque version more powerful.

Seat is so uncomfortable

Seats are such an issue as everyone's bottoms are different. We supply our bikes with a good average, sometimes it is necessary to change them for one that fits better.

Thanks again for you help and continued custom, all much appreciated.

All the best, David

 

[Wisper Bikes]

Great news Brian I’m pleased it all worked out. I’ve done exactly the same with a bike on the roof, it’s a mistake you only make once!

Thanks for your kind words and for investing in another bike!

All the best, David

 

[Llandudno Wisperer]

I find very steep inclines difficult to get up on my Wisper 705 SE. On our local cycle track, there is a very steep section at Llandulas and I have to walk up the hill. Yesterday I was overtaken on this section by an older guy on a foldup electric bike, who shouted out, get an electric bike. I can get up this hill on my daughters Raleigh mountain bike. I now wish that with the amount of cycling I am doing, I had bought the Torque version.
Could a lower set of gears be fitted to help me with my pedalling up steep inclines. I rarely get into top gear.

 

[Wisper Bikes]

Hi, give us a call in the new year and we will help sort this out.

All the best, David

 

[Llandudno Wisperer]

Thanks David for your help in sorting out. Bike returned yesterday with new battery. What fantastic customer service. Have not been out on it yet due to the weather but hope to before we go to Cyprus to escape the cold for a month.

 

[Wisper Bikes]

Hi, please let me know you get on.

All the best, David

 

[Llandudno Wisperer]

Went out today for my first long ride since returning from Cyprus. Have not done any cycling since January. Rode to Rhyl and back, 25 miles. No need for power on the way there but rode on Power 2 and 3 on the way back against the wind. Still had 4 bars of battery when I got back.
Took just over two hours to charge battery so I had used hardly any power. Bike is now going up hills much better and seems to be faster on Power 3 and 4. No surging and then power cutting out for a microsecond.
Met another Wisper owner. He was on his second Wisper and allowed me to take a photo of his bike. He said that he had his previous bike for 10 years.
Don't know how much weight the back rack will hold but this gentleman was certainly testing out the weight bearing qualities. My new rack and the panniers I have fitted were really useful today. I stopped at the Cycle Hub Cafe at Rhyl before riding back to Penrhyn Bay. Thanks David for sorting out my bike.

 

[Wisper Bikes]

My pleasure! Great to read you are enjoying the bike. Great also to read about the guy with the new Wisper after rider big his first one for ten years! Ten years, where did the time go! All the best, David

 

[Michael Wispa 705se]

Hi there

I know this thread is quite old but wanted to ask whether anything can be done to improve my 705se ride harshness over bumps and potholes. My back isn’t what is was and the lack of rear suspension hurts !

other than that I love the bike !

 

[Nealh]

One can fit a suspension seat post like the Suntour SP14 ncx, there are new ones on ebay at the mo for £52 delivered. Just buy the correct seat post size model.