Wisper DaaHub arrives - what a bike!

Oiseaux · Jun 9, 2011

eddieo said:
Well what do you think? Did video help at all. I have always riden on power as most e bikes are so awful without it...But know I have a bike that is possible to ride without assistance....

You need to try some bikes, your getting frustrated over nothing..... I am 30 mins from Gatwick. and you can try the DaaHub and a KTM Bosch bikes (here soon) Then 25 mins on a bus and you are at Battersea and "E bikes direct" and 50 cycles are about an hour away from there....just a thought

That's very kind of you eddio but it's not quite as simple as you might think. I don't have a car, I'm miles from anywhere, getting to an airport has complications, the exchange rate is going down, etc etc boo hoo !! But I have been and looked to see whether I could fit the battery above the back wheel as shown and on the off road bike it is possible, so who knows, but what ever I do buy and if it's as good as the Sanyo re drag I will shout it from the rooftops.

piotrmacheta · Jun 9, 2011

Thinking about the best place to fit an ezee battery to my mountain bike I identified the best place as under the downtube - even though it is a big battery it actually fits, it's as low down as it can go and didn't look too obvious. Nobody seems to have considered this option for some reason. The only trouble is I have to get an adapter mount made that fits my water bottle mount holes. One day I will do it and you can all have a view.

As for the wheel resistance issue then remember that bearings need time to bed in. I noticed this on my sons skateboard where the new bearings did not spin so freely as when they were worn in.

My view on the new Daahub kit is that the battery angle is a bit unusual and what I would do is supply some plastic spacers that can be attached to the battery to fill in the gaps in the lower sections of the triangle to make it look more complete with the frame tubes. Just a thought.

NRG · Jun 9, 2011

David, many thanks for replying to the points raised in the thread (and also for sending over the diagram) its appreciated. However, the battery mounting still sucks no matter how you dress it up...two years to develop? Surely in that time you could have come up with a second on bike mounting arrangement and not a 'universal' one...Also as for handling and feel, well that may be important for those of us considering the Tour de France or the next local club race meet but for every day commuting or leisure riding it matters not one jot, a rack mount position is perfectly fine and more sensible.

So one cheeky question: Do you sell the kit without the battery?

Oiseaux · Jun 10, 2011

NRG said:
......................So one cheeky question: Do you sell the kit without the battery?

I too would be interested to know that.

HarryB · Jun 10, 2011

The battery mounting also contains the conroller so it would be better just to buy yourself a dapush motor and controller and do the rest yourself.

David is right about the position of the battery. The lower/middle of the bike the better and makes a lot of difference to the way a bike handles even for commuting. I wouldn't want a battery hanging off the back of my bike anyway.

Oiseaux · Jun 10, 2011

HarryB said:
The battery mounting also contains the conroller so it would be better just to buy yourself a dapush motor and controller and do the rest yourself.
.

Have googled 'dapush motors' but cannot find a supplier of motors only. Have you by any chance got a link.

Oiseaux

PJM · Jun 10, 2011

I must admit I find a lot of the hijacking of the topic regarding looks etc are becoming a 'drag'

Eddio can you give us a bit more info on how it deals with hills and have you established a range yet? Where are you based. I would love a go. Have any niggles been come up yet?

NRG · Jun 10, 2011

eddieo said:
Some of the comments above must be enough to make David weep...what a bunch of Luddites!lol

I will keep on saying this, the bike is so nicely balanced with battery where it is! what is this nonsense re racing bikes/tour de France etc.... battery high on rear rack is probably the worse position possible, and you want to go back to this! I am astonished.....

But I agree a simple rack mount conversion should be available for the doubters......

Why? Whats so astonishing about it? Or is it astonishing that the current arrangement looks odd, vulnerable and potentially weak and looks like a large black Phallus? Maybe thats my paranoia but I like rack mounting, to me it seems more secure, less obvious and can be easily hidden with the introduction of some panniers...now thats astonishing!

I'm sure David can take the comments here and BTW Eddie I hope you really enjoy the bike, its a very good choice of donor bike and is one of the models I'm looking at.

NRG · Jun 10, 2011

eddieo said:
EDIT:

NRG there is absolutely nothing insecure regards battery fitting? It is very very strong and sound arrangement. Many think a suspension bridge dont look right either. Purely good design accomplishes these kinds of results.....Simples

At least a suspension bridge is supported at both ends.

as for the nob obsession, luckily for you mental health advice still free under the NHS

You dont like it buy something else.....again simples

Weak. It is indeed but luckily I don't need it! Your last point is spot on...

Wisper Bikes · Jun 10, 2011

eTim said:
David,

You talk about serious off-road use, how will the hub motor stand up to proper downhill abuse on mountain trails, single track downhills, jumps, berms, roots, rocks, holes, drops and the like?

Absolutely no problems at al Tim. We have been hammering our test motors now for over a year, getting them to do things that they certainly were not intended for including long climbs at very high current, fast rough descents and high drop offs and we have not had a problem. Next year with the introduction of the 30mph DaaHub Extreem version for off road only this was most important as all the stresses will be increased dramatically.

All the best

David

Hugh · Jun 10, 2011

I've followed this with great interest, as I'd like to electrify my Cannondale. I agree with the school of thought that says battery low down and in the middle is good (as do Kalkhoff, seemingly). Having a bunch of stuff high up at the back is bound to have an adverse effect on handling - even low down it still would (think heavy panniers on a bike compared with nothing - tail wags dog).

However, I can't fancy the location that Wisper have come up with as it seems to be exerting far too much leverage on a relatively small area of seat tube, and tubes can break....(bitter experience).

Cytronex is neat, but gets away with it due to being small and, as a result, low capacity.

I'll be very interested in progress reports from Eddie as time goes on though, and whatever, I hope it continues to be as satisfactory to you as it is now.

Cheers

Oiseaux · Jun 10, 2011

Wisper Bikes said:
Absolutely no problems at al Tim. We have been hammering our test motors now for over a year, getting them to do things that they certainly were not intended for including long climbs at very high current, fast rough descents and high drop offs and we have not had a problem. Next year with the introduction of the 30mph DaaHub Extreem version for off road only this was most important as all the stresses will be increased dramatically.

All the best

David

Hmm, now there's a tantalising tit bit !!

HarryB · Jun 10, 2011

The Cytronex battery position is different as the weight is almost carried parallel to the downtube rather than mostly at right angles. I think the weight of the batteries are similar anyway despite the capacity difference. I expect wisper have tested the mounting to destruction so doubt you are likely to get a failure. However I agree this is not an elegant engineering solution due to the battery clamp having to accommodate two positions.

indalo · Jun 10, 2011

Hugh said:
I've followed this with great interest, as I'd like to electrify my Cannondale. I agree with the school of thought that says battery low down and in the middle is good (as do Kalkhoff, seemingly). Having a bunch of stuff high up at the back is bound to have an adverse effect on handling - even low down it still would (think heavy panniers on a bike compared with nothing - tail wags dog).

However, I can't fancy the location that Wisper have come up with as it seems to be exerting far too much leverage on a relatively small area of seat tube, and tubes can break....(bitter experience).

Hi Hugh.

In theory, your comments about battery location are no doubt correct but my experience, both with and without panniers, is that it makes little perceivable difference to the handling of the bike.

Perhaps you as a Cannondale rider are more aware than occasional leisure riders of all the little nuances of bike handling but I'm not aware of those Cytronex owners complaining about any dilution of the bike's handling qualities resulting from the addition of motor and battery. Many of those who choose to ride Cytronex models are experienced in riding sporty bikes so I'm sure if the handling characteristics were adversely affected, we would all have heard about it.

Looking around at what's available in the way of kits, I think you'd be hard-pressed to find something better than the Cytronex system for your particular bike and the kit is coming to market shortly, I believe.

I stand to be corrected in my view by those members here who own or previously owned Cytronex models but I'm confident that the general consensus will be that Cannondale and Trek models so equipped stack up well against other electric bikes.

Regards,
Indalo

Mussels · Jun 10, 2011

NRG said:
Also as for handling and feel, well that may be important for those of us considering the Tour de France or the next local club race meet but for every day commuting or leisure riding it matters not one jot, a rack mount position is perfectly fine and more sensible.

For every day commuting the feel and handling are far more important than cosmetic details, I'd rather the bike is more enjoyable to ride than prettier for pedestrians to look at.

Wisper Bikes · Jun 10, 2011

Mussels said:
For every day commuting the feel and handling are far more important than cosmetic details, I'd rather the bike is more enjoyable to ride than prettier for pedestrians to look at.

Thanks Andrew, this is why we chose function over form, although as I say if people prefer the more standard look the superb DaaHub Dock mounting system will enable the battery to be mounted at the back off the seat post. Which is so much more sensible and beneficial to riding characteristics than the simple rack mount.

I have nothing against rack mounts on lower bikes, 20" wheels etc, but they become ungainly and effect riding quality on 26 and 28' bikes.

All the best

David

Wisper Bikes · Jun 10, 2011

NRG said:
David, many thanks for replying to the points raised in the thread (and also for sending over the diagram) its appreciated. However, the battery mounting still sucks no matter how you dress it up...two years to develop? Surely in that time you could have come up with a second on bike mounting arrangement and not a 'universal' one...Also as for handling and feel, well that may be important for those of us considering the Tour de France or the next local club race meet but for every day commuting or leisure riding it matters not one jot, a rack mount position is perfectly fine and more sensible.

So one cheeky question: Do you sell the kit without the battery?

Hi NRG, I feel you should maybe try out the DaaHub Dock, mounting system before you condemn it? It is absolutely superb, the battery and mount work so well together it is absolutely amazing, not a rattle to be heard even over rough terrain and so easy to remove and re-install the battery. It was originally designed for seat post rear mounting but with a little bit of engineering initiative we give our customers a choice! A rack mount is more sensible maybe for the manufacturer but the DaaHub Dock is more secure and simply genius, far better for the customer. Although it is a bit rude in the forward position if you have that sort of mind! Here's some ammo for you, instead of the DaaHub Dock you could call it the DaaHub Dick!!

Re bike balance and handeling, as Mussels (who is probably the most experienced electric bike rider I know) has already pointed out the ride and feel of an electric bike is massively important to every rider, especially the long distance commuter. And DaaHub has been designed with these people, our customers, in mind.

Re your cheeky question, of course you can! But they are the same price!

All the best

David

Wisper DaaHub arrives - what a bike!

Pedelecer

Esteemed Pedelecer

Esteemed Pedelecer

Pedelecer

Esteemed Pedelecer

Pedelecer

Pedelecer

Banned

Banned

Esteemed Pedelecer

Esteemed Pedelecer

Trade Member

Esteemed Pedelecer

Pedelecer

Esteemed Pedelecer

Banned

Esteemed Pedelecer

Banned

Trade Member

Trade Member

Advertisers