Woosh Big Bear - a good buy?

[Jay Lewis]

Thanks for the detailed reply, d8veh, I appreciate it. And I get what you're saying. I'm nervous about what I invest in because I got badly stung with the Smarta bike I bought a few years ago, and I'm trying to avoid a repeat experience. Where elec bikes seem different from a lot of other products is in just how badly they can fail; in my case I didn't resell my Smarta bike to try and recoup some of my losses because I didn't think it would be fair to the buyer. So I'm left with an expensive bike that only gets me to the local shops and back. I suppose a car or a motor scooter can similarly fail, but there's enough of a mass market out there to ensure that if that happens then it'll be easy enough to find that's been flagged up...

Sorry if this comes across as excessively negative, and I do appreciate everyone's comments and input!

 

[Jay Lewis]

I suppose the thing to do, as suggested earlier, is to hunt through the archives for info on particular makes/models, and see what (if any) stuff has been posted about them?

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Things have moved on a lot since you bought your Smarta bike. The quality of batteries has improved. What's wrong with it now? Everything on it can be replaced without having to use the expensive OEM stuff.

 

[Jay Lewis]

Works fine apart from the battery. Had that replaced but at the time that cost £450 (it was just out of warranty), and it was more or less "shoe-horned" into the old battery housing by the guy in the shop as it wasn't a straight like-for-like swap. That battery lasted about a year (like the first one), then the mileage I can get from it plummeted... No idea what the problem is/was as I'm a complete klutz when it comes to bikes/tech stuff etc. Did discuss battery care etc with the vendore and he couldn't see anything I was doing wrong - ditto usage of bike. Wondering now if I should try to find a way to replace/upgrade the battery and charger...the bike itself is pretty well made.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

You can get a replacement battery from Aliexpress for about £200, or you can send your present one to Insat (BGA Reworking), who will gut it and put in decent cells and BMS that should last for years - about£250.

 

[Jay Lewis]

That's really helpful, thanks. May well try that option first!

 

[Summerlightning]

I was ( Still am) a complete new comer to all this.
Did a bit of research and bought the Big Bear as I am a big bloke (ie Fat) and there wasn't much else around that fitted the bill.
I love it and haven't looked back. Can now do 20 -30 mile rides with my mates that were just not feasible before. Also I am very impressed with the personal service you get from Woosh.