Having found little actual test data, or reviews for this model, to assist my decision making prior to purchase, I submit this review to hopefully assist others.
After following the forum for a couple of months, I decided to dip my toe into the world of electric bikes.
As an existing, but aging, cyclist of the mountain bike fraternity the only decision was whether to convert one of my existing cycles or buy off the shelf. Unfortunately, my mtb’s are all full suspension and a little specialist, the wheel retaining mechanisms not being “mainstream QR’s”. Therefore, substantial modifications would have been required to the hub assemblies and thought given to battery mounting.
However, the main factor turned out to be that a bike could be purchased through the company “Bike 2 work scheme” whereas a conversion kit wasn’t eligible.
So after much deliberation, I decided to “dip my toe” at the bottom end of the market and test rode one or two bikes in the £1000-£1300 bracket. I was suitably impressed by these but was drawn to the Woosh Bikes Sirocco 2 by, its style, 15ah battery and the £699 price tag. The components were often the same as the bikes I had tested, Hatti and others at Woosh proved very helpful but I just had concerns that I had not ridden one and could find little technical/actual test data on the model.
BUT purchase on the “Bike 2 work scheme” meant I would only be paying approx £370!
What was I waiting for?
The Sirocco 2 was duly ordered and arrived well packed in a huge cardboard/foam box within a couple of days. The bike is ready to hit the road being complete with mudguards, front and rear lights and the obligatory bell. Assembly took less than an hour, basically put the battery on charge overnight, fit the pedals, attach the handlebars and fine tune the position of brake levers, etc to your personal preference. All the tools required to do these tasks, and minor maintenance, are supplied in a little plastic wallet – nice touch that. The bike weighed in at 24kg, plus another 95kg to cover me and tubes/pump/lock/etc.
The 7 shimano gears appear adequately spaced to suit the style of bike and no motor resistance was felt while riding without power assist. However, due to the increased weight of an electric bike, climbing any hills without assistance will seem like more effort. Braking consists of a Tektro front cable disc and a rear rim brake. Like all disc brakes the front pads took a little time to “bed in” but the rear brake was adequate from the start. Coming from much larger hydraulic discs on a very light mtb, the slower braking response took a little time to get used to but the bike does brake adequately now “bedded in”.
The TopGun forks are a budget item with approx 30mm travel, but perfectly adequate for tarmac duty.
Likewise, the suspension seat post has minimal travel but I have no complaints about the harshness of the ride so something must be working.
Riding Experience
The first chance I had to go for a spin was the night after delivery, a cold crisp -1degC, but I was keen to get a test ride under my belt. I live on the Fylde coast between Blackpool and Preston so the local area is relatively flat, the biggest local hills being the bridges over the M55 motorway. I rode a 9 mile circuit to include 2 of these over bridges, on the max assistance setting, and rode the last 4 miles home on throttle alone. I was surprised and impressed that I still had all four battery lights lit when I got home. As all the lanes round here are unlit, I needed to add an additional front light. The supplied front light works from the 36v battery and provides a surprisingly good light to be seen by but not to illuminate the road ahead. The rear light is fairly large, being the width of the rear rack. It is battery operated and gives a reasonable bright light, a flashing option would have be a nice addition though.
My only concern on this initial run was the max speed on the flat, as recorded by both my GPS and iphone strava, was only 13.6mph – a little lower than the 15mph spec. From information gleaned from the forum, I had hoped that with build tolerances, etc, I may have achieved up to approx 17mph with this motor/battery combination.
What I needed now was a proper test run with some hills!
This was achieved round the periphery of the Bowland fells to the east of Garstang.
I have uploaded the Strava record of the ride and some Ordnance Survey mapping of the area to show the contours. Again it was a cold day at 3degC with little wind, assistance set on maximum.
I started at Claughton Village hall, adjacent to the M6 motorway and proceeded north via Calder Vale to Oakenclough (200m climb and descent), then south to Tootle Hall (first battery light went out on climb out of Oakenclough but recovered on downhill/flat sections), then east to Parlick(250m above start point – climb to gate at end of road is steep and I felt motor and myself labouring – needed another gear – lost a second battery light here) before dropping down into Chipping village (all battery lights recovered on downhill section). Heading back to Beacon Fell the road climbs out of Chipping village, near the crest I saw two faint red light in the mist and was soon overtaking a pair of “roadies” with a cheery “Good morning chaps” as they honked up the hill out of their saddles. They were soon lost into the mist behind me – that made my day! I expected them to catch me on the downhill and the flat section that followed but they were never seen again!
Steady climb onto Beacon Fell saw the loss of the two battery lights again but they recovered to three on the downhill. Having crossed the river Brock near Claughton, the battery was still holding up well so I decided to detour NE again to Tootle Hall (steady shallow climb – down to 2 battery lights) and then return to my start point. When I returned downhill to the bridge at the River Calder, I was back showing 3 battery lights so decided to repeat the initial climb to Calder Vale. This reduced me to 1 battery light on the climb but still gave me 2 lights on the downhill and flat return to my start point.
The attached Strava/OS Map documents record the route, speed and elevation profile.
The route was 49.8km (31miles) and 775m (2500ft) climbing. Although I had pedal assisted over the whole route, I had exerted much less energy than when riding this route on my normal bike.
The battery took a 6hr charge to replenish.
The second ride was around the Preston “Guild Wheel”, a 21mile circular traffic free route around the periphery of the town, completed to celebrate 2012 Guild year (Guild celebrations only occur every 25 years!).
Again weather was 3degC, little wind but some snow/ice on the ground, again on maximum assistance. This was a potential route to take my non cycling wife on, so I wanted to test out the throttle only capability. I started the route on the northern outskirts at Broughton traveling on a clockwise circuit. The route to the east undulates before dropping off an escarpment down to the River Ribble. From here the route follows the river for approx 8miles as near to flat as you are ever likely to get. This was ridden on throttle only. By the time I reached the docks to the west of town, the battery indicator was still showing 3 lights with the occasional drop to two on any ramps. The route from the docks back north to Broughton undulates and was ridden with pedal assist. I was down to 2 lights when I got back to the start point. The battery took 5hrs to recharge. Considering I rode 8 flat miles on throttle only of a total 21miles, I was quite pleased with the results knowing my wife should be able to accompany me on this level of ride.
Reliability
I have only completed just over 200miles to date, but have experienced no issues with the exception of the max speed concern. Woosh Bikes have been very helpful in all communications and quickly forwarded a new controller for me to fit and test. Unfortunately, I cannot achieve over 14mph with this unit either. However, I am perhaps being a little harsh as this is the only issue I have found with the bike. I am sure somebody on this forum would be able to help me in this respect once my warranty expires!
Conclusions
The level of components and the quality of finish I found equal to many more expensive bikes I tested.
Sure, like others, parts like the pedals are of a lower quality but they can easily be replaced down the line if necessary. For most leisure riders the parts are fit for purpose and should outlast the life of the battery. At this price point, I would be more likely to buy a new bike to keep up with technology than replace a battery.
The 15aH battery on a bike of this value was what set it apart for me. It gives me a greater range or climbing ability than the normal 8/10aH batteries at this price point.
I hope my documented rides can give other prospective buyers some confidence in the level of performance they can expect from a Sirocco 2.
Due to other commitments, I have hurriedly compiled this review. So apologies for any areas I have missed. Please pm me if you have any specific questions that I may be able to answer.
After following the forum for a couple of months, I decided to dip my toe into the world of electric bikes.
As an existing, but aging, cyclist of the mountain bike fraternity the only decision was whether to convert one of my existing cycles or buy off the shelf. Unfortunately, my mtb’s are all full suspension and a little specialist, the wheel retaining mechanisms not being “mainstream QR’s”. Therefore, substantial modifications would have been required to the hub assemblies and thought given to battery mounting.
However, the main factor turned out to be that a bike could be purchased through the company “Bike 2 work scheme” whereas a conversion kit wasn’t eligible.
So after much deliberation, I decided to “dip my toe” at the bottom end of the market and test rode one or two bikes in the £1000-£1300 bracket. I was suitably impressed by these but was drawn to the Woosh Bikes Sirocco 2 by, its style, 15ah battery and the £699 price tag. The components were often the same as the bikes I had tested, Hatti and others at Woosh proved very helpful but I just had concerns that I had not ridden one and could find little technical/actual test data on the model.
BUT purchase on the “Bike 2 work scheme” meant I would only be paying approx £370!
What was I waiting for?
The Sirocco 2 was duly ordered and arrived well packed in a huge cardboard/foam box within a couple of days. The bike is ready to hit the road being complete with mudguards, front and rear lights and the obligatory bell. Assembly took less than an hour, basically put the battery on charge overnight, fit the pedals, attach the handlebars and fine tune the position of brake levers, etc to your personal preference. All the tools required to do these tasks, and minor maintenance, are supplied in a little plastic wallet – nice touch that. The bike weighed in at 24kg, plus another 95kg to cover me and tubes/pump/lock/etc.
The 7 shimano gears appear adequately spaced to suit the style of bike and no motor resistance was felt while riding without power assist. However, due to the increased weight of an electric bike, climbing any hills without assistance will seem like more effort. Braking consists of a Tektro front cable disc and a rear rim brake. Like all disc brakes the front pads took a little time to “bed in” but the rear brake was adequate from the start. Coming from much larger hydraulic discs on a very light mtb, the slower braking response took a little time to get used to but the bike does brake adequately now “bedded in”.
The TopGun forks are a budget item with approx 30mm travel, but perfectly adequate for tarmac duty.
Likewise, the suspension seat post has minimal travel but I have no complaints about the harshness of the ride so something must be working.
Riding Experience
The first chance I had to go for a spin was the night after delivery, a cold crisp -1degC, but I was keen to get a test ride under my belt. I live on the Fylde coast between Blackpool and Preston so the local area is relatively flat, the biggest local hills being the bridges over the M55 motorway. I rode a 9 mile circuit to include 2 of these over bridges, on the max assistance setting, and rode the last 4 miles home on throttle alone. I was surprised and impressed that I still had all four battery lights lit when I got home. As all the lanes round here are unlit, I needed to add an additional front light. The supplied front light works from the 36v battery and provides a surprisingly good light to be seen by but not to illuminate the road ahead. The rear light is fairly large, being the width of the rear rack. It is battery operated and gives a reasonable bright light, a flashing option would have be a nice addition though.
My only concern on this initial run was the max speed on the flat, as recorded by both my GPS and iphone strava, was only 13.6mph – a little lower than the 15mph spec. From information gleaned from the forum, I had hoped that with build tolerances, etc, I may have achieved up to approx 17mph with this motor/battery combination.
What I needed now was a proper test run with some hills!
This was achieved round the periphery of the Bowland fells to the east of Garstang.
I have uploaded the Strava record of the ride and some Ordnance Survey mapping of the area to show the contours. Again it was a cold day at 3degC with little wind, assistance set on maximum.
I started at Claughton Village hall, adjacent to the M6 motorway and proceeded north via Calder Vale to Oakenclough (200m climb and descent), then south to Tootle Hall (first battery light went out on climb out of Oakenclough but recovered on downhill/flat sections), then east to Parlick(250m above start point – climb to gate at end of road is steep and I felt motor and myself labouring – needed another gear – lost a second battery light here) before dropping down into Chipping village (all battery lights recovered on downhill section). Heading back to Beacon Fell the road climbs out of Chipping village, near the crest I saw two faint red light in the mist and was soon overtaking a pair of “roadies” with a cheery “Good morning chaps” as they honked up the hill out of their saddles. They were soon lost into the mist behind me – that made my day! I expected them to catch me on the downhill and the flat section that followed but they were never seen again!
Steady climb onto Beacon Fell saw the loss of the two battery lights again but they recovered to three on the downhill. Having crossed the river Brock near Claughton, the battery was still holding up well so I decided to detour NE again to Tootle Hall (steady shallow climb – down to 2 battery lights) and then return to my start point. When I returned downhill to the bridge at the River Calder, I was back showing 3 battery lights so decided to repeat the initial climb to Calder Vale. This reduced me to 1 battery light on the climb but still gave me 2 lights on the downhill and flat return to my start point.
The attached Strava/OS Map documents record the route, speed and elevation profile.
The route was 49.8km (31miles) and 775m (2500ft) climbing. Although I had pedal assisted over the whole route, I had exerted much less energy than when riding this route on my normal bike.
The battery took a 6hr charge to replenish.
The second ride was around the Preston “Guild Wheel”, a 21mile circular traffic free route around the periphery of the town, completed to celebrate 2012 Guild year (Guild celebrations only occur every 25 years!).
Again weather was 3degC, little wind but some snow/ice on the ground, again on maximum assistance. This was a potential route to take my non cycling wife on, so I wanted to test out the throttle only capability. I started the route on the northern outskirts at Broughton traveling on a clockwise circuit. The route to the east undulates before dropping off an escarpment down to the River Ribble. From here the route follows the river for approx 8miles as near to flat as you are ever likely to get. This was ridden on throttle only. By the time I reached the docks to the west of town, the battery indicator was still showing 3 lights with the occasional drop to two on any ramps. The route from the docks back north to Broughton undulates and was ridden with pedal assist. I was down to 2 lights when I got back to the start point. The battery took 5hrs to recharge. Considering I rode 8 flat miles on throttle only of a total 21miles, I was quite pleased with the results knowing my wife should be able to accompany me on this level of ride.
Reliability
I have only completed just over 200miles to date, but have experienced no issues with the exception of the max speed concern. Woosh Bikes have been very helpful in all communications and quickly forwarded a new controller for me to fit and test. Unfortunately, I cannot achieve over 14mph with this unit either. However, I am perhaps being a little harsh as this is the only issue I have found with the bike. I am sure somebody on this forum would be able to help me in this respect once my warranty expires!
Conclusions
The level of components and the quality of finish I found equal to many more expensive bikes I tested.
Sure, like others, parts like the pedals are of a lower quality but they can easily be replaced down the line if necessary. For most leisure riders the parts are fit for purpose and should outlast the life of the battery. At this price point, I would be more likely to buy a new bike to keep up with technology than replace a battery.
The 15aH battery on a bike of this value was what set it apart for me. It gives me a greater range or climbing ability than the normal 8/10aH batteries at this price point.
I hope my documented rides can give other prospective buyers some confidence in the level of performance they can expect from a Sirocco 2.
Due to other commitments, I have hurriedly compiled this review. So apologies for any areas I have missed. Please pm me if you have any specific questions that I may be able to answer.
. Back on topic, I bet the speed will get nearer the 15mph in the spring.
