Woosh Sirocco 2 vs CD vs CDL vs Big Bear

[jaydeeuk1]

About to buy my first ebike. Originally gave myself a budget of £500 (I'm the sort of person who would spend £100-£150 on a bike at most, and make do for 10 years) but I think that limits me to mostly rubbish (although that £250 foldable eco bike from sport direct caught my eye). I'm planning on purchasing through my company (I'm a director) and pass the VAT saving on to myself (need to have some perks!) and partly an early birthday present from wife, so £800 is probably the highest I can go.

Have spent the last week or two reading up and trying to find unbiased opinions, must have read over 1000 threads on here! Have decided that I'm definitely getting a bike from woosh, the problem is I can't decide which one...

I'm 32, 5'10, 13stone, and haven't done any exercise for 5 years. Office is about a 3 mile drive, all downhill way there, uphill on way back. These are 'Derbyshire' hills, not the easy 'Staffordshire' ones. I've no idea how fit I am, and although this is a hilariously small distance - I could practically trip up outside my house and land next to me office, I know as I get more confident I'd be likely to use the bike outside of commuting. I will be travelling on the a6, where nutters like me fly round corners in their cars so therefore I don't want to be pootling along the road, I'll want to be powering up those 10/15% hills.

I've emailed woosh asking if I can compare the sirocco 2 to the CD and Hatti has helpfully given me a couple of contacts, but I wanted to ask for opinions on here too. I think if my ride to work was fairly flat I'd have chosen the '2' without question, but I've seen a few threads where someone has considered upgrading from the 2 to a CD (and then being recommended the big bear instead!) which to me makes me think the '2' doesn't quite cut it. Also, what is the difference between the CD and CDL other than frame/wheel size? I'd have thought the CDL be an upgrade, yet its cheaper. What benefits does either of them have over each other? And then for £30 more, theres the big bear, although I'm failing to see why it is much of an improvement over the CDL...

It says that these bikes are 'computer controller' to 15mph - is this programmed in to the controller? Will I achieve a higher speed on the big bear vs CD/CDL and can this be increased? Don't mind a bit of bodging, I've read that the shunt can be partially soldered for a bit more oomph up hills, can this be done on each of them?

Thank you in advance, wanting to order something by Thursday!

 

[Deleted member 4366]

If you were 100kg, it would be easier to choose, but at 80 kg, it's not so critical. You don't really need the torque of the Big Bear. I don't know the maximunm speed of the big Bear because I didn't get the chance to de-restrict it, but I wouldn't expect it to be particularly fast. I don't think that any of the hub-motored bikes are particularly fast de-restricted, so if speed is a priority, it has to be one of the CDs. Speed up the hills will be a bit less, but you can get assistance up to about 24 mph downhill if you "adjust" the LCD, but don't forget that you get less torque each time you change to a higher gear, so don't expect to be cruising around at 24 mph.

 

[jaydeeuk1]

Thanks for that, I am leaning towards the CD more now as I can't find a single bad review about it, other than adjusting to how it changes gear. So derestricting is as easy as altering something on the LCD?

 

[John F]

Thanks for that, I am leaning towards the CD more now as I can't find a single bad review about it, other than adjusting to how it changes gear. So derestricting is as easy as altering something on the LCD?

I have the Woosh Santana CDL. It has a Kingmeter LCD panel that you can adjust the max speed on. It's preset to 15.5 mph which annoyed me as the motor kept turning on and off when you approach 15 mph. You can easily change it to a higher speed to eliminate this annoyance.

 

[Artstu]

Steep hills on the A6! come on the main roads in Staffordshire have steeper hills unless you have to come up Taddington bypass every day? My friend has a CD, I've only had one ride, but found the gear-changes brutal if you tried to change gear on a hill.
Even though I love my Bosch crank drive, on the Woosh I'd be looking at a hub drive.

Which bit of the A6 do you need to travel then? I promise not to laugh.

 

[trex]

I agree, the Big Bear is the best Woosh for heavy riders.

 

[RobF]

Don't expect high speeds even if you de-restrict the bike.

You will still be trying to shift a very heavy bike and the motor won't offer a lot of help over 15mph.

If the commute is solely on road, it would be wise to leave some money in the budget for more road-orientated tyres.

The supplied tyres will get you started, but they are designed for mixed surface use so will wear quite quickly on asphalt.

 

[jaydeeuk1]

Ok, after comments from here and some other forums, I've instead decided to get the £249 sports direct bike just to dip my toe so to speak and see how good (or bad lol) a cheaper bike would be. Figured if it isn't suitable I can either give it to my wife, or wait for their offer to finish and sell close to what I paid for it, and get something better. Comments about weight put me off the cd a little, and that the sirocco 2 isn't massively more powerful than this, so i'll probably save up and spend something closer to £2k

 

[Kudoscycles]

That Sports Direct bike is only 24 volts...your original posting said that you were 13 stone and wanted it to power up hills....the golden rule 'try before you buy'

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Yes, 24v is not particularly powerful. If you want light, what's wrong with the Sirocco Sport CD? The Sirocco CD is not particularly heavy either at 25 kg. It does have a bigger battery though!

 

[trex]

The Sportsdirect £250 folder is a good buy.
The Woosh bikes are quite different, their main strength is their big battery. The Sirocco 2 is the cheapest, £699, essentially a commuter bike for flat roads. The CD is good for speed, the Big Bear is good for grunt.

 

[jaydeeuk1]

Thank you for all your comments. Actually just under 12st now, thought i was still 13 from xmas. I think in my mind zipping up hills in the way i want wouldn't be achievable from my budget, so i would be looking at a not quite road legal bike and a higher budget. I see the cheap bike ive bought not as a waste of money, and i know im not going to be zooming around, but as a good introduction back in to cycling and perhaps a way of getting the wife interested in it too.

 

[Artstu]

In your prime and a perfect weight then. I'm still searching for this 10/15% hill? even Taddington bypass is only 5% according to this.

http://app.strava.com/segments/1364161