Yet another big bloke with a grand to spend...

[JohnCade]

The Big Bear is always recommended for the heavier rider. But for what you want and for where you live it must be favourite. Lots of men ride unisex frames now and they are well strong enough and have extra bracing these days I think. They do have advantages, particularly with older blokes who find it a bit difficult to get their leg over.

 

[Kudoscycles]

PzPhil....why do you need to lug the weight (and cost) of a 15Ah battery around,your original OP said that your trips would be 10 miles. I cycle my little Kudos Secret bike in mountains and get 25 miles out of an 8Ah battery,I am big guy-105 kilos.
Big batteries are about bikes with throttles,that are intended to be used with throttles,like a mini moped,they eat up Wh,because obviously you are not assisting the bike with pedalling,you get zero exercise,to some they are a necessity,fair enough.At one of the NEC cycle shows we never replaced a battery all day, but one of the moped style of bikes was constantly replacing big heavy batteries all day. I am trying (and so is KTM) to make e-bikes that are close to the riding characteristics and appearance of non assisted bikes,for that is what most customers want.
Also,all the Kudos performance series have the BPM motor with its low speed/high torque characteristics,that is,I think, the same motor as the Woosh big bear,but put where it should be,in my opinion,in the rear hub.
Be assured,these motors power up hills when you need them
The only reason I would put such a motor in the front is if I wanted to fit a Nexus or Nuvinci hub gear in the back but I cannot find anything wrong with a good quality derailleur system(Alivio or Deore) provided that you are not trying to feed a crank drive motor system through it.
All the Kudos bikes have available a lights/mudguards option that is easily fitted,at little cost.
I wonder how long it will be........in house Pedelec joke!!!!
KudosDave

44 mins!....in house Pedelec joke!!!!

 

[PzPhil]

Reason 1 above is valid. Reason 2 doesn't sound reasonable to me. Batteries do deteriorate over time, but they should be able to do every day for three years, losing at most 20%. If you use it three times a week, that goes up to 6 years. Too many batteries expire long before that, usually after a period of inactivity.

Bigger batteries offer a lot of benefits, so get the biggest you can. The additional weight is about 1kg per 5aH, so not really significant unless you want a light-weight set-up. For most of us it would be easy to lose a kg or two from ourselves to compensate. They give more power due to higher voltage; they allow you to be lazy if you want; they allow you to get your destination when you forgot to charge your bike the night before; and you soon get bored with local rides, so want to go further afield.

i just built a 30ah LiFePO4 battery for Saneagle thanks to a generous donation from Kudos. It weighs 7kg, which is about 3kg more than your average 10aH one. We can now do the lovely but very hilly 75 mile route along the River Severn to Bewdley and back without having to go into battery conservation mode.

Thanks for that.

 

[PzPhil]

They do have advantages, particularly with older blokes who find it a bit difficult to get their leg over.

Have you been speaking to my missus?

 

[Kudoscycles]

Reasons for going for extra battery:

1. I might want to go further now & then.

2. Higher capacity when new should ensure it will still meet my needs in a couple of years' time when the battery capacity has reduced to what - maybe 75% of its nominal rating? I'm trying to ensure that I won't be spending an extra £250-£300 every 18 months on new batteries. IMHO, this appears to be a major Achilles' heel of ebikes.

1) I can understand that
2) Kudos was the first company to bring down the cost of these batteries,our average price is about £200 for 10 Ah. We were also proud to offer the LifePo4 battery,at the time we thought that 5 years was the limit for this battery type but in weather stations they are lasting 15 years plus.Our urban series still uses LiFePo4 and there are many Pedelecs members whose bikes are plus 4 years old,with no loss of capacity. The problem with LifePo4 is that it is heavy and this forum demanded lighter weight ( well actually EddieO was the guy who was keen on these bikes getting lighter) so on our performance series we changed to LiMnO4,but the life expectancy is probably 3-4 years,still priced around £200 though.
Not sure you can rely on a reliable reduction in capacity to a still reasonable level,my experience is that whatever the size,when it starts losing capacity it seems to lose it quickly-maybe others have a view on this?
KudosDave

 

[Cyclezee]

Hi Phil,

In my somewhat biased opinion, the eZee Sprint Primo would do what you want in West Cornwall and even if you chose to upgrade to the larger capacity 15Ah battery it would still come in at under £1000.

When people buy an electric bike they tend to ride further and be a bit more adventurous, that is why larger capacities are a good idea, they also last longer.

 

[PzPhil]

Hi Phil,

In my somewhat biased opinion, the eZee Sprint Primo would do what you want in West Cornwall and even if you chose to upgrade to the larger capacity 15Ah battery it would still come in at under £1000.

When people buy an electric bike they tend to ride further and be a bit more adventurous, that is why larger capacities are a good idea, they also last longer.

Thanks for the info. I couldn't see an upgrade price on your website. I will say that I like the battery position behind the seat tube, it must help to get the weight lower down.

 

[Cyclezee]

Hi Phil,
The standard battery for the Sprint Primo is the 36v 11Ah, an upgrade to 36v 15Ah costs £120.

All battery prices are shown on our website here http://www.cyclezee.com/ezee-batteries.html

 

[John F]

Reason 1 above is valid. Reason 2 doesn't sound reasonable to me. Batteries do deteriorate over time, but they should be able to do every day for three years, losing at most 20%. If you use it three times a week, that goes up to 6 years. Too many batteries expire long before that, usually after a period of inactivity.

Bigger batteries offer a lot of benefits, so get the biggest you can. The additional weight is about 1kg per 5aH, so not really significant unless you want a light-weight set-up. For most of us it would be easy to lose a kg or two from ourselves to compensate. They give more power due to higher voltage; they allow you to be lazy if you want; they allow you to get your destination when you forgot to charge your bike the night before; and you soon get bored with local rides, so want to go further afield.

i just built a 30ah LiFePO4 battery for Saneagle thanks to a generous donation from Kudos. It weighs 7kg, which is about 3kg more than your average 10aH one. We can now do the lovely but very hilly 75 mile route along the River Severn to Bewdley and back without having to go into battery conservation mode.

Wow! Can I buy one please?!

But getting the biggest battery you can afford is what I tell everyone who expresses an interest in my bike. I don't think I had ridden more than 30 miles in my life on my hybrid non electric prior to getting the Woosh.

Now, with my 15 amp battery, I find myself doing more than that on a regular basis. But at 95kg and 68 years, I think I would be suffering from the dreaded "range anxiety" with a 10 amp one.

 

[derf]

Hi, I’m Phil from West Cornwall looking for advice on buying my first ebike. I’ve read through a lot of this forum and I am aware that I’m asking a question similar to one which has been asked many times before, but nevertheless…

I’m 50 years old and 112kg, looking for a bike for domestic and leisure use, envisaging a maximum of 25 miles use a day. Hoping that using the ebike regularly will help as part of my exercise/weight loss regime (already 8kg lighter than last year, hoping to get down to 100kg or so). I’m 5’11” or so. Not totally unfit, I’m currently riding my Dahon Espresso folding mountain bike about 5 miles three times a week, walk about 5 miles daily. Terrain around here is mixed, some steepish hills, but nothing like Devon or the Peak District – the steep hills tend not to be very long – half a mile or so. I’d like an ebike mainly for hillclimbing assistance, I’m quite capable of moving myself on the flat.

My preference is for a crossbar bike with mudguards and rack for carrying stuff like a bit of shopping, or my binoculars and camera (my main passion is birdwatching).

West Cornwall is not well-served by ebike dealers (bear in mind it’s a 2-hour drive from here to Exeter), so I haven’t really got any option other than to buy “blind”, using the information and advice I can obtain via the electric internet.

Budget is £1000, I know that puts me at the lower end of the market, but to me that’s a significant sum. I could buy half a pair of binoculars for that money!

Obvious answer would seem to be a Woosh Big Bear (currently out of stock though). Others I’m considering include:

Tonaro Enduro (could just about get to the distributor, taking in some birding on the Exe estuary on the way, but it would be a 3-hour trip each way and £40 in fuel). Worried however that Tonaro appear to be gradually disappearing from the market, their range has shrunk to 2 models and they appear now to be working from domestic rather than business premises. Could be a problem in respect of support in the future?

Ezee Sprint Primo – but is a 3-speed hub gear enough – my cycling experience is all with conventional bikes and I wouldn’t have picked a 3-speed hub gear for serious use in 1985!

Smarta GT – slightly over budget, hugely over budget if specced to same level as the Big Bear.

Juicy Sport Click – but not sure I like that twin crossbar thing they have going – seems to make it wider for no real gain.

Freego Hawk – generic Chinese bike, again seems underspecced compared to the BB, is the base bike really worth £100 more, given that it has a smaller battery and less powerful/torquey motor?

Axcess Mustang – again looks like a generic Chinese bike with typical spec, thrown into the mix because they have a dealer (albeit as an offshoot of a car dealership) a mere 50 miles away, which may help with support.

I would appreciate the thoughts of both those with customer experience of these bikes and those in the trade. Is there any other model I should be considering?

One last thing - please try to be nice to each other. You know who I mean (I've read a LOT of threads on here in the last week).

IMHO its worth spending more and getting a Kalkhof in the long run - having bought one and then something less expensive. with pedelecs ive found you really get what you pay for