250 Mile Review
Reviewer: c_elder
Purchased From: 50Cycles
Purchase Price: GBP 1,395
Time Owned: 3 months
Local Terrain: Moderate Hills
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Strengths:
This builds and extends upon the 12 mile report (by me) above.
The route that I take (about 35 miles) is full of pot holes. You can definitely feel every bump but, so far, the bike (and wheels) have coped without any obvious damage.
I change between high-medium-low power depending on difficulty. In reality, this means:
5% high power
35% medium power
60% low power
At the end of each journey, I have always ended up with 2/5 lights on the battery. I suspect that I would be good for about 45-50 miles.
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Weaknesses:
This builds and extends upon the 12 mile report (by me) above.
One thing has gone wrong with bike (more irritating than an outright fault) so far. The 3 light battery indicator on the handlebars skip frequently to a single light. After a while, it will go back to the correct reading.
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Summary:
250 miles report: used to commute within London.
Modifications & Additions:
16 teeth rear sprocket
Schwalbe Marathon Plus 700x38 tyres
Ortlieb Back Roller Plus panniers
Air Zound 3
Axa Basta Defender + Chain frame lock
Abus Granit XPlus 54 d-lock
Cateye HL-EL530 front light
Cateye TL-LD1100 rear light
I have now used the bike to ride between South West London, North London and East London. On each ride, I normally take an additional 12kg of personal stuff. Serious riders (those on low weight racers with no additional weight) frequently overtake me both on flats and uphill. However, including stopping at lights, my average speed in London is about 14 mph. I remember reading that the average car speed is about 12 mph.
There is no doubt that the electric assistance from the bike is superb from a standing start. However, even with a 16 teeth rear sprocket, I feel that I get to the cutoff speed all too quickly (I now only use gears 3 to 7).
After the change of tyres, it is noticeable that the bike is less twitchy but with a slight increase in rolling resistance. Overall, I prefer the the Marathon+.
More to come at 2000 miles.
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Overall Rating (out of 10) : 9.5 (mainly because I am now harder to please)
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