Wisper Works 905SE Owner Reviews

[rsscott]

Reviewer: Mandy

Retailer: Germany

Purchase Price: $1,050

Time Owned: 2 1/2 months

Terrain: Moderate Hills

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Strengths:
Very comfortable to ride and I think one of the best looking bikes out there! Very Light with a light Li ion battery and very very fast. You have a choice between Pedelec or power only with a twist throttle and derestricted button to restrict the motor cutting out at 15mph. I had a Powabyke for 3 years which was very heavy but could not knock it as it did get me from A to B. However, with this baby I love to ride it everywhere and not only on my commute to work but out and about at weekends too!!
When I stop? lol People ask me about the bike, where I bought it, how much etc etc.
I use it in Power only but almost always pedal in this mode so long as my back problem isn't giving me Gip!
It then powers along and slashes my normal one way commute on my Powabyke from 20 minutes to 13 minutes which is 7 minutes less in the cold :0)
It has fantastic suspension forks, but I normally keep these locked on smooth rides for speed. When you sit upon it and twist the throttle the front ot the bike raises up as if telling you it's ready to go! 7 good Shimano gears which is all you need.
A beautifully shaped all black light alliminum frame which is a very attractive feature. A super quiet rear hub motor. Great front disc brakes and very efficient rear V breaks.
It came with a choice of full or sports mud guards, rear matching black pannier rack, lights etc. Battery usage indicator which is quite useful and can show you how much power i
s being drawn from the battery on for example steep hills. I think it is pretty good on covering distances, however, as reccomended, I charge the battery after every journey and my longest is 16 miles on motor only with pedaling and still seemed to have plenty of juice left!
The guys at Wisper have been great in Germany and UK.
So thank you to Frank and Dom in Germany and a big thank you also to David from Wisper UK for answeing queries and being most helpful
Love It!!


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Weaknesses:
Not many but here go's:
Had a bit of a wiring problem with bike supplied from Germany which didn't really affect my power mode but was easily remedied with help from the guys on this site, David at Wisper and a guy in China.

Well the seat could be better and I changed this straight away down to my personal preference which I think a lot of people would do with any bike.

The tyres could be better I guess and in the process of changing these, but that is it guys and gals so far, so can't be bad :0)

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Summary:
In Summary:
A super cool good looking bike, super fast, light, quiet and I love it and would recommend it to anyone!!!
Love It!!

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Overall Rating: 10

[Phil the drill]

Reviewer: Phil

Purchased From: The Electric Transport Shop

Purchase Price: £1200

Time Owned: 3 months

Local Terrain: Very Hilly

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Strengths: Nicely made bike, well packaged for delivery and a 'quality feel' to most of the components. Rides nicely, changes gear very smoothly, and reasonably comfortable (might want to change the saddle though - that's down to personal preference and shape). Looks good. Battery capacity appears good, haven't yet tested it to the limit, so can't be sure of the actual range for me. Great for speed on the flat, especially using the 'off road' option.



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Weaknesses: Over geared for steep hills. Promax disc on the front is not great (weak, difficult to adjust, tendency to bind going up hills). The rear promax V brake is also pretty unimpressive. Brake cables as supplied appear to be made of bungee cord. Have to remove the seat post every trip to get the battery out to recharge. £1200 and no manual, or setup instructions! - shameful!!



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Summary: I do like this bike. I have only had it a short while, it is replacing a powabyke 24spd I had for several years. I wrote that bike off in a head on crash with a white van when I was tearing down a steep hill on a narrow country lane. Still, I've mended (unlike the bike) and I fancied a change. The Wisper looked good, seemed to have decent reviews, and I went for it.
It is great for my daily commute (8 + miles of vicious hill, both up and down, precious little flat), but I have had to cutomize it to suit. First, the downhills are long, steep and very fast - good braking is very important to me (sic!) so the promax brakes have been dumped in favour of an Avid BB07 disc and single digit v brake at the back. Cables were upgraded to decent Shimano's. If nothing else you MUST change those cables! Second, I changed the gearing, replacing the front 52t chainring for a 42t, and changing the hub gears for Shimano mega range 11t-34t (instead of 14t -24t). This has been great - higher top speed (slight), with lower hill climbing gears - it makes all the difference to those long steep gradients with 1:6 or greater parts in them (I live in mid Cornwall, in case you were wondering. Those in the know will tell you just how vicious those valleys are to cycle across).
Overall I really do like this bike, but cannot see the sense in making a relatively expensive bike, and scrimping on cheap additions like brake cables and calipers, and the lack of any setup instructions or a manual is really inexcusable, even if it it is reasonably simple to work out yourself.
One further issue - the bike is described as suiting people up to 6' 4". I'd take this with a pinch of salt. I'm just under 5' 11" and I need the seat post up very high in order to get into the proper pedalling position, virtually to feet off the floor position. For an inexperienced cyclist this would be scary, so note that the frame is a little cramped for those who are tall. If you're short however, it may well be ideal.
I hope you don't take this criticism as meaning it is no good. That is certainly NOT the case. Practically every bike made has faults, or items that won't suit all. I do like this bike, and with the modifications I have made, it suits me right down to the ground.


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Overall Rating (out of 10): 8 (but sort out brakes, and instructions and I'd give it a 9. Go for the altered gearing and we'd be nudging a 10, - and I'm a harsh marker!).



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[Phil the drill]

Reviewer: Phil the drill

Purchased From: The Electric Transport Shop

Purchase Price: £1200

Time Owned: Approx. 2 months.

Local Terrain: Very Hilly


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Strengths: Nicely made, good looking and relatively light in weight. Bike harware has a good quality appearance, and the adjustable bars and suspension forks are decent quality for a road based bike.
The charger is a very solidly made affair, with a definite air of quality about it. Charging for the high capacity battery is relatively fast, though not quite as fast as the 3 hours from flat implied - still good though. The battery appears to last well in distance terms, but I haven't tested mine to the limit yet. It will however get my 15st. up a mix of long (3.5 ml) gentle hills and shorter (still quite long though) 1:6 or more slopes, on a 17 mile round trip. Note I never use motor alone, always pedal. On anything other than the absolute flat (I hardly have any), motor only is of little use to someone my size. The off road option is great, although it does not work in pedal only mode, I use it, and add in pedal effort (quite a lot on the very steep stuff), and that helps considerably, especially on long moderate slopes.
Power delivery is smooth, and quite adequate for most tasks. I'm sure folks smaller than me will find it very spritely.

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Weaknesses: £1200 and no manual or set-up instructions? Shameful. It's not too hard to work this out, but still....
The claims that the frame will suit people up to 6'4" may be a little optimistic. I'm 5'11", and to get into the optimum pedal position I need the seat post up very high, almost to feet completely off the ground level, chiefly because the frame places the seat relatively far forward over the pedals, so potential buyers should try this out to be sure. Shorties may find this a plus point.
Now the real stuff...the brakes...ahhhhhhhh! Why are the levers attached to the brakes by bungee cord? Surely a couple of quid extra on decent cables could be spent. Levers go straight back to the bars with minimal pressure as soon as you use them, and cannot be tightened without the brakes binding on the wheel. Went straight out and bought some decent shimano cable and housing and replaced mine - make sure you do the same. Similarly I binned the vexatious promax disc at the front, and V brake at the rear and replaced them with an Avid BB07 disc, and Avid single digit V brake at the back. A big improvement, but if nothing else - do those cables!! I stress this as a result of my previous experiences (on my old bike) on steep downhills - see my introductory posting for details.
The hill climbing ability is fine if the hills are not over about 1:8, but lacking above this (even compared with my previous heavy old powabyke 24spd). Basically this is because the standard bike is over geared. This however can be addressed. I replaced the Shimano 14t-34t megarange hub with an 11t-34t one, also replacing the 52t front sprocket with a 42t one and reducing the chain length correspondingly (fit the chainring inside the crankset not on the outside, as due to the chain path it will constantly fall off in the low gears otherwise). This makes a terrific difference. The bike now has a slightly higher top gear and can actually go faster on flat or downhill, but all the other 6 gears get progressively lower than their predecessors. Result? major improvement in steep hill climbing as well as the flat. Please take note Wisper - why not consider doing this on future models?
Lastly, its a pity that you have to remove the seat post to take the battery out (unless you have the optional tilt seat) but this is not a major problem.

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Summary: Don't mis-interpret the above. This is a great bike as standard. The perfect bike for everyone doesn't exist. I like to give a constructively critical review however, and some of the imperfections listed can be easily and cheaply remedied. If you do this you can turn a basically very good bike into a great one. I liked the bike when it arrived. I love it now.

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Overall Rating (out of 10) :8.5 (as supplied). 9.5, with a little work, as above.

[Phil the drill]

Reviewer: Phil the drill

Purchased From: The Electric Transport Shop, Cambridge.

Purchase Price: £1200

Time Owned: 2 months

Local Terrain: Very Hilly

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Strengths: Nicely built, solid and goodlooking.
High capacity battery.
Most components of decent quality.
Rides nicely. "Off road button" very handy at times.
Handles nicely.
Quick recharging, with a good quality charger.
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Weaknesses: Braking. Mainly due to poor quality very stretchy cables.
I found it overgeared for my area (very hilly), but I'm a pretty
heavy chap - about 15st), so that may not apply to everyone else.
Seat very uncomfortable, but again may be down to personal preference.
Supplied with headset bearings not properly tightened, and same for crankset.
Where's the manual?
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Summary: A great bike. I really look forward to my daily commute on it. It is growing on me more and more as time goes by. The 'off road' speed boost option is really useful at times when you want to crack on into a headwind on the flat. Unfortunately this setting does not apply to the pedelec mode (which I mainly use - I always pedal assist even in throttle mode). This is such a shame, if it could be wired to allow the motor to contine to assist up to 19mph in pedelec mode it would be great.
I found the brake cables very stretchy, and had to replace those. The braking improvement was dramatic. I improved this further by replacing the promax front disc with an Avid BB07 (they're the business!)
I found that changing the chainring from 52t to 42t, whilst also eplacing the 14t/34t hub for an 11t/34t one really helped. This gives me a slightly higher top gear, as well as some much better low ratios on the steep stuff (in other words a wider range of gear ratios than standard). To my mind this is ideal, but to be fair it is also a matter of personal preference, and others of different build and/or in a different area may find the standard gearing perfectly satisfactory.
The seat had to go, but then I've never bought a bike yet that couldn't be considerably improved by changing the saddle, and this again is down to personal preference.
The bottom line, if the bike was nicked, would I replace it with the same model? At the moment the answer has to be yes, definitely.
This is a bike that grows on you, the more you use it the better it gets. You could do much worse!
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Overall Rating (out of 10) : As standard 8.5. With proper brake cables 9.0, Supply a proper manual, and a minor rewiring of the off road boost, and we'd be at least 9.5, perhaps nudging a 10......How about it you chaps @ Wisper?

[AndyB]

Whilst I was considering buying an electric bike I found this website enormously helpful, so having just purchased a nearly new Wisper 905 SE I thought it might be useful to give some first impressions. I bought a second-hand 905 just over a month ago, it was nearly new with some improvements made by previous owner.

It would be worth me saying that I’m mid 40s with a sedentary job, so not particularly fit, although I do have 2 children! I purchased the bike with a view to commuting to work, 11 miles away with 2-3 small hills, maximum climb of 35m, an overall climb of 30m from work to home. I often have to carry my laptop home. My aim was to get a little fitter, but not arrive at work too exhausted, and, as my job is looking at low carbon technologies, to practice what I preach by reducing my carbon footprint.

I was hoping to have used it a bit more by now but travelling with work means I’ve only done five trips to work on it so far and some shorter excursions. I’ve had some interesting reactions in the bike sheds so far from “That’s cheating” from an ardent cyclist to “I think this is the future” from someone a little more farsighted.

Overall: I’m very pleased with my purchase, it does exactly what I want, my journey time to work is consistently 40 minutes and I arrive without feeling exhausted or hot and sweaty. My negatives below are really just niggles rather than serious problems.

Appearance: I like its looks very much.

Competition: As I live near 50 Cycles in Loughborough I took an Agattu out for a test run up the highest hill on my journey to work. Although it was probably better at hill climbing, at the end of the day it was out of my price range, and even the smoke damaged bargains were still over my £1k budget, and they were the Step-through frame which I didn’t really want.

Controls: Probably the most disappointing area. The biggest issue is there is no indication of which mode I was in or what to press to get to another mode. On my initial trips out it took a lot of experimenting to work out if the switches toggle or needed holding continuously. There’s no indication of which switches do what. The instruction manual was pretty poor too, in fact it said nothing about the controls. The green “derestriction” button seems to just turn the power down to a very low level, I can’t see any value in being in “restricted” mode given that it limits speed to about 5 mph (wiring error perhaps which seems to plague these bikes?). The pedelec mode is a little primitive, taking as it’s signal the speed of the pedals, rather than the torque applied (unlike the Agattu), and seems a bit slow to realise you’ve started or stopped pedalling. Therefore I tend to always use the bike in derestricted throttle mode as it makes me feel in control. Finally it’s too easy to knock a switch and toggle into a mode you don’t want requiring some experimentation to work out how to return it back to the setting you want.

Display: The speedo is pretty useless (only displays when power is applied, is very granular, is in kmh and is a bit dim). It would’ve been better replaced by a mode indicator. The battery indicator goes from empty to full, but actually seems to just indicate battery voltage. So under load, eg up a hill, the display lights drop but recover when the throttle is released. It still has value but something better that told you what was really left in the battery would be more useful.

Lights: A bit naff and tyre driven dynamo is quite a drag. Previous owner had added extras which is probably necessary for night cycling.

Speed and power: Very good, I find there’s no reason to drop below 15 mph, except for the steepest climbs when speed may drop to 10 mph for a short while. This is the main reason for buying it and it delivers well here.

Unpowered cycling: I wouldn’t want to do a lot of this, the weight and drag are significantly more than a normal bike, but that is to be expected.

Battery: It has sufficient range for my 22 mile commute. However towards the end of this the battery is dropping to 1/3rd on the display when under load and is therefore losing significant power, so I wouldn’t want to go a lot further. I have been charging it for 7 hours overnight (yes, I’m stingy trying to use Economy7 electricity for charging!). However I’m not convinced that’s enough because battery can drop in power quite quickly on consecutive days. I have an adapter that measure wattage so have found that most of the charging is done in the first 2 hours, after that it is a little trickle. An indicator on the battery about it’s state of charge would help.

Gearing: A little low, I may address this with a bigger front sprocket if possible. I never use 1st gear, spend 90% of my time in top gear and often find I’m pedalling uncomfortably fast when going downhill > 20 mph. Now those of you living in hilly terrain may disagree with this so I think the real problem is the lack of range from top to bottom, I notice another reviewer has had to address this.

Brakes: Previous owner had sensibly changed these so no complaints.

Looks: Very smart.

Frame: A nice sturdy frame. Saddle seems close to pedals, so optimising distance from saddle to pedals means having it very high off ground, and I’m only 5’10”.

Support: Not had to call upon this but found the answer to my question about warrantee validity a bit disappointing, looking for lots of wriggle room, whereas I think warrantee should automatically transfer with no problems. This accelerates depreciation a little.

Score: 8/10

[rsscott]

Reviewer: Dave Rogers

Retailer: The Electric Transport Shop

PurchasePrice: £1200

Time Owned: 2 weeks

Terrain: Moderate Hills

Strengths:
Strengths include styling and design. Very quite motor and smooth power delivery. Comfortable ride, good range of gears coupled with "solid" relable gear changes. Brakes are adaquate. Off road function is excellent for the few extra MPH it provides. Rides well without electric assistance.

Weaknesses:
Frame warranty of only two years. Bottom bracket bearings failed and had to be replaced. Difficult not to compare the bike to mass produce manufacturers who offer higher spec components on £700 bikes.

Summary:
Its fun to ride and a talking point. Even seasoned (non-assist) cyclists like the design and had fun riding the Wisper. Good support from the chaps in Cambridge - no hesitation recommending them along with the Wisper905se. Most enjoyable part - overtaking other cyclists and leaving them behind for the same amount of effort!

Overall Rating: 9.0

[wibble]

Reviewer: me

Purchased From: The Electric Transport Shop

Purchase Price: £1200

Time Owned: 2 weeks, 18 minutes and 3 seconds

Local Terrain: Very Hilly

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Strengths:

It actually looks like a mountain bike!. This was the main reason for me choosing the Wisper.


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Weaknesses:

You've still gotta pedal quite hard to get up them steep hills.

It's quite a heavy bike and so I feel uncomfortable when riding rough trails. It feels like I could quite easily break something if I hit a rock at a bad angle. I reckon rear suspension is necessary for a bike of this weight when riding off-road. But then rear suspension would slow the bike down on tarmac. To be fair, this probably applies to all electric bikes. So please don't take this as a criticism against the Wisper.

The brakes are quite poor, but once again, I believe this is partly because of the weight of the bike. It just means having to break earlier and not blazing down country lanes. I really don't want to know what happens when a irresistable e-bike meets an immovable sheep.

The bike also seems to have an unusual amount of drag when going downhill. Considering the dodgy brakes, this isn't necessarily a bad thing!.

Mudguards are a little flimsy and both the front and rear mudguards were bent when I unpacked the bike.

The derestrictor switch doesn't seem to have any noticable effect.

The seat is a little chunky looking, but wow it sure is comfortable!. I've just replaced it for a more slimline stylish seat. I've not tested my new seat yet and I have a feeling I'm gonna end up going back to the original chunky seat.

My eyes vote 'Stylish' while my ass votes 'Chunky'. I'll let you know who wins.


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Summary:

Despite all the words I placed under the 'weaknesses' section, I'm quite happy with my Wisper. This is my first e-bike and so I had no idea what to expect. I was hoping for a little more power when going uphill, but overall it's great fun to ride. It literally makes cycling cool again.

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Overall Rating (out of 10) :

8.13

[dodgyal]

Reviewer: Alan (15 1/2 stone 6'3")

Purchased From:Wisperbikes Southampton

Purchase Price:£1200

Time Owned:1 week (120 miles on the clock)

Local Terrain: Flat a couple of long but not steep hills

Model: Whisper 905SE Sport

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Strengths:

Speed! I love leaving everyone behind, in de-restricted I can do a constant 18-20 mph with peddle assist and throttle
Battery life (22 miles assisted daily and still power left, that's de-restricted full throttle)
Build quality on the frame.
Comfy seat, wireless computer, lights and rack included.
Design, there are not many ebike that look good, this is the first one I've seen that looks right. Most ebike are like early DAB radios they all follow a rule about style and just dont look right, but the Whisper 905SE Sport has got it right. It is a mountain bike which has an electric motor!


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Weaknesses:
Brakes, just not good enough, spongy and don't stop you quick enough, I've tried adjusting them but it does not help.
Crank mi-shaping when I peddle hard and the left side fell off on the way home. (good job its electric!)
Battery case poor, one screw on the case was not tight and very stiff to lift out, so stiff that I broke the handle lifting it out, I'm waiting for a replacement from Stuart at Wisperbikes Southampton (Update 19 Sept 2008, Stuart did a grand job and got me another handle within a week) , also there was some damage to the casing near the lock as if it had been pulled at while in the locked position or not moulded properly.
Headset, there is a lot of side-way movement from the headset and I'm not happy with that and I will be changing it.
Handle bar grip on the left comes off (the glue did not hold it) and the grips are not long enough for my hands.

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Summary:

I've been biking all my life, currenlty have a montain bike and a cruser.
This is my first electric bike and quite an investment at £1200, I'm very happy with the bike and I'm sure it will serve its purpose as a commuter doing 22 mile a day. I do feel whisper have some issues with the quality of some of the components, brakes, brake cables, headset, battery casing, grips and crank all need looking at by whisper and improvements need to be made to make this a truly world class piece of equipment. I think a lot of money has gone into the technology on this bike, the motor, controller and battery really do seem to be up to the job and in my opinion this is the first ebike to have the potential to be a replacement for the car. Well done whisper!


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Overall Rating (out of 10) : 8

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