£3K to spend, what would you recommend?

barclay

Pedelecer
Dec 12, 2012
26
0
London
Hi All,

Long time lurker here.
I'm planning on doing more cycle commuting next year and need something to zip me along from the North to South via Central London (20m each way) at least 2 days a week without breaking down in a flood of sweat at the other end. I'm 38, reasonably fit (triathlon every year) but need a bike that's more a comfortable commuter than a road racer (I've got a Felt for lycra and training), so what do you recommend? Anywhere near Barnet where I could try out some bikes?

Thanks.

Barclay.
 

RobF

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 22, 2012
4,732
2,311
Plenty of nice bikes from £1,000 or so upwards, so no need to spend all your budget - keep some in hand for maintenance.

First thing I would sort out is battery power.

A lot of bikes - no matter how much you pay - will struggle to do your 40-mile round trip on one charge.

Can you charge at the other end?

If so, you could buy a spare charger.

If not, you could buy a 10ah bike with a spare battery and take the fully charged one to work.

The alternative is a 15ah battery bike and hope it lasts, but it will be tight.
 

barrycoll

Pedelecer
Sep 14, 2009
235
10
In the light of having just done 35miles on my new KTM KTM Macina Race 26” – 9 XT BOSCH anthrazit 2013 | Radsport Brucki and the display still showing range of 60 miles, I can thoroughly recommend this machine...
the secret must be the new Bosch 11ah battery, as it is still on 4 of its 5 bars, despite using liberal squirts of Race/Turbo settings
....buying the bike is easy, but finding somewhere in North London, to view and demo is a different story, hence buying from abroad
 

Kudoscycles

Official Trade Member
Apr 15, 2011
5,566
5,048
www.kudoscycles.com
Barclay,I have 1 BH Emotion Xenion 700 bike left from our special offer @ £1689.00. This is about £500 off list. Alternatively I have our new Kudos Arriba bike or Kudos Ibex bike (crank drive) available for test at either our warehouse or the test track at the London Excel Cycle show(Jan 17-20),both priced at £1295.00. No need to spend £3k these days,I notice 50 cycles have some big price drops on the Kalkhoff bikes and the AVE-XR3 or KTM Macina Bold are available at about £1700.00.
The range of 40 miles is about the limit of most 10Ah batteries,assuming you put a good amount of rider input yourself,rather than carry a big heavy battery I would keep a charged battery at work-you should pay no more than £250 each for 10Ah batteries.
Prices should be falling as a result of the strong pound v euro.
Dave
Kudoscycles.
 

103Alex1

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 29, 2012
2,228
67
I'm 38, reasonably fit (triathlon every year) but need a bike that's more a comfortable commuter than a road racer
Depends if you want moderately high road speeds without effort (i.e. >15 to 16mph). If so, you'll likely need to go LPM and why not just get a moped ? If you're fine with 15-17mph assisted riding, there are plenty of bikes which would suit for far less money than your top budget. A Kalkhoff Agattu with 15Ah / 504kwh battery is extremely comfortable and a joy to ride (a world away from a hunched racer with an incredibly comfortable riding position) and would not need charging at the other end even on maximum power assist. All these PAS system bikes come into their own in the frustrating stop-start traffic light zones when you can't go anywhere fast anyway.

Despite it being a chunky 24kg chariot before loading, with a bit of effort I regularly ride in the 16.5 - 19.5mph range over sustained distances even with 15kg+ groceries/shopping and an upright riding position. If you typically ride above 15mph (and I am guessing you do) then even on over 2:1 assist mode the battery is spared so range shoots up well beyond your round trip commute. The power assist makes getting the bike up to speed a breeze but it doesn't 'feel' like riding a road bike. You need a road bike for that ! It feels heavy to ride if you try to break 20mph unassisted on the flat or moderate uphill (on the downhill it will crack 30mph easy - has a very sturdy frame but hydraulic rim brakes to back it up). But it's more one for weight loss training than TT training when you switch off the power on a steep hill.

I'd recommend at least tyring one. You'll be astonished at the performance you get from it as a 'Dutch bike'.
 

indalo

Banned
Sep 13, 2009
1,380
1
Herts & Spain

barrycoll

Pedelecer
Sep 14, 2009
235
10
Just realised............no Eddie (thanks Indalo)

....so in his much missed absence, I would say that you make sure that you get yourself a 2013 jobbie Barclay, as technology seems to move on
 

flatbat

Pedelecer
Nov 17, 2012
50
13
Western part of West Yorkshire
Barclay,I have 1 BH Emotion Xenion 700 bike left from our special offer @ £1689.00. This is about £500 off list. Alternatively I have our new Kudos Arriba bike or Kudos Ibex bike (crank drive) available for test at either our warehouse or the test track at the London Excel Cycle show(Jan 17-20),both priced at £1295.00. No need to spend £3k these days,I notice 50 cycles have some big price drops on the Kalkhoff bikes and the AVE-XR3 or KTM Macina Bold are available at about £1700.00.
The range of 40 miles is about the limit of most 10Ah batteries,assuming you put a good amount of rider input yourself,rather than carry a big heavy battery I would keep a charged battery at work-you should pay no more than £250 each for 10Ah batteries.
Prices should be falling as a result of the strong pound v euro.
Dave
Kudoscycles.
Interesting comment re the new Kudos bikes. I too have an E bike fund awaiting a suitable e bike. The Kudos Ibex (crank drive) sounds what I want at a price I can pay. Is it available to purchase though?
 

Richard_E_Biker

Just Joined
Dec 5, 2012
3
0
Southampton
I have been riding a Rose Xtra Watt 500 for a month now on a twenty miles per day commute and can highly recommend it. Bosch crank motor, Alfine 11 hub gear, disc brakes, B+M lights running off a Shimano dyno hub, suspension forks and seat post, Tubus rear rack and integral lock. Check out the Rose website. I checked out a few bikes at the NEC cycle show and liked the AVE bikes and really like the Reise and Muller Bluelabel range.
 

Whoare

Banned
Oct 2, 2012
27
0
68
Matlock
Hi All,

Long time lurker here.
I'm planning on doing more cycle commuting next year and need something to zip me along from the North to South via Central London (20m each way) at least 2 days a week without breaking down in a flood of sweat at the other end. I'm 38, reasonably fit (triathlon every year) but need a bike that's more a comfortable commuter than a road racer (I've got a Felt for lycra and training), so what do you recommend? Anywhere near Barnet where I could try out some bikes?

Thanks.

Barclay.
Hi Barclay

You might as well go something with superb reliability and range, there is no comparison on the market to the Kalkhoff range of bikes.

Electric Bike Buyer's Guide - Which electric bicycle?

They currently have an Agattu on special offer at only £1500.00 or there abouts. It is now £300 less than what I paid in the Autumn but certainly no regrets as I enjoyed 3 months of fair weather which saved a few hundred in petrol already.

With that sort of budget you could get your other half one for Christmas. I am getting my wife the Agattu C8 45cm. Ssssshhh

Check 50cycles for a great service. They have an outlet in London somewhere.

Thanks

Philip
 

Kudoscycles

Official Trade Member
Apr 15, 2011
5,566
5,048
www.kudoscycles.com
Interesting comment re the new Kudos bikes. I too have an E bike fund awaiting a suitable e bike. The Kudos Ibex (crank drive) sounds what I want at a price I can pay. Is it available to purchase though?
Hi,if you notice there are big delivery problems on all the world's bikes. This is basically because several major manufacturers are on long lead times,especially Shimano. The sample Kudos Ibex bike is currently airship to us at present,but the most confident delivery date will be March/April 2013 due mainly to Shimano-this is so frustrating but reality I am afraid.
The Cobra,Tornado and Arriba samples are all available to test now,the Ibex bike sample should be here next week-would welcome anyone down for a test ride.
Dave
Kudoscycles
 
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D

Deleted member 4366

Guest
Hi,if you notice there are big delivery problems on all the world's bikes. This is basically because several major manufacturers are on long lead times,especially Shimano. The sample Kudos Ibex bike is currently airship to us at present,but the most confident delivery date will be March/April 2013 due mainly to Shimano-this is so frustrating but reality I am afraid.
The Cobra,Tornado and Arriba samples are all available to test now,the Ibex bike sample should be here next week-would welcome anyone down for a test ride.
Dave
Kudoscycles
Could you update your "products" web-page so that we can see details of the new models?
 

tillson

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 29, 2008
5,249
3,197
I have been riding a Rose Xtra Watt 500 for a month now on a twenty miles per day commute and can highly recommend it. Bosch crank motor, Alfine 11 hub gear, disc brakes, B+M lights running off a Shimano dyno hub, suspension forks and seat post, Tubus rear rack and integral lock. Check out the Rose website. I checked out a few bikes at the NEC cycle show and liked the AVE bikes and really like the Reise and Muller Bluelabel range.

That looks like a very nice bike and its one which had escaped my attention until now. I especially like the fact that it has hub gears, which is a must for me.
 

Kudoscycles

Official Trade Member
Apr 15, 2011
5,566
5,048
www.kudoscycles.com
Could you update your "products" web-page so that we can see details of the new models?
I don't like putting products on our websites that we do not have to hand for immediate sale and the chinese are on very long and unreliable lead times-not sure why but it is almost universal across China,we are having to allow 9 months on most of our products,we have over 50 chinese suppliers and they are all taking longer than is the norm.
But I will bump the posting that I recently posted to refresh the Cobra,Tornado and Arriba models. As soon as the Ibex sample arrives I will post that as well-the motor will be technically very interesting.
Dave
Kudoscycles
 
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barclay

Pedelecer
Dec 12, 2012
26
0
London
In the light of having just done 35miles on my new KTM KTM Macina Race 26” – 9 XT BOSCH anthrazit 2013 | Radsport Brucki and the display still showing range of 60 miles, I can thoroughly recommend this machine...
the secret must be the new Bosch 11ah battery, as it is still on 4 of its 5 bars, despite using liberal squirts of Race/Turbo settings
....buying the bike is easy, but finding somewhere in North London, to view and demo is a different story, hence buying from abroad
Thanks barrycoll. The KTM looks interesting, much more in the range on that site than I thought. What about after sales service? Who looks after you?
 

barclay

Pedelecer
Dec 12, 2012
26
0
London
Depends if you want moderately high road speeds without effort (i.e. >15 to 16mph). If so, you'll likely need to go LPM and why not just get a moped ?
I have a full bike licence and have had my fun with R1's, Ducati 999's, Triumph speed triples etc. but no longer want to go down that route. I really need to be going 16mph+, Kalkhoff's Endaevor looks interesting.
 

barclay

Pedelecer
Dec 12, 2012
26
0
London
Just realised............no Eddie (thanks Indalo)

....so in his much missed absence, I would say that you make sure that you get yourself a 2013 jobbie Barclay, as technology seems to move on
Absolutely, I'm looking at 2013 models only as the batteries appear to be much better.
 

barclay

Pedelecer
Dec 12, 2012
26
0
London
I have been riding a Rose Xtra Watt 500 for a month now on a twenty miles per day commute and can highly recommend it. Bosch crank motor, Alfine 11 hub gear, disc brakes, B+M lights running off a Shimano dyno hub, suspension forks and seat post, Tubus rear rack and integral lock. Check out the Rose website. I checked out a few bikes at the NEC cycle show and liked the AVE bikes and really like the Reise and Muller Bluelabel range.
Thanks Richard, I must say I was quite impressed with the Rose range and website; It's a new brand to me but appears to be very Khalkoffesque?