Wheel hub motors come in two forms. The majority are internally reduction geared to drive the wheel, but on some the motor runs at wheel speed so drives the wheel directly. That means a very slow running motor which for a given power is not quite as suited for hill climbing, though some makes have a switched high power mode to help with that. The main advantages of direct drive are simplicity, long life and silence in operation.
Possibly, but I rarely need to change gear on my ebike, and I expect you will find the same.
Others may have a view, but I think a £1,500 Chinese bike would last five years with moderate use and proper maintenance.
It depends how you ride. The Rohloff gears would simply address some of the shortcomings of most others albeit at a very high price. I doubt barclay would find a ready-built eBike equipped with them in this price range. Would more likely be 2-3 times a £3k top budget or higher. I don't think they would be wasted on a crank drive bike personally. I use a range of my gears all the time (especially 7-11) and unless you are cruising on pretty flat terrain at assisted speeds, reckon most people would make a fair bit of use of them too.
A bit like having a few beers in the pub arguing the merits of anything and everything under the sun.
Sometimes I can't help but be reminded of Statler and Waldorf ....
Haibike has one: Haibike. It's priced around £3700. I agree though that it's a bit overkill. A normal derailleur with 9 or 10 gears is perfectly fine. I'd much rather put the money towards full suspension.
Great find .... probably get something off if you tried too. If I had another £2.5k to throw about I'd be very tempted with that myself (if it was a 29er !). Not so fussed about full sus with a bike like that - but that's the thing I guess - everyone has different priorities.
If I may reply here that the Storck Raddar does offer up to 10% regen back to the battery whilst freewheeling (and therefore extending the range).
I've had regen in the past (BionX kit) but never found it useful. Does anyone think this is a feature worth having??"If I may reply here that the Storck Raddar does offer up to 10% regen back to the battery whilst freewheeling (and therefore extending the range)"
OK, that is a very good point and I'd better put the SR back on my list
I don't. Most owners of the BionX don't seem to use it much if at all, and the very limited mass and low speeds of an e-bike and rider will never regenerate much anyway. It's far more efficient to use the kinetic energy developed in downhill speed to drive one further along the following stretch where possible.
I'm anticipating the batteries will lose their charge/effectiveness over a defined period.
Agreed. My wife is now very keen, so looks like I'll have to push to max £3200 for 2 bikes.
I have a Storck Multitask and the regen is not noticeable in use. It would be better if the regen could be varied by the rider to provide speed control on big downhills, an electric brake in effect even if the power so produced could not be all put back into the battery. Maybe a capacitor to temporarily store the excess electricity from braking regen?
I'd agree with Philip - you can't really go wrong with 2 x C8 Agattus one in step-through and one regular. £1,536.50 each apparently now including UK delivery (30% discount). For that money they are a steal especially with the decent battery. OK you don't get 11 gears or the sophisticated display variant but you do save about £1300 over 2 bikes. I test-rode the C8 at the NEC and the bike was very good.
