Let me first tell something about myself. I'm a male, 29 years old, and live in Belgium. My native language is dutch so forgive me if I make some grammar mistakes.
I live in the country-side and my commute to work is 6 miles (one way distance). The roads in Belgium are mostly flat but are badly maintained by the government, there is the occasional hole in the road.
I recently saw a guy biking a Haibike E-mountainbike. Some years ago I allready looked for an ebike to make my commute to work but I couldn't find something that in my opinion suited my young age. Now it seems there is a wider range of bikes available.I need an ebike because I want to get to work sweatless and swiftly. I have a desk job and colleagues don't appreciate sweat smells...
Some of you would wonder what a belgian guy is doing on a UK pedelec forum. Well its fairly simple. E-moutainbikes in Belgium are really expensive because you can't find the china imported bikes you can find in the UK. You will only find Haibike, Grace, Cannondale, Specialized,... e-mountainbikes and they cost between 3.000 and 5.000 euro, +-2.500 to 4.000 pounds.
Thanks to an English sister company of the company I work for I can transport the bike I purchase for free to Belgium.
A search on google led me to this forum and from here I discovered some great bikes.
At the moment there are 4 bikes in the running, looks wise I like all 4 of them, but its difficult to decide on the specs and price:
- Kudos Arriba:
Pro's:
* torque sensor, I went to a belgian electric bike test center and tested bikes with torque sensors and with pedal sensors. The torque sensor does have its advantages but its not a make or brake deal for me.
* good brakes, nice digital speedometer (if that's the correct term)
* although I'm not yet sure I want to go that fast (faster then 15 mph), its nice to know there is the possibility and it can easily be done on the Arriba. I also talked about this to a local dealer here in Belgium about the legality and he said it's a grey area, not EU legal but nobody in Belgium cares. The most bikes he sells are high speed bikes from the Flyer brand. He says every dealer in Belgium sells them and he's sure the law is going to change soon.
Con's:
* on the top of my budget
* the torque sensor asks you to put in some effort, but thats normal and I don't really mind.
* I read in an online review by "electricbikemag.co.uk" that the torque sensor isn't much different than the pedal senor on the ibex. Since I am not able to test ride the bike its difficult to judge how good the torque sensor works, maybe some forum members can voice there opinions?
- Kudos Ibex:
Pro's:
* crank drive system
* good brakes, nice digital speedometer (if that's the correct term)
Con's:
* on the top if my budget
* no torque sensor
* I don't know if its capable of high speed, I presume it is because it's more or less the same system as the Arriba.
- Kudos Cobra:
Pro's:
* great value for money
* three levels of PAS
Con's:
* no torque sensor
* no digital speedometer
* not sure if its capable of high speed, maybe with a KU63 high speed controller (by BMSBattery) but I don't know if its compatible and it can fit nicely in the controller enclosure. Maybe some other forum member has some good advice on this?
- Burisch Synergy GT-250
Pro's:
* good value for money
* easily made into a high speed bike
Con's:
* no torque sensor
* only one level of PAS
* no speedometer
Ok guys, what your opinion, do you have some advice, what would you choose?
Thank you!
I live in the country-side and my commute to work is 6 miles (one way distance). The roads in Belgium are mostly flat but are badly maintained by the government, there is the occasional hole in the road.
I recently saw a guy biking a Haibike E-mountainbike. Some years ago I allready looked for an ebike to make my commute to work but I couldn't find something that in my opinion suited my young age. Now it seems there is a wider range of bikes available.I need an ebike because I want to get to work sweatless and swiftly. I have a desk job and colleagues don't appreciate sweat smells...
Some of you would wonder what a belgian guy is doing on a UK pedelec forum. Well its fairly simple. E-moutainbikes in Belgium are really expensive because you can't find the china imported bikes you can find in the UK. You will only find Haibike, Grace, Cannondale, Specialized,... e-mountainbikes and they cost between 3.000 and 5.000 euro, +-2.500 to 4.000 pounds.
Thanks to an English sister company of the company I work for I can transport the bike I purchase for free to Belgium.
A search on google led me to this forum and from here I discovered some great bikes.
At the moment there are 4 bikes in the running, looks wise I like all 4 of them, but its difficult to decide on the specs and price:
- Kudos Arriba:
Pro's:
* torque sensor, I went to a belgian electric bike test center and tested bikes with torque sensors and with pedal sensors. The torque sensor does have its advantages but its not a make or brake deal for me.
* good brakes, nice digital speedometer (if that's the correct term)
* although I'm not yet sure I want to go that fast (faster then 15 mph), its nice to know there is the possibility and it can easily be done on the Arriba. I also talked about this to a local dealer here in Belgium about the legality and he said it's a grey area, not EU legal but nobody in Belgium cares. The most bikes he sells are high speed bikes from the Flyer brand. He says every dealer in Belgium sells them and he's sure the law is going to change soon.
Con's:
* on the top of my budget
* the torque sensor asks you to put in some effort, but thats normal and I don't really mind.
* I read in an online review by "electricbikemag.co.uk" that the torque sensor isn't much different than the pedal senor on the ibex. Since I am not able to test ride the bike its difficult to judge how good the torque sensor works, maybe some forum members can voice there opinions?
- Kudos Ibex:
Pro's:
* crank drive system
* good brakes, nice digital speedometer (if that's the correct term)
Con's:
* on the top if my budget
* no torque sensor
* I don't know if its capable of high speed, I presume it is because it's more or less the same system as the Arriba.
- Kudos Cobra:
Pro's:
* great value for money
* three levels of PAS
Con's:
* no torque sensor
* no digital speedometer
* not sure if its capable of high speed, maybe with a KU63 high speed controller (by BMSBattery) but I don't know if its compatible and it can fit nicely in the controller enclosure. Maybe some other forum member has some good advice on this?
- Burisch Synergy GT-250
Pro's:
* good value for money
* easily made into a high speed bike
Con's:
* no torque sensor
* only one level of PAS
* no speedometer
Ok guys, what your opinion, do you have some advice, what would you choose?
Thank you!
