all round bike/conversion for uphill commute and rough farm tracks?

[[NoLongerRegistered#9756]]

hey all

after a bit of advice here - have trawled lots and a bit wiser but not by much...and am totally overwhelmed by what's out there.

basically i need a bike for commuting the last 3 miles to work (can take upwards of an hr in the van).

the route is all pretty much uphill all the way and i want to arrive in a non sweaty state... bearing in mind i live in Scotland so the weather is pretty changeable so it would have to cope with rain.. and lots of it at times..

to add to the mix i live out in the country and my nearest pub is 4 miles away.. 3 miles of which is down a farm track with the mud, puddles, ruts and sheep $#'% to prove it.

I'd also like it to be able to cope with non serious off road conditions like forrestry commision trails and tracks

I'm 6ft and weigh around 90kg (if that helps)

am i asking too much for under £800? (budget is an issue - cheaper is better at the moment)

at the moment i'm considering
1. converting my own mountain bike (they all look the same to me?!?!)
2. whoosh Sirocco Sport
The Sirocco-Sport | Electric Bikes from Woosh | electric bike sales & hire
3. Whoosh Sirocco chain drive
The Sirocco CD | Chain Drive Electric Bikes from Woosh | electric bike sales & hire
4.BURISCH Synergy GT250
BURISCH Synergy GT250 MEDIUM Ebike e-bike pedelec electric bicycle | eBay

currently the sirocco sport is winning due to price but if an extra couple of hundred is going to make a huge difference....

(and what's the advantage of chain driven over hub - if anything??)

help

 

[Old_Dave]

and what's the advantage of chain driven over hub - if anything??

Chain drive is in theory always working at max efficiency (cos the drive is through the gears), if you have seen the graphs of hub drives, you will see there is a sweet area that is at a certain load / speed and so on.. but using gears should extend that 'sweet spot' more so when off road and wanting more pulling power.

Number 3 on paper could be the winner for a ready made solution, but wait for D8veh to have a test and let us know the facts.

 

[D8ve]

The sorroco CD wins as they are all chinese imports but this one has biggest battery and crank drive to use the gears to maximumise efficency. this is the one i might buy myself awaiting nice offer from Hatti(lives in hope)

 

[Deleted member 4366]

At that budget, I reckon that your only hope is the Woosh chain drive bikes. We should have some performance results for one next week.

You can cross off the hub-motored Sirocco sport. It's a great bike for the money, but can't compete with the other choices on climbing ability.

I've not had a go on the Burisch, which is a lovely looking bike, but those batteries are not particularly strong, so I'd be surprised if it's any better at climbing than the Sirocco Sport with hub-motor.

You could convert your existing bike. I'm warming to the GNG Gen 2 crank-drive kit, which I've been using for the last few days (too lazy to replace the damaged tyre on my main bike). It costs just under £300, and then you need a battery for about £200 to £250. Installation is very quick and straight-forward. I'm guessing it has a bit more power than the Woosh, but your end result won't be as refined. The Woosh has variable levels of pedal assist and nice wiring.

Another option for good climbing is the Bafang BPM kit from BMSBattery, which works out at about £500 to £600 for the complete conversion. It's not strictly legal because it's rated at 500w.

 

[[NoLongerRegistered#9756]]

many thanks for the replies - very much appreciated.

plenty to think about/research there - so it's looking like a crank drive is a much better suited to my needs - how would they cope with water/mud - and do they require more maintanance than sealed hub motors?

(thanks again - runs off to google GNG Gen2 )

 

[Old_Dave]

how would they cope with water/mud

Splish Splash Squish Squelch

The components are sealed, so in theory the elements would be handled just the same..no better, no worse

 

[[NoLongerRegistered#9756]]

excellent ta! (the sealed components... not the splish splash.... had enough of that tbh... and snow forecast over the next few days.. normally wouldn't mind but chances of getting to the hills for a slide are zero!)

and sorry another question (had a trawl but couldn't find anything)... batteries what's the big killer of them - discharging and left empty, over charging, consistantly not being fully charged when used...etc??

have been trawling the net (looked at the GNG Gen 2 crank et. al. - not for me .. like you say [d8veh] it's a bit too un-refined even for my eclectic tastes) - came across the Tonaro bighit which seems to get good reviews - only problem is the one i can afford is ex-demo (hence the battery question).

hohum

 

[Old_Dave]

Depending on how old it is and the battery chemistry, and if the battery pack has its own BMS (battery management ) they are quite reliable ... but the short answer is that all the things you mentioned will reduce the life, but as well your list, remember that they only have a finite life based on number of charge / discharge cycles (manufactures claims are averages)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Deleted member 4366]

and sorry another question (had a trawl but couldn't find anything)... batteries what's the big killer of them - discharging and left empty, over charging, consistently not being fully charged when used...etc??

Generally not a lot to worry about. Modern batteries can last a very long time even with some neglect. Sometimes people leave them for several months. and when they start up again, they experience less capacity or even no power. This is often attributable to cells out of balance because of self discharge or cell 1 being used to power the BMS. Special charging procedures would bring most of them back to full capacity, but often the owners assume the worst and get a new battery instead.

 

[[NoLongerRegistered#9756]]

once again many thanks for the info

choices choices ....!?

 

[trex]

I'd go for the full sus crank drive Tonaro Big Hit.

 

[Cyclezee]

Hi king.module,

Cyclezee don't have the full suspension Tonaro BigHit, but we do have the similar hardtail Tonaro Enduro which is identical in all other respects and is 2.5 Kg lighter.

You can see all the bikes and conversion kits that we stock here electric bikes and conversion kits - Home

Regards,

 

[DCUK6]

Hi.

Will you be taking the Tonaro Enduro to redbridge this year?

Your website doesn't seem to have any information and about it.

 

[Cyclezee]

Hi.

Will you be taking the Tonaro Enduro to redbridge this year?

Your website doesn't seem to have any information and about it.

No, I won't be taking any Tonaro bikes to Redbridge, I am sure they will be available to test ride from Powerpedals who are the UK distributor and all the information about the full range of Tonaros
bike can be found on their website.

 

[[NoLongerRegistered#9756]]

Many thanks for the info.

have just taken delivery of a Bighit - hopefully will get to try it out over the weekend ready for my first *ahem* trial commute next week

quit ciggies a couple of months ago (this is my sweetener to stay off em especially as i can't afford jack now - lol)