Bought from CH White & Son & delivered Wednesday last week. This is a new addition to their range of custom built electric bikes & has only recently appeared on their web site. We ordered a magnesium colour frame with silver handlebars & seat post together with white forks (CH White are no longer able to get the matching magnesium forks to match).
First impressions - A beautifully put together bike that looks very smart. All the electric cables and parts are very tidy & the picture on the website does not do the bike justice. The crank drive more is not intrusive & although I was worried that the battery might look awkward positioned on the rear rack. In my opinion it looks fine.
Electrics - the bike has up to 9 levels of pedal assist operated from a Bafang console on the left handlebar. There is also a thumb throttle which overrides the pedal assist. The motor is also Bafang with a Sram 3 speed hub gear. Everything is very neat and tidy.
Riding - So far the bike has done two rides of 17 & 18 miles respectively. Terrain was mixed with some moderate hill (Yorkshire Wolds). The motor is very quiet & hardly audible. Power is very smooth & does actually feel like a the old cliche of a tailwind pushing you forward. I have found that the power setting of 4 (about half way) is about right. This allows for pedalling but gives sufficient assistance for my ageing legs. After 18 miles the battery indicator had just gone down to 3 bars out of 4.
With small wheels, you either love or hate them & I fall into the camp of loving them. Our other bike is a 20 year old standard 5 speed Brompton. The Scwalbe Big Apples give what I feel is a smooth ride & I didn't feel shaken up after 18 miles. Gear range is quite good with a comfortable cadence up to about 16 - 17 mph.
Overall impressions - It's not often I rave about things but to me, this bike is amazing & well worth the cost. It feels like a well-built quality bike at a lot less cost than the Nano Brompton (which would have been first choice if not for the price tag).
Criticisms - The only real criticism I have so far is that the positioning of the battery doesn't allow for a rack pack. Having said that, it is possible to attach luggage to the front which would be an alternative if needed. I was a bit worried about the relatively small capacity of the battery, but it doesn't look as though that would be a problem. At the risk of sounding like an publicity shot for CH White, the service from Tim was exemplary. They obviously care about their products & Tim consulted all the way down the line including colour of handlebars, front fork & gear ratios. Highly recommended.
First impressions - A beautifully put together bike that looks very smart. All the electric cables and parts are very tidy & the picture on the website does not do the bike justice. The crank drive more is not intrusive & although I was worried that the battery might look awkward positioned on the rear rack. In my opinion it looks fine.
Electrics - the bike has up to 9 levels of pedal assist operated from a Bafang console on the left handlebar. There is also a thumb throttle which overrides the pedal assist. The motor is also Bafang with a Sram 3 speed hub gear. Everything is very neat and tidy.
Riding - So far the bike has done two rides of 17 & 18 miles respectively. Terrain was mixed with some moderate hill (Yorkshire Wolds). The motor is very quiet & hardly audible. Power is very smooth & does actually feel like a the old cliche of a tailwind pushing you forward. I have found that the power setting of 4 (about half way) is about right. This allows for pedalling but gives sufficient assistance for my ageing legs. After 18 miles the battery indicator had just gone down to 3 bars out of 4.
With small wheels, you either love or hate them & I fall into the camp of loving them. Our other bike is a 20 year old standard 5 speed Brompton. The Scwalbe Big Apples give what I feel is a smooth ride & I didn't feel shaken up after 18 miles. Gear range is quite good with a comfortable cadence up to about 16 - 17 mph.
Overall impressions - It's not often I rave about things but to me, this bike is amazing & well worth the cost. It feels like a well-built quality bike at a lot less cost than the Nano Brompton (which would have been first choice if not for the price tag).
Criticisms - The only real criticism I have so far is that the positioning of the battery doesn't allow for a rack pack. Having said that, it is possible to attach luggage to the front which would be an alternative if needed. I was a bit worried about the relatively small capacity of the battery, but it doesn't look as though that would be a problem. At the risk of sounding like an publicity shot for CH White, the service from Tim was exemplary. They obviously care about their products & Tim consulted all the way down the line including colour of handlebars, front fork & gear ratios. Highly recommended.
