Hi everyone, my first post on this forum - thanks to all for the very helpful advice and expertise on these pages. As a recent convert to e-bikes I thought I would set down my experiences of choosing my first e-bike in the hope that it helps others in the same position.
First a bit about me and what I was hoping to achieve from an e-bike. I’m 45 years old, 5ft 10, 15 stone, and no longer as fit as I'd like! I've always enjoyed cycling but have no interest in serious cycling or joining a club etc. I have a really good commute, a 9 mile round trip with 25% through town and the rest on cycle paths through a country park. It's the sort of commute that should have me on my bike every day, but the changing of clothes and lack of showers at work made it a bit of a faff and so I was picking up the car keys more often than not. What I wanted was a bike that could get me to work quicker than the car and without needing to get changed or have a shower the other end.
So, after much internet browsing and one phone call to the The Electric Transport Shop (TETS) in Cambridge I had an afternoon of testing on the following bikes:
Smarta Bike GT
Wisper 905se City S
Raleigh Dover deluxe
Infineum Extreme
UltraMotor A2B Metro
My layman's comments on each of the bikes are below:
First the Smarta Bike GT - this seemed good to me except for the whine of the motor - it could be ok for noisy urban riding, but seemed excessive on the quiet cycle paths that make up most of my commute. So I only had a very quick ride on this as the noise ruled it out for me, but for anyone who wasn't worried about the noise it seemed good value at around £1000.
Next the Wisper 905se City S, an immediately more sophisticated and 'sorted' machine than the Smarta and the extra £400 asking price seemed well spent - it was much quieter and did everything very well, although I didn't find it a particularly 'exciting' machine in comparison with the A2B Metro.
Then came the bike that I really wanted to like and which I thought, before the test, that I would end up with - The Infineum Extreme looks great and I particularly liked the way the battery is discretely located in the rack frame. Sadly, I found the bike a disappointment - under pedal assist and throttle it was ok, although not as powerful as the Wisper, but the design seemed flawed to me. There seemed to be too many gears (21) for an e-bike and the positioning of the RH gearshift was very awkward - I found myself frequently switching off the electrics by accident as I went to change gear. It also seemed to have a lot of resistance to pedalling, possibly due to the very knobbly tyres. The price seemed ok at around £1100 but I would have needed another battery to be sure of the range, which would have cost another £300, and to my mind it wasn't in the same league as the Wisper, which also costs around £1400. I gather also that there were controller problems with the first batch of Infineums which stopped TETS stocking them for a while. However, the revised version, which has been with TETS on demo for a couple of months is, so far, reliable and so TETS will be restocking.
Next up, the Raleigh Dover deluxe that had just arrived in TETS's shop. With an asking price of around £1800 and the Panasonic crank motor this was a very different ride to the first three. It seemed very civilised and sophisticated in comparison, with a very smooth application of power, but I felt it was a bit dull when compared with the A2B for the same price.
Finally, the bike I fell in love with - the A2B metro is hilarious, a real blast - great to look at and a lot of fun! The only problems were the range, (I would have wanted the extra battery, which is around £500) and also, it's not really a bike, it's an electric moped with pedals. Whilst I didn't want to get hot and sweaty on the way in to work I did want to feel that I got at least some exercise and I knew that with the A2B I would only use the throttle (probably on the speedier 'off road' mode for most of the time!) as it's very awkward to pedal so, reluctantly, I discarded the A2B and finally choose.....
.....the Wisper.
BUT I then discovered that they are out of stock and on a 4 week waiting list. As I'm not very good at waiting for things it was back to the internet whilst I decided whether I could wait for the Wisper, and I came across the Lifecycle. There seems to be very little information or impartial reviews on this bike anywhere on the web although several people on the forums seem to have asked for first hand opinions of it. All I could find about it was a criticism that it was a Wisper 'clone' although noone actually seemed to have ridden the bike.
I called Electric Bike World (EBW) in Southampton and spoke at some length to the designer of the bike. He talked through the development of the bike and stated that the intention was not to be a cheaper version of the Wisper (which at £1500 it isn't!) , but a higher performance bike in two key respects, the higher capcaity of the battery (17AHr vs 14AHr) and the more powerful motor (250W vs 200W). He offered to let me try one for a few days and if I didn't like it then he would take it back and I could get the Wisper. Figuring I had little to lose I accepted and the next day the Lifecycle arrived.
After 20 minutes simple construction the bike was ready. I have seen a comment on this forum that the Lifecycle would cost around £250-300 without the electrics and this seems about right to me. The components seem decent entry level mountain bike and felt functional rather than luxurious. There are no integrated lights or computer and the tyres are pretty basic – I got a puncture on my second ride out and I will be ordering Armadillos if I keep it. Having said this, it does feels to me an easier bike to pedal on-road than the Infineum Extreme, probably due to the less knobbly tyres.
Whilst the Lifestyle looks similar to the Wisper it actually feels very different. I don't think it is as sophisticated as the Wisper but it is more of a blast to ride. It only has one pedal assist mode compared to three on the Wisper and to my mind it gives too much assistance - it's actually quite hard to ride this bike slowly, since it keeps accelerating away. I spoke to the designer about this and there is an adjustment that can be made to the controller to reduce the speed/acceleration but he advised me to live with it for a couple of weeks and see how I felt, since most people apparently ask him for more speed rather than less. I was left with the impression that the controller on the bike sent to me may have been set up 'enthusiastically' - I had to check the motor casing to verify that that they hadn't sent me the 500W motor version by mistake!
The off-road mode is slightly confusing and is not accessed by a button as is the case on the A2B metro. There is nothing in the manual about it and I'm not sure I've got to the bottom of it yet but the designer says it is controlled electronically. The limiter on the throttle and the pedal assist tops out on the flat at about 21mph (measured by GPS) - I'm not quite sure where this leaves me re the 15mph legal limit, I guess I just need to be careful! With the throttle on full and only moderate pedalling in top gear I recorded 26mph on the flat - this is great fun and feels very fast, but whether it is really sensible is debatable....
For the record, my commute normally takes me around 20 minutes on my trails bike, on the Lifecycle it takes around 15 whilst wearing normal work clothes and without breaking sweat. In the car it takes anywhere from 25-50 minutes depending on traffic. So, the Lifecycle ticks all of the boxes for me and I'll be keeping it.
It's a bit of a gamble regarding long-term support and the fact I live some distance from Southampton, but so far, Electric Bike World have been very helpful and, whilst it's early days, there is nothing to make me think that the Lifecycle will be unreliable. The battery is apparently made by Panasonic (although there is no branding on it) and the range is in line with my expectations (ie around 30 miles and not the 80 miles 'ideal condition' range claimed on the website). Incidentally, the battery is not the one shown on the website - it has an aluminium case rather than black plastic and it has a bespoke 3-pin connector rather than the kettle plug shown on the website.
I hope the above reviews are helpful to anyone considering any of the above bikes and I'm happy to give updates on the Lifecycle reliability and customer support etc as time goes by if anyone's interested.
Since writing the above I've just gone on a 15 mile ride, 50% off-road with a few steep hills, and I have to say that I am liking the Lifecycle more each time I get on. It's got a few quirks that you need to get used to (although that may be the same for any e-bike, this is the first one I've lived with) but now I've got the hang of it, the power and handling do inspire confidence. I think it's a bike that needs a lot of input from the rider (eg to balance the throttle and pedal assist etc), certainly more than the Raleigh or the Wisper and I'm not sure I would recommend it for leisurely and scenic bike rides, but for getting from A to B quickly it's great and perhaps it could be seen as a less expensive and more practical A2B Metro!
Of course all of the bikes I've tried will suit some people more than others - horses for courses I guess. The recurring advice on this forum that there is no substitute for testing bikes before you buy seems to me absolutely right.
My only regret throughout the process is that it means The Electric Transport Shop in Cambridge have lost a sale through the stock delay on the Wisper, but I hope that this post encourages people to try them out, as I found them to be excellent.
First a bit about me and what I was hoping to achieve from an e-bike. I’m 45 years old, 5ft 10, 15 stone, and no longer as fit as I'd like! I've always enjoyed cycling but have no interest in serious cycling or joining a club etc. I have a really good commute, a 9 mile round trip with 25% through town and the rest on cycle paths through a country park. It's the sort of commute that should have me on my bike every day, but the changing of clothes and lack of showers at work made it a bit of a faff and so I was picking up the car keys more often than not. What I wanted was a bike that could get me to work quicker than the car and without needing to get changed or have a shower the other end.
So, after much internet browsing and one phone call to the The Electric Transport Shop (TETS) in Cambridge I had an afternoon of testing on the following bikes:
Smarta Bike GT
Wisper 905se City S
Raleigh Dover deluxe
Infineum Extreme
UltraMotor A2B Metro
My layman's comments on each of the bikes are below:
First the Smarta Bike GT - this seemed good to me except for the whine of the motor - it could be ok for noisy urban riding, but seemed excessive on the quiet cycle paths that make up most of my commute. So I only had a very quick ride on this as the noise ruled it out for me, but for anyone who wasn't worried about the noise it seemed good value at around £1000.
Next the Wisper 905se City S, an immediately more sophisticated and 'sorted' machine than the Smarta and the extra £400 asking price seemed well spent - it was much quieter and did everything very well, although I didn't find it a particularly 'exciting' machine in comparison with the A2B Metro.
Then came the bike that I really wanted to like and which I thought, before the test, that I would end up with - The Infineum Extreme looks great and I particularly liked the way the battery is discretely located in the rack frame. Sadly, I found the bike a disappointment - under pedal assist and throttle it was ok, although not as powerful as the Wisper, but the design seemed flawed to me. There seemed to be too many gears (21) for an e-bike and the positioning of the RH gearshift was very awkward - I found myself frequently switching off the electrics by accident as I went to change gear. It also seemed to have a lot of resistance to pedalling, possibly due to the very knobbly tyres. The price seemed ok at around £1100 but I would have needed another battery to be sure of the range, which would have cost another £300, and to my mind it wasn't in the same league as the Wisper, which also costs around £1400. I gather also that there were controller problems with the first batch of Infineums which stopped TETS stocking them for a while. However, the revised version, which has been with TETS on demo for a couple of months is, so far, reliable and so TETS will be restocking.
Next up, the Raleigh Dover deluxe that had just arrived in TETS's shop. With an asking price of around £1800 and the Panasonic crank motor this was a very different ride to the first three. It seemed very civilised and sophisticated in comparison, with a very smooth application of power, but I felt it was a bit dull when compared with the A2B for the same price.
Finally, the bike I fell in love with - the A2B metro is hilarious, a real blast - great to look at and a lot of fun! The only problems were the range, (I would have wanted the extra battery, which is around £500) and also, it's not really a bike, it's an electric moped with pedals. Whilst I didn't want to get hot and sweaty on the way in to work I did want to feel that I got at least some exercise and I knew that with the A2B I would only use the throttle (probably on the speedier 'off road' mode for most of the time!) as it's very awkward to pedal so, reluctantly, I discarded the A2B and finally choose.....
.....the Wisper.
BUT I then discovered that they are out of stock and on a 4 week waiting list. As I'm not very good at waiting for things it was back to the internet whilst I decided whether I could wait for the Wisper, and I came across the Lifecycle. There seems to be very little information or impartial reviews on this bike anywhere on the web although several people on the forums seem to have asked for first hand opinions of it. All I could find about it was a criticism that it was a Wisper 'clone' although noone actually seemed to have ridden the bike.
I called Electric Bike World (EBW) in Southampton and spoke at some length to the designer of the bike. He talked through the development of the bike and stated that the intention was not to be a cheaper version of the Wisper (which at £1500 it isn't!) , but a higher performance bike in two key respects, the higher capcaity of the battery (17AHr vs 14AHr) and the more powerful motor (250W vs 200W). He offered to let me try one for a few days and if I didn't like it then he would take it back and I could get the Wisper. Figuring I had little to lose I accepted and the next day the Lifecycle arrived.
After 20 minutes simple construction the bike was ready. I have seen a comment on this forum that the Lifecycle would cost around £250-300 without the electrics and this seems about right to me. The components seem decent entry level mountain bike and felt functional rather than luxurious. There are no integrated lights or computer and the tyres are pretty basic – I got a puncture on my second ride out and I will be ordering Armadillos if I keep it. Having said this, it does feels to me an easier bike to pedal on-road than the Infineum Extreme, probably due to the less knobbly tyres.
Whilst the Lifestyle looks similar to the Wisper it actually feels very different. I don't think it is as sophisticated as the Wisper but it is more of a blast to ride. It only has one pedal assist mode compared to three on the Wisper and to my mind it gives too much assistance - it's actually quite hard to ride this bike slowly, since it keeps accelerating away. I spoke to the designer about this and there is an adjustment that can be made to the controller to reduce the speed/acceleration but he advised me to live with it for a couple of weeks and see how I felt, since most people apparently ask him for more speed rather than less. I was left with the impression that the controller on the bike sent to me may have been set up 'enthusiastically' - I had to check the motor casing to verify that that they hadn't sent me the 500W motor version by mistake!
The off-road mode is slightly confusing and is not accessed by a button as is the case on the A2B metro. There is nothing in the manual about it and I'm not sure I've got to the bottom of it yet but the designer says it is controlled electronically. The limiter on the throttle and the pedal assist tops out on the flat at about 21mph (measured by GPS) - I'm not quite sure where this leaves me re the 15mph legal limit, I guess I just need to be careful! With the throttle on full and only moderate pedalling in top gear I recorded 26mph on the flat - this is great fun and feels very fast, but whether it is really sensible is debatable....
For the record, my commute normally takes me around 20 minutes on my trails bike, on the Lifecycle it takes around 15 whilst wearing normal work clothes and without breaking sweat. In the car it takes anywhere from 25-50 minutes depending on traffic. So, the Lifecycle ticks all of the boxes for me and I'll be keeping it.
It's a bit of a gamble regarding long-term support and the fact I live some distance from Southampton, but so far, Electric Bike World have been very helpful and, whilst it's early days, there is nothing to make me think that the Lifecycle will be unreliable. The battery is apparently made by Panasonic (although there is no branding on it) and the range is in line with my expectations (ie around 30 miles and not the 80 miles 'ideal condition' range claimed on the website). Incidentally, the battery is not the one shown on the website - it has an aluminium case rather than black plastic and it has a bespoke 3-pin connector rather than the kettle plug shown on the website.
I hope the above reviews are helpful to anyone considering any of the above bikes and I'm happy to give updates on the Lifecycle reliability and customer support etc as time goes by if anyone's interested.
Since writing the above I've just gone on a 15 mile ride, 50% off-road with a few steep hills, and I have to say that I am liking the Lifecycle more each time I get on. It's got a few quirks that you need to get used to (although that may be the same for any e-bike, this is the first one I've lived with) but now I've got the hang of it, the power and handling do inspire confidence. I think it's a bike that needs a lot of input from the rider (eg to balance the throttle and pedal assist etc), certainly more than the Raleigh or the Wisper and I'm not sure I would recommend it for leisurely and scenic bike rides, but for getting from A to B quickly it's great and perhaps it could be seen as a less expensive and more practical A2B Metro!
Of course all of the bikes I've tried will suit some people more than others - horses for courses I guess. The recurring advice on this forum that there is no substitute for testing bikes before you buy seems to me absolutely right.
My only regret throughout the process is that it means The Electric Transport Shop in Cambridge have lost a sale through the stock delay on the Wisper, but I hope that this post encourages people to try them out, as I found them to be excellent.
