Whoosh Bikes - Scirocco

[westcountry]

Purchased From: Whoosh Bikes
Purchase Price: £525
Time Owned: One Week
Local Terrain: Flat
Strengths: Price and quality of service
Weaknesses: Battery Instructions
Summary: I am very impressed with both the bike and the supplier
Overall Rating (out of 10) : 9

The reason that I initially chose this bike was that it looked to my eyes like a standard – non-electric bike, and not some ill thought out hybrid.

I purchased this via mail order after searching the internet for weeks to find an electric bike in my price range – around £500

Contacting Whoosh bikes of Brighton, the suppliers, turned out to be a very pleasant affair.
My initial and subsequent calls where all answered professionally and courteously.
Hatti, the lady I dealt with also helped immensely with convincing my employer to take part in the government’s cycle to work scheme – therefore saving money for both myself and my work colleague who also bought one.

The Bike itself arrived in a large cardboard box and needed a little assembly. Basically this consisted of putting on the front wheel, pedals, mudguards and (supplied) lights. In my case around 30 minutes work. Allan keys and full instructions were provided.

Unfortunately the instructions for the battery use and charging where some of the worst translated English I have come across, and since this is such an important part of an electric bike, I feel this should be attended to. However a quick call to Whoosh answered a couple of queries I had.
To my surprise I found that the battery arrive pre-charged and was therefore ready to go as soon as the bike was assembled, and the tyres pumped.

The bike has two modes of operation, a twist to go mode and a pedal assist mode. The pedal assist mode has three degrees of assistance, and the display indicates the mode that you have selected for pedal assist how much charge is left in the battery.

Having used it now for a week, I can’t comment on it’s long term reliability, but I can tell you that as an overweight middle aged man it has really been a boon to me.
It’s quick, and the fact that I can reduce the electric assistance as I attempt to regain my fitness is exactly what I need.

Battery life from the Lithium battery seems very good and as I mentioned above the bike doesn’t to my eyes look like an electric bike. The motor is within the rear hub and doesn’t look like a clumsy after-thought like many bikes I have looked at in the price range. Talking of price, at the time of writing it’s £525, but I understand this will increase for the next batch.

I think my only criticism is the lack of a charging indicator for the battery, which can be removed easily from the bike after unlocking it if required.
The instructions (I think) tell you to charge it for 6-8 hours, but an indication that it is fully charged would be useful to avoid over charging and damaging it.
I would have also liked to see a dynamo powered front light, but at least they do supply lights, and the battery pack also has a rear light attached which is lit whenever the bike is turned on.

Overall I like the bike very much and haven’t regretted buying it from just an internet description.

The service I received from Whoosh Bikes was excellent and I can definitely recommend them. In fact I specifically joined this forum as I wanted to describe my experience with both the service from Whoosh and the bike itself.
And if your employer hasn’t joined the ‘Cycle to Work’ scheme I would recommend you hassle them to do so - it will save you around 25% of the cost of your bike.

 

[westcountry]

"I think my only criticism is the lack of a charging indicator for the battery, which can be removed easily from the bike after unlocking it if required.
The instructions (I think) tell you to charge it for 6-8 hours, but an indication that it is fully charged would be useful to avoid over charging and damaging it."

Just found out from their web site that the charger changes from Red to Green when it's fully charged - as I said the Battery instructions need to be imporved!

 

[anyiddo]

I also bought a Sirroco from Woosh so had added my review to Westcountrys:

Thought I share my experience with you. Recently bought a Sirroco ( £555 including VAT and delivery). I have been wanting to use a bike to work -7.5 miles each way- but because of my location (Cumbria = hills) it’s a bit of a struggle so I wondered if the motor and battery would be up to it. As a result I opted for a cheaper model with a view to test the theory of how good these bikes are as I have never been able to get any definitive answers. The Woosh site does give some indications of expected performance.

To add to my enthusiasm in August we visited China on Holiday and both me and my son (11 years) tried a few. My original cunning plan when I went to China was to bring one back on the plane as there are loads of electric bikes out there. One reason we opted to buy in the UK was we could not find a European style model easily and they were relatively expensive. (talking about 400 GBP + 200GBP on the plane). The Chinese opt for more scooter type I suspect local laws etc influence this as they are not restricted to 250W. (European /US models are export only) I had a quote for a UK conversion kit to collect in China but just the kit was about £220. Also there is the usual worries of warranties etc.

Anyway went for the Sirroco from Woosh Bikes as they are Chinese imports and seemed to tick all the boxes. I also think the price of some electric bikes is crazy as they are Chinese parts – someone is making a killing from the mark ups! Also I spoke to the lady there and they seem very helpful and honest being 5’6” and 12 stone was told no problems but you will have to pedal up the hills. Further discussions I was told the motor had a safety cut out if it overheated as I was concerned about the hills. Also told the company carry spares should there be any problems. They were happy to chat about any reliability issues and they seemed very rare with only one case of faulty controller / motor. As regards the hills a few customers had been unhappy because they had expected the bike to pull them unaided up steep hills.

Ordered the bike over the phone and it arrived the next day no problems – even gave me a 2.5 hour delivery window. I’d say about an hour to assemble – and add about an hour to remove packaging it is very well wrapped up! Put it together no problem, a bit of buggering about with the forks but very straight forward. All black it does look good! All lights and mudguards included. Two minor picky points front guard a bit distorted and a bolt had fallen out of the carrier everything else OK.

Took the bike on a test ride and a few things to note. Battery came charged. The back is heavy (reminds me of my camping days as a youth). Two faults found: The first was a stiff link in the chain and the second was the battery clatters on the bike. It turned out it was the battery pack itself, as the innards which have a bit of weight, sit loose inside the outer weather casing.

I contacted Woosh about this and it was a refreshing change to get some honest support. The guy on the phone told me how to fix the link (very easy) and the assembly workers were lazy for not checking this. The battery was OK to be left but agreed that the manufacturer builds them like this – if its to save costs or being lazy again we couldn’t agree. Any way by removing the battery and unscrewing the terminal end I could insert some dry dish sponges in which has massively reduced this problem. The guy insisted this wouldn’t effect warranty and not to worry. Top marks to Woosh for after sales advice – the company seem very honest and sensible in solving problems with no denials or BS. (you need basic DIY skills to do this)


I’ve been using the bike for a few weeks going to work.(clocked up about 150 miles to date) I tend to leave it set on high pedal assist setting because I need all the help I can get going up hills. The bike handles the hills really well. The largest hill is about 1.5 miles long with an 8-10% incline about 400 yards long at the end. Its one of those hills without electric assistance I am wrecked by the time I reach the top. Very easy on the sirocco bike, it gets up quickly and I reach the top only puffing slightly. The second is a shorter 0.4 mile but steep (10%) most the way. Again if you are prepared to pedal no problem and you can hear the motor working between pedal pushes. I have passed a few people going half the speed or less on MBTs and I am hoping I soon pass someone I know so I can give them the finger as I cruise past.

The only safety concern (minor) is that the pedal assist cuts in after a second and if you’re in stop/start traffic can give you a little boost when you don’t want it! Personally I use just throttle or switch off power and pedal only.

So motor performance is good – what about the battery performance? It’s a 36V 10Ah and had no problems (except the rattling mentioned earlier). It claims it can do 30-40 miles on the flat no pedalling and I would believe this. I do 30 or 45 miles between charges on high pedal assist and that equates to roughly 40% – 60% of battery used. It takes me about 30 mins each way so I am averaging around 15 mph. At these speeds the motor cuts in and out and I have found on low or medium pedal assist settings it sometimes feel that the motor is ‘dragging’ as it cuts in and out. Could be just me but this does not seem to happen on the high setting.

Only mildly annoying thing about battery charge is the unit on the handle bars always shows full battery when under no load conditions. It only reveals its true level when going up a hill so once it starts showing 2 bars (out of 4) during use its time to think about recharging. (It quickly recovers to full once on the flat) Is this the same on all bikes? The charger is simple - you can leave the battery on the bike just plug in and a red light goes to green when done. I’m charging at 50% levels as ‘expert opinion’ seems to say this is best.

In general the bike build is good (excellent for the price), the 7 speed gearing is excellent with roughly 5th gear being balanced to 15 mph. Up the hills I’m usually in 3rd (2nd on a bad day), the motor doing the rest. Obviously I can’t comment on longer term performance but all is covered in a 12 month warranty – only time will tell.

So apart from a rattling battery pack requiring a few sponges I can't fault the bike or the company.