Anyone tried the new Kudos range? (Cobra/Tornado/Arriba)

[RichB]

Having dipped my toe in the water of ebiking with my Cyclotricity I absolutley love it! So much so I'm seriously thinking of selling my motor bike and getting a second ebike.

I love the look of the new Kudos bikes but with them being so new theres not much in the way of reviews. Does anyone know what the differences are in the motors (rather than the cosmetic differences, and brakes etc).

Also is there any capacity to 'tweak' a bit of extra speed out of them? I love to be able to get one of Franks' 'off road kits' but the price is inhibitive. I'm aware of the legal ramifications of this but I have a lot of woodland/fields near me and it would be fantastic to tackle some off road with a 28mph bike!!

Any comments/help would be appreciated,

Thanks,

 

[banbury frank]

Hi RichB

Our Commuter Baby kit has had a upgrade it now has top speed off 22 mph i a 26 inch rim and 500 watts

We will be updating the web site in the next 2 weeks with our new 29er bikes and upgraded kits

for 29er




Frank

 

[mountainsport]

Having dipped my toe in the water of ebiking with my Cyclotricity I absolutley love it! So much so I'm seriously thinking of selling my motor bike and getting a second ebike.

I love the look of the new Kudos bikes but with them being so new theres not much in the way of reviews. Does anyone know what the differences are in the motors (rather than the cosmetic differences, and brakes etc).

Also is there any capacity to 'tweak' a bit of extra speed out of them? I love to be able to get one of Franks' 'off road kits' but the price is inhibitive. I'm aware of the legal ramifications of this but I have a lot of woodland/fields near me and it would be fantastic to tackle some off road with a 28mph bike!!

Any comments/help would be appreciated,

Thanks,

The answers below as follows:
(a) Ask Dave.
(b) Ask Frank.
(c) Ask Jeeves if in doubt.

Both of these bike are good, but one means light power whilst the other means heavy power times five. For a known fact I have heard some good reviews about Frank's bikes and kits.

Mountainsport

 

[GaRRy]

Also is there any capacity to 'tweak' a bit of extra speed out of them? I love to be able to get one of Franks' 'off road kits' but the price is inhibitive. I'm aware of the legal ramifications of this but I have a lot of woodland/fields near me and it would be fantastic to tackle some off road with a 28mph bike!!

Well with the risk of being a kill joy. In the event of a incident using a 28 mph bike in those woodland/fields. if it is proven that the land was open to the public. ie a public foot path or other such access then you are in deep trouble as you will then be hit as hard as if it had happened on the road (illegal unregistered vehicle,no license,tax,MOT etc etc). Unless the land is completely free of any form of public access then from the laws point of view in the event of accident it might as well be the road as the normal rules of road usage apply. The only exception to this are some farm vehicles used as part of farming related work.

So its the same as riding on the road. You are are ok until you get caught (Unlikely but possible)

 

[RichB]

Yeah, as I said I'm aware of the legal situation, but to be honest I think the likelyhood of being caught out in this particular area is very low to non-existent as its an area only I have access to as part of my other hobby ;-)

So with this in mind I'm still open to options which allow an improvement on the 15mph limit road speed(which is currently covered by my cyclotricity).
Thanks,

 

[Fordulike]

Yeah, as I said I'm aware of the legal situation, but to be honest I think the likelyhood of being caught out in this particular area is very low to non-existent as its an area only I have access to as part of my other hobby ;-)

Go ahead, build what suits your needs and enjoy. No need for the legality debate again.
Who hasn't swiped a couple of jelly beans from the pick 'n' mix without paying

 

[GaRRy]

Yeah, as I said I'm aware of the legal situation, but to be honest I think the likelyhood of being caught out in this particular area is very low to non-existent as its an area only I have access to as part of my other hobby ;-)

So with this in mind I'm still open to options which allow an improvement on the 15mph limit road speed(which is currently covered by my cyclotricity).
Thanks,

Just so long as your aware of the risks then that fine. I am not here to tell you what you can and cant do and any way it sounds like the area you plan to use is off limits to the public so not even a issue.

 

[Kudoscycles]

RichB..
the differences between the Arriba,Tornado and Ibex are quite frankly what you want out of these bikes.
The Arriba with its torque sensor replicates with assistance your own riding style but it does need you to put some effort in to get a lot more effort out. I like it a lot it suits my riding,it will go up steep hills provided you put some effort in and maintain more than 4mph up the hill.This bike suits a general rider who would like some exercise but needs help on steep hills but you cannot be lazy.
The Tornado is a speed sensor it gives raw power with no attempt to measure rider input or cadence,whatever you set on the PAS control is what you get. Provided you can maintain more than 4mph up the hill you start to get into speed at which the motor starts to offer max power.This bike would suit a lazy rider but one who has some power in his legs to maintain the speed.
The Ibex is a speed sensor crank drive,it does not have the sophistication of the speed/torque/cadence sensor of the Bosch system but it will give maximum torque irrelevant to the speed at which you climb the hill-ie it allows you to ride up with full power very slowly.This bike would suit a rider who is struggling with leg power and is prepared to ride up a hill slowly.
It is interesting that the BPM motors have the torque available lower in the speed range which gives the false impression that they are more powerful than say the 8 fun motor (which really needs 8mph to reach the motor torque efficiency speed). This lower speed we refered to as the TOPS system but in reality is available in all BPM-CST motors.
I suspect we will use the Tornado bike at Bristol because it gives raw torque off the line without any consideration of rider input power,the guy riding the bike is a keen amateur cyclist so he should be able to maintain the speed up the hill to reveal max operating torque of the BPM motor.
Does that help?
KudosDave

 

[Deleted member 4366]

I've tried the Tornado and Arriba. The Cobra is a standard 250w motor, similar to the rest of the Kudos range. It's nicer looking, though.

The Tornado and Arriba both have much more powerful motors. The Tornado has a Bafang BPM (or clone), which is bullet-proof and has a lot of power. The Arriba has the Bafang CST motor (or clone) that has the same power as the BPM, but has the spline for cassette gears, which give more higher quality gearing options. It also has a torque sensor, but I don't really see that as an advantage. It didn't work as well as some, and was more like a switch that gave power when you pedalled rather than the proportional systems you get on more expensive bikes. I think that the speed sensor on the Tornado was better. Both motors are really 350w motors (at least) so hill-climbing is very good.

Without owning one, it's difficult to say how they can be tweaked. I guess the bottle batteries can give about 3c, so probably 25 amps is as far as they can go. I estimate present current is about 20 amps, but I've never had a meter on one so that's just an estimate. Both bikes have separate controllers, so easy enough to swap for a Lyen Mini Monster to increase the current a bit. I don't know what the winding speed is of either motor, so I can't say what the maximum speed could be. They both climb well, so I expect a low speed winding, but again, that's only a guess. You might be able to get a few more mph by releasing the speed limit in the LCD, which is pretty simple to do.

To summarise: Speed can probably be increased a bit by settings in the panel. The climbing ability is already good, so you probably wouldn't want to increase the current.

With only a 9aH battery, don't expect to go too far if you use the power.

 

[RichB]

Thank you to all for your very helpful comments.

I am a fairly fit rider and I ride pretty much flat out where ever I go. From the comments from both Daves I'm leaning a little towards the Tornado. I can climb hills when I need to but like to have the motor as back up if necessary. If I use it on road my commute is only 12 miles in total, so battery size shouldn't be an issue.

Just one more question for Kudos Dave; How capable are these bikes off road? I think I read somewhere that the mounts for the bottle battery had to be beefed up for off road use? Is there anything else that has been 'upgraded' to cope with going off road?

I say this as my Cyclotricity is classed as a mountain bike, but to be honest I wouldn't want to take it off road due to the quality of the components.

Thanks again to everyone for the comprehensive replies.

Rich

 

[RichB]

Hi RichB

Our Commuter Baby kit has had a upgrade it now has top speed off 22 mph i a 26 inch rim and 500 watts

We will be updating the web site in the next 2 weeks with our new 29er bikes and upgraded kits

for 29er




Frank

Thanks to you aswell Frank.

I'd like to come up and some point and see your kits as they sound pretty impressive!

 

[mountainsport]

Go ahead, build what suits your needs and enjoy. No need for the legality debate again.
Who hasn't swiped a couple of jelly beans from the pick 'n' mix without paying

No, I disagree I've swiped my visa card to pay for a couple of jelly beans from the pick 'n' mix. Fordulike what are you trying to say?

Mountainsport

 

[hech]

Thanks to you aswell Frank.

I'd like to come up and some point and see your kits as they sound pretty impressive!

Impressive is the word for it Richie, for Bamby Frank as he is known in well worn uk ebike circles can boast a proud pedigree when it comes to fast ebikes and boosting middle-aged egos thro the chicanes of the hame coonties more torturouse cycle lanes.
" Bastard son of the late but lovely Lolo Ferrari and early but earnest Franc Williams, our Frank shot to prominence winning the 2002 Monaco grand prix by a margin only to be later disqualified owing to a short wheel count. "
"Bambury Frank is still alive and well and selling high powered, custom made, quality off-road machines to the more knowledgeable and very best of the ecycling community."
"I personally, am totally on Frank's side"
(unattributed excerpt from Imaginative(Un) Press Releases-mebe2013) (JaJ F)


lesson 1; build it yourself or get one from Frank
lesson 2: anti estabishment is good?
lesson 2: best not post till absolutely sober.
lesson 3; is there dejection after ejection?

 

[Fordulike]

No, I disagree I've swiped my visa card to pay for a couple of jelly beans from the pick 'n' mix. Fordulike what are you trying to say?

Mountainsport

Whoops, sticky keyboard... Meant to write, who hasn't swopped a couple of jelly beans for a sherbet lemon from the pick 'n' mix without saying "I had better go and pay for these now"............. Ahem

 

[hech]

no excuse, you will be sodomised repeatedly in hell, Repent now sinner!

 

[funkylyn]

no excuse, you will be sodomised repeatedly in hell, Repent now sinner!

....maybe, just maybe, there could be 'method in his madness '..........


Lynda

 

[Kudoscycles]

Could be worse,could be Margate!!!!