Bearprint New City 505 with higher capacity 36v 16Ah battery
Link:-
New City » Bearprint Electric Bikes
Reviewer: bazwaldo
Purchased From: Bearprint Electric Bikes
Purchase Price: £1199
Time Owned: 3 months
Local Terrain: Moderate Hills
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Strengths:
Good distance with higher capacity 16Ah battery.
Comfortable upright riding position.
Twin disk brakes.
Looks good with the Racing Green, Black and Silver finish.
Comes with aluminium mud guards and cycle rack ideal for commuting.
Free wheels well without any apparent drag from the motor.
Built in LED lights front and back powered from the main battery with a handlebar switch making it very easy to turn them on or off while riding.
Easy adjust handlebar mechanism.
Suspension front forks.
Free delivery fully assembled and ready to ride (to my address anyway).
6 year Frame warranty and 2 years warranty for Electronics and battery.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Weaknesses:
Some metal surfaces showing signs of rusting after just 3 months.
Wire connections to lights appear to be of exposed very thin wire, I tried to protect the connections with insulation tape but felt that this could have been better designed and manufactured.
Handle bar grips narrow - ok for my fairly small hands but may not be for large hands.
The supplied "pinging" bell with built-in compass works but is not very attention grabbing.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary:
I purchased this bike after "lurking" in the Pedelecs forum and researching Ebikes on the internet. Surprisingly I was not able to find any reviews of any Bearprint bikes and even in the Pedelec forum there are very few posts relating to the brand.
The two Bearprint Company owners Phil and Steve were very approachable and helpful both via email and by phone during my purchase of the Ebike. They confirmed that the Bearprint is virtually identical to the FreeGo Ebike and indeed the front connection box even has FreeGo name stamped on it. I believe that the Juicybike Ebike is also manufactured in the same factory in China. I very nearly purchased a Juicybike and would have done accept that the 2011 Sport model was not available at the time with the larger capacity battery. Bob at Juicybikes was a great help and very impartial in his advice to me. In the end I preferred the design of the New City Bearprint and the extras it had despite being more expensive. If money was no object I probably would have bought a Wisper but alas I could not afford it. I still think the Juicybike offers best value for money.
I chose to upgrade to the 16Ah battery as I wanted as much power and assisted distance as possible.
My employers are part of the Cycle to Work scheme and so I used a £1000 voucher towards purchasing the bike.
Since the free delivery on 20.10.10 I have used it to cycle to work on all but 3 days after having flu before Christmas. My cycle computer a Cateye Velo 8 fitted after purchase shows I have done over 1200 miles of commuting to work so far. This represents a good saving in petrol costs even with my little 900cc Fiat Cinquecento!
The distance going to work is about 13.8 miles and the route home about 12.5 miles and I can easily manage both on 1 battery charge. I use it with the highest level of assistance but always pedal - there are 3 levels - and it really does "boost" you along with my average speed often over 16 mph over my work commute. On the journey home which goes down a pretty steep hill through Pilton village (famous for the Glastonbury festival) I can achieve around 36 mph which feels stable on the Bearprint. I do not travel to work this way so as to avoid the steep hill!
The other route I take to work seems to even out the climb making it less strenuous.
It has been a pleasure to use and it has helped me to lose 1 stone in weight and improved my fitness particulary my legs. I am 52 years old now and at 13.5 Stones I really needed to lose some weight and felt as though the circulation in my legs was a cause for concern. Both areas have improved a lot since using the Ebike. At 5' 6" I am fairly short but have the seat raised by an inch or two from it's lowest position. The seat is wide and padded and I find it very comfortable.
With the poor winter weather it is probably not surprising that some minor rust is affecting some of the screws, metal fittings and the brake disks. With the constant salting and gritting of the roads this is a losing battle for most bicycles. The dark mornings and evenings have meant I just have not been able to wash the bike as often as I would like.
Th extreme icy weather did cause a small problem with the Shimano 6 speed gears and on the coldest days occasionally the gears would change down but not back up.
WD40 squirted into the gear change mechanism on the right hand handle bar did seem to fix this although before getting to work it would freeze again. Apart from during this exceptionally cold weather the gears have worked very well.
Phil at Bearprint assured me I would not need to drop below 4th gear to go up hills and generally this has been correct. Steep hills however do require using 1st gear and still need quite a lot of rider input to overcome them. So far I have not found a hill which has defeated the motor and me.
Even cycling off the Somerset levels up onto the top of the Mendip hills did not require me to stop to regain my breath. A few years ago the same journey on my old Raleigh Milk Race tourer bicycle when I was younger and fitter meant I had to stop several times on the steepest parts of the climb to gather my breath before carrying on again.
Mostly I arrive at work knowing I have had a work out but not out of breath and just occasionally damp from the effort rather than dripping with sweat. This is more caused by wearing waterproof jacket and trousers which to some extent keeps in any body moisture created by the physical effort. When Spring and Summer arrive as long as it is dry it will be even more of a pleasure to Ebike to work.
The lights that come with the bike I feel are adequate even on unlit roads in darkness and I am very glad of them. To be safer I have added twin battery LED lights at the front and another flashing LED light alongside the static fitted back LED light. The light wiring seemed thin and a little exposed particularly where they joined the rear light and I added some insulation tape to protect them from wet weather.
The battery fits behind the seat post and there does seem to be a gap between the bottom of the battery and the bit it seats into, having said that even during the wettest weather I have not had any problems with the electrics so far. If there were any problems hopefully the 2 year warranty for the electrics and battery would prove to be very valuable. The Frame is advertised with a 6 year warranty. There is a key which locks the battery in position and turns the power on and off.
The battery is easily removed and charged overnight ready for the next days commute.
The bike comes with what looks like a giant laptop PC charger and this so far has worked flawlessly just like the rest of the bike overall.
My local Lidl Supermarket provided a triple pannier set at just £15 which has been marvellous value and also my gloves which have not failed to keep my hands warm even in the coldest weather. My wet weather gear was purchased at Wiggle and new Ebikers should be aware that these sorts of additional items do add up and need to be considered when working out the cost of cycle commuting. Two of the best purchases were a micro fleece skull cap and a waterproof cover for my cycle helmet. Nothing to do with the bike I know but very useful additions when riding it this time of year. Oh, an expensive and good quality bike lock is also essential together with insurance as officially the bike is still owned by my employers until I have paid off the Cycle scheme voucher and paid any market value after the standard time.
The front fork suspension works well and the standard Kenda road tyres have also been good so far. I have been dreading getting a puncture but have been lucky so far with 1200 miles on the clock. Eventually I suppose I would upgrade to the Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres often recommended in the Pedelec forum.
To sum up I am very pleased with my Bearprint New City commuting Ebike.
The whole experience has been very positive and I fully recommend it to anyone considering moving from car travel to Ebiking.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Overall Rating (out of 10) : 9
Link:-
New City » Bearprint Electric Bikes
Reviewer: bazwaldo
Purchased From: Bearprint Electric Bikes
Purchase Price: £1199
Time Owned: 3 months
Local Terrain: Moderate Hills
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Strengths:
Good distance with higher capacity 16Ah battery.
Comfortable upright riding position.
Twin disk brakes.
Looks good with the Racing Green, Black and Silver finish.
Comes with aluminium mud guards and cycle rack ideal for commuting.
Free wheels well without any apparent drag from the motor.
Built in LED lights front and back powered from the main battery with a handlebar switch making it very easy to turn them on or off while riding.
Easy adjust handlebar mechanism.
Suspension front forks.
Free delivery fully assembled and ready to ride (to my address anyway).
6 year Frame warranty and 2 years warranty for Electronics and battery.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Weaknesses:
Some metal surfaces showing signs of rusting after just 3 months.
Wire connections to lights appear to be of exposed very thin wire, I tried to protect the connections with insulation tape but felt that this could have been better designed and manufactured.
Handle bar grips narrow - ok for my fairly small hands but may not be for large hands.
The supplied "pinging" bell with built-in compass works but is not very attention grabbing.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary:
I purchased this bike after "lurking" in the Pedelecs forum and researching Ebikes on the internet. Surprisingly I was not able to find any reviews of any Bearprint bikes and even in the Pedelec forum there are very few posts relating to the brand.
The two Bearprint Company owners Phil and Steve were very approachable and helpful both via email and by phone during my purchase of the Ebike. They confirmed that the Bearprint is virtually identical to the FreeGo Ebike and indeed the front connection box even has FreeGo name stamped on it. I believe that the Juicybike Ebike is also manufactured in the same factory in China. I very nearly purchased a Juicybike and would have done accept that the 2011 Sport model was not available at the time with the larger capacity battery. Bob at Juicybikes was a great help and very impartial in his advice to me. In the end I preferred the design of the New City Bearprint and the extras it had despite being more expensive. If money was no object I probably would have bought a Wisper but alas I could not afford it. I still think the Juicybike offers best value for money.
I chose to upgrade to the 16Ah battery as I wanted as much power and assisted distance as possible.
My employers are part of the Cycle to Work scheme and so I used a £1000 voucher towards purchasing the bike.
Since the free delivery on 20.10.10 I have used it to cycle to work on all but 3 days after having flu before Christmas. My cycle computer a Cateye Velo 8 fitted after purchase shows I have done over 1200 miles of commuting to work so far. This represents a good saving in petrol costs even with my little 900cc Fiat Cinquecento!
The distance going to work is about 13.8 miles and the route home about 12.5 miles and I can easily manage both on 1 battery charge. I use it with the highest level of assistance but always pedal - there are 3 levels - and it really does "boost" you along with my average speed often over 16 mph over my work commute. On the journey home which goes down a pretty steep hill through Pilton village (famous for the Glastonbury festival) I can achieve around 36 mph which feels stable on the Bearprint. I do not travel to work this way so as to avoid the steep hill!
The other route I take to work seems to even out the climb making it less strenuous.
It has been a pleasure to use and it has helped me to lose 1 stone in weight and improved my fitness particulary my legs. I am 52 years old now and at 13.5 Stones I really needed to lose some weight and felt as though the circulation in my legs was a cause for concern. Both areas have improved a lot since using the Ebike. At 5' 6" I am fairly short but have the seat raised by an inch or two from it's lowest position. The seat is wide and padded and I find it very comfortable.
With the poor winter weather it is probably not surprising that some minor rust is affecting some of the screws, metal fittings and the brake disks. With the constant salting and gritting of the roads this is a losing battle for most bicycles. The dark mornings and evenings have meant I just have not been able to wash the bike as often as I would like.
Th extreme icy weather did cause a small problem with the Shimano 6 speed gears and on the coldest days occasionally the gears would change down but not back up.
WD40 squirted into the gear change mechanism on the right hand handle bar did seem to fix this although before getting to work it would freeze again. Apart from during this exceptionally cold weather the gears have worked very well.
Phil at Bearprint assured me I would not need to drop below 4th gear to go up hills and generally this has been correct. Steep hills however do require using 1st gear and still need quite a lot of rider input to overcome them. So far I have not found a hill which has defeated the motor and me.
Even cycling off the Somerset levels up onto the top of the Mendip hills did not require me to stop to regain my breath. A few years ago the same journey on my old Raleigh Milk Race tourer bicycle when I was younger and fitter meant I had to stop several times on the steepest parts of the climb to gather my breath before carrying on again.
Mostly I arrive at work knowing I have had a work out but not out of breath and just occasionally damp from the effort rather than dripping with sweat. This is more caused by wearing waterproof jacket and trousers which to some extent keeps in any body moisture created by the physical effort. When Spring and Summer arrive as long as it is dry it will be even more of a pleasure to Ebike to work.
The lights that come with the bike I feel are adequate even on unlit roads in darkness and I am very glad of them. To be safer I have added twin battery LED lights at the front and another flashing LED light alongside the static fitted back LED light. The light wiring seemed thin and a little exposed particularly where they joined the rear light and I added some insulation tape to protect them from wet weather.
The battery fits behind the seat post and there does seem to be a gap between the bottom of the battery and the bit it seats into, having said that even during the wettest weather I have not had any problems with the electrics so far. If there were any problems hopefully the 2 year warranty for the electrics and battery would prove to be very valuable. The Frame is advertised with a 6 year warranty. There is a key which locks the battery in position and turns the power on and off.
The battery is easily removed and charged overnight ready for the next days commute.
The bike comes with what looks like a giant laptop PC charger and this so far has worked flawlessly just like the rest of the bike overall.
My local Lidl Supermarket provided a triple pannier set at just £15 which has been marvellous value and also my gloves which have not failed to keep my hands warm even in the coldest weather. My wet weather gear was purchased at Wiggle and new Ebikers should be aware that these sorts of additional items do add up and need to be considered when working out the cost of cycle commuting. Two of the best purchases were a micro fleece skull cap and a waterproof cover for my cycle helmet. Nothing to do with the bike I know but very useful additions when riding it this time of year. Oh, an expensive and good quality bike lock is also essential together with insurance as officially the bike is still owned by my employers until I have paid off the Cycle scheme voucher and paid any market value after the standard time.
The front fork suspension works well and the standard Kenda road tyres have also been good so far. I have been dreading getting a puncture but have been lucky so far with 1200 miles on the clock. Eventually I suppose I would upgrade to the Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres often recommended in the Pedelec forum.
To sum up I am very pleased with my Bearprint New City commuting Ebike.
The whole experience has been very positive and I fully recommend it to anyone considering moving from car travel to Ebiking.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Overall Rating (out of 10) : 9
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