Choices, choices, choices !!

[Mattyduk]

First of all, Hi to you all. I;ve been lurking on the Synergie Yahoo group and was directed here by one of it's members.

I've been using a Synergie Extreme bike for the last 9 months. For the most part the experiance has been good, apart from the brakes/lights that had to be replaced, and now the battery (lead acid) has degraded.

So I've now got a choice.

I can replace the lead acid battery for a £100, but I'll only end up doing that again in 9 months, and the rest of the bike's quality is a bit suspect.

I;ve been looking at the new Synergie Mistral, which uses a Lithium battery and guarantees 400 to 500 recharges cycles, it's 14kgs lighter, and has a 25 to 30 mile range. all for a measly £450. But you know what they say, buy cheap buy twice

In the mid range, I've been looking at the Urban Mover UM36, but again, the range will be a bit limited although the bike is lighter than the extreme. Not too sure about the Ni-Mh battery life span either. So that's about £750

and finally, the Ezee torq - with it's nice looks, lightness, lithium battery and of course higher price £1200.

So reading the reviews of this very useful site, it appears that despite the Torq being such a high price, it's had similar problems to my Extreme, with the brakes/lights - not something I'd expect for £1,200. There are also concerns about the hill climbing, although as long as it can power up the same hills as the way the extreme does, that isn't a problem. Looking at the AtoB review, this seems in conflict with the owners review on this site.

So what do do ? As you can see, I'm after a particular looking type of bike. I want it to look like a normal mountain/tourer bike, but with a battery.

 

[flecc]

A to B have remarked in the magazine that others don't seem to get their range on the Torq, and when we had questions about this in this site, the general consensus was 15 to 20 miles. One owner reported less, while since then a couple of owners have reported more, one a lot more.

In part the range depends on whether it's used restricted as supplied or derestricted, the latter naturally draining more current. I get 15 miles derestricted on some private estate roads, but that includes some substantial hills.

I don't have any trouble with the brakes or lights, but those who commute in darkness often prefer to change to expensive very bright types of light for safety reasons. This is true of all production bikes of course.

As for the hill climbing, the Torq has both motor and rider gears set for high speed rather than hill climbing, so this places some limitations on very steep hills. Ultimately it depends on your fitness and ability, therefore I recommend you have a trial ride.

As for the A to B view on hill climbing, they were based at Castle Cary on the Somerset levels, some of us don't live in such flat areas and have different views on what constitutes a "mountain course". There's no doubt that the Torq is a very fast slope climber up to about 8%, but with hills at 12% plus it's a very different story.

 

[Mattyduk]

thanks for replies.

I would (as I have with the Extreme) be changing the lights, but by the time I get one, we will be having lighter evenings anyway.

I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't going to have trouble with going up the hills that the extreme is currently going up (with pedel assist). Judging by what you say, I don't think it's going to be a problem. They aren't really really steep hills

As for the problems with brakes mentioned on this site by a reviewer, I'm glad that 50cycles have cleared that up, and I won't be experiancing that issue. The only other thing I've got a slight conern is that I've been riding a 26" wheel bike, and I'm just over 5 foot 7, so is the larger wheel base of the 28" torq going to give me issues ?

With regard to derestricting, I wouldn't be using it generally at high speed but it would be nice to know whether this is a simple mod So restricted, I should be getting 25 to 30 miles per charge ?

Any trial rides near Basingstoke, Hampshire ?

 

[flecc]

In that case you shouldn't have any trouble with hills Mattyduk, the ones I call slopes you can fly up, and on up to 1 in 12 (8%) the Torq is the fastest production bike up them. It's just the very sharp and generally shorter hills in some parts of the country that can cause a problem. Here's an illustration of the steepness of hill that starts to cause problems, especially for less fit riders:

You won't have any height problems, I'm 5 ft 6 ins and have the saddle at the lowest point, so at just over that you'll be ok. The wheelbase isn't an issue and probably contributes to it's extremely good high speed stability. I've topped 40 mph down steep hills feeling absolutely secure.

Under the bottom bracket there's some wiring harnesses and one has a short stub if you dig it out. That has a connector which derestricts if it's unplugged for use on private land. Doing that is illegal for public roads of course. I don't think you'll get quite that range gain if running restricted, but this is so dependent on each individual rider's abilities and contribution it's impossible to predetermine.

For a trial ride, use this link and complete the form and 50cycles will advise.

 

[Mattyduk]

thanks for your help.

I've used the webform to request info on a trial.