Confused by all the choice

Jeremiah ables

Finding my (electric) wheels
Jul 6, 2018
10
3
58
Hi, i am new to e bikes, though i have ridden bikes for many years( recently mainly mountain bikes), though now it will be for commuting . A friend recently bought the gtech city but i would prefer a normal chain. He also suggested e ranger bikes, kudos and woosh and if i could stretch my budget of £1300 the oxygen bikes as well. I have checked and there are quite a few of them in each besides others i looked at as well.
On my commute there are a couple of small hills but mainly its fairly flat. One other thing my friend spoke about was the different batteries and said that the lifepo4 has a longer life, should i then look for an e bike with one of these and if so how many are available within my budget.

My thanks to any who can give advise
 

Woosh

Trade Member
May 19, 2012
19,475
16,421
Southend on Sea
wooshbikes.co.uk
The main advantage of Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries is the number of useable charging cycles, 2000-7000 cycles against 800 for Lithium Ion Aluminium Manganese Cobalt batteries that are commonly used in e-bikes.
The disadvantages are many: cell voltage is 3.6V fully charged against 4.2V, so your LiFePO4 battery would weigh 20% more for the same capacity. Your pack is typically configured as 12S4P, charger output is 43.8V 4A. LiFePO4 has lower conductivity, so peak discharge is worse. The battery voltage indicator on your LCD won't work because the LiFePO4 pack voltage drops quickly to 36V then stays on 36V during most of the discharge cycle then goes flat very quickly, you get little warning before your battery goes flat.
LiFePO4 has its place in public hire bikes but for personal use, 700-1200 charging cycles are plenty sufficient for 7 years. By that time, technology would have moved on sufficiently that it makes sense to buy a new battery.
 
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Jeremiah ables

Finding my (electric) wheels
Jul 6, 2018
10
3
58
thankyou that makes it much clearer, do you have any recommendations of ebikes within my price range?
 

Woosh

Trade Member
May 19, 2012
19,475
16,421
Southend on Sea
wooshbikes.co.uk
what's your weight and height Jeremiah?
 

onthe-edge

Pedelecer
Apr 28, 2018
56
44
portsmouth
Hi Jeremiah,
I bought my first ebike a couple of weeks ago and I absolutely love it. It's much easier to ride than I expected and I could't be more pleased with it. If you go to the web-site and read the specs. I can assure you that the bike has been updated, but not corrected in the specs.
My EDGE.BIKE Hybrid came with hydraulic disc brakes,not mechanical, a 14ah battery not 10ah, mudguards and rear rack. The rest are probably as stated. I can honestly recommend this bike and you should take a look at the web-site, also have a chat with Sam , the man. cheers
P1190305resized.JPG
 

Jeremiah ables

Finding my (electric) wheels
Jul 6, 2018
10
3
58
thankyou, i have already looked on your website, what is the lowest mileage for the 17ah with the rio mtb?
 

Woosh

Trade Member
May 19, 2012
19,475
16,421
Southend on Sea
wooshbikes.co.uk
thankyou, i have already looked on your website, what is the lowest mileage for the 17ah with the rio mtb?
the mileage depends on two factors: how hilly is your route and how fast you ride. Several members reported 50 miles for 13AH and 65 miles for the 17AH on pedal assist. We tend to give a ball park figure of 10WH per mile, 36 miles for 10AH, 45 miles for 13AH, 60 miles for 17AH at normal 15mph speed limit. More if you pedal a lot, less if you have headwinds or hills to climb.
The voltage drops as your battery is depleted. When the battery is full, its voltage is 41.5V, when it's totally flat, 31.5V. The battery voltage indicator on the LCD has 5 bars, each corresponds to 2V or 20% of charge. As the voltage drops, the maximum motor torque drops too, so when the battery is near empty, you have less torque to climb with than when it's full.
If your hills are mainly on the way to work, then it's easy going home. However, if your way home is full of hills then you need to keep at least 2-3 bars on the battery voltage indicator on the way home.
 
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onthe-edge

Pedelecer
Apr 28, 2018
56
44
portsmouth
The edge bike is only 10.4ah on their website
That's what I'm saying, the web-site has NOT been updated but the bike HAS, I ordered my bike expecting a 10.4ah battery but the bike came with a 14ah lg cell battery. The hydraulic brakes are also now fitted as standard, but the website doesn't reflect this fact. cheers
 

Woosh

Trade Member
May 19, 2012
19,475
16,421
Southend on Sea
wooshbikes.co.uk
The edge bike is only 10.4ah on their website
that's not good if you have steep hills. When you ride on a flat road, the power requirement is less than 200W, your bike draws about 5A-7A from the battery. But when you climb a steep hill, the bike will pull as much current from the battery as the controller is set at, that is 17A for the Rio MTB.
As the current rises, the battery's internal resistance increases, losing more internally as heat. As a rule of thumb, the maximum draw is 1.5 * C (C is the capacity of the battery), so 10.4AH would give you the maximum continuous draw of 15A, 13AH 20A, 17AH 26A. Over that safe limit, the internal resistance goes up very quickly and you risk damaging your battery.
That's also why LiFePO4 is not a good choice for hill climbing.
 
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Topdog206

Finding my (electric) wheels
Jun 14, 2018
23
16
39
I've recently got the Oxygen S Cross MTB 13.4ah battery, very well built, my commute is 23 miles each was done it once so far this week and it performed floorlessly with around 40% battery left each way, I charged it at work for the return journey. but plenty of smaller rides of 15miles. I'm very impressed with it. I was the same there's loads of choice when you start looking into ebikes and the prices differ quite a bit also for what's seems simular spec bikes. I research a lot on here on the different models and decided on the Oxygen as lots of people have them and they rate them and I could get it on cycle to work.

Good luck with your search!
 

Jeremiah ables

Finding my (electric) wheels
Jul 6, 2018
10
3
58
what is the main differences between the oxygen mtb and the woosh rio? Besides price and aesthetics
 

Woosh

Trade Member
May 19, 2012
19,475
16,421
Southend on Sea
wooshbikes.co.uk
what is the main differences between the oxygen mtb and the woosh rio? Besides price and aesthetics
1) the wheel size.

The Oxygen MTB has 27.5, the Woosh Rio MTB 26 inch wheels.
Both bikes have the same motor, so the maximum noload speed of the Rio MTB is 23mph, the Oxygen 24mph because of the bigger wheels.
However, when you consider torque, the smaller 26in wheel give you 6% more torque. Also, the controller on the Rio is set for 17A against 15A for the Oxygen.

2) the suspension fork:

The Oxygen is fitted with Suntour XCT, 2750g weight. The Rio is fitted with RST Omega fork, 2370g weight.

3) the brakes:

The Oxygen is fitted with Tektro Auriga hydraulic brakes without sensor, the Rio with Tektro Dorado hydraulic brakes with sensor.

4) The bottom bracket:

The Oxygen is fitted with square taper bottom bracket, the Rio MTB with GXP bottom bracket which is lighter and has external ball bearings.
 
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Jeremiah ables

Finding my (electric) wheels
Jul 6, 2018
10
3
58
1) the wheel size.

The Oxygen MTB has 27.5, the Woosh Rio MTB 26 inch wheels.
Both bikes have the same motor, so the maximum noload speed of the Rio MTB is 23mph, the Oxygen 24mph because of the bigger wheels.
However, when you consider torque, the smaller 26in wheel give you 6% more torque. Also, the controller on the Rio is set for 17A against 15A for the Oxygen.

2) the suspension fork:

The Oxygen is fitted with Suntour XCT, 2750g weight. The Rio is fitted with RST Omega fork, 2370g weight.

3) the brakes:

The Oxygen is fitted with Tektro Auriga hydraulic brakes without sensor, the Rio with Tektro Dorado hydraulic brakes with sensor.

4) The bottom bracket:

The Oxygen is fitted with square taper bottom bracket, the Rio MTB with GXP bottom bracket which is lighter and has external ball bearings.
Thankyou again for your swift reply, why do woosh bikes seem to have generally better specs than a more expensive model?
 
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Topdog206

Finding my (electric) wheels
Jun 14, 2018
23
16
39
1) the wheel size.

The Oxygen MTB has 27.5, the Woosh Rio MTB 26 inch wheels.
Both bikes have the same motor, so the maximum noload speed of the Rio MTB is 23mph, the Oxygen 24mph because of the bigger wheels.
However, when you consider torque, the smaller 26in wheel give you 6% more torque. Also, the controller on the Rio is set for 17A against 15A for the Oxygen.

2) the suspension fork:

The Oxygen is fitted with Suntour XCT, 2750g weight. The Rio is fitted with RST Omega fork, 2370g weight.

3) the brakes:

The Oxygen is fitted with Tektro Auriga hydraulic brakes without sensor, the Rio with Tektro Dorado hydraulic brakes with sensor.

4) The bottom bracket:

The Oxygen is fitted with square taper bottom bracket, the Rio MTB with GXP bottom bracket which is lighter and has external ball bearings.
Woosh my no load speed when i checked is 27.5mph?

Also the brakes are have the sensor don't they? Mine are Tektro Auriga e-comp and have the extra cable coming out of them isnt that for the senor?