e bike for a retiring colleague - any advice

[flecc]

But where do they live? Peters idea of visiting a few different stores in London will surely give the widest choice.....Why one has to travel to the back of beyond to try an Ezee is beyond me, and I discount them purely on this basis.......

Visiting a few different stores scattered far and wide in London's over 400 square miles to see an incomplete selection is a nightmare compared to a single simple drive to Kidderminster to see all the types in one place.

I'd rather drive to Kidderminster than do all the London visits, and I live in a London Borough!!!
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[eddieo]

Visiting a few different stores scattered far and wide in London's over 400 square miles to see an incomplete selection is a nightmare compared to a single simple drive to Kidderminster to see all the types in one place.

I'd rather drive to Kidderminster than do all the London visits, and I live in a London Borough!!!
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Oh come on! they could visit E Bikes direct in Battersea and then its about 4-5 miles to Richmond for kalkhoff and a nice ride in Richmond park.

And its really about the local support and backup after buying the thing that is important IMO. We are not all technically proficient particularly with the specific problems associated with e bikes.....

 

[Cyclezee]

Oh come on! they could visit E Bikes direct in Battersea and then its about 4-5 miles to Richmond for kalkhoff and a nice ride in Richmond park.

And its really about the local support and backup after buying the thing that is important IMO. We are not all technically proficient particularly with the specific problems associated with e bikes.....

This is heading off thread, but the point is London is not the best place to buy an electric bike or to travel around looking at them unless you live there and have an Oyster card

I went down to visit my daughter in sunny Peckham recently. Leaving work in Stevenage at 5.15pm, I drove down the A1M and across central London, 3 long tedious hours and 36 miles later, I arrived in Peckham completely knackered . In contrast, I can leave my home in Milton Keynes and be 200 miles north and into the Lake District. (That's a place north of Watford Eddie).

Anyway you can't buy an eZee in London, so what is the point in going there


J hn

 

[eddieo]

I thought the OP was looking at either a Wisper or a Kalkhoff? and I have visited many parts of the UK thanks including the Lakes....

you could have got a train Waterloo and borrowed a Boris bike or a bus...you really need to study green initiatives

 

[flecc]

Last thing on earth I ever want to do is ride a hugely overweight and horribly undergeared Borisbike. About as attractive as getting a piggy-back from Boris in person.

Probably designed by anti-cycling motorists (the bike, not Boris, he's just an accident of creation).
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[Cyclezee]

I thought the OP was looking at either a Wisper or a Kalkhoff? and I have visited many parts of the UK thanks including the Lakes....

you could have got a train Waterloo and borrowed a Boris bike or a bus...you really need to study green initiatives

Appolgies to everyone but Eddie for staying off thread ,

The purpose of my visit to Peckham Eddie, was to remove and dispose of an ancient redundant storage heater from my daughters flat. Can you imagine trying to get that monster metal carcase and 20 graphite blocks onto public transport or one of a Boris bike
As for green initaives, my main vehicle is a 1.4 litre Fiat Doblo which runs on LPG (N.B. congestion charge exempt), and my 2 Litre Mercedes diesel consistently averages over 50 mpg May ask what powers your motor home and how green that is?
Being a resident of south London and an advocate of public transport yourself Eddie, I thought that you might know that travelling from Stevenage (that's in the middle of nowhere BTW) to Peckham via Waterloo is a bit like travelling to France via Holland.

Finally my primary intention was to advise Peter that there are bikes other than Wisper and Kalkhoff worthy of consideration and my personal choice for the purpose for which it is intended would be an eZee Sprint.

J hn

 

[eddieo]

apologies to Peter the OP, but I cant let John away with his petty sarcasm

John, Milton keys to London via France and Holland? how fascinating is that, you either need to get out more or buy a sat nav

Maybe if Ezee or on bike offered some sort of pick up and return courier service (fat chance) I would consider them, but no ebike is without problems, so unless within a reasonable return distance? an utterly stupid purchase IMO

OK for those who can build a bike in the dark or with a bucket over their heads but some of us require support with the E Bikes side of things.

you do make me laugh sometimes, saying straight faced you have no allegiances (nearly coughed up my toast on that one) and constantly promote the bike from the back of beyond....

You could have probably got Lambeth council to pick up your daughters rubbish for nothing or a small fee

 

[bode]

Strikes me that some grumpy old person should read, and make sure he understands, what he is replying to before posting.

 

[Cyclezee]

Eddie,

No offence intended, but you really do need to get your facts straight about so many things before hitting the keys. Having said that, the Forum would be poorer place without you.
I would love to meet you one day, I am sure we could have a good laugh

Unfortunately , I have a plane to catch (not very green I know ), so can't continue with this thread, but if I may just point to a few errors of your errors in this thread.

1. Peckham is in Southwark, not Lambeth.
2. Peter the OP? tut tut not very PC!
3. The bike is for Derek, not Peter.
4. I do have a Sat Nav.
5. eZee bike in the back of beyond with no support http://www.ezeebike.com/Silk_Road_5.pdf
6. Spelling.
7. I do quite like Wisper bikes actually, have you tried one Eddie

J hn

 

[flecc]

you do make me laugh sometimes, saying straight faced you have no allegiances (nearly coughed up my toast on that one) and constantly promote the bike from the back of beyond....

. Pot, kettle, black and Wisper are words that spring to mind!

I think John just considers the eZee bikes the best quality hub motor range on the market now, as I do.

Things can change for the better over time for hub-motor bikes, as they have also for Wisper, but for their combination of price, quality and reliability the current eZee models are very difficult to beat.
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[eddieo]

. Pot, kettle, black and Wisper are words that spring to mind!

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a bit cheeky that....Diffence being MY allegiances are clear and well known and based on the experience of a non technical person? I dont go around saying I have no particular allegiances like John in this thread!

very hard to beat? and why the only person I have seen on here with new Ezee TRS is selling it?




John, OP as in "Original Poster" (Peter) WHO is buying it for Graham? It is YOU who should get grip? but that's the problem, falling over yourself trying to get in another easy Ezee plug

I think you need either a new sat or instructions? Try you tube....

silk road link supposed to give the impression the bikes do not fail? now that is disingenuous...why then not a partially funded courier service to inspire confidence if they are that confident....Pigs will fly?

Our 2 bikes live in the hall and are used regularly thanks

 

[flecc]

very hard to beat? and why the only person I have seen on here with new Ezee TRS is selling it?

Lots of people sell e-bikes for all manner of reasons, one being the wrong choice in the first place. There's no such thing as the universal e-bike for all riders, purposes and terrains as you know already.

As for hard to beat, name me a hub-motor bike range with the same matches of performance, quality and price points.
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[fishingpaul]

John, North of watford? not very often and never through choice.....channel tunnel first stop!

I know you are joking but are trying to make a point non the less, so here is mine. What about support and servicing? and why I will probably regrettably get a Kalkhoff instead of a Swiss Flyer, if I go for a Panasonic, still undecided, some interesting bikes due 2011 me thinks......

Nothing beats a local full service dealer, and Wisper are proven way out in front in this regard let alone with anything else.......And Wisper's David Miall is such a nice bloke and ambassador of UK E biking, how can you not buy a bike from him?

David Miall of Wisper Bikes tells Intruders how he is going to change the daily commute « en-cleantech

I dont think you had the best of local service back in august,when your wisper broke down,it seemed like an ongoing catalogue of errors as you reported,although previously when wisper repaired the bikes themselves the service seemed very good. i would have been most dissapointed with the level of support you recieved.

 

[eddieo]

I dont think you had the best of local service back in august,when your wisper broke down,it seemed like an ongoing catalogue of errors as you reported,although previously when wisper repaired the bikes themselves the service seemed very good. i would have been most dissapointed with the level of support you recieved.

I think you have this wrong

The breakdown while on holiday in Italy was very disappointing and ruined the holiday from a cycling perspective for sure. On my return the bike had a new rear wheel and motor assembly fitted plus a controller under warranty. no arguments, just excellent service as per usual from Wisper. What did you expect them to do for me while away? I dont think many on here travel with there bikes? and so I am hoping that these where exceptional circumstances unlikely to be repeated.....Flecc and others advised so

But I agree I was disappointed and started looking around at other bikes, but sorry I dont really see that the market has changed that much, and wisper still a very good and continually developing line of e bikes, unlike some..... still peddling the same product for years.

as for bias I started of my contribution to this thread suggesting that with the chaps age and that he is a regular cyclist that the Panasonic powered sahel may feel a more natural bike? BUT that he try both a hub bike and a Panasonic bike first.

 

[Alex728]

The breakdown while on holiday in Italy was very disappointing and ruined the holiday from a cycling perspective for sure. On my return the bike had a new rear wheel and motor assembly fitted plus a controller under warranty. no arguments, just excellent service as per usual from Wisper. What did you expect them to do for me while away? I dont think many on here travel with there bikes? and so I am hoping that these where exceptional circumstances unlikely to be repeated.....Flecc and others advised so

Unless the bikes are sold across the EU and UK dealers are willing to work together to solve problems for users outside their home country I think every e-biker could face this problem if they venture outside their normal country and get a breakdown that is not one of the traditional push bike parts.

For instance a Dutch cyclist whose Sparta needs new parts and is in the UK would be limited to places around London and East Anglia...

incidentally are their Wisper dealers/service centres in the Benelux nations? I am considering going cycling in NL or BE in the future but as I would be unlikely to be taking another motor vehicle along with me would need some kind of backup..

I believe even the intrepid Mr Ching has friends/family who can turn up with spares if he needs them and carries some others with him. He is very similar in attitude to my late father (who was born in the same part of the World) and wouldn't set off on a journey without being prepared....

 

[NRG]

We are all to used to modern car travel expecting reliability, at the road side break-fix service and comprehensive pan-european dealer networks. Go back to the 1960's or earlier and taking your car touring through Europe would have required some planning.... you would have prepared for the journey, bought a comprehensive touring repair kit*, familiarised yourself on many aspects of repair and maintenance for your car and bought a service manual! E-bikes are still in the 1960's In this respect but no doubt will improve as time goes by....

* I still have an early 1970's Triumph touring kit, complete. Has all sorts of parts, valves, head gasket, exhaust gaskets, brake cylinder repair kit etc etc

 

[overlander]

Sorry for going off topic but again i think the Trek range also wins hands down again as they do indeed have a worldwide warranty. Every major town will have a trek dealer in it and they are obliged to fix the bike. Trek have explained that not all dealers are geared up for E-Bikes but they could ship the bits out. Not totally ideal but the closest you will get to a worldwide warranty. I do believe that the Trek warranty for standard bikes is the best in the industry.

 

[eddieo]

Sorry for going off topic but again i think the Trek range also wins hands down again as they do indeed have a worldwide warranty. Every major town will have a trek dealer in it and they are obliged to fix the bike. Trek have explained that not all dealers are geared up for E-Bikes but they could ship the bits out. Not totally ideal but the closest you will get to a worldwide warranty. I do believe that the Trek warranty for standard bikes is the best in the industry.

wishful thinking perhaps?

In theory great but in practice? not yet I think.....How many European Trek dealers sell e bikes? There have been many reports on other forum of people having to wait for ever for a BioniX motor etc.......At least with Wisper being a UK firm if you get the bike to them they have every part in house for a speedy turnaround. My bike which needed major surgery was back in under two weeks.

 

[overlander]

Yes, but they do not need to sell e-bikes for the majority of the work, but trek did admit it might have to go to a FX + dealer if it was a tricky electrical fault. But they said if it was obvious the part would be shipped out. But apart from that 70% of the bike will have a full European warranty. But then again i have never tried to claim so talk is cheap but from what i hear they are pretty good with warranty work.

 

[fishingpaul]

wishful thinking perhaps?

In theory great but in practice? not yet I think.....How many European Trek dealers sell e bikes? There have been many reports on other forum of people having to wait for ever for a BioniX motor etc.......At least with Wisper being a UK firm if you get the bike to them they have every part in house for a speedy turnaround. My bike which needed major surgery was back in under two weeks.

Replacing a controller and replacing a rear motor is hardly major surgery,back in under two weeks,for what an average diy electric biker could do in less than two hours is apalling service,i know it was not actually wisper that repaired it but appointed service dealers.who probably knew very little about electric bikes.