first ride out on Storck Raddar.....

mountainsport · Dec 29, 2012

dmcgoldrick said:
View attachment 4732

first quick ride out (14 miles 2,000 ft of climb) on Storck Raddar.......top quality bike with silent smooth assist.........

regards

Thanks for sharing with us your own personal test riding experience with all four ebikes.Dave, some while ago i had also test ridden the Storck Raddar ebike,for me it rode ok, and now that you are familiar with this bike,what is your thought on not having a front fork suspension fitted?
Some people may just think that it is not necessarily important due to a bike being fitted with two large fat tyres.So is this a must for you,or was that test ride so sweet that you hadn't even notice hitting the deep pot holes? If any.
Anyway,hurry up and please give us an quick update on ebike number 5 which or whatever tickles your fantacy sorry!! i had meant to say your fancy.

Mountainsport

piotrmacheta · Dec 29, 2012

I had a chance to ride a Storck a few weeks ago. I would find it difficult to get used to the rigid fork now that I've had a suspension fork for 20 years. Fat tyres just don't do it. It's easy to fit a sus fork onto a Storck, it's just the cost with good ones over £500 but if you're going to spend the £2k+ on a bike then it's easy to justify.

mountainsport · Dec 29, 2012

piotrmacheta said:
I had a chance to ride a Storck a few weeks ago. I would find it difficult to get used to the rigid fork now that I've had a suspension fork for 20 years. Fat tyres just don't do it. It's easy to fit a sus fork onto a Storck, it's just the cost with good ones over £500 but if you're going to spend the £2k+ on a bike then it's easy to justify.

Respect to Ian and Storck Raddar ebikes,but in my dictionary the word Justify means £2k+ equals to all in the whole works minus any computer extras that is.

Mountainspot. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

103Alex1 · Dec 29, 2012

mountainsport said:
Respect to Ian and Storck Raddar ebikes,but in my dictionary the word Justify means £2k+ equals to all in the whole works minus any computer extras that is.

Mountainspot. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I think this bike looks a nice high-end bike for proper cyclists who aren't looking at off-roading. However, I think it's priced at a good £1000 more than it's really worth. If I was rolling in cash and wanted an extra bike that didn't also double for shopping etc. I might consider getting one to add to a collection. As a primary bike it's an expensive indulgence.

Cakey · Dec 29, 2012

I ride my Storck everyday , upto now 6000 and counting, flawless.

jackhandy · Dec 29, 2012

Interesting - Over-expensive indulgence? or A damn good bike, worth every penny?

What makes it worth paying "£1,000 more than it's worth", Dave?

mountainsport · Dec 29, 2012

103Alex1 said:
I think this bike looks a nice high-end bike for proper cyclists who aren't looking at off-roading. However, I think it's priced at a good £1000 more than it's really worth. If I was rolling in cash and wanted an extra bike that didn't also double for shopping etc. I might consider getting one to add to a collection. As a primary bike it's an expensive indulgence.

Yes i do here you loud and clearly,but without being harsh to anybody on here as a dealer,how would you categorise this quality bike along with the STROMER,E-MOTION,GRACE1 plus any other make that you can think of.

Mountainsport. Sorry for putting you all under extreme pressure now providing that and if you want to reply to this xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Deleted member 4366 · Dec 29, 2012

jackhandy said:
Interesting - Over-expensive indulgence? or A damn good bike, worth every penny?

What makes it worth paying "£1,000 more than it's worth", Dave?

It's a bit like hifi. Some people can hear a difference and they're happy to pay more to get that difference. If you can't hear the difference, you wonder why they want to pay. When I tried the Storck, it didn't (to me) seem to have any advantage over much cheaper bikes. It doesn't have much power and is not a particular comfy ride. It won't suit heavy or unfit people like me.

piotrmacheta · Dec 29, 2012

After I tried the Storck a few weeks ago I posted my experience with it. In it I said how impressive the bike was with really smooth integration with my pedalling effort but I personally would have it with a sus fork for the commuting I do.
I would have no problem spending £2k+ on a bike of this quality.

mountainsport · Dec 29, 2012

Sorry guy's for being a hypocrite here,ok the bike does look stunning to look at.Add these four features to the bike then i would think differently i.e nearer to perfection.

1. FRONT SUSPENSION.
2. EXTENEDED HANDLE BAR STEM.
3.THE OPTION TO USE PAS/WRIST TWIST THROTTLE,DONT LIKE THUMB THROTTLE.
4.AND FINALLY,AN LCD DASH PANEL TO TOP IT ALL OFF.

THEN £2K+ WOULD BE MUCH MORE EASIER TO PART WITH MINUS THE REGRETFUL SLEEPNESS NIGHTS.

Mountainsport..

103Alex1 · Dec 29, 2012

dmcgoldrick said:
front suspension would depend on what your use for the bike was.....on tarmac the suspension would just slow the bike down....
i had an extender fitted to lift bars for a more comfortable riding position (more upright)
there is not a throttle....just a variable assist setting thumb control
i have a garmin gps so dont require any other instruments....i would only suggest the on /off switch be removable for security reasons.

by the way, i got mine at a bargain price so sleeping with a smile..........

regards

It's interesting what matters to people and what doesn't. For me, Front Sus is a must on a heavy bike (i.e. anything over about 11kg total) as I ride pretty fast and don't want to have to avoid every pothole and surface water drainage grille. With an eBike, being slowed down isn't a big deal as you can almost always hit 15mph bar a very steep hill even with a decent 250W crank drive. You're not going to break any records unassisted riding on something with regular tyres that weighs in at 3 times a road bike.

I have to agree with Mountainsport to a degree - the variable assist being a thumb control rather than a twist is a big downside in my book. Presumably the gear changing is a twist and that's why you have to have a thumb control ?

I also like a proper LCD display as I watch the speedo on and off along every stretch of road and always have an eye on the residual battery levels on longer rides. Gives a true live indicator of performance of the bike and the relative indicator of usage / motor draw acts as an incentive to put in more efficient pedal effort and improve gear changing sometimes at lower speeds. Don't know whether these things are relevant on a hub drive but I found them useful when learning how to ride a crank more effectively.

The bike is a completely different style of setup in many ways but I'm sure it has its fans. It's a bit like gear change levers - Personally cannot stand thumb changers like you get on say Shimano Tiagra or Sora systems. Others dislike the levers on the brake shifters that come with 105s etc. It's each to their own.

jerrysimon · Dec 29, 2012

Nice review dmcgoldrick.

My Cytronex never had front suspension and with those larger wheels its probably not needed and would add more weight.

Well done on the purchase and I hope you enjoy many miles on it. You have some lovely places/scenery to ride in.

Regards

Jerry

103Alex1 · Dec 30, 2012

dmcgoldrick said:
ha ha alex, £1000 overpriced....what rubbish , of course sellers need to make profit etc so we can legitimately say that everything is 'overpriced' but normally products sell at what the market will take or they dont sell at all. Storck are a well established high quality bike manufacturer so even with marketing hype,they should know the market value of their products...... enjoy your Kalkhoff Agattu C11 Premium Impulse 11-G Alfine at rrp £2695 is obviously a 'steal'.......and worth every penny (especially at discount in the xmas sale).....
dont get stranded too far from home on it......24kg crank bike will take some pedalling (or pushing) home if you run out of battery......
regards

I'm not saying the C11 isn't overpriced too - but I think by about £600 at RRP. The mark-up is down to the hub gears, expensive front hub dynamo lighting and trip computer technology (which you either value or you don't - I personally far prefer hub gears to any others but would like a Rohloff even more).

My comments are objective not competitive so don't take them personally .. the Storck is definitely priced well over what it objectively should be for what it actually is. The same is true for most high-end bikes. Very bad value for money but a noticeable cut above the flodded middle space market so people pay pure profit premium merely for that. The differentiating factors with the Storck in the hub drive space seem to be the high-torque motor (but compare Neo and price point), regen (for what it's really worth) and continuous throttle (this system should have been industry standard on hub bikes by now .. imho).

Storck are presumably cashing in on their torque sensor patent at the moment as it's the only thing which I can see as a USP, but when alternative technology is developed by others to deliver similar results its value will collapse. I don't think it will be long somehow.

As I said before, I think it's a nice bike and would no doubt be nice to ride (definitely one of the more desirable ones), but I don't think it's worth the price and there are too many areas which are too much of a compromise over the features I personally like best (which don't necessarily cost that much more for the manufacturer). Change them and I'd be far more attracted to it. As someone who uses a single bike rather than any other sort of transport for pretty much everything from heavy shopping (25-30kg of it sometimes), getting to clients some distance away and some longer leisure rides too I prefer what I have. If I wanted a bike purely for leisure and the odd errand the Storck would likely have been more attractive, but I still wouldn't pay more than £1800-£2k for it. The extra grand is a rip. Just like Mercedes cars are simply not worth their price tag these days.

Btw .. I ride my bike with the power off as well as on ... but fortunately there is far less chance of my becoming stranded far from home with a 36V 540Wh 15Ah battery than with most retail bikes on the market (including the Storck). On Eco mode in average terrains it could happily do 70-100 miles, so that should be enough to get me to the nearest charging point

I'd be a little more nervous with a 25V 10Ah one, to be fair !!!

tappy · Dec 30, 2012

I'm glad you are enjoying your bike Dave and also some great countryside.
As many have discussed here, the Storck Raddar may not fit the bill for everyone for their riding requirements, thats why there is so much choice out there.
In terms of value for money, you really need to take into consideration a number of points: Frame: A very expensive 7005 Alloy tripple butted frame (not cheap plain gauge) double smooth welded and expensive powder coat paint. Groupset: Shimano Deore 27 speed with Deore Hydraulic brakes. Storck Custom Bar, stem, seatpost. Motor: Unique Raddar motor, completely silent and smooth with automatic regen.
In terms of design: Markus Storck is a very clever bike designer. He has been designing and producing high-end road and mountain bikes for the past 15 years. One of his road bikes, the Fascenario 0.6 was tested and reviewed against 200 bikes over 20 years (Tour Magazine) and was voted 'Best Bike in the World' . So you know when you own a Storck bike (road, mountain, city or pedelec) it's going to be a bit special.
Cheers,
Ian

eddieo · Dec 31, 2012

we are badly represented in the UK with direct drive/Go Swiss drive bikes. there is a a far better choice in Germany of the more powerful 36 V versions with a choice of battery's up to 20 Ah. these bikes slaughter the S type Bosch/Panasonic bikes with unparalleled hill climbing ability according to German enthusiasts (reviews and comparisons)

As for the Storke I also found it weak and could not understand what the fuss was about...... The reason I went for another Bosch powered bike last summer..

http://www.elektrobike-online.com/news/e-bikes-und-pedelecs/breitseite-bulls-bringt-2012-viele-sport-pedelecs-von-copperhead-jinga-und-mountain-29-bis-cross-disc-und-sportslite.564565.410636.htm

http://www.endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=31973

RobF · Dec 31, 2012

eddieo said:
Breitseite: Bulls bringt 2012 viele Sport-Pedelecs von Copperhead, Jinga und Mountain 29 bis Cross Disc und Sportslite bei elektrobike-online.com

My German isn't up to much, but 500W and 19AH sounds good to me.

What doesn't sound quite so good is 3,499 euro.

Neu 2012: Bulls erstes S-Pedelec Green Mover E45 - schick und stark bei elektrobike-online.com

first ride out on Storck Raddar.....

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