Further on Synergie breeze vs powertrek dynamo

[Old Timer]

Just been out for a ride with the guvna Both trying to get our batteries down for a decent charge.

I normally lead the way and have to stop or go slow for my wife to catch up which is no problem as the benefit of spending a bit of quality time out of the house is worth it.

So! I look in my mirrors and all I can see is her front built in dynamo light filling my view. "she must be riding that thing to the death in sports mode" me thinks. No she wasn`t, she uses sports mode on hills now and then but rides around in eco mode. OK, it`s quite windy out today and I have my panniers with emergency gear and I also have a spare battery with leads that can convert the spare battery for either bike + I carry the drinks so I feel a bit better. The battery on the powertrek has never been the brightest spark in the bag so now that I`m running it down I suppose that`s not helping but never the less for someone that actually only cycles about 1/4 of the amount I do and won`t let me adjust her seat to the correct height which would give her more power then I have to say that I`m quite impressed by the performance of the Breeze.
So! I`ll either have to shed some weight in future or when we go out together I`l have to take my Alien conversion

Take note: I did change her 38Tooth front chain ring for a 48Tooth one which made a big difference to her and time will tell how the Brushed motor of the breeze holds up against my brushless motors but as things stand for the money the Synergie Breeze in these early days seems to have been quite a bargain.

Just thought I`d share for anyone thinking about the purchase of a step through bike.

 

[tangent]

Hi,

I would be interested to hear your opinion of the Synergie Breeze. I am considering the purchase of a lower cost second bike to use while I do some repairs to my Giant Lafree. The Synergie Breeze seems remarkable value, so I was wondering what corners have been cut! I may also tempt my wife onto something like the breeze as it looks just like a regular bike.

One thing I have often wondered about bikes with both throttles and pedal sensors is whether the throttle is still speed restricted. i.e. under throttle control, is the speed still limited to 15mph on the Breeze?

 

[Old Timer]

Hi,

I would be interested to hear your opinion of the Synergie Breeze. I am considering the purchase of a lower cost second bike to use while I do some repairs to my Giant Lafree. The Synergie Breeze seems remarkable value, so I was wondering what corners have been cut! I may also tempt my wife onto something like the breeze as it looks just like a regular bike.

One thing I have often wondered about bikes with both throttles and pedal sensors is whether the throttle is still speed restricted. i.e. under throttle control, is the speed still limited to 15mph on the Breeze?

Hiya

Well! Anne has only done about 100 miles on her Breeze so far but she is (surprisingly) quite fussy on a bike.

So Far.

She complained that she was struggling to keep up with me at times(not surprising because I like to push on a bit) we sat down and worked it out and came to the conclusion that it was the gearing, the front chain ring was a 38Tooth and trying to stay behind me in the higher gears saw her little short legs spinning a bit.(another person might like the decent cadence speed but she hasn`t ridden a bike for a nimber of years) although I have noticed that she is riding in a lower gear now so it might have been ok with a bit more time. Anyway, I changed the chain ring from 38-48 and that solved that.
She likes a good part of her foot on the ground when she stops and is only 5`2" tall with shortish legs so I removed the sprung seat post and replaced it with a standard one and dropped it down. Since then she has taken my advice and we have gradually lifted the saddle again and it might well get back to the point where the suspension post goes back in.

So! the only two things we changed might well be put back to standard soon
What is good from a set up point of view is the amount of handlebar adjustment that can be obtained, with the easily adjusted stem clamp to really can fine tune the riding position. It has a economy/sports switch for the pedelec which is absolutely superb at fine tuning assistance on different terrains and I`d love that on my bikes. I`m also pleased with the narrow 700C wheels and tyres that have great rolling and so far in and around our thorn infested lanes have stayed puncture proof (which is not the case for all my bikes)Anne likes the fact that it isn`t heavy to park up on the great centre stand. As far as the battery goes i reckon it would be on par with the best 36V 10amp Li-ion battery out there(it certainly matches my alien kit battery)and the patch leads I made up so she could have access to another battery if needed lay unused in the workshop.

I`ve ridden it myself and it rides and handles a treat with a very easy and comfortable cruising style.(not sure how it would handle being pushed hard on mud tracks but then it is basically designed as a comfortable road bike)

Fit and finish are very good (there was just one small mark on the paintwork that hardly notices) One small nice touch is a light spring that goes between the front down tube and the front forks that is designed to keep the forks in the ahead position when the bike is on the centre stand and the front wheel is off of the ground(seems a bit overkill till you )like me) have a number of bikes in the bike shed parked close together.

The sports setting is a full power setting similar to holding the throttle open fully while pedalling. Hard to judge top speed on just throttle but it beat my Powertrek and was just a tad behind my alien conversion(my conversion is on a very light MTB BTW)

At the price I would have no hesitation recommending it to anyone who wants that style of bike (dutch/euro) in fact I think it would still be a very good buy if the price was closer to £1K.

So! we are very satisfied with the purchase and Anne has actually started to go out on her own which shows confidence in the product in my book.

Dave

 

[tangent]

Thanks Dave. This does sound like an excellent budget bike then. The bike will mainly be used for commuting on London roads. Currently my wife commutes on a budget unpowered bike 3 days a week. I think she does about 8 miles per day. I do about 15 miles, 5 days a week on my Lafree. My wife considers the Lafree too big, even though it is normal size and a step through design which is similar to her own bike. I think the Lafree just looks big due to the longer wheel base.

I am also considering a budget folder from sunlova, available on ebay for £499. As a bike I am sure it is not up to the same standard as the Breeze, but it does have the advantage of being smaller, lighter and easier to put into the back of a car.

 

[Old Timer]

Thanks Dave. This does sound like an excellent budget bike then. The bike will mainly be used for commuting on London roads. Currently my wife commutes on a budget unpowered bike 3 days a week. I think she does about 8 miles per day. I do about 15 miles, 5 days a week on my Lafree. My wife considers the Lafree too big, even though it is normal size and a step through design which is similar to her own bike. I think the Lafree just looks big due to the longer wheel base.

I am also considering a budget folder from sunlova, available on ebay for £499. As a bike I am sure it is not up to the same standard as the Breeze, but it does have the advantage of being smaller, lighter and easier to put into the back of a car.

Shame you don`t live close then you could try it out(North Norfolk)

I`ve just been talking it over with my wife. The Breeze is not a small bike(although having the battery on the rack does shorten the wheel base a lot) She is slightly of the opinion that the Breeze is not a small bike(although not actually chunky) although she loves riding it remember that we ride exclusively around empty country lanes and the handlebars are fairly wide. We brought the breeze mainly because it has a 36V motor which helps when we are out together.
Now my wifes other bike is a Cyclamatic Power plus MTB style bike, she thought that once she got the breeze she would sell the cyclamatic but to be honest I got her to go out on the Plus the other day so that I could keep the battery up to scrath and she came back and thoroughly enjoyed riding it. It does have a cross bar but is quite low(17" frame) and the bike is very light and easy to move around and get through traffic. Because it is a fairly small frame it is a lot easier to get on and off of. Although it is 24V it does seem to go along very well (not on par with my 36V bikes but in town commuting it would be fine.) I know a lot has been said about the Cyclamatic bikes and in fairness it would probably not match up to a more expensive bikes but in all honesty I can`t fault it (time will tell of course)

Just like our two Cyclamatic folders that we love you really can`t beat them for the price.

There are lots of cheap chinese bikes on the market but at least with the cyclamatics they don`t break the bank and there are enough of us that have them to be able to help each other.

How tall is your wife?

Dave

 

[tangent]

Hi Dave,

my wife is 5' 5" tall. Her current bike, which she is happy with, is a 21 speed Falcon Adventurer, 16" frame, 42" wheelbase. The handlebars are 24". She admits to only using the middle 7 gears. In comparison, my "too big" Lafree has a 18" frame with a 46" wheelbase.

What size is the Breeze?

Paul

 

[Old Timer]

Hi Dave,

my wife is 5' 5" tall. Her current bike, which she is happy with, is a 21 speed Falcon Adventurer, 16" frame, 42" wheelbase. The handlebars are 24". She admits to only using the middle 7 gears. In comparison, my "too big" Lafree has a 18" frame with a 46" wheelbase.

What size is the Breeze?

Paul

I`ve got a feeling it`s around 19"