Reviewer: Stefan Hyun Lee
Purchased From: GoCycle (Website)
Purchase Price: £1,300
Time Owned: 20 months
Local Terrain: Flat and Moderate Hills
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Strengths:
1) Design – Excellent
I would definitely recommend GoCycle if you are after modern and unique design. It is certainly eye catching bike with solid magnesium alloy frame and wheels. Number of times I was asked about the bike by general public and cyclists when I was in town or carrying it on trains. I work for an exhibition company and occasionally I use the bike in exhibition centres as sometimes it can take more than 15 minutes to travel from one end to the other end on foot. Again I often get questioned about the bike from many onsite staff and exhibitors.
2) Customer Services – Excellent
I bought my G1 directly from their GoCycle. It took only 2 days to get the bike delivered which was impressive. The bike came with number of documents and a CD containing a user manual. Very informative and detailed manual covering almost all maintenance works with pictures. I had to contact (email via GoCycle website) technical support on a number of occasions and I always had a response within 1-2 working days.
3) Riding - Good
We have two different offices. When I cycle to London office (Victoria-High Street Kensington, 2mi one way, flat), I barely use motor power. Its three gears are more than enough for city ride. I should say it’s bumpy and not very stable at high speed but these problems are usual for small wheeled bikes.
I definitely benefit from motor power when I travel to Redhill office (Purley-Redhill, 7.5mi one way, hilly). Riding on A23 with both racing motorists and cyclists motor power does make a big difference. It use to take me about 40mins to get there with a hybrid bike but with a help of motor power it takes only 25 mins now.
4) Battery- Good
Gocycle website states their battery lasts 20 miles (Empower mode) and 40 miles (Pedelec mode) and I think those figures are fairly accurate. However, like most other batteries, power decreases gradually and I can feel the difference after 8-10 miles on Empower mode perhaps loss of 30-40% battery power. After 13-15 miles you can hear the motor spinning but not really adding any moving power to the wheel. But 10 mile range covers most of city commuting distance and their new Lithium battery may perform even batter. One thing to note is that during the winter time I have to warm the battery up before the ride otherwise I see 30-50% deduction of power at start.
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Weaknesses:
5) Portability - Moderate
I had very little information when I purchased G1. In fact only reliable information available at that time was some YouTube video reviews and official specs and tech sheets. From what I understood it was a folding bike. It is a folding bike but once you fold it is very hard to carry as you need to physically detach both wheels out and carry them with the main frame. I work in London and leaving my G1 in the street is not an option even with a Sold Secure Silver rated heavy duty chain. I bought a soft bag from GoCycle but as it requires a foam cradle to go with, which is big, I found it is impractical to carry every day. However, for the last two years, I’ve never encountered any problem at train stations where station staff only allow a folding bike to be carried on trains during the morning and evening peak hours as G1 does look like a folding bike.
6) User Interface – Poor
There is no indicator to show remaining battery, speed and other useful stats. Only system indication is a beep sound to alert either system is up or battery is running low. I know an indicator is attached to their new G2 bike and battery so may not be an issue for new G2 owners.
7) Reliability – Poor
Since I purchased G1 – 20 months ago - I had to replace a gearbox, motor, rear wheel sensor, front and rear mudguards. I understand owning an electric bike especially the first generation always comes with more chance something could go wrong than having a conventional bike. However excluding mechanical parts of the bike, I think of 3 electric parts in G1 (motor, sensor and controller) 2 parts malfunctioning within 12 months and 18 months respectively is not acceptable. Unlike push bikes, it’s almost impossible to find a bike shop where they can service G1 therefore you end up packing the bike and send it to GoCycle service centre adding £20-30 to send a part and £40-50 to send the bike with high value insurance.
I have strong feeling that the both front and rear mudguards are wrongly designed. A thin plastic mudguard supported by a light metal bar with two holes cannot securely hold a heavy rubber mud flap. Even at normal speed the mud flap bounces irregularly and creates stress hotspots in both plastic and metal components that eventually break up. This happened whilst I was riding at speed of 20mph on A23 with cars and lorries accelerating to max speed. Some people might say this can happen to other bikes but at least there are alternative options available for conventional bikes whereas GoCycle users can only fit mudguards specially produced for GoCycle. At least GoCycle updated their design with the rear mudguard to tackle the problem yet I believe they should recall all previously produced mudguards.
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Summary:
Despite the reliability issues and some concerns over its safety I still see GoCycle can be attractive to city commuters and occasional riders. However I would say GoCycle is not yet fit for long commute (over 5mi one way) and those who want to save money as for me all the savings from public transport had to be diverted to fix and maintain the bike. Now my G1's speed sensor is on and off and not sure if I can justify spending yet another money to fix this expensive bike.
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Overall Rating (out of 10) : 6
Purchased From: GoCycle (Website)
Purchase Price: £1,300
Time Owned: 20 months
Local Terrain: Flat and Moderate Hills
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Strengths:
1) Design – Excellent
I would definitely recommend GoCycle if you are after modern and unique design. It is certainly eye catching bike with solid magnesium alloy frame and wheels. Number of times I was asked about the bike by general public and cyclists when I was in town or carrying it on trains. I work for an exhibition company and occasionally I use the bike in exhibition centres as sometimes it can take more than 15 minutes to travel from one end to the other end on foot. Again I often get questioned about the bike from many onsite staff and exhibitors.
2) Customer Services – Excellent
I bought my G1 directly from their GoCycle. It took only 2 days to get the bike delivered which was impressive. The bike came with number of documents and a CD containing a user manual. Very informative and detailed manual covering almost all maintenance works with pictures. I had to contact (email via GoCycle website) technical support on a number of occasions and I always had a response within 1-2 working days.
3) Riding - Good
We have two different offices. When I cycle to London office (Victoria-High Street Kensington, 2mi one way, flat), I barely use motor power. Its three gears are more than enough for city ride. I should say it’s bumpy and not very stable at high speed but these problems are usual for small wheeled bikes.
I definitely benefit from motor power when I travel to Redhill office (Purley-Redhill, 7.5mi one way, hilly). Riding on A23 with both racing motorists and cyclists motor power does make a big difference. It use to take me about 40mins to get there with a hybrid bike but with a help of motor power it takes only 25 mins now.
4) Battery- Good
Gocycle website states their battery lasts 20 miles (Empower mode) and 40 miles (Pedelec mode) and I think those figures are fairly accurate. However, like most other batteries, power decreases gradually and I can feel the difference after 8-10 miles on Empower mode perhaps loss of 30-40% battery power. After 13-15 miles you can hear the motor spinning but not really adding any moving power to the wheel. But 10 mile range covers most of city commuting distance and their new Lithium battery may perform even batter. One thing to note is that during the winter time I have to warm the battery up before the ride otherwise I see 30-50% deduction of power at start.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Weaknesses:
5) Portability - Moderate
I had very little information when I purchased G1. In fact only reliable information available at that time was some YouTube video reviews and official specs and tech sheets. From what I understood it was a folding bike. It is a folding bike but once you fold it is very hard to carry as you need to physically detach both wheels out and carry them with the main frame. I work in London and leaving my G1 in the street is not an option even with a Sold Secure Silver rated heavy duty chain. I bought a soft bag from GoCycle but as it requires a foam cradle to go with, which is big, I found it is impractical to carry every day. However, for the last two years, I’ve never encountered any problem at train stations where station staff only allow a folding bike to be carried on trains during the morning and evening peak hours as G1 does look like a folding bike.
6) User Interface – Poor
There is no indicator to show remaining battery, speed and other useful stats. Only system indication is a beep sound to alert either system is up or battery is running low. I know an indicator is attached to their new G2 bike and battery so may not be an issue for new G2 owners.
7) Reliability – Poor
Since I purchased G1 – 20 months ago - I had to replace a gearbox, motor, rear wheel sensor, front and rear mudguards. I understand owning an electric bike especially the first generation always comes with more chance something could go wrong than having a conventional bike. However excluding mechanical parts of the bike, I think of 3 electric parts in G1 (motor, sensor and controller) 2 parts malfunctioning within 12 months and 18 months respectively is not acceptable. Unlike push bikes, it’s almost impossible to find a bike shop where they can service G1 therefore you end up packing the bike and send it to GoCycle service centre adding £20-30 to send a part and £40-50 to send the bike with high value insurance.
I have strong feeling that the both front and rear mudguards are wrongly designed. A thin plastic mudguard supported by a light metal bar with two holes cannot securely hold a heavy rubber mud flap. Even at normal speed the mud flap bounces irregularly and creates stress hotspots in both plastic and metal components that eventually break up. This happened whilst I was riding at speed of 20mph on A23 with cars and lorries accelerating to max speed. Some people might say this can happen to other bikes but at least there are alternative options available for conventional bikes whereas GoCycle users can only fit mudguards specially produced for GoCycle. At least GoCycle updated their design with the rear mudguard to tackle the problem yet I believe they should recall all previously produced mudguards.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary:
Despite the reliability issues and some concerns over its safety I still see GoCycle can be attractive to city commuters and occasional riders. However I would say GoCycle is not yet fit for long commute (over 5mi one way) and those who want to save money as for me all the savings from public transport had to be diverted to fix and maintain the bike. Now my G1's speed sensor is on and off and not sure if I can justify spending yet another money to fix this expensive bike.
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Overall Rating (out of 10) : 6
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