Is the Alien Aurora a beast as Jim at Alien says???

[Old Timer]

Got my hands on an Aurora today, Jim! I make you right mate, it is a beast

Faster and more powerful than my twin 36V 250Watt hubs bike. Only had time for a quick test tonight before the football but I came back smiling. Full test to come (off road of course

Dave

 

[rustic]

Hi Dave,

I'd be interested to hear what off road speeds the bike will go on throttle only? Is the battery any different to the Alien GSII? It certainly is a nice looking, very discrete bike, I like the fact that the handlebar stem looks that much longer, I look forawrd to an in depth review. Enjoy, Rus.

 

[Old Timer]

Hi Dave,

I'd be interested to hear what off road speeds the bike will go on throttle only? Is the battery any different to the Alien GSII? It certainly is a nice looking, very discrete bike, I like the fact that the handlebar stem looks that much longer, I look forawrd to an in depth review. Enjoy, Rus.

Hiya

The battery is the same as the latest Alien kit (36V 10Amp) it has an unusual connector, similar to a kettle plug but only two flat pins, you slide the battery into the rack like before but it connects through this unusual plug. here IMG_0053.jpg photo - david chilvers photos at pbase.com and here
IMG_0057.jpg photo - david chilvers photos at pbase.com (Nrg or Onmebike can`t find them on the net)

The stem is adjustable and the riser is the old style Quill type with one bolt down the centre that pulls up a wedge. With the stem adjusted right up and the quill up to the limit line they are high enough for me that I don`t need bar ends, I can sit upright as is. I won`t have a computer for about a week so won`t know the true speed yet. The 7 speed gears are nicely spaced out with one extra large bottom gear if needed. The large chainring is 48T but top gear is 13T cog so that is fairly high. It will take a larger chain ring for sure (52T or 55T) becuase on the short run tonight I was pedalling quite fast in top and the motor was still powering me along so I reckon more teeth will see more speed.

 

[NRG]

I've drawn a blank on those connectors as well Dave, they look like IEC C23/24 but the pins are not on the centre line and the keyed indent is missing, so certainly not in the IEC 60320 standard as far as I can tell...

Interesting what you say about the Aurora, wouldn't mind testing one as well, I do have a doubt about the battery though...that extra current draw is going to limit range somewhat but then it is meant for off-road

 

[Old Timer]

I've drawn a blank on those connectors as well Dave, they look like IEC C23/24 but the pins are not on the centre line and the keyed indent is missing, so certainly not in the IEC 60320 standard as far as I can tell...

Interesting what you say about the Aurora, wouldn't mind testing one as well, I do have a doubt about the battery though...that extra current draw is going to limit range somewhat but then it is meant for off-road

Thanks for looking for the connector. It`s the same on the latest Alien kit as well.

Battery life so far. Around 25 miles on first charge using med and high with varying amounts of throttle and pedelec and built in lights on all the time + 1 hr suspended in the workshop with motor running. On the road down to one light but still going. Stuck it on charge again now but I reckon it will probably level out at around 30 miles per charge which isn`t bad considering the punch this thing has. So! enough for an average two way commute. It has a 48 front large ring and 13 rear and is crying out for a 52 front (soon Bob was saying in his advert that the control system is the best his put together and the way the new readout falls to your left thumb with one touch low, med and high + on/off and battery lights that appear to be just about on the button so far. The switch from throttle to pedelec is by your right thumb and is easy to switch and the throttle is nice and progressive so I make him right.. The gears are 21 speed Shimano Tourney but the ratios on all but the grannie gear are nice and close and the mech works seemlessly. The saddle looks like being a keeper. With the suspesion seat post right down it`s just about right for me at 5`10 1/2" without a suspension post it would be fine for 5`8" so it is a fair sized frame but seems so far to be handling well and be very positive to turn in. Front forks are doing a good job with no crashing over bumps. Having a fair sized rear hub and high set battery makes the bike a bit rear heavy when pushing it around but no problem on the road. Putting a spare battery on the rack as well and it needs a side stand rather than the centre stand it has as standard.A crossbar battery bag would probably be a good idea if you carry a spare as it would balance out the weight distribution. Med power is well up on par with any 36V 250Watt hub I have ridden with high power a treat when you are in a hurry or approach a hill. Fit and finish is good, mudguards are not quite SKS but are adequate. Wiring is neat and tidy with most wires inside those wirly gigs.Front and rear disks are the same as my Powertrek ones but with a touch more feel to them.Battery rattles in carrier( no change there then) Pedals actually have bearings for a change Decent adj handlebars and stem with plenty of height. You get a polished ali bottle but it doesn`t fit the bottle cage properly. The supplied panniers are really huge( I mean really huge) and have no lower inside tie downs but I soon fixed that. Rear light is a bulb and is about as bright as I`ve seen. Front light is three led`s and bright enough for average riding.(nothing special but good enough)
Importantly and overlooked by many a rider is frame comfort and I have no complaints at all as yet. I think the front suspension feeling so good is helped by the weight being rear biased which takes the strain away from the forks and at least it would lend itself to a crossbar or handlebar bag. Performance wise i can`t fault it and remember I sit bolt upright when riding.

I think what a lot of people miss is the importance of spending time to set things up right for yourself and I always go out on a first test ride with a selection of spanners and allen keys that fit the most important adjustments like bars, saddle, handlebars fittings etc I always fit a end of bar mirror and had to open the bars to 18mm to fit the standard Blackburn mirror that I like.

So! my wife breathed a sigh of relief when I returned today with a smile. She knows only too well how moody and irritable I can get when things are just also runs and luckily this bike doesn`t fall into that category and of course the icing on the cake is the British based company where Jim will always try to put things right should they go amiss.

Well done Bob this could well be your best bike so far mate.

More to come with more use.

Dave

 

[alex_h]

yes it looks all very nice as an illegal bike. The extra current that drains this battery might shorten its life. Do you know what type is it? and who makes this battery?

best regards

alex

 

[NRG]

Thanks Dave, if the range on Medium power works out at 30miles then its about the same as my GSII, not bad at all....

 

[Old Timer]

yes it looks all very nice as an illegal bike. The extra current that drains this battery might shorten its life. Do you know what type is it? and who makes this battery?

best regards

alex

The battery is marked Phylion(Li-ion), similar size and weight to my wifes Synergie Breeze battery and identical to the latest Alien 36V road legal kit. Of course the point is to use the extra power as and when it`s needed, on the other hand if you found a quiet canal path(lets say) and fancied an hour or so of out and out fun then this seems to be the kiddie but to be quite honest it is a decent bike even leaving aside the power.

 

[simonbarnett]

Thanks for looking for the connector. It`s the same on the latest Alien kit as well.

Battery life so far. Around 25 miles on first charge using med and high with varying amounts of throttle and pedelec and built in lights on all the time + 1 hr suspended in the workshop with motor running. On the road down to one light but still going. Stuck it on charge again now but I reckon it will probably level out at around 30 miles per charge which isn`t bad considering the punch this thing has. So! enough for an average two way commute. It has a 48 front large ring and 13 rear and is crying out for a 52 front (soon Bob was saying in his advert that the control system is the best his put together and the way the new readout falls to your left thumb with one touch low, med and high + on/off and battery lights that appear to be just about on the button so far. The switch from throttle to pedelec is by your right thumb and is easy to switch and the throttle is nice and progressive so I make him right.. The gears are 21 speed Shimano Tourney but the ratios on all but the grannie gear are nice and close and the mech works seemlessly. The saddle looks like being a keeper. With the suspesion seat post right down it`s just about right for me at 5`10 1/2" without a suspension post it would be fine for 5`8" so it is a fair sized frame but seems so far to be handling well and be very positive to turn in. Front forks are doing a good job with no crashing over bumps. Having a fair sized rear hub and high set battery makes the bike a bit rear heavy when pushing it around but no problem on the road. Putting a spare battery on the rack as well and it needs a side stand rather than the centre stand it has as standard.A crossbar battery bag would probably be a good idea if you carry a spare as it would balance out the weight distribution. Med power is well up on par with any 36V 250Watt hub I have ridden with high power a treat when you are in a hurry or approach a hill. Fit and finish is good, mudguards are not quite SKS but are adequate. Wiring is neat and tidy with most wires inside those wirly gigs.Front and rear disks are the same as my Powertrek ones but with a touch more feel to them.Battery rattles in carrier( no change there then) Pedals actually have bearings for a change Decent adj handlebars and stem with plenty of height. You get a polished ali bottle but it doesn`t fit the bottle cage properly. The supplied panniers are really huge( I mean really huge) and have no lower inside tie downs but I soon fixed that. Rear light is a bulb and is about as bright as I`ve seen. Front light is three led`s and bright enough for average riding.(nothing special but good enough)
Importantly and overlooked by many a rider is frame comfort and I have no complaints at all as yet. I think the front suspension feeling so good is helped by the weight being rear biased which takes the strain away from the forks and at least it would lend itself to a crossbar or handlebar bag. Performance wise i can`t fault it and remember I sit bolt upright when riding.

I think what a lot of people miss is the importance of spending time to set things up right for yourself and I always go out on a first test ride with a selection of spanners and allen keys that fit the most important adjustments like bars, saddle, handlebars fittings etc I always fit a end of bar mirror and had to open the bars to 18mm to fit the standard Blackburn mirror that I like.

So! my wife breathed a sigh of relief when I returned today with a smile. She knows only too well how moody and irritable I can get when things are just also runs and luckily this bike doesn`t fall into that category and of course the icing on the cake is the British based company where Jim will always try to put things right should they go amiss.

Well done Bob this could well be your best bike so far mate.

More to come with more use.

Dave

I'm interested in your observations about height/frame size as Alien are clear this is built for the taller rider, without a smaller option. I'm also 5'10" and about 30"inside leg but the quoted seat height was daunting. but you seem ok with it?

 

[Old Timer]

I'm interested in your observations about height/frame size as Alien are clear this is built for the taller rider, without a smaller option. I'm also 5'10" and about 30"inside leg but the quoted seat height was daunting. but you seem ok with it?

Hiya Simon

As you might be aware, most people( maybe casual E bikers are more prone) tend to ride a bike for the compromise of comfort and safety. I`m gradually getting my wifes saddle a little higher each time we go out so that she gets the benefit from all the power from her legs and also avoids knee wear and injury. I `ve got her to mounting the bike saddle as she opens the throttle and popping back up onto the saddle and then dropping off of the saddle when she pulls up rather than relying on getting her foot firmly on the ground. Sheldons states" that if you can touch the ground with comfort when you stop from the saddle then your saddle is to low" and I make him right, although I set mine up and can just tip toe my left foot down.

After riding the bike a few times now and adjusting the saddle from angle and height I`m near enough right( I will normally then mark the tiube) With the suspension tube in place I`m riding the bike with the saddle right down so if I removed the suspension tube(which I might well do because to be honest you can get the height a lot closer to optimum with a solid tube) then I would have approx 2" that I could drop the saddle if required. My inside leg is 31" so you will still have some leeway having a 30" inside leg.

The problem with suspension tubes is that the saddle is higher and harder to get onto when standing idle because they drop when your bum gets on them so a non suspension tube allows the saddle to be a bit lower to start with anyway. (That is providing you set the suspension tube up high enough so that when your weight goes on the tube drops to the optimum height) which I`m afraid is not how most casual riders set up. Also, pay attention to the knee position over the pedals.

Speaking as someone who has spent a lot of my working life on my knees and get problems from time to time, if my bike is not set up as per someone like Sheldons advice then my knees play up, get the angles and height right and I have no problems.

So! the short answer to your question is yes you will be fine with the non suspended post and the suspended post might be OK provided you set the thing up to your height properly and mount and dismount as mentioned. Also worth noting is that the supplied saddle is not bad at all as far as supplied saddles go but it is fairly well padded so even a lower profile saddle(which doesn`t mean uncomfortable btw) will give you even more scope as far as height goes.

If you go for the bike then let us know what you think and enjoy the extra push it gives you when needed.

Dave

 

[Old Timer]

For those interested I fitted and calibrated a computer to the aurora today and on flat ground it showed 24mph on high power flat on throttle out with a touch on semi headwind. It feels faster but what it does have is that it gets there fast and pulls superbly from standing starts.

Now it`s set up more or less how I want it what I have noticed is just how comfortable the frame rides. I`m not really too suprised seeing as it is basically a push bike frame design rather than an E bike design. Of course the slight downside is having the battery weight at high level as opposed to behind the seat post and lower but it really is only apparent when pushing the bike out of the shed.

I didn`t think I would ever use the low power setting but today I wanted to poodle along for a while and I was quite surprised that I was able to ride slowly but still with assistance.

So far I`m still quite impressed with the bike and to be quite honest the only thing of any problem has been the rather narrow centre stand that I have now changed over to a side stand. The centre stand was fine in the shed or in shelter but at only 4" inside the legs it was nowhere near as stable as my wifes centre stand on her Breeze which measures 7 1/2" inside the legs.

There might be times when I will want to carry a spare battery for distance and a second battery on top of the original would have made the bike quite back heavy so I fitted a Blackburn front pannier rack for such times to even out the load (and it might come in handy for other things, the payload on the rack is 25lb and on the Aurora front forks it was very easy to fit because there are a multitude of tapped fixing points on these forks(makes a nice change)

This is the rack BTW Blackburn MF1 MTN fork fitting front rack Silver

 

[simonbarnett]

Hiya Simon

As you might be aware, most people( maybe casual E bikers are more prone) tend to ride a bike for the compromise of comfort and safety. I`m gradually getting my wifes saddle a little higher each time we go out so that she gets the benefit from all the power from her legs and also avoids knee wear and injury. I `ve got her to mounting the bike saddle as she opens the throttle and popping back up onto the saddle and then dropping off of the saddle when she pulls up rather than relying on getting her foot firmly on the ground. Sheldons states" that if you can touch the ground with comfort when you stop from the saddle then your saddle is to low" and I make him right, although I set mine up and can just tip toe my left foot down.

After riding the bike a few times now and adjusting the saddle from angle and height I`m near enough right( I will normally then mark the tiube) With the suspension tube in place I`m riding the bike with the saddle right down so if I removed the suspension tube(which I might well do because to be honest you can get the height a lot closer to optimum with a solid tube) then I would have approx 2" that I could drop the saddle if required. My inside leg is 31" so you will still have some leeway having a 30" inside leg.

The problem with suspension tubes is that the saddle is higher and harder to get onto when standing idle because they drop when your bum gets on them so a non suspension tube allows the saddle to be a bit lower to start with anyway. (That is providing you set the suspension tube up high enough so that when your weight goes on the tube drops to the optimum height) which I`m afraid is not how most casual riders set up. Also, pay attention to the knee position over the pedals.

Speaking as someone who has spent a lot of my working life on my knees and get problems from time to time, if my bike is not set up as per someone like Sheldons advice then my knees play up, get the angles and height right and I have no problems.

So! the short answer to your question is yes you will be fine with the non suspended post and the suspended post might be OK provided you set the thing up to your height properly and mount and dismount as mentioned. Also worth noting is that the supplied saddle is not bad at all as far as supplied saddles go but it is fairly well padded so even a lower profile saddle(which doesn`t mean uncomfortable btw) will give you even more scope as far as height goes.

If you go for the bike then let us know what you think and enjoy the extra push it gives you when needed.

Dave

Thanks Dave- the advice on suspension posts echoes my old Agattu experience- they're first to be ditched if you want a reliable height. My PCS doesn't have one and I set it so I can tip-toe on one side to the ground, so I'm close to what you recommend.

Aurora looks a great bargain for those off-road moments.

 

[Old Timer]

I thought I`d take the aurora out this afternoon to test out my new heart rate monitor (not easy getting over the suggested heart rate as the bike just wants to help you)
Anyway, as I pulled out of the drive my next door neighbour was out cutting his front lawn and he being a cyclist we got chatting etc. At the end of the chat he told me to give it everything in high mode so that he could see it go, which I did just as a police car came down the lane (you only see one every 5 years or more) anyway we stopped and passed the time of day as you do out here and he said " nice bike take care" as I spun away with that 350Watt Barfang hill climber (into a field of course

On the way back home it started to spit rain so I clicked into 7th gear and opened it up in high mode, a car came up behind and didn`t seem like it wanted to pass so I just pushed on pedalling hard and when I looked down I realise why the car sat tight! I`m plodding along on the flat at 28mph mind you the heart rate was well above the nurses limit

Seriously! this would be some commuter bike.

 

[overlander]

I tried one last Friday and was very impressed with it for the money there really are few bikes which can compete. Now as for being illegal, i think there is no way you will be stopped in general use as the police will just see a push bike. But in the event of an accident it might be different, so as they say you take your chances. But still tempted as a second bike

 

[Old Timer]

Whilst out riding today around the villages I came across 3 young lads( about 14 I reckon)sitting on BMX/MTB`s, nice lads, so as I approached I shouted out "wan a race"? and of course being bored they were just looking for an old fart like me to show up Well! they really had some pace and even got in front of me till I switched in high power and top gear I`m sure I heard the word Wa***r spoken from so far back I could hardly hear them

 

[overlander]

Is the throttle power dependent on the mode selected. For example is the top speed on low power the same as high power using the throttle only?

Is it just me being paranoid but there seems to be a general reluctance to talk about this bike

 

[fishingpaul]

Is the throttle power dependent on the mode selected. For example is the top speed on low power the same as high power using the throttle only?

Is it just me being paranoid but there seems to be a general reluctance to talk about this bike

There does seem an obsession about complying with the law on here,i personally feel quite happy to travel at speeds exceeding 15mph on my bike,and enjoy far more than the legal power limit when climbing hills,but i have great respect for safety,i ride on the brakes going downhill and often go slower than on the flat,this is where the law is an ass,a legal bike could do 30mph rolling downhill with very little braking ability,but uphill it could be restricted to 9mph but have much safer braking ability.

 

[Old Timer]

Is the throttle power dependent on the mode selected. For example is the top speed on low power the same as high power using the throttle only?

Is it just me being paranoid but there seems to be a general reluctance to talk about this bike

First of all, I`ve been talking quite freely about the bike.

With regards the throttle, can`t say I`ve used the throttle much in ernest because the pedelec is so instant. I`ll report back when I next take it out.

 

[Jimod]

First of all, I`ve been talking quite freely about the bike.

With regards the throttle, can`t say I`ve used the throttle much in ernest because the pedelec is so instant. I`ll report back when I next take it out.

I realise I'm coming to this thread a little while after you last posted but I was looking at one of these alien auroras today. I have a question for you if I may. Is it noisy when riding? Also, now you've had it for a wee while. Is it still as good as your first imprsssions?

 

[overlander]

That was one of the main reasons the aurora slid down my list, its very noisy compared to the trek bikes i tested. On the trek no one knew it was an electric bike but on the Aurora there was no doubt. I will still get one for leisure rides etc mainly off the beaten path but as for a daily commuter nipping in and out of traffic and occasionally at dangerous roads using the pavement i would prefer the electric side was well hidden and silent.