James May reviews the Gocycle

[Tim]

Sorry if this is a repost, but the Gocycle has been reviewed by none other than James May in the past week.

Living the electric dream with the Gocycle - Telegraph

The comments are interesting - split between "there are loads of other electric bikes better than this one" and "electric bikes are overpriced and will never catch on"

 

[flecc]

Thanks Tim, I don't think anyone has posted this before.

Certainly was a very mixed bag of comments, many predictable though!
.

 

[Mussels]

As with all new ideas, it's expensive, starting at £1,500. But if you can persuade your employer to participate in the Cycle to Work scheme, you can recoup at least half of that in tax breaks.

Yeah right, he's not put any research into that likelyhood has he.

 

[lemmy]

I thiought the Mays piece was quite good but the comments show what fixed ideas so many people have.

If you have an electric bike with a range of 15 miles, that is suitable for someone for whom a range of 15 miles is enough. If you want more, buy a different bike with a longer range.

Instead, there's an inclination to say, 'this bike only goes for 15 miles, therefore electric bikes are useless'.

You might as well say 'I can't get myself, my wife and my 2 children in a Smart car, therefore all cars are useless.'

 

[Old Timer]

£1500 for that! I don`t think so I could get four and a half Cyclamatics for that and have enough battery power for close to 100 miles

 

[Barnowl]

"Goes like a stabbed rat" What does that mean? It crawls away painfully slow?

Agree with Lemmy except technically you can get wife and 2 kids in a Smart car but it ain't legal.

I'd buy a Gocycle for £1500 if I wanted one but, personally, it doesn't appeal to me. If you have the need, and you choose your mount carefully, e-bikes are a very good investment.

PS. No issues with the Cyclamatics which I see are selling at £399 and look like good value. I hope there's one at Presteigne this year where I'd very much like to try it.

 

[ELECTRIC AVENUES]

"Goes like a stabbed rat" What does that mean? It crawls away painfully slow?

Agree with Lemmy except technically you can get wife and 2 kids in a Smart car but it ain't legal.

I'd buy a Gocycle for £1500 if I wanted one but, personally, it doesn't appeal to me. If you have the need, and you choose your mount carefully, e-bikes are a very good investment.

PS. No issues with the Cyclamatics which I see are selling at £399 and look like good value. I hope there's one at Presteigne this year where I'd very much like to try it.

For £1500 of the Queens bills....you could build something far superior to that "Gocycle" thing.

 

[Barnowl]

For £1500 of the Queens bills....you could build something far superior to that "Gocycle" thing.

Not if you costed my total time spent - I'm sure. I struggle with flatpacks.

 

[Old Timer]

"Goes like a stabbed rat" What does that mean? It crawls away painfully slow?

Agree with Lemmy except technically you can get wife and 2 kids in a Smart car but it ain't legal.

I'd buy a Gocycle for £1500 if I wanted one but, personally, it doesn't appeal to me. If you have the need, and you choose your mount carefully, e-bikes are a very good investment.

PS. No issues with the Cyclamatics which I see are selling at £399 and look like good value. I hope there's one at Presteigne this year where I'd very much like to try it.

The point that NRG was making is that this weekend was a 15% discount off of the £399

 

[Mussels]

The point that NRG was making is that this weekend was a 15% discount off of the £399

Are you sure you don't work for Cyclamatic?

 

[flecc]

Are you sure you don't work for Cyclamatic?

At those prices they couldn't pay him a salary!
.

 

[Old Timer]

At those prices they couldn't pay him a salary!
.

No, but if I keep pushing them they might offer me the SE dealership but that wouldn`t suit me, sitting around and having nothing to do all day but parcel up bikes

 

[Psycosis]

I think the gocycles are more akin to an electric scooter than an e-bike. They weight a fair whack so you aren't going to be carting it up stairs, it has a key to start it. Pedaling on it i have been told is not very easy due to the seat position, so you aren't going to be cycling anywhere.

That said there is a place for these and all electric vehicles. Down with the CC!!

 

[flecc]

I think the gocycles are more akin to an electric scooter than an e-bike.

That said there is a place for these

It's called a skip!
.

 

[Patrick]

It's called a skip!

Come on flecc, that's not a very good attitude. It would be much better if you stripped it down and recyled the materials.

 

[Barnowl]

The point that NRG was making is that this weekend was a 15% discount off of the £399

That is cheap. I see there's 11 reviews of the non folder Cyclematic on amazon.co.uk. Concerns seem to be weight, difficulty and cost of replacement batteries, removing the back wheel and rusting steel bolts. No reviews of the folder. Still looks like good fun and value for money to me.

 

[Tim]

It's called a skip!
.

I've recently realised it resembles the 2001 Honda Step Compo we used to sell but with reportedly less range and hill climbing ability than the plucky little Honda effort. And why doesn't it fold properly? As far as I can gather, it has to be separated into two parts, am I right?

We've sold a Kalkhoff to one customer we know off who had bought a Gocycle and sent it back because it was no good on the local hills.

 

[eTim]

I think the fact it was conceived by an F1 designer says it all - form over function (and a price tag to go with it).

They will sell in their thousands to the London types.

 

[Mussels]

I think the fact it was conceived by an F1 designer says it all - form over function (and a price tag to go with it).

They will sell in their thousands to the London types.

Not sure myself, I think the A2B Metro will win over the 'more money than sense' bunch.

 

[Old Timer]

That is cheap. I see there's 11 reviews of the non folder Cyclematic on amazon.co.uk. Concerns seem to be weight, difficulty and cost of replacement batteries, removing the back wheel and rusting steel bolts. No reviews of the folder. Still looks like good fun and value for money to me.

The MTB plus Cyclamatic is not heavy (against other E bikes) my wife has one