James May reviews the Gocycle

[Herb]

Dave, out of interest, how much does it weigh.
Herb

 

[eTim]

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

Now that's a cool bike

 

[flecc]

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.

Yes, the GoCycle is described as dismountable, not foldable, as you say, style over substance. The Step Combo was a far better design effort and years before too.

The GoCycle's noisy motor isn't really powerful enough for climbing, again the fact that it's styled into that hub design limits how good it could be.
.

 

[Herb]

Dave, out of interest, how much does it weigh.
Herb

I will answer my own question
From the website - Cyclamatic Power Plus - 23 Kg with battery

By comparison the Wisper 905se Sport is quoted as 23.4 Kg with the smaller battery.

But I understand they are using different scales and different viewpoints and different degrees of honesty.

That said, similar weights.

Herb

 

[Psycosis]

A2B
•Weight of A2B Metro: 31.1kg
•Weight of portable battery: 5.9kg
•Weight of A2B Metro with battery: 37kg

Gocycle
16.2kg (35.6 lbs), including mudguards and Empower Pack
11.9kg (26.2 lbs), excluding mudguards and Empower Pack

My mistake the cocycle isn't too heavy, but still seems a bit weedy.

I haven't seen anyone in london riding these or any electric bikes. I always keep an eye open just incase.

 

[Mussels]

A2B
•Weight of A2B Metro: 31.1kg
•Weight of portable battery: 5.9kg
•Weight of A2B Metro with battery: 37kg

Gocycle
16.2kg (35.6 lbs), including mudguards and Empower Pack
11.9kg (26.2 lbs), excluding mudguards and Empower Pack

My mistake the cocycle isn't too heavy, but still seems a bit weedy.

I haven't seen anyone in london riding these or any electric bikes. I always keep an eye open just incase.

I got stuck behind a GoCycle a couple of weeks ago in the city, it had a large piece of black material round the downtube which looked odd. It was designed to be there but doesn't feature on any of the publicity photos, kind of spoils the iPod look. I saw that the slightest bit of dirt spoils the look too. Unfortunately he turned off so I didn't get to follow him and find out how well it rides.
Other than that I've seen a Wisper in London and a chain drive system that was a dodgy import.
Just remembered, a couple of others that I didn't recognise.

 

[Tim]

It's also reminiscent of the Raleigh Vektar which was an electric bike of sorts

 

[Mussels]

It's also reminiscent of the Raleigh Vektar which was an electric bike of sorts

That's what made me think of getting an ebike, I'd never seen any other ebike on the road so didn't have a clue if they existed.
Edit: It's not got a motor, was I mistaken before or did Raleigh make an ebike for kids*?

* Probably not given the 14 year age limit.

 

[Wisper Bikes]

A2B

My mistake the cocycle isn't too heavy, but still seems a bit weedy.

They wouldn't let me ride one at the Cycle show, they said I was too fat and a wheel may fall off.... which would be bad for publicity!

Back to the diet!

Regards

David

 

[Psycosis]

I am sitting here eating a whole packet of jammie dodgers for breakfast so i can't possibly comment

 

[Wisper Bikes]

Lucky sod!

 

[jac]

i would say they they must have got something right about the bike as they seem to have built up a good dealer network right across europe from ireland to greece all in a short space of time

jim

 

[Wisper Bikes]

Have you ridden one

They will sell well as they look fantastic, really funky!

They will be selling on the second hand market too as people realise they are not as good as they look to ride.

You may think I am biased (well I am) but there are many real electric bikes on the market Cytronix, Ezee, E Motion, Gepida, Urban Mover, Kalkhoff to name a but a few, all are better to ride than the Go Cycle, IMO.

Never the less good luck to them, it is a great bit of kit to pose on if you want to go a mile or two up to the shops, and is brilliantly designed!

They will also have a monster advertising budget no doubt.

 

[piotrmacheta]

Just to throw my view into the pot, I had a go on one when I was at On-bike recently and I thought it went well for what it was but the noise from the motor would stop me getting one. Also it was underpowered and gave no real shove but did seem to get up to speed OK for a small wheeled bike. It was much lighter than I expected and the styling is impressive. On the whole I agree that it's a bit of a toy and not really a commuter but I would say it's more positive than negative.