Kudos King, the first 100 miles

[Alan B]

My first electric bike, purchased to do the 22 mile commute to work, and to try and reclaim some of the fitness that is fast disappearing as the years go by.

Looked, and tried, a variety of bikes, but liked the mountain bike looks and characteristics of the King.

Purchased from Atmosphere Bikes in Bristol, who have provided excellent service, both pre and post sale.

Have now done the commute 5 times, and best average was this morning, 15.7mph for 11.3 miles (figures from gps device), better than I'd hoped.

I find that much of the time on the flat, and obviously when going down hill, I can exceed the 15.5mph limit, so battery life looking good. First charge lasted 41 miles.
I'm surprised the bike is so free running with the knobbly tyres, and I have purchased some slicks but will hold off on fitting these.

Initially there was a problem with the chain, but Atmosphere have replaced this (surprised it was a Shimano), and everything works perfectly now.

The saddle was a little mean, see picture, only room for one cheek ! so that's been replaced with one from Halfords, which is fine.

Overall I'd say a very good electric bike with good components, and very competively priced. I'd say it was more suited for someone who wants a bike to look fairly normal, and who is prepared to pedal and use the gears. Steepest hill I've done is about a 1 in 8, and I was having to pedal a middle gear (whilst sat) doing about 8mph.

Alan

 

[kitchenman]

Nice one. Bike looks great. What slicks did you buy? ...

 

[electric_avenue]

I'd definately recommend getting the nobblies off it. Since you do all road running, they're just soaking up the power.

 

[Alan B]

Got a pair of Schwalbe City Jet from Amazon, 1.95 x 26"

Appear to get very good reviews, and only £18.99 for the two tyres with free delivery.

But as stated in my early eamail I'm very surprised by the low rolling resistance and low noise of the knobblies fitted. I used to riding a Specializd Rockhopper and the original knobblies on that were way noisier, and I changed them to a Specialized Crossroads tyre which was part knobbly part continuous tread in the middle, well suited to the onroad offroad use it gets.

I'll have a look at the Kudos this weekend to see how to get the rear wheel out, and probably change the tyres. Will subsequently report the difference it makes.

cheers,
Alan

 

[Alan B]

Fitted the new tyres, very easy to remove old and fit new.

To get rear off removed axle nuts and moved wheel sufficiently to remove tyre and tube, without disconnecting shrink wrapped connector.

Have to say that the difference between the knobblies and the City Jets is not significant, perhaps 0.5 to 1.0 mph increase on average speed, and not much if any difference in effort needed. I've been surprised, and in hindsight would recommend people not to bother to change.

Now up to 200 miles, will provide more comprehensive report at 500 miles.

 

[Scottyf]

You won't find it much easier as the electric motor is doing the work. But rolling resistance and if you ever have to pedal it on your own with out the electrics you'll be thankful you changed.

 

[kitchenman]

Fitted the new tyres, very easy to remove old and fit new.

To get rear off removed axle nuts and moved wheel sufficiently to remove tyre and tube, without disconnecting shrink wrapped connector.

Have to say that the difference between the knobblies and the City Jets is not significant, perhaps 0.5 to 1.0 mph increase on average speed, and not much if any difference in effort needed. I've been surprised, and in hindsight would recommend people not to bother to change.

Now up to 200 miles, will provide more comprehensive report at 500 miles.

Are you keeping a cycle log then? ... are you comparing rides done on the old tyres with similar rides done on the new tyres ... taking into account the weather conditions? ...

 

[Scottyf]

Alan = Data Monkey Cruncher

What do you do for a Job Alan? I work with numbers all day long on how to maximise profits between retail outlets but you have a passion for numbers and data i've never seen before!

 

[Alan B]

Are you keeping a cycle log then? ... are you comparing rides done on the old tyres with similar rides done on the new tyres ... taking into account the weather conditions? ...

I sort of keep an informal log. I only use the bike for work most days, and depending on the route it's between 10.1 and 11.8 miles each way. Stats interest me, so I always note my journey times.

Wind direction and strength obviously make a big difference, but I've done 3 round trips on the slicks, and prior to that about 7 on the knobblies.

This morning I did 11.8 miles in 45 minutes, so an average of 15.7mph, which exactly matches my best time posted in my first post with knobbly tyres.

So the journeys are identical, weather conditions very similar. I spend a lot of time going more than 15.5mph and it's very difficult to sense when the motor stops giving assistance, there seems to be a very soft cut over.

So my conclusions remain the same, there is little difference between the types of tyres, bearing in mind the type of riding I'm doing, and I always have it on maximum power.

cheers,
Alan

 

[Alan B]

Alan = Data Monkey Cruncher

What do you do for a Job Alan? I work with numbers all day long on how to maximise profits between retail outlets but you have a passion for numbers and data i've never seen before!

IT Manager. Yes I like stats, calculate all my car running costs as well