New Bike with £2k budget

[Martinm]

Hi, I have gone through 3 ebikes in approx 5 years, the 1st an American import which was a disaster, then went for the Ezee Forza, which i had two of over 4 years, the batteries just seeming to die so quickly i gave up on electric bikes last Summer.

I've spent the past couple of weeks researching various bikes and ploughing though the forums here looking for ideas but am still really non the wiser as to what to get.
The main reason for a new bike are the hills, i will be using the bike only for travelling 6 miles to work and back each day not for leisure. Am i right in thinking a crank bike is better for hills ?

I liked the extra little speed on the Forzas, made the hills easier !
I live on the Isle Of Wight with only one bs selling ebikes which does have the LifeCycle Mountain Sport, but have not seen much info about these bikes on the forums, only reason i thought about the Lifecycle was the convenience if anything went wrong going from my previous history of bikes !

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[eddieo]

Welcome Martin, at last someone with a realistic budget!

Bosch crank drive bikes..The choice is yours, there are many other makes using this drive but they are still thin on the ground in the UK

HAiBiKE Electric Bikes | HAiBiKE e-bike Sales & Service | Free Delivery

 

[overlander]

All hub bikes are not equal, you could go with one of the Treks with the bionx system and have it on level 4 all the way. Level 4 would mean no effort on your behalf, but if that was your aim a moped would be better.

 

[Blew it]

Bosch powered KTM machines will be available in Swindon early June.

 

[eddieo]

Bosch powered KTM machines will be available in Swindon early June.

Good news Bob...Looks like things are getting moving at last

 

[Blew it]

It certainly is Edd.

Projected line-up is two 'street machines', Macina Bold and the low-step Cento 9.

Two 'stripped' models, Macina Cross and Macina 29'er

 

[Cyclezee]

Hello Martinm,

If you still have an eZee Forza which you seemed to like, why not just get a new battery.
eZee batteries have improved considerably over the last couple of years, there is a wider choice, 2 year warranty and they are better value.

Cyclezee prices are as follows:

8Ah 37v Lithium Polymer £280
10Ah 37v Lithium Polymer £325
14Ah 37v Lithium Polymer £400
21Ah 37v Lithium Polymer £575

These prices included free delivery within the UK.

You may be interested to read a testimonial from a customer on the Isle of Wight who recently bought a bike from us, you can see it here: http://www.cyclezee.com/about-us.html

Regards,

 

[eddieo]

It certainly is Edd.

Projected line-up is two 'street machines', Macina Bold and the low-step Cento 9.

Two 'stripped' models, Macina Cross and Macina 29'er

I like the look of the 29'er with 11 speed alfina. The centro 9 is a new one on me, not to bad a weight at 22kg as these stepthroughs can be a lot heavier, and it has XT gearing..nice and smooth and my favorite.

I see that they have lowered the crossbar on Macina cross, making it more unisex..would not have had to get rid of ours as wife could probably handle the new model, but will be looking for a higher spec bike this time....

you can see the specs and compare here:

Google Translate

 

[banbury frank]

Hi Martinm

Please look at our Bikes They have a very powerful motor Electronically limited to


I5 MPH Road Legal


We assemble our bikes in the UK

We have a new bike available will be on the web site in the next few weeks £1995

It uses the bike in the link below £700 bike + our kit £1195

Direct drive motor rear wheel 48 volt 15 AH Li-ion battery 750 WH

Diamondback - Response Comp

Frank

 

[Kudoscycles]

Martinm....if you look on this forum the most popular subject is the choice between crank drive and hub drive....in theory crank drive,which allows you to select the correct gear to use both your leg power and the motor power should be the best hill climber wheras hub drive allows only gear selection of the power from your legs. I personally think the best crank drive unit currently available is the Bosch crank motor. However the hub drive manufacturers have developed the controllers to give a wide torque spread such that many of the hub drives are not that far behind-IF YOU ARE REASONABLY FIT AND CAN MAINTAIN WITH POWER ASSIST MINIMUM 8 MPH THEN HUB DRIVE IS AS GOOD AS CRANK DRIVE.
To offer a choice to our customers we are currently extending the Kudos range of hub drives(the King is our best hill climber)to include the BH Emotion Xenion 650 and 700 Bosch powered crank drives,we stock every bike we sell and have a test hill near to compare.
You mentioned that you are unhappy with battery life then change to LifePo4 batteries,THE LiFePo4 BATTERY MAY HAVE 5 YEARS LIFE and seems to give fuss free constant performance.
It is a shame that to my knowledge nobody currently offers a crank drive bike with a LifePo4 battery,but this e-bike market will change dramatically over the next 2 years and if you read my postings Kudos is working on so many new projects and technology but as yet there is no definite direction.
If you can find a dealer who has a good hub drive bike and a good crank drive bike in stock go try them,the difference is immediately obvious at the first hill but for many the hub drive does the job and you are £1k better off.
Hope that helps
Dave
KudosCycles

 

[flecc]

It is a shame that to my knowledge nobody currently offers a crank drive bike with a LifePo4 battery

It's possibly because the need is less Dave. The lower power and software sophistication of most crank drive units means less battery stress and longer life from existing li-polymer types. Tillson has just posted that his Panasonic 10 Ah battery is in it's third year and he is one of many still using theirs from as long ago as 2008.

 

[Kudoscycles]

Blew It,
I hope the dealer in Swindon has more luck than I had with KTM-I gave them a definite order for 50 KTM Macina Bold bikes and they told me all their current production is for Germany and Austria and they could not satisfy even their home production-I got the impression they weren't interested in the UK,too small a market.
In fact I must say that dealing with any of these high end German manufacturers seems to be difficult,I would say arrogant,they just are not interested in us. Their attitudes may change when the chinese produce a viable alternative to the Bosch motor and dump 10,000 bikes into Germany at $500 each-then Kalkhoof will shout unfair and extend the 48% anti dumping duty to e-bikes. Most of the bike comes from China anyway so why not make the motors there as well-it will happen and my knowledge suggests very soon.
Dave
KudosCycles

 

[PJM]

Can you advise when you will have stock of The BH emotion 650 and your price. Thanks.

 

[eddieo]

surely the reason LifePo4 battery's have not caught on is the size (look awful on a rear rack IMO) And with new bikes with batteries within triangle, not a chance of this with LifePo4

 

[Kudoscycles]

PJM....Delivery is next week....from memory the 650 will be £1999.00 and 700 will be £2199.00....I will have a 650 test bike-interesting to pitch this against the King Kudos at £995.00.
Dave
KudosCycles

 

[DJH]

PJM....Delivery is next week....from memory the 650 will be £1999.00 and 700 will be £2199.00....I will have a 650 test bike-interesting to pitch this against the King Kudos at £995.00.
Dave
KudosCycles

I'll be interested to find out the result.

 

[eddieo]

when comparing any purchase don't assume that at the same price point bikes are pretty much equal because they are far from it......some have much better suspension forks, gearing, brakes etc.....You have to do your homework and make sure you are comparing like for like

 

[Kudoscycles]

Eddie....you look at these e-bikes with different eyes to others,nothing wrong with that just different...I agree that the LifePo4 battery is larger,but it can be easily hidden by a pair of neat and useful panniers....its sort of like Ferrari versus Ford,tell a Ferrari owner that he has to change cambelts at 15,000 miles at a £10k cost he would probably shrug his shoulders because he has got bored with it after 6 months,tell a Ford owner proportionality the same and you would never sell another Ford. The same applies to e-bikes tell a £3.5K plus e-bike owner that his super-duper bike will cost £1k plus new battery in 2-3 years time,he will buy a new bike before that date. But tell a guy that his £900 bike will face a £600 new battery price after 2-3 years and he will shout 'rip off,why didn't you tell me when I bought the bike'
The first question I asked BH-Emotion how much for a replacement Bosch battery,about £450.00-I think that is still too dear but if you want a Bosch powered bike you have no choice-I will make it plain that price on my website.
By the way does anybody know how much is a replacement battery for the new super-duper Impulse bike?
Kudos is trying to make e-bikes more affordable and more transparency from the suppliers about long term running costs.
Most of my customers think the appearance of a larger battery is a small price to pay against cost,longevity,ease of use,green disposal,safety. Did I notice that Wisper is now offering LifePo4?
Dave
KudosCycles

 

[flecc]

By the way does anybody know how much is a replacement battery for the new super-duper Impulse bike?

I haven't seen it announced yet, but compared with existing Kalkhoff batteries, I'd guess about £550 or a little more for the 15 Ah, with almost twice the Bosch one's capacity.

There's also an 11 Ah one for the Impulse, but 50cycles don't seem to be offering it at present.

 

[eddieo]

I haven't seen it announced yet, but compared with existing Kalkhoff batteries, I'd guess about £550 or a little more for the 15 Ah, with almost twice the Bosch one's capacity.

There's also an 11 Ah one for the Impulse, but 50cycles don't seem to be offering it at present.

BUT they are not so nice to ride! Poor reviews in Germany, and from what I have read the Bosch still the one to beat....

One wag said this: Kalkhoff now have a matching bike for granddad to join grandma...and common knowledge the old 26v pana were designed to stop grannys dentures falling out as she accelerated...