New e-bike arrived

[Deleted member 4366]

Morfix, You mentioned that your new bike seemed to have more drag than your old one. It wouldn't surprise me if this isn't due to the tyres. You can get a pair of Scwalbe City jets 1.95x26 from Ebay for £18.50 inc postage, and I guarantee that they will make a huge difference. My neighbour had knobly tyres on his electric mountain bike and there was a big adverse difference in speed and pedal effort to my Sunlova, which had semi-slicks. When he changed to the City Jets, his bike was faster until I changed to them as well. i have heard a guy on another forum say that his bike appears to freewheel uphill on them!!

 

[eddieo]

you could have found any of this info out on a decent test ride from a reputable dealer. also not supposed to change dérailleur gears when static I believe? if you want to travel on throttle only (particularly up hill) why buy a bike when surely what you want is a scooter

 

[morphix]

Morfix, You mentioned that your new bike seemed to have more drag than your old one. It wouldn't surprise me if this isn't due to the tyres. You can get a pair of Scwalbe City jets 1.95x26 from Ebay for £18.50 inc postage, and I guarantee that they will make a huge difference. My neighbour had knobly tyres on his electric mountain bike and there was a big adverse difference in speed and pedal effort to my Sunlova, which had semi-slicks. When he changed to the City Jets, his bike was faster until I changed to them as well. i have heard a guy on another forum say that his bike appears to freewheel uphill on them!!

That's interesting to know thanks for that!

 

[morphix]

you could have found any of this info out on a decent test ride from a reputable dealer. also not supposed to change dérailleur gears when static I believe? if you want to travel on throttle only (particularly up hill) why buy a bike when surely what you want is a scooter

Unfortunately I have no dealers near me and since I don't drive it would be a problem getting to one, so I wasn't able to try out any bikes before I made my purchase. Although your point is definitely well made. I think if you can test ride at least one bike, it certainly gives you a better idea of what to expect so you can match your expectations with your budget and requirements.

I actually wanted a moped style electric bike to begin with and looked at a few. They do look more comfortable to ride if you don't want to pedal and want to go faster. However I considered the drawbacks of owning one, i.e. not being able to use it on public footpaths/buses only lanes, problems parking it and the ambiguity of using on the roads with risk of getting pulled over by the police regularly..all this made me decide a conventional pedal bike would be better.

 

[morphix]

Update...

After giving it some thought over the last few days I decided to return the bike for a refund (cost me £25 via City Link). Several reasons for this really...

Firstly, I don't think I will be able to find anyone to insure the bike. I tried a few insurance companies, and they all seem to only insure branded bikes from known manufacturers with serial numbers on frame etc..they won't touch grey imports. So for me, leaving £800 worth of bike uninsured anywhere is too much of a worry, even with good locks.

Secondly, the two big drawbacks for me on this bike are the not being able to pedal without power due to the motor drag..using the power all the time isn't good for fitness, sometimes I'll want to just pedal I think.. also the weight of the battery (4.5kg) makes it impossible to remove and carry around.

The dealer also hasn't exactly inspired me with confidence either after not supplying parts, not replying to e-mails and wildly "overselling" the bike on eBay. This leaves me with doubts about whether they would honour the 12 months warranty and whether the battery would last more than a year.

I've decided to build my own bike using a Dahon Espresso folding bike (or something else Dahon) and a conversion kit which I'm going to order from RFTEC in Austria. I will also get batteries from the same eBay seller Old Timer used. This should give a total project cost of under £900 with the advantages of a much lighter branded folding bike that I can keep in my 2nd floor flat rather than outside in the shed so it may last longer. I will also be able to remove the battery and carry it around easier (I plan to get 2 smaller 9-10A batteries).

Although I'm not very handy mechanically I feel confident I can do the conversion, particularly as it will be a front-wheel hub. I'm sure if I run into any problems I can call on you guys ;-)

Since the weather isn't exactly great for cycling at moment, I might just order the kit and batteries and hold out on ordering a bike until the new year sales, as I'm sure all the 2010 models will be discounted to make way for newer models.

 

[Wisper Bikes]

I have been reading this thread with interest and would like to confirm to anyone who has any doubt at all, this is not a Wisper and as far as I can see does not share any components with a modern Wisper bike.

Just because the frame is sort of similar does not mean the handling, power, ride or any other feature will measure up.

The guys selling this bike are blatantly trying to profit from our good name.

Such is life!

Best regards

David

 

[morphix]

Hi David, it was interesting doing my first review of an electric bike and seeing what you can expect for £800 but I can fully understand how it must be annoying for Wisper to see these grey import copies being sold in the UK. I think anyone thinking of buying one needs to consider carefully the insurance side of it because that is not something I had thought would be a problem...as I said in my earlier post, unless you buy a branded bike you're going to have a hard time finding any insurance for the bike. For me personally, I felt using an £800 bike without any insurance against theft and vandalism would be a risk I wasn't prepared to take.

If I were going to buy a bike like this again I would probably go for the Wisper 905 Eco (which I had planned to buy originally with a 14A battery upgrade) with the standard 8A battery at least then there would be no problems with insurance and the battery is light enough to remove off the bike and carry, plus you get 2 years peace of mind with the warranty. The battery is the biggest cost on the bike to replace if it goes wrong so buying a grey import from an unknown dealer is always going to be a worry.

What swayed me away from the 905 Eco (apart from the £400 saving) was the belief that the 14A battery weighed under 3kg as advertised by the seller.. this for me was an important purchasing consideration, as I don't like the idea of leaving the battery on the bike unattended. I had my doubts that the battery was so light, but the seller assured me it was. As it turned out, it weighed 4.5kg and heavier than the Wisper 14A battery!

 

[Wisper Bikes]

Hi Morphix

When you are ready to try another bike would welcome you with open arms!!

All the best

David

 

[eddieo]

good move returning it IMO.Why not (as I recommended earlier) get a decent second-hand bike. 2 Wisper's on ebay at the moment, try an offer and get a decent bike.......You wont regret it

Remember wisper warranty is transferable as long as you get the original receipt......

I doubt anyone on here remove their battery's. I haven't in 2.5 years of riding bikes at least 5 times a week. it's what the insurance is for?

if you want to peddle without power dont buy an ebike! why buy a bike with 40 + mile range and hope to peddle without power. most ebikes are horrible wit out power. you still get aerobic exercise and still feel the benefit believe you me......just flatten them hills

 

[rustic]

Hi Morphix,

I have to say I think you did the right thing. Having spent all that money you still had significant reservations and that is never a nice feeling. I think Eddieo is right, it's probably worth spending a bit more cash and have that peace of mind. I think a Wisper will give you what you are looking for, or if you just don't have that amount of cash then take a look at what an established UK company like Alien have on offer. Although they only have one base in Scotland I have found them to provide decent customer after sales service albeit by email / post and they sell decent bikes at affordable prices. If you are anywhere near to me you are welcome to come over and try mine. All the best, Rus.

 

[rustic]

I also meant to say that if you do go for a second hand Wisper it might be worth checking out Fleccs guide to the value of second hand bikes as the initial price of the bike may look very appealing, but the replacement battery cost that you might immediately incur can be very high.

 

[ngoodson]

After giving it some thought over the last few days I decided to return the bike for a refund (cost me £25 via City Link). Several reasons for this really...

Firstly, I don't think I will be able to find anyone to insure the bike. I tried a few insurance companies, and they all seem to only insure branded bikes from known manufacturers with serial numbers on frame etc..they won't touch grey imports. So for me, leaving £800 worth of bike uninsured anywhere is too much of a worry, even with good locks.

Secondly, the two big drawbacks for me on this bike are the not being able to pedal without power due to the motor drag..using the power all the time isn't good for fitness, sometimes I'll want to just pedal I think.. also the weight of the battery (4.5kg) makes it impossible to remove and carry around.

The dealer also hasn't exactly inspired me with confidence either after not supplying parts, not replying to e-mails and wildly "overselling" the bike on eBay. This leaves me with doubts about whether they would honour the 12 months warranty and whether the battery would last more than a year.

I've decided to build my own bike using a Dahon Espresso folding bike (or something else Dahon) and a conversion kit which I'm going to order from RFTEC in Austria. I will also get batteries from the same eBay seller Old Timer used. This should give a total project cost of under £900 with the advantages of a much lighter branded folding bike that I can keep in my 2nd floor flat rather than outside in the shed so it may last longer. I will also be able to remove the battery and carry it around easier (I plan to get 2 smaller 9-10A batteries).

Although I'm not very handy mechanically I feel confident I can do the conversion, particularly as it will be a front-wheel hub. I'm sure if I run into any problems I can call on you guys ;-)

Since the weather isn't exactly great for cycling at moment, I might just order the kit and batteries and hold out on ordering a bike until the new year sales, as I'm sure all the 2010 models will be discounted to make way for newer models.

Hi Morphix, I have been following your ebike experience with interest as I am looking to buy one in the new year. I quite liked the look of your 'Ghost', but I thought you originally said there was no drag on the rear wheel when pedalling without power, but now you say there is? Is it quite bad? Also, I would be looking to cycle across the South Downs to work each day, a round trip of 20 miles, maybe 2 miles of which are the South Downs trail, and the main reason for buying it would be the 4'ish miles to get to the trail which is all uphill and quite exhausting. I just wondered if you think it would be a good bike for that? Thanks for any advice in advance.
Nick