Offroad bike advice please.

[20ston]

Hello everyone, my name is Tony and i am new to the forum.
i started using a electric assist bike about 18 months ago, due to a heart problem.
previous to this i had been a life long cyclist.
i bought a kalkhoff pro connect disc, after doing a bit of research. i need a bike that i could do some longish rides on and also tour on. to be honest it has been great.
the longest day i have done on it is 60 miles, as part of a 300mile on/off road tour last september.
i now want to source a bike or conversion kit that can take me 'proper' offroad.
looking for something that can do 30 milesish ride in the lakes/dales/scotland.
i am ok spinning on the flat and downhill, but i need assist for uphill.
i had a talk with a guy about a Haibike enduro full suspension bike, which looked fantastic.
i just do not know anything about the power and range of this bike. or indeed any bike.
i have been told some bikes are set up for distance and some for torque/power.
hopefully someone will be able to shed some light for me and point me in the direction of a bike/conversion kit suitable for my needs.

thanks very much.

 

[banbury frank]

Hi Tony
Can recommend one off our bike conversions , The commuter comp

Commuter Comp




Or next we have the commuter Axis

This is built using the Diamondback Axis This will be on our new web site due in the next 2 weeks

Price £2995 Or the Diamondback Mission Conversion with the soft pack 15 AH 48 volt 4.5 kilos soft pack Battery £4195

Diamondback - Axis


Diamondback - Mission



Thanks For looking

Frank

 

[flecc]

That Haibike is a great choice for offroad and hills and many seem to get 30 miles from it's battery. However it's only 8 Ah so that won't be guaranteed for everyone, and their battery price is very high so having two of them on trips is a very expensive option.

 

[20ston]

thanks for the replies fellas.
the diamond back bikes look very good, but i have a very robust on one 456 what would make a nice conversion.
is there a conversion kit available that would gie enough power for serious offroad riding, and also to do a decent distance 25/30 miles.
my kalkhoff battery is 18ah.

 

[flecc]

The eZee bike kits are among the most powerful hub motors and have a choice of battery sizes and chemistry, plus unusually an official dual battery option:

Cyclezee

The Heinzmann hub motors come in various versions including high torque ones and are often used for offroad, but they are expensive:

Heinzmann kits

Both are available in front or rear wheel versions.
.

 

[banbury frank]

Hi Tony

We can supply a kit For Your 456 ( awesome bike ) From £1295 with a 48volt 15AH battery we also offer a fitting service in Banbury

Thanks Frank

 

[eTim]

Hi Tony,

As Flecc has mentioned, the Haibike is a good choice for off-road work. In a nutshell, it will handle any terrain that you can handle, just like any non-powered mountain bike will. It will even do jumps in a jump park, if that is your bag (4-5 foot of air is all my brain can handle)!

It's difficult to estimate range for any bike let alone one that will be used on off-road trails, as this will depend on rider fitness, number of hills, difficulty of terrain, wind, type of tyres and pressures and phase of the moon. I get between 25-35 miles on off-road hilly routes using the lowest power settings on the hills only. It is easy to pedal on the flat, you only really start to feel the weight when the hills start, this is when I turn on the power using the lowest setting to begin with and adjust for steepness, so if your routes have a fair amount of flat then 35 miles could be exceeded.

There have been a couple of occasions when I have run out of juice a few miles from my destination, so then you are back to pedaling a 20Kg bike which is only really a problem on a reasonably steep hill (and get's you fitter quicker ).

I think James at Justebikes.co.uk will allow you to return a bike, using his delivery/collection service, if you are not happy with your purchase. I'd be surprised if many have taken advantage of this!

HTH

 

[piotrmacheta]

I think for off-road a consideration might be whether a hub or crank drive is better. I would have thought crank drive (like the Haibike) would be best because hub drives struggle a bit on steep hills at slower speeds. Also rear drive is probably better than front. It probably depends on what you mean by proper off-road. Other things worth considering for off-roading (from my experience anyways) is you don't want a top heavy bike so low down battery is good and also suspension deffo at front and optional ar rear but it does help a lot with rear sus. I converted my Specialized Epic to an ezee front hub and it is great off-road as long as you're careful with the power up front.

 

[Kudoscycles]

If money no object the Haibike,rode it at Presteigne and very impressed. Have a glance at the BH Emotion Xenion 650 (1999.00) or BH Neo X/Treme(1899.00) both good off road machines,the Xenion particularly good off road with hills,using Bosch crank drive.
Dave
KudosCycles

 

[jenny]

Hi Tony
I am looking to sell a Tonaro Bighit. It has only done a few hundred miles, max 200. This may suit you.
It was my husbands. It is a lovely bike but too heavy for me. When I sell this I am looking for a lighter bike. It came from Phil at Pedalpower and he thinks I should ask at least £900.00 for it. i am in the Peterborough area and if you would like to try it you would be welcome

 

[20ston]

thanks for all the idea's and info everyone.
just been looking at the post about the 8fun conversion on the hardrock.
i have a on one 456 mountain bike which is pretty robust and would (ithink) make a great conversion.

any idea what is the most powerfull front conversion kit. and what i would need to do this.
my forks are 20mm bolt thru, so i am guessing some new forks for starters.

 

[flecc]

thanks for all the idea's and info everyone.
just been looking at the post about the 8fun conversion on the hardrock.
i have a on one 456 mountain bike which is pretty robust and would (ithink) make a great conversion.

any idea what is the most powerfull front conversion kit. and what i would need to do this.
my forks are 20mm bolt thru, so i am guessing some new forks for starters.

The eZee and Heinzmann are the most powerful legal kit motors, as linked to above

 

[20ston]

thanks flecc, i will contact them both.

just out of interest, what about non legal kits.

 

[flecc]

Frank at Xipi is a major source of these as well as legal motors, he's posted above on this link

 

[Cyclezee]

Hi 20ston,

I look forward to hearing from you.

In answer to your question, eZee kits can be de-restricted for off road use.

If you send an email, I will forward a copy of our eZee kit installation guide so that you can see what a conversion involves.

Regards,

thanks flecc, i will contact them both.

just out of interest, what about non legal kits.

 

[eTim]

In answer to your question, eZee kits can be de-restricted for off road use.

No disrespect to yourself, but I wish traders on this forum would drop this piece of marketing guff. De-restricting an ebike does NOT make it legal for use off road, it would still be illegally used unless it was used on private land.

I'm starting to get pedantic aren't I? It's not as if you are going to get caught riding an illegal ebike off-road anyway, even less so than riding one on the road and the chances of that are....?

 

[Cyclezee]

No offence taken Tim,

You are quite right, I should have stated private land and not just off-road as this could be read as meaning anywhere but the public highway.

Perhaps in future I will answer these queries by simply saying that de-restricted bikes may only be ridden on private land. Does that sound adequate?

No disrespect to yourself, but I wish traders on this forum would drop this piece of marketing guff. De-restricting an ebike does NOT make it legal for use off road, it would still be illegally used unless it was used on private land.

I'm starting to get pedantic aren't I? It's not as if you are going to get caught riding an illegal ebike off-road anyway, even less so than riding one on the road and the chances of that are....?

 

[flecc]

Perhaps in future I will answer these queries by simply saying that de-restricted bikes may only be ridden on private land. Does that sound adequate?

I think that's the ideal expression.

I don't think it's worth trying to avoid the issue altogether since, right or wrong, customers do want an answer to the question.

 

[20ston]

right, thanks to everyone for the advice especially the ones i have spoke to.
i now think i have made my decision as to which new offroad ebike to get.
i am going to get this Haibike XDuro FC E-bike | Electric MTB | Haibike Bosch Electric Mountain Bike with a spare battery.
the reasons behind my choice (and i hope they are good reasons) is that i am quite heavy and i figured that a hardtail would use less battery energy than a full suspension at propelling my offroad.
i rode a fullsus in the past, and there is a lot of flex in the prame/pivots with a heavy pilot.
also the thought of haivng a spare battery in my backpack seems like a nice idea and a bit of comfort insurance.
also reckoned the hardtail would be a bit stronger with a big powerfull rider onboard.
now please tell me i am making the right choice.

 

[Willin']

I can't see anyone here quibbling with your choice of bike. We'll be awaiting your future comments about how you are getting on with your choice with interest because they look to be superb bikes.

I'd buy one myself if I was in the market for one at the moment!