Powabyke x6 review.

[Rad]

Reviewer: Rad



Purchased From: Halfords (via Cycle2Work Scheme)



Purchase Price: £800.00 (should be £750.00 but Halfords are cheeky bleeders!)



Time Owned: 3 weeks



Local Terrain: Flat / Moderate Hills



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Strengths:

Looks like an ordinary hybrid style road bike.

Excellent hill climbing.

Great fun to ride.

Similar in weight to my non powered bike.

Good acceleration and feels quite speedy.

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Weaknesses:

Limited range in comparison to other e-bikes.

No suspension forks as standard.

Thumb throttle.

Have to pedal initially to get power feed.

A few build niggles but these can probably be put down to Halfords not really knowing e-bikes.

Hard ride.

Battery awkward to remove/replace.

Cannot install a bike computer due to oversized forks.

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Summary:

This is my first e-bike so I can only really compare it to a normal bike. I’m using it in pedal assist rather than pure power as I still want to get some form of exercise while using the bike. My initial ride was only a couple of miles or so just to see what it was like. I was disappointed at first by how loud the motor is but soon got used to it, and now find that when riding in traffic I miss the sound of that reassuring hum. I was also concerned that the power kept dipping out and coming back in again before realising that I was obviously going over the 15mph motor limit.

I bought the bike for my daily commute to work, though at the moment, I’m only using it a couple of days a week to break myself back into riding regularly. I’m yet to find the best route as I’m commuting in the dark and don’t feel confident enough to experiment.

It’s a hard ride, I can feel every bump, and rut, the narrow tires transmit everything through to the handlebars and seat (ouch!) to be fair I’ve not yet had the time to experiment with the seat suspension.

The bike could definitely benefit from suspension on the forks, which is an option on the x24. The thumb throttle is literally a pain. Using it for extended periods makes the area between my thumb and forefinger ache and I find myself having to adjust my grip. I’d like to see these thumb throttles gone for good on any update to the bike. I’m also disappointed that I’m unable to attach a cycle computer to this bike due to the vast distance between the forks and the wheel. I’ve tried all sorts of methods of bulking out the fork so that the sensor can detect the magnet but nothing has worked and my rather lovely Sigma 1606L has been returned.

I’ve had a few niggles with the bike, one documented on this forum was a weird noise from the front wheel after just 30 miles riding. Powabyke were exceptionally helpful as were Halfords (surprisingly) and the fault was traced to spokes becoming loose and was easily rectified. The method of mounting the battery concerns me. The blocks loosen up very quickly and removing and replacing the battery is a bit tricky. You have to first connect the power cable then line the lugs on the battery up with the brackets and slide it on. This can be very difficult, especially on dark mornings when you’re in a hurry to get going. The battery can also be a bit of a sod to remove, though there is a definite knack to doing it involving pushing from the bottom with one hand, and pulling from the top with the other.


I was extremely upset when after a particularly hard ride home on a wet winter evening I discovered a bolt had worked loose from the rear mudguard stay and both myself and the bike were covered in road crap. Easily sorted but really not needed.

It looks all negative but it’s not.

I love this machine!

Being able to get through long boring stretches of road at speed is a godsend. Insidious inclines become a joy to surmount. Hills! I laugh at them. I’ve yet to find a hill the bike can’t cope with. Admittedly Norwich isn’t the most mountainous of places but there are some killer hills here and so far the bike has powered up every one I’ve encountered with no problems at all. The range could be an issue for some people. Powabyke say 15 miles pure power – 20-25 miles on pedal assist. I’ve no intention of testing that claim. All I’ll say is that I have a 15 mile round trip, though the route I’m currently using could be slightly longer. I’m finding that the power indicator lights are all lit up until I face my first major incline at about 6 ½ - 7 miles at which point the first light starts to flicker and die. Once the motor’s not working so hard the light tends to come back on and will then flicker again when tasked with the next hill. From reading the forum this is probably more to do with the amount of work the battery and motor are being asked to do, though I do find that when I finally get to work I am down to 2 out of three lights on the battery indicator.

I carry my charger with me and recharge when I’m at work. The charger is small enough to be able to be crammed into a jacket pocket but I keep mine in the box it came in and carry it in my panniers. Interestingly when going home I find that more often than not I’ll have three lamps still lit at the end of the journey. This can only be due to having more downhills on the return journey. The journey’s taking me around 35 – 40 minutes which in the car was taking 25-30 so I do think I’m onto a winner and am very pleased with both the purchase and overall performance of the bike.


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Overall Rating (out of 10) : 7

 

[alsmith]

Read with interest, thanks. I've got an X6- the step through.

I have 2 batteries- the second was expensive at £250 !!!! but has not been used, and I now doubt they will ever be. I might consider selling if you're interested- I'm changing the battery system on my bike- nearly sorted now.
I still haven't used it apart from a short test, but have been making a few changes to it, I'll post my thoughts when I've used it a reasonable amount.

I noticed you say yours has a thumb throttle- which I assume you mean half of the handlebar grip. There are proper thumb type controllers and I want to look into changing to one of those.

I have seen kits where the pedal sensors can be used or not used to start ebikes- kits have the option of enabling or disabling this 'feature'. I want to disable it too. There are two wires run down to the sensor and I can't recall whether wiring open or closed disabled this feature- I'll try to find the things I read but will try disabling the pedal sensor when the weather is better once I find out for other kit and I get the chance. It may not work but it will be worth trying. I wonder if Frank Curran (at Powabyke) can help- he's always answered my questions and he keeps an eye on the forum. I'll email him to ask.

Hard Ride- it is supposed to be a suspension seat post. Adjustment is easy but doesn't seem too effective- take the seat off and at the bottom there is an allen headed bolt to adjust- but it still seems hard to me all the way in or all the way out. Perhaps it needs 'running in'. It certainly doesn't have much give as new but generally the advice is to adjust them so they sink half an inch when you sit on it.

I find the battery a little awkward to remove- but far too easy for a thief if they decided they wanted it. At £250 to replace that's a big risk to take so I made up a working but not too elegant lock for mine.
The 2 lugs on the aluminium case push onto the frame blocks, one of mine was clearly bent inwards making it hard when received (noticed because the second battery was far easier to mount/dismount). A gentle adjustment with a screwdriver improved fitting and removal- but it is aluminium and not very substantial so I am not suprised one was bent.

I have got a cycle computer working. A Sigma 1106- not as posh as yours. Due to the large distance from the fork to the spokes I had to use a spacer- after hunting around I used a large single chocolate block connector (30A I think) slightly trimmed to lie on the fork on one side with the receiver on the other side insulation taped onto the fork. Works fine.
(Probably if/when the current thing falls off I'll try something like a large pencil eraser- easily trimmed and inexpensive- as a spacer to suit. Self amalgamating tape will seal around whatever gets rigged up and should make it pretty much permanent).

One thing I have done is remove and refit most of the screws and bolts with Loctite Lock n Seal- hearing about your mudguard makes me pleased I did. You might want to consider it for some of the screws?

I'm wondering if this bike is slightly derestricted like others as power allowed in the UK is a little less than other places. Bikes like the Synergie Mistral can easily be derestricted (although it seems a lot come through not restricted in the first place). I know it's only a few extra Watts but I'd rather have them than not if it's an easy change. I should probably ask in the general forum but has anyone done this on a powabyke.