Hi Everyone. New on here but I've been a peddle convert for the last 4 months. I bought my first e-bike back in June using a bike-to-work (BTW) scheme and a small top-up. I have been riding a mountain bike for the last 10 years or so but only in good weather and now, as I'm ageing rather ungraciously, I found I was riding less and less due to the inevitable 12% gradient in any direction out of my village putting me off.
At 62, I was finding it rather daunting getting up the hill for any ride of decent length. The easiest route was up the hill for about ½ mile and then a reasonably flat ride with the joy/relief of the downward bit at the end. The strain though, was putting me off and the thoughts of an e-bike started.
The first bike I tested was the Carrera from Halfords and I fell in love with e-bikes at that point. I wanted that one but Halfords didn't take the BTW vouchers from my company and their sister company that did were in Norwich (I live near Ipswich) but wouldn't accept a top up so they were off my list.
The next bike I wanted was a Woosh Big Bear. Unfortunately, they didn't take BTW vouchers and as no one else sold them, they were a no-goer too. Wasn't looking too good for me getting the bike I wanted.
I eventually chose a Kudos Mistral which looked really nice. It had the 250w Bafang rear hub drive and a set of Shimano 27 gears. The Samsung 10.5wh battery fitted nicely into the frame and the cable disc brakes were effective. It had 26" wheels fitted with Chunky Kenda tyres.
I soon racked up almost 500 miles riding almost every day. I loved it. The bike was great and I fitted a few extras such rear mudguard, seat post pouch, water bottle and some small wing mirrors. Most of my riding is on the road with some bridleway gravelly type rides and grassy/hard packed trails.
I was easily doing 20-30 mile rides and barely using much battery. The worst I ever went down to was 60% battery after riding 30 miles over undulating an route. I tended to use power level 3 (out of 6 levels) on the middle level of 3 torque levels. Never went below 60% and so was very confident of the range at my level of pedal assist.
Then disaster... my bike was stolen just over 4 weeks ago. Some scumbag opportunist saw my garage door was open and nicked the bike. I didn't even discover it missing until the next day after I'd locked the garage. One slight consolation was that the battery was not on the bike as I always removed it and charged it in the house after every ride. Still, my pride and joy was gone!
Isurance has finally paid out and I'm in the market for a new e-bike. Should I get the same model? I really enjoyed the Kudos Mistral. However, now that I've been paid out, I can go for the Woosh Big Bear or A N Other bike.
My only real gripe with the Kudos was the gears, in that I would have liked another one or two higher gears. I tended to use just the middle range gears and just the top 3 or 4. On a long ride I would switch from 18 to 26 or 27 but even then, I could have used another gear or two higher up.
The Woosh Big Bear looks really nice except I'm slightly put off by the from hub motor. I've never tried one but it's a bit like cars, I prefer rear wheel drive (or 4 wheel) to front wheel. However, it's not a deal breaker as long as I'm convinced that I'm not likely to get wheel spin when riding off road.
The weight is also at the back of my mind. The Kudos Mistral was heavy and had I run out of battery, I would not have looked forward to riding it without any assistance, even on a level road. The Big Bear looks and is, I believe a heavy bike.
Another bike I'm looking at but I believe a little bit pricey is the Volt Pulse. My local bike dealer stocks those and I'm going to test ride one. at nearly £1500 though, it looks like a lot for what is essentially a bike with similar components to the ones I had on my Kudos Mistral.
There are few other bikes out there that I like the look of and some of them use the same battery as the spare one I now own... However, I'm looking for a bike that'll do a lot of miles, a few hills, a bit of slightly off-road such as bridleways, and looks good.
One thing I struggled with when I got the Kudos and was suddenly spending a lot longer in the saddle was finding my best riding position. At first I was suffering from a lot of pain around my coccyx, long after I'd finished my ride. Also, wrist pain.
I ditched my old saddle gel pad and the coccyx pain disappeared. A simple fairly flat saddle such as the Velo that came with the bike was fine. I checked sit-bone spread and it fitted nicely with the Velo saddle so one problem sorted. The next was to change the handlebar grips to ones with a slightly wider grip that allowed be to rest the lower, outer part of my palm. I also fitted a pair of bull horn handles just so that I could vary my arm position on long rides. Eventually, I fiddled around with my saddle position in relation to the handlebars which also reduced the writs pain.
So, I'm now in the market for a new ebike. Looking for opinions form anyone with the Woosh Big Bear, the Volt Pulse or any other bike. The Kudos Mistral is also still in the mix.
At 62, I was finding it rather daunting getting up the hill for any ride of decent length. The easiest route was up the hill for about ½ mile and then a reasonably flat ride with the joy/relief of the downward bit at the end. The strain though, was putting me off and the thoughts of an e-bike started.
The first bike I tested was the Carrera from Halfords and I fell in love with e-bikes at that point. I wanted that one but Halfords didn't take the BTW vouchers from my company and their sister company that did were in Norwich (I live near Ipswich) but wouldn't accept a top up so they were off my list.
The next bike I wanted was a Woosh Big Bear. Unfortunately, they didn't take BTW vouchers and as no one else sold them, they were a no-goer too. Wasn't looking too good for me getting the bike I wanted.
I eventually chose a Kudos Mistral which looked really nice. It had the 250w Bafang rear hub drive and a set of Shimano 27 gears. The Samsung 10.5wh battery fitted nicely into the frame and the cable disc brakes were effective. It had 26" wheels fitted with Chunky Kenda tyres.
I soon racked up almost 500 miles riding almost every day. I loved it. The bike was great and I fitted a few extras such rear mudguard, seat post pouch, water bottle and some small wing mirrors. Most of my riding is on the road with some bridleway gravelly type rides and grassy/hard packed trails.
I was easily doing 20-30 mile rides and barely using much battery. The worst I ever went down to was 60% battery after riding 30 miles over undulating an route. I tended to use power level 3 (out of 6 levels) on the middle level of 3 torque levels. Never went below 60% and so was very confident of the range at my level of pedal assist.
Then disaster... my bike was stolen just over 4 weeks ago. Some scumbag opportunist saw my garage door was open and nicked the bike. I didn't even discover it missing until the next day after I'd locked the garage. One slight consolation was that the battery was not on the bike as I always removed it and charged it in the house after every ride. Still, my pride and joy was gone!
Isurance has finally paid out and I'm in the market for a new e-bike. Should I get the same model? I really enjoyed the Kudos Mistral. However, now that I've been paid out, I can go for the Woosh Big Bear or A N Other bike.
My only real gripe with the Kudos was the gears, in that I would have liked another one or two higher gears. I tended to use just the middle range gears and just the top 3 or 4. On a long ride I would switch from 18 to 26 or 27 but even then, I could have used another gear or two higher up.
The Woosh Big Bear looks really nice except I'm slightly put off by the from hub motor. I've never tried one but it's a bit like cars, I prefer rear wheel drive (or 4 wheel) to front wheel. However, it's not a deal breaker as long as I'm convinced that I'm not likely to get wheel spin when riding off road.
The weight is also at the back of my mind. The Kudos Mistral was heavy and had I run out of battery, I would not have looked forward to riding it without any assistance, even on a level road. The Big Bear looks and is, I believe a heavy bike.
Another bike I'm looking at but I believe a little bit pricey is the Volt Pulse. My local bike dealer stocks those and I'm going to test ride one. at nearly £1500 though, it looks like a lot for what is essentially a bike with similar components to the ones I had on my Kudos Mistral.
There are few other bikes out there that I like the look of and some of them use the same battery as the spare one I now own... However, I'm looking for a bike that'll do a lot of miles, a few hills, a bit of slightly off-road such as bridleways, and looks good.
One thing I struggled with when I got the Kudos and was suddenly spending a lot longer in the saddle was finding my best riding position. At first I was suffering from a lot of pain around my coccyx, long after I'd finished my ride. Also, wrist pain.
I ditched my old saddle gel pad and the coccyx pain disappeared. A simple fairly flat saddle such as the Velo that came with the bike was fine. I checked sit-bone spread and it fitted nicely with the Velo saddle so one problem sorted. The next was to change the handlebar grips to ones with a slightly wider grip that allowed be to rest the lower, outer part of my palm. I also fitted a pair of bull horn handles just so that I could vary my arm position on long rides. Eventually, I fiddled around with my saddle position in relation to the handlebars which also reduced the writs pain.
So, I'm now in the market for a new ebike. Looking for opinions form anyone with the Woosh Big Bear, the Volt Pulse or any other bike. The Kudos Mistral is also still in the mix.
