Ultra Motor A2B???

blacktiger

Finding my (electric) wheels
Apr 28, 2012
15
0
St.Leonards on Sea, England.
I recently tried to order an Ultra Motor "A2B Hybrid 26" Ultra Motor from Amazon Ultra Motor A2B Hybrid 26 Electric Bike - Black: Amazon.co.uk: Sports & Leisure . However it never showed up so I cancelled the order.
Now I've made contact with someone at Hero bikes who have just taken over Ultra Motors and they've promised to honour the £999 price of the bike on Amazon.
My use is going to be back & forth to work, 2.5 miles each way plus weekend and days off out in the countryside.
Now the questions :-
1, does anyone have experience with Ultra and that particular model? Reliability? Spares?
2, Would I be better off with a Tonaro Big Hit Bighit - Our Products of which I've read good reviews on here?

I'm not made of money so I really don't want to spend any more than £1500.
Thanks in advance.
 

Hero Eco

Pedelecer
Jan 10, 2012
186
1
Gloucestershire
I recently tried to order an Ultra Motor "A2B Hybrid 26" Ultra Motor from Amazon Ultra Motor A2B Hybrid 26 Electric Bike - Black: Amazon.co.uk: Sports & Leisure . However it never showed up so I cancelled the order.
Now I've made contact with someone at Hero bikes who have just taken over Ultra Motors and they've promised to honour the £999 price of the bike on Amazon.
My use is going to be back & forth to work, 2.5 miles each way plus weekend and days off out in the countryside.
Now the questions :-
1, does anyone have experience with Ultra and that particular model? Reliability? Spares?
2, Would I be better off with a Tonaro Big Hit Bighit - Our Products of which I've read good reviews on here?

I'm not made of money so I really don't want to spend any more than £1500.
Thanks in advance.
HI blacktiger

I'm sure many will come back with advice. but I can confirm we have spares availability here in the UK and Europe.
The bike is a really sporty ride, nice and powerful. Pop into a local dealer to try if you wish

Thanks
Mark
 

Mike63

Esteemed Pedelecer
Oct 23, 2008
809
64
You will certainly get good service from Ultra Motor but that Ultra Motor A2B Hybrid 26 at 29 kg + a quality lock and your gear, is a damn heavy bike.

...just to add to your confusion you may wish to consider a Kudos bike.

....Mike
 

flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
52,760
30,348
The Tonaro is also very heavy, so the choices are comparable. The A2B is undoubtedly the more powerful and will be faster up slight or moderate hills. The Tonaro gains some advantage on very steep hills where it's drive through the gears is preferable.
 

JuicyBike

Trade Member
Jan 26, 2009
1,671
527
Derbyshire
Ultra Motor have a great reputation and are BEBA members to boot. Mark will certainly look after you.
 

blacktiger

Finding my (electric) wheels
Apr 28, 2012
15
0
St.Leonards on Sea, England.
HI blacktiger

I'm sure many will come back with advice. but I can confirm we have spares availability here in the UK and Europe.
The bike is a really sporty ride, nice and powerful. Pop into a local dealer to try if you wish

Thanks
Mark
Thanks for the response. I've had contact with a Fernando Kuefer at Hero by e-mail. It was him that offered to trade at the Amazon price. I hope he's actually part of your organisation and that I haven't dropped him "in it"!
 

Hero Eco

Pedelecer
Jan 10, 2012
186
1
Gloucestershire
Thanks for the response. I've had contact with a Fernando Kuefer at Hero by e-mail. It was him that offered to trade at the Amazon price. I hope he's actually part of your organisation and that I haven't dropped him "in it"!
Hi Blacktiger,

He is, if you PM me your postcode I can put you in touch with your closest dealer.

Many thanks
Mark
 

blacktiger

Finding my (electric) wheels
Apr 28, 2012
15
0
St.Leonards on Sea, England.
The Tonaro is also very heavy, so the choices are comparable. The A2B is undoubtedly the more powerful and will be faster up slight or moderate hills. The Tonaro gains some advantage on very steep hills where it's drive through the gears is preferable.
Thanks but I'm not sure how you equate the A2B as the more powerful as they both have a 36V 250W motor.
 

flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
52,760
30,348
Thanks but I'm not sure how you equate the A2B as the more powerful as they both have a 36V 250W motor.
The 250 watts is a legal nicety to comply with the law, but meaningless. All these e-bikes have peak powers way in excess of that figure, the most powerful at three times that, the majority of hub motor bikes at double. At the two extremes of legal available e-bikes, the lowset peak power is just over 300 watts, the highest powered at over 720 watts. You'll appreciate there's a very big difference between the performance of the two.
 

blacktiger

Finding my (electric) wheels
Apr 28, 2012
15
0
St.Leonards on Sea, England.
The 250 watts is a legal nicety to comply with the law, but meaningless. All these e-bikes have peak powers way in excess of that figure, the most powerful at three times that, the majority of hub motor bikes at double. At the two extremes of legal available e-bikes, the lowset peak power is just over 300 watts, the highest powered at over 720 watts. You'll appreciate there's a very big difference between the performance of the two.
OK so are you're saying they're limited to a speed rather than power output? And what's what with the A2B and the Tonaro Big Hit? How does one find out?
 

flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
52,760
30,348
I too would like to understand that. :)
As I explained here Mike in this above post

The European parliament has recognised that the power limit is a bit meaningless in practice and has recommended to the commission that all limits be removed, leaving only the assist speed limiting. In my view that's as it should be, power needed is a matter for designers, not lawyers.
 

blacktiger

Finding my (electric) wheels
Apr 28, 2012
15
0
St.Leonards on Sea, England.
The European parliament has recognised that the power limit is a bit meaningless in practice and has recommended to the commission that all limits be removed, leaving only the assist speed limiting. In my view that's as it should be, power needed is a matter for designers, not lawyers.
That's great if it comes to pass but we all know what meddlers the EU commissioners are.......if they see the "citizens" getting about too quickly without paying any tax then they'll limit something or introduce a Wattage tax. Lord help us!
 

flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
52,760
30,348
OK so are you're saying they're limited to a speed rather than power output? And what's what with the A2B and the Tonaro Big Hit? How does one find out?
As you'll often see advised, there's no substitute for trying them out. Failing that, the A2B bikes are widely recognised as being some of the most powerful, indeed their Metro model is often said to be as much a moped as a bike, pedals optional!

The Tonaro is a drive though the gears e-bike and they have lower peak powers than most hub motors in the interests of long bike transmission life. They climb by the motor using the gears rather than by using brute force in the one (top) gear. That's efficient, but it means lower climb speeds though a better ultimate steepness capability.

I'll probably upset Tonaro owners now! One member in this forum has more knowledge of current and very recent e-bikes than anyone else, having owned and ridden a wide variety of them. With a friend they recently rode a pair of Tonaros on a decent length run and they found them low powered compared with the mainstream, and well down on the most powerful hub motor models. Of course the quid pro quo of lower power is a better range from a given battery size.

So choice is really according to your needs. If your hills are not especially steep, say up to 10%, a hub motor bike is usually the sensible choice. For the steepest hill areas, a crank drive through the gears like the Tonaro makes a lot of sense, especially if the rider's abilities are limited.

But to conclude, these two types can be very different to ride, so there is no substitute for trying before buying.
 

flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
52,760
30,348
That's great if it comes to pass but we all know what meddlers the EU commissioners are.......if they see the "citizens" getting about too quickly without paying any tax then they'll limit something or introduce a Wattage tax. Lord help us!
Oh dear, the anti-European bias knows no bounds. In fact the EU is very much the e-bikers friend.

UK law was a limit of 200 watts which is still in force, and originally a 12 mph assist limit. Since transport harmonisation is the EU's policy, the speed limit had to be increased to 25 kph (15.6 mph) and the increase to legalise 250 watts is going to be brought into force in about a year's time according to the DfT.
 

blacktiger

Finding my (electric) wheels
Apr 28, 2012
15
0
St.Leonards on Sea, England.
Oh dear, the anti-European bias knows no bounds. In fact the EU is very much the e-bikers friend.

UK law was a limit of 200 watts which is still in force, and originally a 12 mph assist limit. Since transport harmonisation is the EU's policy, the speed limit had to be increased to 25 kph (15.6 mph) and the increase to legalise 250 watts is going to be brought into force in about a year's time according to the DfT.
It's not necessarily an anti-European bias. I've just grown increasingly cynical over the years that the Euromeddlers can't keep their noses out of our business. And if there's an opportunity for another tax then they'll take it with all their noses in the trough sucking it up in ever increasing quantities.

Or is it just me? Maybe I need to get me coat!