I would say this was true of every electric bike I have tried, and you can see why: you don't get summat for nowt. If you have a bike equipped with loads of extra gear to help you up the hills, you are going to notice it if the rôles are reversed.
Wisper: SO hard to pedal without power
- Thread starter allen-uk
- Start date
I quote, bode, from two different Wisper websites, giving their sales pitch:
The 905 is Wispers flag-ship e-bike specifically designed by Wisper not only for looks and performance but also as a bicycle that can be enjoyed equally with the motor turned on or off.
...our electric bikes are light enough to be ridden without any power assistance including with the battery switched off, depleted or removed altogether.
Yes, it's just life, and yes, we will all learn to live with it, or not; but there IS an important point to be made, at least to newcomers to ebikes, which is that in the main they just ain't made for cycling. They are motorised bikes with pedals, not pedal bikes with motors.
Allen.
Yep, fully agree. I read on here once that riding a Wisper was akin to riding one of those old heavy Dutch roadsters and I wouldn't fancy slugging one of those up a hill either!
I agree, but on the flat - no problems.
Christchurch to Sandbanks and back: 20 miles. Riding time 2¼ hours, Wisper 905 City, motor switched off.
Sandown to Cowes along the old railway route via Newport and back: 27 miles. Riding time 3 hours, Wisper 905 City, motor switched off. Both flat routes, and far more enjoyable without the Wisper motor switched on at all.
The 905 is Wispers flag-ship e-bike specifically designed by Wisper not only for looks and performance but also as a bicycle that can be enjoyed equally with the motor turned on or off.
...our electric bikes are light enough to be ridden without any power assistance including with the battery switched off, depleted or removed altogether.
True.
Colin
75Kg and not very fit.
Trundling along on the flat at 9-10mph is easy - the bike just rolls along. It gets more difficult when you push it up to 13-15mph, especially into a headwind, or try to climb hills at any speed. Indeed trying to climb hills at any speed without power is no fun.
Colin
Trundling along on the flat at 9-10mph is easy - the bike just rolls along. It gets more difficult when you push it up to 13-15mph, especially into a headwind, or try to climb hills at any speed. Indeed trying to climb hills at any speed without power is no fun.
Colin
Course he is, but I bet he denies it!
I'd be half-dead before I'd completed a part of either route.
.
I thought I'd put my Galileo to the test yesterday on a longish route almost to the Peak District but with the motor switched off all the way. It also included a long steep hill (Sawmills to Crich for those that know the area) that lycra cyclists use for training. 32 miles in 2hrs 45mins at an average speed of 11.8mph.
It was easy going to start with but the hill took it out of me - my speed was between 3 and 5mph - it's crazy steep in places and goes on for a couple of miles. I could apply little in the way of power for the last 10 miles or so but it was a pleasant enough ride. I've only done that ride once before but I did it in purely pedelec mode and it was a lot more enjoyable although a lot less satisfying. I did get overtaken by the Lycras on the flat but not at much of a speed difference which I was pleased with, I was doing just over 15mph and I would guess they were doing about 18mph.
It was easy going to start with but the hill took it out of me - my speed was between 3 and 5mph - it's crazy steep in places and goes on for a couple of miles. I could apply little in the way of power for the last 10 miles or so but it was a pleasant enough ride. I've only done that ride once before but I did it in purely pedelec mode and it was a lot more enjoyable although a lot less satisfying. I did get overtaken by the Lycras on the flat but not at much of a speed difference which I was pleased with, I was doing just over 15mph and I would guess they were doing about 18mph.
Just recently got an Aurora and I've been spending way too much time in the garage setting it up. It seems to me that it works fine just pedaling with not a lot of drag from the motor. But what I have found is that with the motor just pulling and hence all freewheels engaged, it's noticeably harder to pedal than with the motor completely off. This makes me wonder if the problem the original poster is having is that the motor free wheel is not dis-engaging properly for some reason. Either due to some electrical problem that there's a small amount of power getting to the motor, or a mechanical problem where the motor freewheel isn't disengaging.
Can someone describe how the freewheel mechanism in the SB motors works? It seems to be a one way clutch of some kind. But the diagrams on the SB don't really show how it works.
Can someone describe how the freewheel mechanism in the SB motors works? It seems to be a one way clutch of some kind. But the diagrams on the SB don't really show how it works.
Thanks for the thought, jbond. It seems not. If I lift the rear of the bike and push the rear wheel, it turns fairly easily, i.e. with very little effort.
Trying it again on the road today, 'Low' power, which is about 20%, is just about rideable, but going round the same couple of roads and turning the power off altogether made the bike next to impossible to move. It is just about possible on the flat, but a very slight slope requires an absurd amount of effort!
I will try and fettle up my non-electric bike (need to switch special pedals and seatpost) to make sure I can still ride the darned thing. If I can, then I'll stick a very large weight on the back to simulate the Wisper weight, and try that. I suspect there won't be a problem, except pedalling through the motor.
Allen.
Hi Allen, we certainly agree that riding an electric bike without power is tough compared to riding one with the power turned on. Please let me know where you found this sentence and I will have it removed, I can't find it in our marketing material.
It does sound as if there may be a problem with your bike, I ride mine on 20% with no problems and I am 21 stone! Would it be possible to have a look at it?
Mussels, how do you find the 906Alpino with the power off?
All the best
David
Last edited:
Hello David.
The Wisper is quite a big bike, and my car might just about take it, with the back hatch open a bit!
I will see what I can organise in the way of getting myself + bike from here to Woking, and then phone you and try and arrange a time and date.
But you are right in that it would take an expert about 30 seconds to ride it and say 'yes there's a problem' or 'no there isn't'...
Thanks for your reply.
Allen.
The Wisper is quite a big bike, and my car might just about take it, with the back hatch open a bit!
I will see what I can organise in the way of getting myself + bike from here to Woking, and then phone you and try and arrange a time and date.
But you are right in that it would take an expert about 30 seconds to ride it and say 'yes there's a problem' or 'no there isn't'...
Thanks for your reply.
Allen.
OK Allen, no problems.
It may be better if Mohamed came to the mountain so to speak!
Where abouts do you live?
All the best
David
It may be better if Mohamed came to the mountain so to speak!
Where abouts do you live?
All the best
David
I just did a further test on my bike and found that examining just the the drag on wheel rotation (i.e. turning the bike upside and down and timing wheel slow down from 14.5mph which is my motor's max speed), my front hub motor wheel exhibits less drag (55 seconds to stop) than my back wheel does (45 seconds to stop) with its gear freewheel. Also, interestingly, the front wheel exhibits linear slowdown over time, which corroborates my feeling that drag does not increase with speed.
It's heavy and hard to accelerate but when I'm up to speed I can turn the power off and carry on fairly easily. It is more effort than an unpowered bike but better than the 905.
Strangely although it feels like high drag I can coast down a hill quicker than someone coasting on a road bike, I know weight makes a difference but if drag was that bad I'd be slower than them.
Hi Andrew
I feel the riding characteristics must have more to do with riding a heavier bike than motor drag, what you describe would fit exactly. The Dapu motors on the Alpino and XC Tourer are better free wheelers then the chunkier Bafangs but are more expensive.
All the best
David
I feel the riding characteristics must have more to do with riding a heavier bike than motor drag, what you describe would fit exactly. The Dapu motors on the Alpino and XC Tourer are better free wheelers then the chunkier Bafangs but are more expensive.
All the best
David
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