maca44

Your statement regards the Hydraulic disc brakes is bizarre, a good set of V's will work well but nothing like using disc brakes at all, not only is the braking power in wet weather or dry far superior but also the whole feel of braking with discs is far far better & smoother than V's & I am surprised that you think otherwise being in trade as you say. If you look at the modern suspension forks, I'm not talking about Suntour etc I am talking about proper forks, they mostly come in disc only design for good reason & I see many good online bike shops now mostly stock disc brakes & are doing away with V's simply because discs are much better/safer to use. I will also agree to dis agree with you also. Good day to you sir

I can clearly see that the parts fitted to the powerbyke are not of a high standard so I do not agree with you. I am sure that if, as you say, powerbyke is a market leader it is because it's clients are of an older generation & don't go far on these bike & they have designed the bike with that ridiculous looking battery with a very limited range because of this fact. I agree to disagree with you on this one.

As your confused perhaps I should make myself more clear. In my opinion the bike in question looks outdated compared to modern bikes & I think the reason you might be confused is the fact that perhaps many of the people here might be retired or a bit older than myself & also you might just use your e bikes to make short journeys etc, no, I am not trying to insult anyone I just think this is why your confused when I say it looks outdated because I guess your used to the older syle of bike. I have never had any Shimano XTR/XT part on my bike fail simply because they are made so well & using hydraulic disc brakes are a huge step forward from V's as fitted on most ebikes (Excluding the very cheap cable disc brakes fitted on some ebikes which are rubbish). When I first used a bike with cheaper parts fitted many years ago & similar to the cheap parts fitted to the Powabyke it basically fell to bits within a short time & things like the cheap steel chainset bent because it was made of cheap steel like the bike in question here, however if you are just popping to the corner shop on your powabyke then yes it will last years & I suspect will be more than adequate for most of you. My style of riding is much more demanding than yourself I guess & that is why I am more critical when I see this type of bike being sold in a time when bikes have advanced so much & parts can be made that are light & don't fail even under heavy usage. I am a great believer in the use of ebikes for many reasons & find it frustrating that bikes being made today are simply behind the times & will only appeal to perhaps older gent/ladies or people who just use the bike to pop to the shop etc. Unless they start making bikes that appeal to younger riders then the ebike will not move forward & become popular which is a real shame.

I am not arguing with myself or anyone else I'm just saying what I like & dislike which I should be able to do on any open forum. If I thought that the Cytronex was great I would have brought one by now bacause it is the only bike I see on the market that has a modern look & has basic acceptable parts fitted & not parts that were fitted to bikes 30years ago. I guess I am just used to making my own bikes up & able to fit top end components that last, it's a shame that I can't go & buy a ebike that has the same sort quality my MTB's have & that is why I have to make my own ebike from scratch.

I am referring to the Powabyke X6 with regards the outdated looks along with many others I have seen & I don't think I have missed any point at all. Thank god standard bikes have moved on from the 70's/80's but if that's your thing then I guess it takes all sorts & I hope you get good use out of them but if that's how electric bike are going to be produced then I don't hold much hope in making the electric bike as popular as it they should be in terms of an green alternative form of transport not if manufactures are staying in the dark ages with design.

Thankfully fashion & looks play a big part in what makes us by things & this also applies to bikes electric or not so something as silly as the look of that ugly battery & looks of this bike would put many people off & this is one reason why the development/sales of ebikes is IMO behind. Superficial or not the looks of a bike is very important & this bike along with many others I have seen look like bikes that were made 30 years ago & taking the time to simply add a nice looking battery that resenbled a water bottle would have made this partiular bike atleast a tad more atractive just take a look at that bike that is made in Winchester & is based on a Trek, it looks like a modern bike & they have made the battery (water bottle ) blend in with the looks very well indeed.

Looking at the last few post it is clear that Powabyke's have many happy customers so it's no surprise that the company is defended so well but remember it is a company who wants to make money so the more feedback they or any other company gets, good or bad, is a good thing for us, the customer. I do not like the bike pictured, I don't like the look of it I don't think the components would last long & that is my opinion & valid view & that is why I am building my own e bike so I can custom build to suit me. The only bike I see coming close to having an acceptable level of good components is the one that is made in Winchester & is built around a Trek bike but again it's over a £1000. It is nice to see that Powabykes has such great support from the makers but I am sure the makers will agree that any negative comments made about their bikes can only be constructive & will help any e bike company to move forward in an industry that is IMO not providing a quality alternative mode of transport at this time.

I'm new here so I don't know the history of Mr Ching but I totally agree with his comments about that bike, it looks awful & has really poor components fitted, for the price I would expect better components. Having said that as I am about to build my own electric MTB the Ezee kit is also being sold in the UK for a ridiculously overinflated price for a kit compared to other kits on the market. Some will like it some will hate it but there is nothing wrong with saying so.

As I am still not sure if a electric bike is going to suit me or I will be able to convert my MTB over to electric I have had a rethink so any feedback would be welcome. I thought I might buy a Alien Cruiser which has the 36V alien kit on it then ride about for a while on that just to get the feel of the motor's power etc then if I am happy with it I could then use that hub kit & fit it to my MTB. I see the cruiser is on offer on ebay so is only £80 more than just the 36v kit alone. If I don't get on with the bike I could just sell the whole thing. If your riding the cruiser then please give me some feedback on performance, distance & build quality etc. Thanks

I'm in the same boat as you & really want a front disc hub but just look at the cost it's ridiculous. I am either going for front V's on my MTB with a Alien 36v kit or will wait until someone comes up with a sensible electric disc hub & not a rip off over inflated price like the Ezee or the disc Heinzmann hub @ £1200 what a joke:D. I have emailed Alien about a disc hub because the people who make their hubs in China make a disc electric hub also.

On the Alien website the 36v kits says it's 110mm & it says that the picture showing 100mm is incorrect. The 24v kit is 100mm

Thanks for the info. Am I right in thinking the Alien hubs are Suzhou Bafang ?. To be honest as the Alien kit is over half the price of Ezee I was worried that the alien hub might be badly made but if it's Suzhou Bafang then perhaps my worries are unfounded. I see that Suzhou Bafang do make a electric disc hub but I never got an email back from them when I enquired about buying direct. I wish I could make my mind up

I see the Ezee electric hub motor is now on sale at Cyclepoint Brighton after reading another thread. As I am about to join you all & make up my own electric MTB I would love to know what your views are on the Ezee hub motor in terms of power & reliability. I am close to buying the Alien 36v kit but although it's £400 cheaper than the Ezee kit I would need to use front V's on my bike & I see the ezee can come in disc form which I much prefer as anyone who moved from V's to disc will know what I mean. Are the components in the ezee kit of good quality ? any of you comments would be a great help with my build. Thanks in advance

You said it, Twice the price

I'm in the same boat as you & want to make up my own MTB with an electric hub. Why do you want a MTB as apposed to another type of electric bike ?. The reason I ask is if you want a electric MTB for off road riding then a £100 bike fitted with a kit is not going to be of much use as it will have poor quality parts fitted & for off road electric riding a 36v hub would be better than a 24v due to the extra drag & hill climbing that off road riding will bring so you will want as much power as you can get. I make my own MTB's & from experience a basic good quality hardtail MTB would cost around £400 just to make up yourself excluding any electric upgrade just a basic bike with front suspension. This guy sells full rear hub electric MTB's & he is a nice chap who will be happy to just give any advice you want. As you can see his setup has the power needed for true off road riding but at a cost. electric mountain bikes, electric bicycle, electric bike kits, folding bicycles If it's not off road riding then I guess a hybrid type electric bike would suit & from what I can see you will need to spend a good £700 odd to get anything that is of a good quality.