Random Joe

Found this discussion about SA SRF-5 which is killing my desire to change... https://forum.cyclinguk.org/viewtopic.php?t=85275

Here is another review for aerobike x-ride. http://ebiketips.road.cc/content/reviews/electric-city-bikes/aerobike-x-ride-533 It's interesting that he swapped the chainset from the 46-tooth one to a 33-tooth one.

I been thinking how to make my aerobike x-ride better. My plan is to replace SRAM Automatix 2 speed gear hub to: Sturmey Archer SRF5 (W) Internal Gear Hub 5 Speed Specs (for 119mm OLD spacing) Hub Shell Material - 6061 Aluminum Axle Diameter - 13/32” Slotted Axle Length - 175mm Over Locknut Dimension - 119mm Right Axle Protrusion Length - 24mm Left Axle Protrusion Length - 32mm Spoke Holes - 36 Pitch Circle Diameter - 67mm Center to Flange Right - 27.6mm Center to Flange Left - 29.0mm Flange Width - 53mm Spoke Compatibility - 13g or 14g Sprocket Teeth - 13T through 22T Chain Line: 1/8” Flat 45.6mm Chain Line: 1/8” Dished 44mm, 47.4mm Chain Line: 3/32” Flat 45.3mm, 45.9mm Chain Line: 3/32” Dished 43.5mm, 47.7mm Indicator Chain - HSA585 Mark Yellow Weight - 1090g Gear Ratio • Overall Range - 256% • Gear 1 - 62.5% (-)37.5% • Gear 2 - 75% (-)25% (Gear 1 + 20%) • Gear 3 - 100% Direct Drive (Gear 2 + 33%) • Gear 4 - 133.3% (+)33.3% (Gear 3 + 33%) • Gear 5 - 160% (+)60% (Gear 4 + 20%) The SRAM Automatix has gear ratio at 1:1 and 1:1.37. It would great to have more gears to overcome kick in delay at start. It would also speed up even further at higher ratio. One of the trouble I found is aerobike x-ride has 119mm OLD which is a bit rare. Not many budget gear hub can fit. Fortunately, I found Sturmey Archer SRF5(W) can fit 119mm OLD. I don't know if this is possible. Anyone know much about this?

I have my aerobike x-ride for 3 months now and I would like to share a bit of my experience. Battery: I use aerobike for commute to London city centre. About 13x2=26 miles each day. I used up 20% when I paddle a bit harder. It could use up 80% when I am feeling lazy. Although the battery is small, it is more than enough for my usage. Front wheel drive: This is my first e-bike. I was worried about the front wheel drive could be wobbly at start. After start riding it, I can tell you no problem at all. Maybe it's well design and built, maybe it's because 250W motor isn't powerful enough to cause issue. Either way, it is very good. 2 speed Automatix gear: Compare to single speed e-bike like G-Tech at slightly higher price. 2 gears definitely boost your max speed. However, it comes with a bit of downside. First issue is high gear seems kick in a bit too early automatically. Secondly, it might stay at high gear when you stop at traffic. This make it difficult to start up... It's a bit trade off. Either single speed or slightly funny 2 gears. With a bit of experience, I can manage it fine and still will go for funny 2 gear option if I have to choose again. Electric control: It has delay. You have to paddle half turn to kick in the signal plus the delay. So that's about 1.5 second lag at least. This is definitely a down side for this bike when compare to G-tech which is £250 more. My worst nightmare is stop at uphill traffic light with gear stuck at high ratio and I have to paddle first half turn plus the delay to kick in motor... After all, I think this is the best bike you can get at this price range. I was comparing between 1). G-Tech at £1000 2). Aerobike at £750 3). Ampler bike at £1750 I think I made the good choice on my first e-bike although my next bike will be Ampler bike.

I was thinking to get a seat post suspension for my aerobike but found the size is a bit rare. 26.8mm seems for US market only. Common seat post size in UK seems 27.2 onward.

Wow...... But it's nearly the price of average second hand family car.

https://amplerbikes.com/bikes/hawk This is only 14 KG. However, yours is mountain bike type hence a lot more stuff to put on weight. 15 KG is really good.

Where is the battery? In the bag?

Looks nice but the price is much higher than any one of them at the top of this thread.

Good to know the truth. Thanks. Still not regret for this option because it is much cheaper compare to others. Also, it's okay for me to push harder at start. I want to exercise anyway. However, if I win lottery... even if it's small prize, I will choose better one.

I found it's easy to spot ebike or not, just look at the wheel hub. Much bigger compare to normal push bike

Vanmoof is almost like aerobike to me. Both front wheel drive motor. Both use SRAM automatic gear. Well, the app and the interface is better, the battery is hidden... but does it worth the extra £££?

I was looking for an ebike that look like a normal bike and use like a normal bike. Here are couple options: 1). ampler bike https://amplerbikes.com/ 2). vanmoof bike https://www.vanmoof.com 3). gtech bike http://www.gtech.co.uk/ebike.html 4). aerobike https://www.aero-bike.co.uk I like ampler bike most but cost most... I went for the cheapest option which is aerobike. Here is my experience: I was worried that front wheel drive will be unstable when start up. Actual use shows okay. No such problem! The down side of aero bike is it took 1.5 second before motor kick in. A bit slow... Some said it's safety design. The SRAM Automatix gear is pretty cool. Compare to other 1 gear options, this is good to add extra speed when riding. Down side is it may stay at high gear sometimes. At traffic light, the high gear problem combine with slow motor kick in, it's really straggle to pull out from other bikers. Nevertheless, I still think it is worth of money.