lutin

Yep, on a low gear (assuming that's the one where the pedals spin faster!), the bike is not that hard to pedal - that's true. [mention=25628]leecashman[/mention] even in a low gear, did you have that heavy resistance feeling?

Just out of curiousity - how would you diagnose this issue? My bike is hard to pedal when the power is off, but I'm never sure if it's just due to me being so used to the power on, that it's a bit of a surprise when it's hard to pedal.

Ah that's a great result! Thanks for the update.

Would be really interested in the outcome of this. Hope it works out for you

Hi there - fellow gtech escent owner here. So my commute is only about 6 miles round trip. I use the assist for 99% of it. I literally only spin the pedals at the minimum amount required to engage the motor. I very rarely try to move the bike under my own steam, but when I do - oh boy is it tough. I think I might have posted about it on this forum even, and the conclusion was that the resistance was just the 'surprise' difference between full assist and no assist whatsoever. That and a combination of a slightly heavier bike. I wasn't ever fully satisfied with that, and I still can't believe how hard it is to pedal with the motor off. Not much help, sorry.

Good luck! I have the same bike. I only use it for my daily commute, but I absolutely love it. Any questions - just hit me up!

For my round trip, I do 100% assist - I'm basically only turning the pedals to engage the motor and there is practically no resistance. I would say you could only get about 10 miles on full assist from the gtech battery.

Just for some input - the last thing you want on an e-bike is battery anxiety. And even if you calculate that the battery is big enough for a round trip, you have to factor in that a couple of years down the line, it might not hold it's charge so well. I have a Gtech Escent with a small battery - and though it looks neat - I'd swap it for a bigger battery if I could.

Maybe a bike shop could do you a deal - like an electric bike without the battery for less than a grand? And then you buy the battery separately. Disclaimer: I know nothing.

There's a big difference between torque vs cadence sensor. Good explanation from another thread: I personally have a cadence sensor (Gtech escent) and whilst it is a good fit for me (I want a commute with zero effort), it definitely isn't for everyone, especially not purists who want to 'feel' like they're cycling. My cadence sensor doesn't even care about how fast I am pedaling - if I am pedaling at all with will try to get me up to the maximum speed - it's more akin to an on/off throttle in my case, though I'm not sure all cadence sensors work like this.

I have the Gtech escent, so if you need any info let me know. I got it for 765 in halfords (they did a £150 off promo a couple of months back, plus you get 10% off everything if you're a british cycling member - joining is free if you/someone you know is a HSBC customer) It's a definitely a big bike. Certainly as big as I've ever ridden. I am 6 foot. I really love the bike. It gets me two round trips commutes (about 12 miles in total) and I let the bike do ALL the work. It's a cadence sensor, so you put in very, very little effort in order to get up to max speed). It's the nearest thing I can get to being magically teleported to work. The cadence sensor is both a plus and a minus. With a torque sensor, you may end up actually putting in more effort, BUT I think torque vs cadence for mountain biking, it's torque all the way. The hydraulic brakes are great, as are the gears. Suspension and seat post are nice to haves. It looks really, really nice in flesh IMO. So the major weaknesses are: the battery range, and the cadence sensor (though you may consider that an advantage - I do) I should caveat all this by saying that this is my very first e-bike and indeed my first bike of any kind for years. Let me know if I can give you any other info.

Best explanation on torque/cadence I've seen!

My electric bike (gtech escent) feels significantly harder to pedal than an equivalent non-electric mountain bike of the same weight (19kg). There's definitely a lot of drag with mine.

HSBC offer is indeed just for one year, but they don't take any payment details from you so it's not as if they can automatically renew it.

You can join British Cycling for about 25 quid and get 10% off halfords. HSBC customers get free membership, so if you know anyone who is a customer, they can get you a voucher. You only show it when you come to collect (and pay for) the bike, so you don't need to have done it in advance. You'll save yourself 160 quid if you do!

I've had a cadence/speed sensor now for only about a week (Gtech Escent MTB), but feel like i've got to know how it works a bit. My experience is that the cadence sensor is basically like having throttle. Pedal movement = throttle on. As long as the pedals are moving, no matter how little much force you apply, the motor will kick in and attempt to get you up to max speed. In this respect, the cadence sensor isn't really like riding a bike at all in that the pressure/effort that you exert on the pedals doesn't really matter at all. This means that for my commute, I do virtually no work at all - I arrive completely sweat-free. This is exactly what I want from an e-bike and I think that for my needs the cadence sensor might actually be better than a torque sensor.

Have had a couple of days with it now. Love it. Have done 2 round trips to work, totalling just over 10 miles, all in MAX mode and I'd say the motor was pushing me 95% of the time. Battery still has 12 percent left, so I'd say its good for just 11 miles in max mode. Battery life is definitely not great by ebike standards, but certainly sufficient for my needs. Bike feels so well built and I love every aspect of it.

I don't see the battery advertised on the Halfords website but I know they are partnered with Cycle Republic. Was your friend able to use a discount to get 10% off? Thanks for all your input btw!

So I think that eco mode gets you up to 8mph and max gets you up to 15mph, so in theory if you never go above 8 then both modes would us the same amount of battery. I don't know if that's how all eco modes work, but I've read that that's how it works on the escent. Battery life was definitely the compromise when I purchased the escent, but my commute is so short that I should get two round trips between charges.

Well, what did your mate think of it (apart from having the fork the wrong way round - saw your other thread) and did you get a chance to check it out?

Ah sorry to hear that. Very frustrating as I'm sure he was looking forward to giving it a go. Hope he gets sorted soon.

Also, I should say that the 10% British Cycling discount is applied at the til when you actually pick up and pay for the bike, so it's not too late for your friend to get it.

I really haven't used it enough to say yet, but I reckon it should handily do my 5 mile round trip twice on max (I weigh 75kg btw). But honestly I have no idea yet about range. Also I meant to say (totally forgot but this is the reason I replied in the first place), I rang the cycle Republic gtech support line and they said they're getting more stock of batteries on the 12th July. The batteries cost 299 pounds. The number for the support line is 01527914315

I just got this bike last Friday. I have only ridden it for about 40 mins and it's my first ever ebike so take anything I say comes with a large pinch of salt. So far I love it. All I wanted is a bike for my 5 mile round trip commute. It looks fantastic, handles really well and does the job of getting me from a to b sweat-free. I got mine for 765 (CYCLING15 code plus 10% off for being a member of British Cycling which you can get for cheap/free). Your mate can get a further 10% off if he presents a British cycling voucher (assuming he has a friend who is a member or becomes a member) Anyway so far, and it's very early days, but I'm really pleased with what I got for the money.

The official gtech battery is £300 from Cycle Republic, though I can't see it on their website now (which makes me slightly suspicious). I don't think I'll need a spare, but if I keep the bike a while it would be nice to have a replacement. Thanks for the link!