ElectricJoe

Thanks. Its there i just couldn't see it !

Does that have to be correct? It could be the dynamo only takes power from the riders pedalling (like it does on an ordinary bike)

Hi Trek, where did you order it from? Volt don't seem to make it any more, at least I can't see it on their website.

Theres certainly a lot to be said for converting a bike to electric, in that You won't have the issues that potentially lurk regards spares and ending up with a bike that's unusable when the manufacturer stops supporting it. But then if you go for front wheel drive (easiest conversion?) do you geta bike that's less good on hills?

I suspect its more that its students urban place with a lot of bikes around hence more bikes to steal.

I'm new here, i dont know if its allowed to discuss that.

If theft is a problem where you'll be leaving the bike, and since 10km isn't actually that far (dont forget, its an electric bike !), and if its per day so only 5km each way , how about a folder that you can take into work?

My experience also, the more I know about a thing Which reviews, the less I'm impressed by it.

It won't be legal to do (2). Re (1) are you pedalling or just using the throttle? If the latter, I think its merely engaging walk mode (up to 4mph) then stopping when it gets to that speed. Rinse and repeat. Did you buy the bike thinking you could just use the throttle without pedalling? Summary of the law regarding pedalling and throttles is on this site here https://www.pedelecs.co.uk/electric-bike-guides/uk-electric-bike-law/

Friends of mine have a Saturday (One each) and love them, had them fir three years and no issues. They have the step through type with swept back handles which I suppose you won't be getting but anyway on that sample of two reliability is good.

Great question. In general, bike vendors want to sell bikes rather than batteries. And if you look at all the bikes there are now, there are so many different sizes and shapes and connections for batteries, that you would need a cottage industry that replaced the cells inside the existing battery module for newer ones since once a particular bike is discontinued if the battery module is specific to that, the bike vendor is unlikely to bring out a replacement battery. If electric bikes become popular enough then the demand for such service might enable retrofit, in the same way you can get your phone battery replaced if you want. I dont know how good manufacturers have been so far in supporting discontinued models. You'd hope they would try to stick to same size and shape for their own sake but there's no real concept of a modular battery. A worrying prospect if you spend a lot on a bike that might be obsoleted by battery unavailability in only, say 4 or 5 years if the manufacturers doest support it or goes bust. So this is a potential issue regardless of new tech.

the fits really well with the guy on YouTube who cycles up Mt Ventoux on an electric Brompton (conversion), looking at the details it seems he uses about 300wh battery (two 180wh batteries but I don't think uses all of second one) to climb 5000ft which is about 1500 metres Id guess. And probably him and Brompton weighs a bit less than 100kg. Plus of course no doubt he'll have been putting some effort in himself.

Is it as bad as that? Eg if it's 20 miles of upward hills on the way out, then it's 20 miles downhill coming back, so 20miles that can cope with mostly upwards is good enough, or if it's 10 miles up 10 miles down outward, it's still only 20 miles up in total. Would a suitably geared bike For going uphill help to retain battery? Bigger chain wheel than standard? I'm sure I've seen that discussed on a Brompton website?a

Wow. Think it would be easier (and maybe cheaper) to buy small electric moped?

Cant get my head round this. It's obvious how they work if the power comes from the main chainwheel, eg a bottom bracket motor, or just your own legs, the smaller the cog on the derailleur the faster the wheel turns for each rotation of the cog. But when the motor is on the same wheel /hub as the derailleur cogs, and thus seemingly connected to it, what's going on? Probably I'm missing something obvious here. Thanks

Rohloff are the "rolls royce" of hub gears, there are a few others that are much cheaper and do sort of the same job. But in any case you'd be out of luck with your bike in terms of using the motor. P.s Impractical to adjust that bike (obviously anything can be done ata price) id say you bought the wrong bike and it would be simpler and cheaper to sell it and buy one with the features you wanted.

The "battery breakthrough de jour" as Elon Musk once said. There's always something radically new being touted, and there's, so far, always been a catch. Density, or cost or charge cycles or size or safety. Current (ha ha) lithium batteries are also improving at such a speed that whatever replaces them will be much more of a gradual process, and used in areas where they are needed enough to pay the inevitably higher price, because the economies of scale give the batteries we use today a big edge in low price. So solid state or whatever is the next great advance, has a moving target to chase. Solid state announcements of 3 or 4 years ago (that never came to fruition) are pretty much what todays latest lithium are doing. Suppose the new battery could put 3x as much power into the same size of battery we have now. You might say "great I"ll have that" until you learn such a battery would cost £10k if it was available for your bike. NASA will happily put it in a satellite, we'll carry on with batteries that cost £500 and maybe in 2 or 3 years will still cost £500 but will have 2x todays capacity. And there's also the "good enough" factor, if you could get say 100 real miles from a battery, would you pay 2x or 3x todays cost for 200 miles, or losing say 1kg with a smaller battery? So, fingers crossed one of these breakthroughs happens, but dont hold your breath.

ps i guess its in the eye of the beholder because when i look at that woosh bike it seems festooned with wires to me

Well i was talking to the Swytch kit, which certainly seems to involve a extra 3 or 4 wires, on top of the 2 brakes and gear cable you'd have anyway. Here's pic from a vid of someone's bike they converted

Tempting, I looked at the Swytch conversion kit but judging by youtube vids, Id have to get someone to fit it for me to avoid me destroying a decent bike , and the mass of wires affects my OCD. Plus, with an extra battery added for range, i doubt the cost would be much different to a purpose built bike . I'd be tempted if i already had a decent bike, as it is I'm on a borrowed one atm. I'm now also torn, should i get a folder and widen up my cycling horizons, or a bike rack and lugging the big thing off and on a car and harder to store? Despite the fact its against everything i started off looking at, the Wisper 806 folding is tempting me ! Yes, I agree that's highly inconsistent but sometimes, in the immortal words of Mr Jagger, you can't always get what you want but you can get what you need.

Correct, crank motor (seems to be becoming the norm?), gears in (not on) rear hub, and belt. Not too much to ask? I'm looking for a road/hybrid type bike, it won't be ridden off roads except maybe light use, say canal towpath or the like, and indeed I've contemplated a larger folder (eg bigger than brompton size) for ease of putting in car without bike rack, and why on earth would you want derailleurs on a folder, even more likely to be knocked out of alignment. Closest I've come so far to what I'm looking for was a Moustache Friday, that had everything except belt (chain instead), that was a discontinued model. But the battery is a bit small otherwise it would have been an impulse buy. Re step through, until yesterday when i tried one out, i thought I would have been happy with one but i tried the Moustache Samedi and found i really disliked the upright riding style. p.s. I suppose its best to fit the motor in a folder in the rear hub so maybe thats why they have derailleurs?

After a few years off a bike, now looking for an ebike to aid my dodgy knees. As per title, most bikes seem to have derailleurs, which I hate. Clunky, high maintenance, prone to damage, and just out of place on a high tech bike, rattling a chain around. But it seems few manufacturers or customers agree, since there are so few hub geared especially with a belt. As per title, Kalkhoff seem to be one of the few vendors, but they have a very confusing (to me) set of bikes with very similar specs seemingly sold by different bike shops, so hard to compare. any other makes I should look at? Budget looks like it will need to be £3k. TIA Joe