dayglowfroggy

Reviewer:Paul Hadfield Purchased From:Second Hand ,Ebay Purchase Price:£1250 Time Owned:8 months Local Terrain: Flat / Moderate Hills / ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Strengths: Bought this bike having served my 6 month apprenticeship on a £200 full suspension electric mountain bike, proving to my wife and myself that i would use one enough to justify getting an expensive one. 6Months on a 15 mph limited sla battery bike was enough to convince me that I would never ever buy another electric bike that was a) restricted to 15mph or b)that heavy with standard bike tyres. I had major problems with punctures and exploding inner tubes. I test rode loads of bikes and the one that stood out by a mile was the a2b though far too expensive so well out of my price range. My options seemed to be limited to the alien bikes or a second hand kalcoff with the chain wheel mod .I very nearly bought the top of the range juicy bike on the strength of it’s battery but then just on the day before I was due to buy one I found an A2B metro in black for sale just up the road from me with very little use so had to go for it. Its very big and upright, so good for my bad back. Looks very special and gets loads of admiring looks. Fast enough to not annoy you. Makes you feel like a big kid on a grfter or like you are back in the bmx bandits.. Has (so far) very reliable motorbike like tyres that show no signs of puncturing easily or wearing too fast Is made from good quality parts that inspire confidence. Good suspension. Good breaks when correctly set up. Mud guards that work and don’t wreak the look of the bike.(bike still gets dirty but you don't) Tyres give good grip in the rain but not on drain covers, gravel or ice. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Weaknesses: Very uncomfortable seat, seams comfortable for first 10 minutes then hurts the insides of your legs it’s not designed for peddling. (Somehow I don’t worry about it any more but it takes about 4 months to get used to it) Horrible chain noise all the time, nothing you can do about it but you do get used to it and start to ignore it, just have to explain its normal to other people. My boost button and throttle control have become a bit temperamental I have yet to try and strip down properly but spraying contact cleaner spray in them has improved things. Very heavy but that is a strength when on the move seem well planted on the road . Annoying having to hold the throttle fully open then press the boost gets tiresome over a long journey. Full boost cuts down battery life drastically to around 10 miles and more like 8 in freezing temperatures. Low battery life for the price of the bike 20 miles is a bit of an over estimate 18 with lots of pedalling is a bit more like it. Can seem a bit too quick turning because of the goniometry and wheel size but that is also a strength when you are used to it. Very bad off road on gravel paths if travelling round corners but not when you are used to it. No lights as standard . Horrible yellow safe stickers that are hard to get off stuck to the frame. Mega expensive accessories, you can make a £15 mountain bike rear rack fit by bending each side out over the battery then just fit normal panniers. Mega expensive spares. Extremely expensive replacement battery costs I plan on attempting to make my own when the time comes from lifepo4 cells or commissioning someone else to do this (let me know if you have done this or know how) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Summary:Puts a big smile on your face every time you ride it and even though i don't fit a speed computer it doesn't have that annoying cutting in and out all the time at 15 mph that most electric bikes have and is fast acceleration . Great bike I am pleased I have it and it is a real alternative to petrol transport but you could run a cheap car or motorbike on the amount it costs in real terms but that is true of most electric bikes, they are all well over priced this one more than most. I would not buy one at the list price. I feel confident I can get bits should I need them but ultimately the cost of a new battery might have me looking at selling for another bike in the future unless I can sort out a lifepo4 alternative. I use mine at least 4 days a week to travel around 10 miles a day with the odd 20 mile trip about once a month and it will do all these things no problem it did struggle in below freezing temperatures but I think all electric bikes would .Out of interest my other transport is a 1.6 lpg astra so I have other cheap transport when I feel like it. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Overall Rating (out of 10) :8..price, chain noise and lack of battery life stop it getting 10 for me.

I would check out juicy bikes if I was you for the sort of money you want to spend you could have hydrolic brakes and a bigger battery at juicy for the same as those other two .

I read this forum on a regular basis and find it hilarious that people even bother to debate the rise and fall in popularity of electric bikes it is obvious that they are about three times too expensive and as far as i can see the trend is to make that even worse . Things are not getting better the mark up's must be at least 70% for the dealers when you think woosh bikes must be making a profit selling the same bike at £555 that is sold by the mainstream for £850 . The truth is that most of the customers and the marketing is aimed at 50 somethings who have the money or people who live in citys who earn enough when the real totaly un tapped market is mr average who might be able to scrape together £500 if he lived near enough to work and didn't need a car for the familly . Things are not going to change untill bikes come down in price and or fuel prices go up allot more. £3000 bikes are a joke product that might sell in the hundreds if they are lucky would not be worth importing ,£500-£600 decent ebikes sold through a large nationwide company would change things drastically ,instead halfords would proberbly stock out of date over priced giants or izips that anybody with computer can see are not worth the hassle . Can you imagine if halfords sold woosh bikes at woosh bikes prices half the ebike online shops would be in trouble who would ever buy a whispa again it's ok ereyone can bleat on about superior bits and bobs but most of these bikes are the same frame , motor , controller and battery just vastley different prices . Since I am on my high horse whyt is it you can buy a bike for £150 that has choice of frame sizes yet in electric bikes they nearly all come with tiny chinese adult size frames but cost over £1000 and come with massive long seat posts (I am a 6ft 3" regular bike rider who can see a midget bike when he is looking at one without being told it is suitable for upto 6ft 3" ridders ,pull the other one) Why is it so cheap to import a battery from almost anyware rather tham buy it from a main stream ebike dealer ? It must be nice to be an electric bike dealer in this country right now with all the over inflated prices and woffle keeping prices high.bring on the elctric bike revolution thats what i say.

I have looked into derestricting my current bike but as there is no chance of a wiring diagram ,the only method I can find is to take out the little magnetic sensor inside the hub motor or cut the wires , not exactly sure but it doesn't matter as there is no way I would try to take the hub motor apart .I am not after amazing speed, maybe 18 mph would be nice.

I have a cheap china bike at the moment restricted to 15.8 mph but I find this very anoying . I plan on getting a decent electric bike to replace my current one and the kudos city looks ideal for me. I swore after the first three months of comuting on my exsisting bike that I would not bother with anything that could not be made to go a bit faster . Also I want to get rid of the throttle and just have a button, don't see the need to have an uncomfortable throttle that means you can't keep your fingers on the brake and it's not as if ebikes have any serious wheelie potential a button would be much more sensible. The pro conect has been my favorite if I could afford one but it has horendious battery costs just like most of the e bikes out there . I have looked at the alien arour and the xipi bikes but they have just put the price up and top be honest I like the look of an enclosed chain and hub gears as well as reasonable battery cost from kudos, also the spares support looks second to non . The only question mark in my mind is could it be fitted with a switch for more speed when late for work for example, I am a reasonably fit rider and can actually get to work faster on my normal bike at the moment but my job is very phisical so I need the option to be lazy on the way home. I have seen that whispa's can have a deristrict button fitted ,not interested in whispa's though I can't work out why they are so expensive anyone can see that a rear rack some mud guards and suspension forks don't cost £300 .

I was about to order 12v 9ah ritar batterys from ebay whan I stumbled across bat-bike.co.uk he sells 12v 12ah batterys that look like the right one for my bike and probably for allot of other bikes out there from what i can see he sells the exact model that I have though he wants me to send photographs in order that he can make sure they are the same . I will re post on how things go but this could be a valuable resource for lots of ebike owners even for those with li po batterys etc who want a cheaper alternative .

Ebay is were I started but they are almost all 12v but much bigger dimensions . I have been in touch with batterybay who is the main seller of sla batterys on ebay and he has some 12v 7.5 ones that will fit into my case longways but one will stick out . I have also found that component shop sell some 12v 9ah mentioned in the above post that have the same dimensions and look like the same batterys most other sellers sell but they don't say if they would be suitable for electric bikes so I have emailed them. Vbat have the same size batterys and list them as deep cycle or standard but they are not cheap at £28.66 each . I am tempted to get the 12v 7.5ah ones from batterybay @£32.97 delivered for three 180645200598 as they are made for electric motors etc but I don't know if they would give me enough range or not ? The other alternatives are wait for a reponse from component shop and if theres are suitable get the 12v 9ah ones @ £48.50 delivered . Or just forget about trieing to fit anything in the battery box and just get some decent 12v 12ah ones from batterybay and make a case of some sort. There are the ycell and rita ones in 12v 9ah on ebay as well but I have no idea which is better does anybody else ? I don't want to go and get a li on etc as this is just a stop gap bike to get me going I will get a new one eventually with its own new battery.

Thanks for reply it I am a bit new to all this I don't mind soldering etc and I could forgo the proper batter box to get better power but on my bike there is no place but under the seat for a battery. How would I know if the battery would be suitable ie hi peak etc .

Does anybody know if these would be ok as a replacment I would have to modify the battery box but there is plenty of height since i have the seat as high as it will go anyway.? SLA12V9AH They do the 12v 7.5 ah but they are the same size so might as well go bigger capacity.

I have finally got an electric bike it's not what i wanted but it was brand new for £200 unfortunatley the battery seems to only give around 5 miles on flatish ground before it starts to pulse and only gives enough power for around 7.5 mph . The old gentelman that I bought it off had not even assembled the bike but I think it must of stood for a while as the battery is not performing well enough it has now had three full charges but no real improvement. It is my crafty plan to prove to everyone that I serious about using an electric bike to get to work and back and in doing so to save a bit of money so I can get a much better bike like a kalkoff. It has 12v 8ah 5hr batterys the dimensions are h 100 w 110 d 87. the only markings on the battery are 5110410307240 and xk06-044-00367 the battery slides down the inside of the frame and can best be described as generic and is the same one used in lots of cheap bikes though mine is the sla version . This is the same bike with better battery on ebay " ELECTRIC BIKE MOUNTAIN E BIKE BICYCLE FULL SUSPENSION" The journey I need to cover is only 6 miles each way and I can charge at work but it is best considered very off road and moderatley hilly so I think if the sla battery was working well it should be able to cope .

I have finally got an electric bike it's not what i wanted but it was brand new for £200 unfortunatley the battery seems to only give around 5 miles on flatish ground before it starts to pulse and only gives enough power for around 7.5 mph . The old gentelman that I bought it off had not even assembled the bike but I think it must of stood for a while as the battery is not performing well enough it has now had three full charges but no real improvement. It is my crafty plan to prove to everyone that I serious about using an electric bike to get to work and back and in doing so to save a bit of money so I can get a much better bike like a kalkoff. It has 12v 8ah 5hr batterys the dimensions are h 100 w 110 d 87. the only markings on the battery are 5110410307240 and xk06-044-00367 the battery slides down the inside of the frame and can best be described as generic and is the same one used in lots of cheap bikes though mine is the sla version . This is the same bike with better battery on ebay " ELECTRIC BIKE MOUNTAIN E BIKE BICYCLE FULL SUSPENSION" The journey I need to cover is only 6 miles each way and I can charge at work but it is best considered very off road and moderatley hilly so I think if the sla battery was working well it should be able to cope .

I have taken all the previous comments into consideration and have spent allot of time looking into the kalkoff range as well as talking to tim at 50 cycles and decided that one would proberbly be the right way for me to go but I would have to go the 0% pay in 12 months and work out a budget to save in case my house sale does not happen in time . The other option would be to get a bike from e bikes direct either over a longer payment term or just a cheaper bike altogether . My main problem is that at 6ft3" I am far to big for most bikes out there and certainly for the cheaper ones however I have recently wandered about the whispa 805 as this might fit me though it is not my normal style of bike . Whatever I get would need to have a realistic minimum of 20 miles range though I would expect to be assisting it alot.

Excuse me if I am wrong but isn't the oxygen just the whispa 905 painted white with a better battery for a lower price, so from my point of view it comes with touring bike style but all the dissadvantages of a mountain bike like the 905 ie small frame and low handle bars . Still looks like a great bike though just got the wrong handle bars for an experianced cyclist . Now if oxygen did a 906 with the realistic frame size and on good finance i would be interested not worth me traveling fror a test ride on another small frame bike though.

Thanks for the heads up at 50 cycles but I am still under the impression that a kaklhof is the german version of a raliegh and as such did not have the imiediate wow factor of the hub bikes , Before I rode any of the bikes just from my reaserch I had convinved myself that crank drive would suite me better it was only on the day that I found the dover well built but not worth loads more than a £1000 bike it simply didn't have that far better moneys worth feel that the a2b and the 706(906) did and based on that i would not want to mess about with kalhoff bikes that are the same thing . I want to improve my fitness and can see that crank drive is the best way of doing that but unless they start pricing at the same level as the hubs for most people they will not get a look in. What I would need is a two day test ride on a hub and then a crank to really feel the difference .That would be possible with the electric bike shop but I would still not find their finance aceptable and at £50 a time it would be a large way towards a bike deposit anyway. New developments after a talk with my wife have lead to new demands from an electric bike . She is coming around to the fact that I want one as a serious mode of transprort and would replace my van but to do this from a personal point of view it would need to be modified to take my fishing barrow in the form of a trailer and i will probably need to get a trailer and tow bar for my wifes car or budget van hire two or three times a year into the mix. My current van is a toyota hi ace 2.4 that does 26 -28 mpg in its partially loaded state with a false floor and paneling built in ,removed it should get to 30-35 mpg not bad for a van of that size I only ever drive at 60mph max and only do about 110-120 miles per week costing around £30 . It only costs about £500 a year to keep excluding fuel so would probably be woth keeping so long as i did not use it much (very old technoligy and relitivly cheap parts thats why I bought it). With the total comitment angle it would push me in the direction of the a2b maybe with the second battery from new though I am unsure if that would lead to greater battery life overall . Accessorys for the a2b are a bit disturbing as well and the only one worth considering for a sane person is the £35 rear rack it would then be cheaper to have sadle bags custome made than pay the stupid amounts quoted . This is not a good signe for the future i know the batterys are expensive and there is not allot to be done about that but I don't like the idea of a company that just wants to take the p**S out of you its not good . Whispa are a uk brand name of a china made bike far cheaper in other parts of the world but they make up for this with great customer service and a obviouis desire to improve the brand through looking after the customers I met a very happy whispa owner at the cambridge shop who advised i should buy one and if in doubt get the wife one as well . It seems to me in conlclusion that I would dearly like to buy my bike from the electric bike shop as they are obviously a great shop who know what they are talking about and provide a good service and point of contact . When on my test rides i asked about the 10year battery guarentee in detail to try and catch them out as most of these sort of scheames are just a way of the dealer making money from expensive seriviicing but I was told that the £40 charge twice a year basicly alows for around 1 hours work so if that includes new brake discks or a cable for instance then there would be no more labour charged but obviously a charge for the parts .This seams reasonable enough and i can't complain, I am yet to find out how they will treat bikes purchased from another source they are not stupid and must know they are a bit over the odds compared to the online sellers however the local thing would be worth the extra £100 easy. Though I am not worried about working on bikes myslf having rebuilt motorbikes engines and restored cars although electrics have never been my strongest point .

I can't find anything about this ? Not at that price.

It was the 706 i rode but that is just the step through version of the 906 I think . I would have liked it if I had fitted some of the small frame bikes as if I have to stay at the cheap end of the market it looks like that is what I would have to go with anyway . I thought the kalkoff bikes are almost the same as the raliegh but in any case I am limited to bikes that shops with decent finance deals sell so thats probably e-bikes direct as my local shop "the electric bike shop" only does a half down then half over 12 months deal.

Been on a few test rides now and here is my brief summery in the order that I tried them. I had never ridden an electric bike before but have lots of experiance of normal bikes however I am 6ft 3" so mountain bike postions make my back and wrists hurt after a while. Powercyle windsor suprised how much it actually pulled and has adjustable front stem but no lights and extra bits ,small frame feel obviously a budget bike in comparison to the others but if it was sprayed a better colour it would not be that far from the rest. Whispa 905 city s smooth powerfull very bad ridding position to much like a mountain bike hunched forward no good when you are 6f3" though it was sugested that a different sort of handlebar could be fitted small frame feel. Raleigh dover felt totally different not as imediate power,this was the only one I took out for a longer ride as it was hard to judge on a small run around have to say I was not that impressed but it was the closest to a normal bike and would get me fit but did not seem worth the money . Smarta GT not as smooth as the wispa 905 but almost the same in every other way execpt it came with an adjustable handle bar stem so would be more comfortable without modification but still had the small frame feel. Metro a to b amazing power and boost button was fun but very heavy and did not seem like much of a bike don't think it would get you fit owning one of these to tempting to use power.Did not feel like a small bike felt like a motorbike.not very practicle for paniers etc. Whispa 706 this was very powerfull ,comfortable seemed better than the raleigh in every way had a big safe feel about it ,can't think of anything bad to report. Izip urban I was amazed it was light nimble fast and sporty feeling, only tried it for comparison stakes but it sudenly threw up another dimension only bad things were no mud guards or rack as standard but it had non of the small frame feel of most of the bikes and was very light. Overall the last three are my favorites and probably in that order to with the Ato B then the 706 (though I would want the 906 ) then the izip . Now it just a case of convincing my wife it would be a good idea and passing the finance criteria then if I go Ato B remembering to pedal to get fit or if its the 906 remembering it costs almost as much as the Ato B but is a bit more practicle and if I end up with the izip it would need mudguards stright away and probably have no resale value but could travel much better and be stored away better so more potential in those areas. This is just report on haw the bikes felt to ride and not a coment on the individual quality of componants etc . So it's fun factor AtoB , practicality 906 or different factor izip urban.

Thanks for the info I have emailed a few of the suppliers to see if they do finance options . Having a good hard look at the Cytronex bikes makes me wander if that could be more up my street as these are deffinatley designed with rider imput above all else . I would not be put off by having to fit a kit but after reading some excellent posts on the subject it does sound like it can be considerably better to do it to some bikes than others ,anybody know of a dawes sonaron conversion?

Hi I have spent around 5 hours on this site reading reviews as well as lots of time trawling the tinternet for ebikes and kits . At the present time I do not know exactly what my budget is as it depends on a few outside influences (got a house up for sale) (wife is not at all convinced and we have just moved into a new house so loads to buy ) I am 6ft3" and most bikes don't look big enough frankly . I am a very experianced 35 year old cyclist though my fitness is not up to a 20 mile round trip comute comfortably . From my experiance I know what I like and dislike in a bike for many years I used to run a ally framed mountain bike and an old raleigh steel framed racer but eventually the mountain bike seating position just became to painfull for my back and rists and the racer was too single minded and of no use on anything but flat road . I now have a dawes sonaron that has covered about 1500 miles in the last four years this was bought to be my bike for life but it is only used for pleasure ridding a few times a week in good weather or to go fishing only thing wrong with it is shroder valves always hated them . I do love it but after a house move I have found that my lifestyle means that nearly all journeys are under 20 miles and it would be great to do that on a bike . If I could get finance then I would be able to look at the higher end bikes though most of my top bikes are only sold by one seller and it doesn't look like they do finance (alien Aurora)(TONARO enduro)so it could mean I would be restricted to what I can get at that end of the market . My local shop is the electric transport shop in cambridge I have not been there yet but they seem to be more expensive than anyone else ,I think I will have to go and see them in order to see some electric bikes and find out what they are like and if they would suit me. If finance is not an option then i will have to look at the cheaper end of the market or possibly a kit from sunlover ,I have been looking at the synergy mistral/newton types as well as the windsor types . But the main thing that seems to be missing when looking at these bikes is what sort of battery life to expect what size ridder will they take and what is the long term cost ie battery replacment . I have to admit I have fallen in love with the AtoB metro but cant find any info on battery life and the tyres look like puncture magnets also i would need long finance terms to come close to owning one . There seems to be loads of great bikes in the £1000 - £1500 price range but it seems hard to find out if bikes are crank drive as far as can tell the only cheap ones are the tonaro's . I have been looking at the second hand market but looking at the prices of batterys it would have to be very cheap or a very good deal. Been on the electric bike experts forum and done all that but though I would make a large post on this site to see if anybody has any ideas ? Main things are size ,not having mountain bike style low flat handle bars, battery life /replacment cost ,general performance and what my budget will be . One thing I grasp from reading this site is that there is no one cheap bike to go for and one expensive one to go for the back up from dealers is also important ie wispa look good in that respect. One thing I am sure about is that I am ready to become elctric even if it invoves selling lots of stuff on ebay to raise funds ,something that needs doing anyway to clear the clutter. Any ideas welcome.

Hi who is frank ? and is there any more info on this bms 48v kit ? Thanks