3 gears are fine for my hills up to just over 10%, actually I think 3 gears are preferable to 8 - less gear changing required. On max assist, I beat most cars to 15 mph from the traffic lights, and starts on the steepest hills are no problem. It is nicely nippy in stop-go traffic.

 

I fully agree, most e-bikes have too many gears for the majority of consumer circumstances.

 

Even with the old Panasonic unit which didn't have a High power mode, 3 gears were enough for average weight riders when hills rarely exceeded 10%, meaning more than half of Britain. Having the High power mode on the newer unit makes three gears covering about 200% range adequate for the majority of riders.

10mph....well done to personally summarise.

Can I point out that the Kudos Tourer was nominated for the poll by Pedelecs members but the reason we have such a wide range of bikes is to try to offer a bike for every usage.

Quote'no front suspension' and 'not a step thru'...perhaps the Kudos 'Liberty' bike would be a more suitable choice.

The range of 30 miles is that which can be reliably achieved with average PAS setting and average rider pedalling...some members have achieved 60 miles from the LifePo4 battery but that would involve mainly low PAS setting and a lot of pedalling. I think the ranges claimed by some e-bike sellers need to be treated with caution,we need a usage formula so as to compare range?-note,the LifePo4 battery achieves full power over the full range and continues to give the same range over many years of usage.....compare this with LiMno4 batteries which many members say that 40 miles is possible but after 20 miles the bike is 'like riding through treacle' also with 14% capacity loss per annum after 2 years the range will be very restricted.

Dave

KudosCycles

I nominated the Kudos Tourer as that's the bike I have and it's perfect for me. Mine has a rear hub drive. As to the battery range, I can only speak of my own bike but I have 2 batteries and I can guarantee a minmum of 30 miles from each battery. I get more of course but if I know I'm going a 30 mile trip I will only take one battery. On the road I'm never in anything but power level 5 and generally the motor is doing most of the work. When I'm feeling like working harder I can manage more than 30 miles with no problem, I just base 30 miles as a safe distance.

Maybe a table of 'real life' ranges would help people who are thinking about buying an E-bike.

Re 10mph's excellent summary, the PC Disc does have front suspension

And the winner is.....................