Alex you really must try and shape up here, this kind of derisory and frankly snide talk of Tonaros will simply not be tolerated here. Clearly you have tried none of the Tonaro range nor it seems, have a technical background, but rely instead on the ill considered ravings of a sadly diminished journalist.

I would put my Tonaro Bighit up against any Bosch drive in the country for climbing ability and they are pretty good on range too.

I would agree re the rack going off previous hub bikes but it doesn't cause any issues on the Esprit, maybe due to the weight of the central drive?

Handling is surprisingly good at high speed cornering, A little bit wandery at low speed due to the lightly loaded front wheel.

Re the Nm I can only compare them to hubs I have owned and yes up hill it annihilates them, you can when offroading crawl up hills at 6~8 kph with out unduly stressing the motor or batteries, if you are exhausted or injured as long as you can turn the pedals it will climb almost anything with no assist.

 

I rode a fire trail today rated as "experienced MTB riders only, pushing maybe requires, rough section and steep climbs" the Esprit coped with ease, never had to push, after about 10 km of trails I did 20 km on road, stopped and loaded the panniers at the Bakery for lunch back at home, very versatile oh and quite a few thousand feet of climbing included.

Ha ha ha trying tp have a serious discussion re Panasonic and Bosch bikes and the turdaro rears its ugly head again....what a joke

 

Hugh, are you not concerned about your warranty? Was hoping to dongle was a plug in unit but I guess not.......

128nm of torque? More than a 2008 1.2L ford KA and many other small cars....impressive indeed.

Seatpost rack would barely take my chain let alone my shopping, and battery capacity has 1/3 of the "claimed range" that would be of interest. Functional suitability comes first on a first bike ..

 

What on earth makes you say that ?

 

The rear rack is extremely strong and capable of carrying a more than decent load....mind you.....I dont know what sort of chain you travel around with

 

As for claimed range.....mine easily does the claimed range on mixed terrain, (and Im no cheryl cole ) battery is the same now as it was 16 months ago....so far so good.

 

All in all a extremely suitable and functional bike for anyone

 

Have you actually tried one ?

 

I find thats usually a good measure of whether a bike is suitable for anyone

 

Lynda

Have a look at this thread Alex -----

 

http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/electric-bicycles/10272-talk-torque.html

Ha ha ha trying tp have a serious discussion re Panasonic and Bosch bikes and the turdaro rears its ugly head again....what a joke

 

Hugh, are you not concerned about your warranty? Was hoping to dongle was a plug in unit but I guess not.......

 

 

You could fit it as per their basic instructions, using clips into the sensor cable in the area where it exits the shroud. This would be easily reversible without much evidence, BUT, it looks crap and would be very exposed to the elements.

 

I'm not (fingers wildly crossed ) too bothered about the warranty side of things. The bike parts I can deal with if need be, and if the motor goes pop, well I'll look pretty silly! I guess I'm playing the odds a bit, but if the quality is anything like the Kalkhoff/Panasonic, and I think it is, I don't expect problems.

Have a look at this thread Alex -----

 

http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/electric-bicycles/10272-talk-torque.html

 

Thanks - very illuminating.

 

Alex you really must try and shape up here, this kind of derisory and frankly snide talk of Tonaros will simply not be tolerated here. Clearly you have tried none of the Tonaro range nor it seems, have a technical background, but rely instead on the ill considered ravings of a sadly diminished journalist.

I would put my Tonaro Bighit up against any Bosch drive in the country for climbing ability and they are pretty good on range too.

 

The Bighit has a seatpost rack. Point is this type of rack would not stand up to being loaded with heavy loads of gear or goods on the back of the bike... which is what I bought my crank drive bike for, not offroading. I have clocked many makes of bike but did not even realize Tonaro was a make and just thought it was model and that is presumably quite clear from my post. If you choose to "read in" derogatory remarks where there are simply innocent statements I can only put that down to the fact that looking at subsequent posts the bike has come in for some flack - which I have also never seen.

 

Your defensive-aggressive ramblings I will put down to sensitivity over previous feuds on the topic and am happy to ignore as irrational outbursts. I am starting to get a wee bit worried about your state of mind, hech. I prescribe a long bike tour to mellow out a bit .

 

What on earth makes you say that ?

 

The rear rack is extremely strong and capable of carrying a more than decent load....mind you.....I dont know what sort of chain you travel around with

 

As for claimed range.....mine easily does the claimed range on mixed terrain, (and Im no cheryl cole ) battery is the same now as it was 16 months ago....so far so good.

 

All in all a extremely suitable and functional bike for anyone

 

Have you actually tried one ?

 

I find thats usually a good measure of whether a bike is suitable for anyone

 

No seatpost-mounted rack is likely to tolerate my rear loads. As you'll see from Geebee's post and my response to it, I didn't realize Tonaro was a make of bike having only 'clocked' the Bighit previously and therefore assumed you had one of those. Obviously I looked it up when Geebee pointed things out. However, I still would not want my battery in the rack area. Whether on a hub-drive or a crank. It loads weight to an area I'd always want clear to load with other weight.

 

My chain is very heavy with a closed-shackle padlock. Would be acceptable for motorbike. No point taking chances when you rely on bike for primary transport even when left for short periods. It lives in my rack bag.

 

I can't comment on range but I do know what a 36v 15Ah 540wh battery will give you (70+ miles easy in average conditions with a 250W rated Impulse) and that is what I was looking for in my primary travelling bike. If you don't travel to and from an office (I work from home) and want to tour via wild remote country places rather than pub stops or shops etc. to recharge, having enough capacity to get you where you are going and home again on one battery is more important. Granted most people would rather stop off at the pub for a beer and charge their battery there - but I would rather spend that time in the countryside with my lunch and liquid supplies in my panniers. Each to their own .

 

The only way to properly try one would be to have it on approval, take it on a long trip to see its real battery capacity and ride it in a variety of real-life conditions. Since few suppliers will allow that (although Kalkhoff have done recently) you have to go (to some extent at least) by looking at specs, design and functionality for the use you intend to put the bike to. Regardless of whether the bike can be easily derestricted for higher assist speed, the point is that if range is a key priority for someone, a 540Wh battery with an efficient motor is considerably more likely to fit the bill than the Tonaros and if that's more of a priority then range wins. I may be new to eBikes, but even I managed to work that one out pretty early on.

Edited January 27, 201313 yr by 103Alex1

Alex, We always get this when trying to have a reasonable conversation, up pop the usual protagonists desperate to justify their choice of an appalling creation that most of us don't recognize as a bike at all...Thankfully we have an "ignore button" so I don't have to read the dire "contributions", but why they cant just start own threads, or stay on topic is baffling.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Hugh, they do break you know and it's like tuning a car,,,push it to far and you know what can happen. I think I prefer to live with the limitations at least till warranty expires

 

Interesting comments though, that it performs better then a 350 watt Panasonic S class bike surprising! That is some going.....

Edited January 27, 201313 yr by eddieo

Alex, We always get this when trying to have a resonable conversation, up pop this bunch desperate to justify their choice of an appalling creation that most of us don't recognise as a bike at all.

...

 

Oh give it a rest eddie or come up with a more adult criticism..........you are in danger of "becoming" tedious

 

Lynda

...The Bighit has a seatpost rack. Point is this type of rack would not stand up to being loaded with heavy loads of gear or goods on the back of the bike...

 

Just to be clear. The Tonaro BigHit does not have a seat post carrier. The battery carrier is an integral part of the frame and is of very strong construction.

Helen, we need you now

Helen, we need you now

 

LOL....no we dont.....dont worry....

 

a. I try never to be personally insulting......I was brought up better than that

 

b. As I suspect I am on his ignore list he wont read it

 

c. Even if he did he never answers me.....sooooo

 

win/win situation :D

 

Lynda

Just back from a long night in the pub Alex so I'm sorry for being offensive, prob not the best time of night to post, dunno why got so touchy.

Just to be clear. The Tonaro BigHit does not have a seat post carrier. The battery carrier is an integral part of the frame and is of very strong construction.

 

Ah - thanks for clarifying that - it looks like a seatpost rack from the pics so always good to know these things and get factual informative comments.

 

Still, even more reason why it wouldn't suit me unless it's for a bike to be ridden for the sake of riding it and going home, which at the moment is a luxury I don't have the opportunity to do more than once a week if I'm lucky. To be completely honest if I wanted a bike for the pure joy of riding it wouldn't be an eBike. I'd most likely have a really good unpowered full-sus MTB for the 3 times a year max I really get the inclination and opportunity to go somewhere to ride it and a Titanium Colnago road bike for more regular speed-riding pleasure when warm sunny weather made it enjoyable. Budget won't stretch to either of same at the moment and would most likely buy a car again first before buying them.

 

Most of the time I have a whole load of other things to do when I'm out on my bike and often carry what seems like half my life on the back of my bike. Personally don't want all that on my back, or on the front, handlebars or anywhere else spread about a bunch of bags so obviously a Bighit wouldn't suit me personally and bikes with rack-mounted batteries were pretty much universally ruled out the preference list too for a first bike. Bighit isn't designed for that sort of use, but might very well suit other people with different circumstances and lifestyle who want it for different more specific uses. So as I said before each to their own.

 

I think there should be a programme developed with key words which flag up with the letters LM in superscript in a circle - standing for "Land Mine"

If I recall correctly(which I may not), I thought you to be passing reference to a previous review of the tonaro eagle, an article with which I strongly disagreed.

If I recall correctly(which I may not), I thought you to be passing reference to a previous review of the tonaro eagle, an article with which I strongly disagreed.

 

If you mean me, I've never read any articles on Tonaro Eagles. Fisheagles, maybe, but not Tonaro ones so far as I recall

Ah - thanks for clarifying that - it looks like a seatpost rack from the pics so always good to know these things and get factual informative comments.

 

The rack is very small though and overlapped by the battery, so far from convenient for panniers:

 

http://www.powerpedals.co.uk/media/wysiwyg/spares.jpg

You could fit it as per their basic instructions, using clips into the sensor cable in the area where it exits the shroud. This would be easily reversible without much evidence, BUT, it looks crap and would be very exposed to the elements.

 

I'm not (fingers wildly crossed ) too bothered about the warranty side of things. The bike parts I can deal with if need be, and if the motor goes pop, well I'll look pretty silly! I guess I'm playing the odds a bit, but if the quality is anything like the Kalkhoff/Panasonic, and I think it is, I don't expect problems.

 

Hugh, found this on german ebay. the drawing makes it look real simple so not so worried now..may do it if I get a 29'er:D

 

I see why you did it within unit though...

 

Neu Tuning für Bosch E-Bike bis zu 50 km/h schnell! Einfache Montage | eBay

 

http://i49.tinypic.com/2lusvw2.jpg

Edited January 29, 201313 yr by eddieo

The rack is very small though and overlapped by the battery, so far from convenient for panniers:

 

http://www.powerpedals.co.uk/media/wysiwyg/spares.jpg

Looks quite simple to modify. Tommes opened up the battery case, unbolted the standard rack and bolted on a bigger one. There's a picture halfway down this page and IIRC a detailed description somewhere in this thread.

Vorstellung Umbau Rolektro Sport

 

That tuning device for the Bosch motor looks very expensive for what it is. IIUC it is connected in parallel with the pulse coil wires, so it must be passive. Assuming that it's a normal pulse coil, it'll only make a pulse of a few mV. So, up to a certain low frequency it lets all pulses through and above that, every other pulse. So what's in it that fits inside a mini jack plug? An inductor and capacitor?

That's the one Eddie.

 

I started by trying to use the standard clipping into cable method, but it was too bulky for my liking, and once I'd tried that and found it worked, I thought I'd go the whole hog and cut into the cable properly and hide it away tidily. Like I said, I'll have to keep my fingers crossed warranty-wise, but I can live with that.

 

I was actually quite nervous about it to start with, as I'm nobody's electrical expert, just reasonably handy and logical. However, once the first cut was made, that was it, and actually it was dead easy.

 

I've got some instructions and pictures (translated from the German by Google, so a bit garbled, but understandable), if anyone wants them. Can't attach here as it'll only allow image files.

That's the one Eddie.

 

I started by trying to use the standard clipping into cable method, but it was too bulky for my liking, and once I'd tried that and found it worked, I thought I'd go the whole hog and cut into the cable properly and hide it away tidily. Like I said, I'll have to keep my fingers crossed warranty-wise, but I can live with that.

 

I was actually quite nervous about it to start with, as I'm nobody's electrical expert, just reasonably handy and logical. However, once the first cut was made, that was it, and actually it was dead easy.

 

I've got some instructions and pictures (translated from the German by Google, so a bit garbled, but understandable), if anyone wants them. Can't attach here as it'll only allow image files.

 

What would be better would be to unscrew the cover from the jack plug and see what's inside so we can all have one.

What would be better would be to unscrew the cover from the jack plug and see what's inside so we can all have one.

 

Sooo... what is does is interupt the signal from rear sensor and fools system by (halving or doubling? the pulse, so it doubles up the speed - is that it?

 

I suppose as system so strong as long as you dont over so it it should be OK..But boys being boys I do worry!:p

Sooo... what is does is interupt the signal from rear sensor and fools system by (halving or doubling? the pulse, so it doubles up the speed - is that it?

 

I recon so ... a divide the pulses by 2 circuit is easy peasy and only 1 cheap as chips chip is required

Edited January 29, 201313 yr by Old_Dave

I've got a feeling that it's some thing really simple because it works in parallel and has no power supply unless the coil has a live supply, so it can't interrupt the normal pulses.

 

Eddieo. IIRC it shows normal speed up tp 25kph and then half speed, so it lets all the pulses through up to 25kph, and after that, every other one.