Hi,

 

http://www.electricbikesales.co.uk/shop/special-offers/kristall-ed3-low-step/prod_843.html

 

I tried this bike at the Electric Transport Shop in Oxford last weekend. From my limited experience (I only tried a few Smarta and Wisper models as well as a couple of others I don't remember) it seems like a nicely built bike with quality components and comfortable ride quality. I particularly liked the 8-speed Shimano Alfine hub, it just felt much better than derailleur gears (I'd love to try a NuVinci now). And the PAS felt at least as powerful and responsive as the other e-bikes I've tried.

 

There were a few things I didn't like:

- The big one: no throttle. It does have a red "Boost" button but I couldn't quite figure out exactly what it does. My best guess is that it temporarily increases the PAS level, but I found it hard to reach, ugly, and not particularly useful.

- While I really liked the hub gears that feeling did not extend to the Shimano rapidfire shifter.

- Gear range seemed to be lacking at the upper end. With motor assist I didn't find a reason to use the lower gears even up a steep hill (steep for Oxford, anyway), but to go faster than motor-assisted speeds on flats in 8th gear I have to pedal faster than I'd like.

 

However, what's odd is that this model doesn't seem to be mentioned anywhere else, not even on Kristall's website. the only reference I can find to a "Kristall ED3" is this:

http://www.velomaerkte.ch/Kristall_ED_3.pdf

This seems to be an older model, though, as it has a slightly different frame shape, different brakes, and no suspension fork.

 

Does anyone have more information on this bike? Does it seem reasonably priced? Is there any hope a throttle could be fitted?

At last a site giving the compete motor wattage rating "Motor Brushless 250W with 720W peak power"

If you go to their site under the crystal tag you can down load the user manual, not enlish , and the the 2013 brochure, its not in the 2014 one so thus the reduced price and not on the site.

They have this on one of their bikes, if your could marry it up to crank drive motor.........:

 

http://translate.google.co.uk/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=http://pinion.eu/&prev=/search%3Fq%3DPinion%2B18%2BGang%2BSchaltgetriebe%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26hs%3DVp4%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26channel%3Drcs

The motor looks like a standard Bafang QSWXK5. 720w peak implies a 20 amp controller, which is quite high for an OEM bike with one of those motors. Was it noisy because they normally are over 15 amps.

 

Seeing as it has a Chinese motor, I'd be very surprised if it's German-made, Wisper did have some bikes assembled in Germany with Chinese motors, so it's possible.

if it has a Chinese motor then it's a Chinese bike.

I would also be worried at the shape of the battery - special shape means you are locked in, high replacement battery price.

If you go to their site under the crystal tag you can down load the user manual, not enlish , and the the 2013 brochure, its not in the 2014 one so thus the reduced price and not on the site.

Thanks, Geebee, that's very useful. It actually looks like it's the 2012 model which they kept unchanged for 2013 (the 2011 ED3 is somewhat different, however). The manual seems quite generic.

 

 

d8veh, I wouldn't describe it as a quiet motor, but it didn't seem excessively noisy either. It's noticeably louder when working hard uphill (where it obviously also slows down). Keep in mind that I don't know many bikes to compare it to, and I tested it in a relatively noisy daytime traffic environment. I guess given that I plan to ride the bike at night as well and don't like to make a lot of noise I should probably pay more attention to that next time.

 

 

trex, that's a good point. I wouldn't expect to wear out the battery quickly with my usage (500 cycles probably means 5+ years for me and I could cope with having half the range) but it's something to keep in mind.

I tested this bike in Oxford too and the salesman seemed keen to sell me one. Made me wonder why they haven't been selling and couldn't find any mention of the bike online apart from the Electric Transport shop website and this forum post.

 

Although it seems to be a good deal, I'm slightly wary of buying a brand of bike that doesn't seem very popular or well known.

Hi Everyone, Thank you for test riding a few bikes at our Oxford store. The Kristall models are exclusive to us in the UK and as with all models we offer to customers we consider the availability of parts going forward. So buying from us is risk free in that respect.

We are keen to offer great value to our customers and the Kristall models do exactly that.

The boost button is designed to temporarily increase power when needed. I agree it's a little ugly...atleast it's small :-) Easily overlooked given the great value of the bike.

 

KR

Eddie

Hi Eddie,

 

Just wondering who is the manager in Oxford? Arol went to the London store long time ago. Maybe the website needs updating

 

Pat