I had a good chat with a chap with a Motus

 

...never see anyone with an ebike in my neck of the woods, in 6/7 years and over 10,000 miles I've only seen 3 ebikes and 2 of those were cheap Chinese bikes

I had a good chat with a chap with a Motus

 

...never see anyone with an ebike in my neck of the woods, in 6/7 years and over 10,000 miles I've only seen 3 ebikes and 2 of those were cheap Chinese bikes

I,ve seen several around the Brighton area recently,crank drive actually.

before I bought my Kalkhoff I asked if my weight was a problem, I was told not but I feel that it is, hence my considering a derailer this time round.

....Mike

 

Mike, picking up on 'farmer's' point, I think the Kalkhoff PC 9 with the Impulse 2 motor possibly addresses the issues you have found with the Tasman.

 

It's priced very well and there may be a 10% discount to be had this month as I just got an email about 50Cycles' latest sale. I didn't check to see if the PC is included.

 

It's a shame they are no longer marketing the Xion-drive PCs as, for me, it's one of the most powerful, legal machines around yet it never really took off in the UK. My side-by-side test of it before purchase was to compare it against the PC with the original Impulse motor and although there wasn't a great deal between them, I thought the Xion shaded it; it definitely did on price! With the subsequent software updates, my Xion model really flies now.

 

Tom

Thanks Steve...I could possibly be interested in the Tasman but I'm not a fan of a lot of weight on the back wheel, especially as I weigh in at 90 kilos to start with.

Cheers Tom...you're very perceptive, before I bought my Kalkhoff I asked if my weight was a problem, I was told not but I feel that it is, hence my considering a derailer this time round.

....Mike

 

I'm 85 kilos and my Pro Connect Alfine 8G is pretty well balanced. I don't think there is unnecessary weight on the back wheel of either of the bikes.

My wife got a Motus Low Step at the same time as I got the Wisper. I've used it for work a couple of times and was well impressed. The Bosch drive is much more like 'real' cycling than the hub drive on the Wisper, it's smooth and very civilised. The rim brakes are excellent, and the build quality is good. Overall, a very comfy bike which seems well screwed together with an air of quality. My only disappointments were the gear changing, which was very harsh and noisy, despite great care in easing off over the change (the fault of the crank drive rather than the bike, I think) and the limited range compared to the Wisper. I was tempted to sell the Wisper and buy the crossbar Motus, and asked the dealer to ring me when they had one in, but I never heard from them. (Turns out they had several, but forgot I had asked, which is a lost sale for them.) In the end, I decided to keep the Wisper for its sturdy build, chunky power and good range with the 16Ah battery, and bought a road bike for the weekends. But if I were in a position to choose an ebike from scratch, the Motus would be high on the list.

Thanks Black Dog...I'm finding it impossible to see a Motus and after much research I'm tending to lean more to the Kalkhoff Pro Connect 10 which is near the same price as the Motus with a far greater range.

I too like the rim brakes but we can't have everything can we

Popular opinion appears to be in favour of the Kalkhoff.

cheers....Mike

I'm tending to lean more to the Kalkhoff Pro Connect 10 which is near the same price as the Motus with a far greater range.

 

I would think that's a great choice Mike. My only reservation is that it's £500 more than the '9' and I'm not sure the bike is really £500 better than that one. I could find a lot of things to do with £500 while still enjoying a very good Pro-Connect.

 

Nevertheless, if you're happy to pay the price, which is pretty competitive compared to similarly-equipped competition, I'm sure you'll love the PC.

 

Best of luck whichever bike model you finally decide on.

 

Tom

Edited August 19, 201510 yr by oldtom

I too like the rim brakes but we can't have everything can we

Don't be put off by discs. I have hydraulic discs on the Wisper, and they are very good indeed - powerful, controllable, good feel, and totally unaffected by rain. As I understand it, once set up they are pretty much maintenance-free. I wouldn't want to be a long way from home if they got damaged or faulty, as field repair seems to be next to impossible, but for a daily hack they are ideal.

I live in West Yorkshire and ebike dealers are thin on the ground round here.

 

I'm just outside Halifax and had my Motus delivered yesterday.

 

Happy so far.

 

I'm at home quite a bit if the OP is nearby and wants to see it.

I would think that's a great choice Mike. My only reservation is that it's £500 more than the '9' and I'm not sure the bike is really £500 better than that one. I could find a lot of things to do with £500 while still enjoying a very good Pro-Connect.

 

Tom

 

Agreed. I bought a Pro Connect 10 only because the limited battery capacity of the Pro Connect 9 (11 Ah was too restrictive).

 

10 speeds instead of 9 makes no real difference to most people, and may also have some drawbacks (narrower, more fragile chain).

 

The other enhancements of the Pro Connect 10 are not that significant. For instance, the lockable front suspension, which I always keep unlocked anyway, as it's not moving that much. The front light is apparently a lot more powerful, but probably not worth that much.

 

In Germany and France, it's possible to select a bigger capacity battery (14.5 instead of 11) on a Pro Connect 9 as a fairly cheap option (about 200 EUR), but the exclusive UK re-seller/importer has decided not to offer such choice, and therefore has created an artificial large price gap between the Pro Connect 9 and 10.

 

It's a shame, because a Pro Connect 9 with a 14.5 Ah battery below £1,800 would be a great offering (and can surely be ordered from the manufacturer).

Edited August 21, 201510 yr by Tomtomato

Mike don't know if you managed to see a motus, but I tried one last week and was quite impressed. It was at juicy Bikes New Mills Derbyshire. Don't know if that is within your range but Juicy Bikes are well known on this forum and provide excellent service. Also it may be possible to get a discount for display model

 

gray

I am also looking at a Raleigh Motus. Never had an e-Bike before and finding the choice bewildering. I have had a test ride on the Motus and other bikes, the Motus is the only crank drive I have tried so far and I much preferred it and its power delivery to the various hub drives.

 

I followed the links for the Kalkhoff Tasman and it looks very much like the Motus in fact is it a 'Derby Cycle'? The nearest dealer to me is in Hebden Bridge and seems to source their bikes from 50Cycles.

 

Advantage for the Raleigh is proximity of the dealer worth quite a lot I would think.

Edited October 8, 201510 yr by Biscitt

I am also looking at a Raleigh Motus. Never had an e-Bike before and finding the choice bewildering. I have had a test ride on the Motus and other bikes, the Motus is the only crank drive I have tried so far and I much preferred it and its power delivery to the various hub drives.

 

I followed the links for the Kalkhof Tasman and it looks very much like the Motus in fact is it a 'Derby Cycle'? The nearest dealer to me is in Hebden Bridge and seems to source their bikes from 50Cycles.

 

Advantage for the Raleigh is proximity of the dealer worth quite a lot I would think.

Make sure you try BOTH out on a test ride and that you are happy with the gearing. Gearing on the Tasman, which comes with a 21 tooth rear sprocket, is quite low. Too low in fact for my wife! and she's no 'girl racer.' Even fitting an 18 tooth sprocket, which notches it up about one gear, it is still low compared with earlier ProConnects that we have. A contributory factor being the 38T front chainring on the Tasman compared to 41T on earlier ProConnects using the same Shimano hub gears. It all depends if you want to add a bit of your effort once you get to assist cut off (e.g. On the flat, following wind, downhill). I now Osho on this forum also believes the Tasman is too low geared. Cannot comment on Motus, and not sure of chainring and gear sprocket that are fitted, but armed with that knowledge it's easy to calculate likely 'feel' from gearing tables.

Just looked up the Raleigh Motus. It's got a 10 speed dérailleur on the back, so I would think the gear range would be significantly batter than the Low geared Tasman. Haven't seen what the rear cogs range is on the Motus, but on my ProConnect S I have a 11-32 set, which gives me all the gearing I want.

Gearing on the Motus is about normal range. With the crank drive it's hard to be exact, but it's said to be around 34" to 110". From using it for my commute, that sounds about right. It's certainly possible to get it well over the cutoff and blast along unassisted. It feels just like a normal bike, if a heavy one. The one drawback from my point of view is that the low step frame is a bit whippy, compared to the diamond frame on my Wisper. I imagine a standard gents Motus would be fine. Not a big problem, but you can definitely feel the frame flexing under load.

Me and the Mrs have had a Motus each for 6 months or so.

We really love them. As does everyone that has a go. Even our friends that have real light weight road racing bikes (+ all the lycra to go with them) were impressed.

They have reinvigorated our love of cycling. Great fun.

.

And I've just fitted a dongle. Even more fun.

I'm still using my Motus but have to say at this point that the factory fit tyres (which are Schwalbe Energizer) really ruin the experience. They seem very delicate; I haven't managed to go 100 miles between punctures yet, and they compound the misery with stupid presta valves.

 

If anyone's upgraded them and had a good experience, I'd very much like to hear from them at this point.

I'm still using my Motus but have to say at this point that the factory fit tyres (which are Schwalbe Energizer) really ruin the experience. They seem very delicate; I haven't managed to go 100 miles between punctures yet, and they compound the misery with stupid presta valves.

 

If anyone's upgraded them and had a good experience, I'd very much like to hear from them at this point.

 

Schwalbe Marathom Plus. Never personally had a puncture with them.

Wife and myself have both had a puncture since getting our Motus's.

We've both done about 400 miles.

I'm a bit disappointed as I did expect the tyres to be (as near as could be) punctureproof on a big heavy bike like a Motus, especially being as everything else about them is so good.

I've replaced the tubes with Raleigh punctureproof ones and have ordered some Slime to put in them.

Agree with you about the Presta valves.

I have Energisers on the Wisper, and I have done around 1300 miles of rough country lanes on them with zero punctures and very limited wear. I'm very happy with them. I keep them around 70 psi.

I'm still using my Motus but have to say at this point that the factory fit tyres (which are Schwalbe Energizer) really ruin the experience. They seem very delicate; I haven't managed to go 100 miles between punctures yet, and they compound the misery with stupid presta valves.

 

If anyone's upgraded them and had a good experience, I'd very much like to hear from them at this point.

 

For peace of mind, I second SteveRuss's suggestion to fit Schwalbe MPs. They're about as good as it gets for puncture resistance.

 

As for Presta valves, they are pretty reliable so I'd say just get used to them.

 

Energiser tyres are very good in my opinion, offering good roll characteristics with decent wear resistance. As it happens, one of my bikes is still running a pair of those which date back to 2007 although mileage hasn't been high - lost track after computer packed up.

 

Maybe you have just been unlucky with punctures or possibly unwise in the terrain you cycle over but either way, MPs should sort your problem.

 

Tom

I have Energisers on the Wisper, and I have done around 1300 miles of rough country lanes on them with zero punctures and very limited wear. I'm very happy with them. I keep them around 70 psi.

 

On my 28" tyres, I have always kept the pressures at 65psi and I have never had a puncture and drag is pretty well non-existent. They do roll well and grip is strong under heavy braking.

 

Tom

Edited November 9, 201510 yr by oldtom

I kept getting punctures on the front hub motor wheel after i fitted it to my hybrid. When one day i heard a faint ticking sound from the front rim when turning the wheel to fit yet another tube. It turned out to be a bit of swarf, probably from when they drilled out the spoke holes, and it was caught in the double rim and working its way out to the edge of the tube. So always worth checking for that.

I also dont like Presta valves.... even more annoying that i have Presta on the original rear wheel and Schrader on the front hub motor wheel. So i would need to carry two different tubes for an easy puncture fix.

I have been tempted to drill out the rear wheel rim valve hole so a Schrader tube can be used, thus getting matching tubes.

No punctures in a few thousand miles with the Marathon Supreme tyres fitted to the Rose.

 

Keeping plenty of Barney Bear in is a good tip, I run mine at about 60psi.

 

The hard compound also means the Supremes wear well.

 

Grip is not fantastic, but you can't have everything.

I bought a Motus H (hub geared) low step in July. I'm very pleased with it and it feels more powerful than my old Raleigh Dover (with panasonic motor). The gear range seems perfect for me with the 7 hub gears, although I would have preferred the thumb-shifters rather than grip-shift which seem to come with the hub gears.

My one gripe is the battery charging, which I cannot charge to 100% - sticks at 80% (discussed on another thread) - or 5th bar flashes when charging but never lights, and immediately goes down to 4 bars on disconnecting, no matter how long or short I charge for. Shop says they couldn't find a problem.

I don't ride the Motus all the time - tending to only use it for getting to work (5 miles up hill all the way) and use my old 10 speed steel Peugeot for flatter rides and a tandem with my little girl.

If electric bikes got a little smaller and much much lighter, then I'd give up all my other bikes (I have a few!) :-)