http://www.ebikeportal.com/nuvinci-n380-automatic-transmission-a-revolution-for-ebikes

 

i dont think that hub drive will like shifting gears going 30mph with a dongle fitted and at 2.5kg and 350 quid for a new one id not like my chances getting a replacement under warranty as it is a wear part.

 

That info might have just swung it in favor of the Oxygen then I think. Cheers for sharing that Soundwave.

I'm not sure where the NuVinci hub fits in given that you were not considering a NuVinci bike.

 

Dave and his magic maintenance free derailer might come as a surprise to Andy Bluenoes and georgehenry on here, both commuters, both of whom have made many posts about pratting around with derailer gears.

 

Andy's are still not right, and chain on george's bike jumps in top gear more often than it doesn't.

 

If you want to deal with all that messing around, buy a derailer bike.

 

Seems daft to me when you can afford the alterntives - a cheap and reliable Shimano hub or the gold standard solution of a Rohloff.

I'm not sure where the NuVinci hub fits in given that you were not considering a NuVinci bike.

 

Dave and his magic maintenance free derailer might come as a surprise to Andy Bluenoes and georgehenry on here, both commuters, both of whom have made many posts about pratting around with derailer gears.

 

Andy's are still not right, and chain on george's bike jumps in top gear more often than it doesn't.

 

If you want to deal with all that messing around, buy a derailer bike.

 

Seems daft to me when you can afford the alterntives - a cheap and reliable Shimano hub or the gold standard solution of a Rohloff.

 

There were two Cube SUV models I was looking at Rob, the Pro with the Alfine hub and the Race with the NuVinci. I've just decided to hedge my bets though and have taken the plunge on the Oxygen S-Cross.

 

I've definitely taken all you've said on-board regarding internally geared hubs and I'm aware how well respected the Rolhoff is, particularly among tourers. For the cost difference between the Cube and the Oxygen though I can take the bike into my LBS for a full service every three months and replace the derailleur, chain and cassette and still have a few hundred quid left over. Depending on how I get on, I expect I'll probably upgrade to something more robust once I've had a good run out of this one, as I'd rather avoid unnecessary ongoing maintenance costs wherever possible. After 12 months though, I'll have a much better idea of precisely what I do and don't need. Then I can look to spend a bit more and invest in the perfect machine for my requirements.

 

Thanks for all the advice everyone. I'm seriously looking forward to getting out on the new machine when it arrives! I'll be adding mudguards and a pannier rack (pilfered from my Norco Indie) and I've got a Suntour NCX float post on order. Will post some pics when I've got it all set up

The Oxygen rides nicely, and if the gears behave themselves you should be pleased with it.

 

A change of tyres may be needed, looks like the stock Kendas are 30 tpi - threads per inch - which is cheap and nasty compared to Schwalbe who use 67 tpi.

 

Your bike may turn up with something different, but if it doesn't those Kendas are a puncture waiting to happen.

I'm not sure where the NuVinci hub fits in given that you were not considering a NuVinci bike.

 

Dave and his magic maintenance free derailer might come as a surprise to Andy Bluenoes and georgehenry on here, both commuters, both of whom have made many posts about pratting around with derailer gears.

 

Andy's are still not right, and chain on george's bike jumps in top gear more often than it doesn't.

 

If you want to deal with all that messing around, buy a derailer bike.

 

Seems daft to me when you can afford the alterntives - a cheap and reliable Shimano hub or the gold standard solution of a Rohloff.

 

I forgot to mention in my review thread, the guy who replaced my blown tyre had a quick look at the gears for me.

 

The only thing he could suggest was to replace the outer gear cable as I hadn’t done that...I just replaced the inner....but the coating on the inside of the outer cable could be causing the problem if the coating has become worn. I’ll have a bash at that as soon as I can.

 

 

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I reckon you will be fine on the gear and chain set up on the Middlewood Way i have used my Wisper on it and had no problems, in fact the Oxygen is probably better set up than the Wisper so i wouldnt give it a second thought.

Sorry I was trying to account for degredation in capacity and the limited number of charge cycles over the life of a battery. My logic being charging once per day would give me a longer life with the battery and the ~45% overhead would allow for the loss in capacity. To be honest though the life of the battery is a lot less important to me than the overall reliability of the bike. The most important things to me are the bike being dependable so I can use it all year round and the ability to cruise along at a decent speed so I can make the journey in around 1 to 1.5 hours. As I've been reading on these forums and you've pointed out, I won't get anything over 15.5mph unless the bike is derestricted though. So I'm just getting my ideas together. Any recommendations much appreciated

Your logic about the battery is flawed. Charging a battery to full and then driving it to empty each time, is bad for a li ion pack. It is less violent to charge and discharge half way... Were the battery the older metal hydride type the advice would be different.

If you can recharge it at work, then you will have no difficulty with any 400 watthr battery doing the distance.

Even a fully legal bike can travel at speeds above 15.5 mph, it is just that there is no legal assistance above that limit. This means that going up hills, you can travel at this 15 and going down hills whatever speed you like.. the effect of this is to bring your average speed up considerably, even if your peak speed drops.

As woosh tried to explain earlier, the greatest energy Loss on a bike is air resistance, and it increases with the cube of one's speed relative to the air. So going into a wind of of 15 miles an hour at the legal speed is travelling at 30 mph relative to the wind if you were travelling in the opposite direction there would be no air resistance loss. The actual power loss will depend on a number her of factors including your frontal area and how nude you are...

A 20 mile journey could take 1.5 hrs or slightly less, but would be slightly sweaty . A sturdy bike costing around the 2k mark would be necessary and you would expect to replace tyres every 6 months assuming a 40 week year,and 5 day week the distance travelled would be 8000 miles. I doubt a battery would last much longer than 2 years with 400 half fills per year.

The Oxygen rides nicely, and if the gears behave themselves you should be pleased with it.

 

A change of tyres may be needed, looks like the stock Kendas are 30 tpi - threads per inch - which is cheap and nasty compared to Schwalbe who use 67 tpi.

 

Your bike may turn up with something different, but if it doesn't those Kendas are a puncture waiting to happen.

 

This one should come with a set of Schwalbe Rapid Robs https://www.e-bikesdirect.co.uk/brands/oxygen/oxygen-s-cross-mtb-13ah-battery-50-mile-range Will probably switch them for some Marathons though in the spring.

I think that the only sensible tyre to fit on a bike doing 44 miles a day is Schwalbe Marathon Plus. They last something like 10,000+ miles, and it's their puncture resistance that makes them so desirable.

Yep, with my bike I had the Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres fitted by the dealer (at extra cost) as a 'recommended extra', from new. Well worth it for peace of mind.

 

Heavy commuting is hard on a bike so look for things like easily replaceable brake pads. Mine has Magura HS11 Hydraulic rim brakes and I'm on the 3rd set of pads in ~5000 miles. It's an easy 5 minute job to fit new pads.

 

Good brakes are just as important as speed. If you mix it up with traffic on roads you need to know that you can stop quickly!

 

For 40 miles a day comfort is going to be important.

 

Personally I like the relaxed sit up and beg riding position, but my bike is also quite sporty when I want it to be, it's perfect for fast commutes and hacking through cities.

 

I've never had to adjust the derailleur gears, but that could be due to a good pre-delivery setup.

 

20 miles each way though does merit consideration on how long it will take though.

 

My average speed for all journeys is always about 12.5mph, so 20 miles takes about 1 hour 30 minutes, and frankly I wouldn't want to go much faster. If you enjoy the ride then the time doesn't matter, and with an ebike you do arrive fresh and exercised, not all hot, sweaty and knackered.

OK so all things considered I've decided that I'm going to buy an Oxygen S-Cross MTB with an extra battery and dock and charge it at either end of the commute.

 

There are a number of reasons I've come to this conclusion. Firstly by my calculations I should still be able to cover one leg of the journey on a full charge quite easily even after accounting for ~40% reduction in capacity over time. The second battery I'll keep on hand as a backup or replacement, as based on reviews, I'm expecting that to become a problem long before any issues with the motor.

 

Secondly the Oxygen isn't too expensive for a first ebike. As someone wisely pointed out, it would probably be prudent to not spend a fortune on a first bike as I'll no doubt upgrade in a few of years time.

 

I had a good think about buying a conversion kit (thanks for all your advice on that Woosh) but having looked at what's involved I've decided it's a little too far outside my comfort zone to install one. There's also the fact that the rigid hybrid style of my Norco Indie isn't as well suited to the gravel and mud that makes up a large percentage of my route. Whereas the cross-country suspension fork and nobbly tyres on the Oxygen are a much better fit for this. The frame integrated battery is also a lot more subtle.

 

Many of the bikes mentioned with the Bosch drives do look good and I'm more convinced of their reliability now. But with much of my route being along long, flat sections I think a hub motor is the better choice. Also a major boon for me, is that the Oxygen can be tuned up a bit and allow me to get the 20mph speed I'm after. Without forking out for any additional dongles or borking the readings on the display unit.

 

So it's going to be the Oxygen with a nice set of mudguards and a pannier rack. I'll keep this thread updated to let you all know how I get on Thanks so much for everyone's kind advice.

Hi Mooksy,

 

Which bike did you settle on? I am looking at the Oxygen and would appreciate any first hand experiences with it. I was contemplating a mid-drive motor bike previously but ran into problems with my current bike - a Kalkhoff - that have rendered it almost useless because the mid-drive engine packed up. Hub motors for commutes seem the way to go.

You won’t go wrong with the oxygen

 

Oxygen Scross MTB ongoing review

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?share_fid=19542&share_tid=28142&share_pid=381070&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Epedelecs%2Eco%2Euk%2Fforum%2Findex%2Ephp%3Fposts%2F381070%2F&share_type=t

 

 

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Hi Mooksy,

 

Which bike did you settle on? I am looking at the Oxygen and would appreciate any first hand experiences with it. I was contemplating a mid-drive motor bike previously but ran into problems with my current bike - a Kalkhoff - that have rendered it almost useless because the mid-drive engine packed up. Hub motors for commutes seem the way to go.

 

That was precisely my fear Tobeeornot, I'm so glad I cancelled the order on my Kalkhoff! I've ordered an Oxygen S-Cross but it hasn't arrived yet so I can't really give any advice as of yet. Andy's thread above definitely helped to convince me to make the purchase and is worth a read to see how the bike has performed in practice.

You won’t go wrong with the oxygen

 

Oxygen Scross MTB ongoing review

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?share_fid=19542&share_tid=28142&share_pid=381070&url=http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/index.php?posts/381070/&share_type=t

 

 

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Thanks very, Andy. That is really helpful.

 

I was wondering why you chose the Oxygen S-Cross MTB instead of the S-Cross CB which come with lights, mudguards, and a pannier rack?

 

I am happy to pay the extra money if it is a better bike but to be honest, I don't understand the difference between the components, etc.

 

Toby

Edited January 30, 20188 yr by Tobeeornot

If i remener correctly better brakes on the mtb and front shocks were the main two.

Thanks very, Andy. That is really helpful.

 

I was wondering why you chose the Oxygen S-Cross MTB instead of the S-Cross CB which come with lights, mudguards, and a pannier rack?

 

I am happy to pay the extra money if it is a better bike but to be honest, I don't understand the difference between the components, etc.

 

Toby

I went for the MTB because of the disk brakes mainly.

I added mudguards after myself, and ebikes direct put a pannier rack on before they sent the bike to me.

I can't remember if there were any other differences between the CB and MTB

 

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I am happy to pay the extra money if it is a better bike but to be honest, I don't understand the difference between the components, etc.

 

Toby

The MTB has hydraulic brakes, which miles better than the cable brakes on the CB. It also has a cassette motor instead of the CB's freewheel motor, so it has better gearing and is easy to adapt to ant gearing that you want/need. The CB has 700C wheels and tyres, so is slightly more efficient, but the MTB is a little more comfortable and has amazing grip and stability. The MTB just fills you with confidence when you ride it.

 

If I were choosing one for commuting, I'd choose the MTB, change the tyres to Marathon Plus's and fit mudguards and battery lights. Mudguards, like SKS Beavertails, only cost about £13 and the Ebay battery lights are loads better than any lights you get supplied on bikes.

 

If you ride the two bikes side-by-side, you will certainly notice how much better the MTB is to ride. That's not saying that the CB is bad though.

The bike arrived a few days ago. I've only taken it out for a short 5 mile run so far, as I'm waiting for some appropriate mudguards and a pannier rack to arrive from Amazon before doing the commute run (Evans and Halfords were both pretty useless on that front).

 

Very impressed so far though! It zooms along at 24mph with very little effort and made mincemeat of a very steep climb out of Macclesfield. The seat post diameter listed by the shop I purchased it from had the wrong measurement listed though, so I've also got to wait for a shim to arrive before I can fit the Suntour NCX post. Successfully managed to swap the seat to something a bit more comfortable and the grips for some Ergons whilst I wait for the other bits anyway. Pretty damn chuffed so far Will post some pics once it's all fitted out.

What did you go for in the end?

 

 

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What did you go for in the end?

 

 

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The Oxygen S-Cross MTB mate

The Oxygen S-Cross MTB mate

 

Good choice:-)

 

 

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If you want to go fast, I can't think of anything that comes close for the money. More than anything, I love the handling. It just feels so secure and planted when you ride it.

The Oxygen S-Cross MTB mate

 

How's it going then?

Well I've been using the bike regularly for past year and it's still going strong. I've not used it every day as I originally intended but it's certainly covered a lot of miles. I'd estimate somewhere in the region of 5000 (I'll check the on board computer on Monday).

 

The battery still holds up and allows me to cover the 23 miles each way on 'power' setting without a hitch. Occasionally on a day with a strong headwind it goes into protection mode on the very last mile of my route home (which is slightly uphill overall) but that's really no big deal for me and can be avoided by riding a bit more conservatively.

 

The ride takes me 1 hour 25 minutes each way at a comfortable effort level, exactly as I'd hoped i.e. I don't arrive at work drenched in sweat and the fatigue doesn't do me in by the time it gets to Friday each week. For reference the route is 23 miles, 19 of which are off road, I'm in good shape, weigh close to 100Kg and carry 2 panniers of kit.

 

I de-restricted the bike to 23mph when I first purchased it (yes yes naughty me) but after a while I reduced that to 18mph with barely any effect on my time and with slightly improved battery usage. The only real difference I noticed was a reduction in the acceleration of the motor from standing or at low speed, which I actually prefer anyway as it makes the bike handle better.

 

I have had a handful of issues. Firstly the crappy Kenda rear tyre blew out within 2 weeks of me having it. This was swiftly replaced with a Schwalbe marathon plus tyre and slime inner tube and with regular air tops ups and I've had no issues since. The back wheel is a bit of a nightmare to remove compared to a regular bike so I'd definitely recommenced doing the same. I had to replace the rear shifter cable and it's casing after discovering that it had frayed to pieces due to awful routing under the bottom bracket. Nothing a few zip ties couldn't fix once I'd fitted the new cable though but something to look out for. I've also had an issue with the rear brake getting air in the hydraulics from somewhere. I've had to burp it a handful of times after it going soft over time. I may need to take it into a bike shop to have it looked at by someone who knows more about hydraulic brake systems than myself at some point but the last burp seems to have done the trick. Other than those few smalls issues, a broken chain and chain guard which were my own stupid fault it's been great.

 

All in all, I thoroughly recommend the Oxygen as an off-road capable commuter bike or for light mountain biking use Money well spent even on cold dark January mornings like these.