For you and me yes, but not for the average roadie going electric.

 

And none of them have Wisper's one and half decades of e-experience.

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on the other hand, none of us UK based has successfully sold carbon framed e-bikes. As far as I know, Wisper has not even sold road style e-bikes.

It's nearly 3 years since I have been selling the Karoo and I have just finished its first revision. It takes that long to figure out where next.

Wholly molly I bet they don't sell many of these https://www.evanscycles.com/cube-agree-hybrid-c-62-slt-disc-2018-electric-road-bike-EV318119

 

half price offer soon I bet

 

Which is another problem going against the premium brands - the online discounters get hold of it and spank its backside.

 

Cube/Fazua bikes are still fairly new, but 'offers' in the next year or so could skew the market further.

 

With the best will in the world, who is going to pay extra for a similar spec Wisper?

 

The Orbea Gain is also a contender.

 

Another established roadie brand, basic front hub motor but the controls are neat enough.

 

And at about £2K it's significantly cheaper than any Fazua bike.

on the other hand, none of us UK based has successfully sold carbon framed e-bikes. As far as I know, Wisper has not even sold road style e-bikes.

It's nearly 3 years since I have been selling the Karoo and I have just finished its first revision. It takes that long to figure out where next.

 

Of course it isn't easy and it's a small market.

 

But those with the cash to spare can fall victim to the allure of such a product. It's chiefly the electric aspect that is most likely to make an ex roadie nervous, so being reassured by a brand's long experience in that area could make the difference.

 

As long as it covers the cost of its introduction it will add valuable status to the brand. Just look at the crazy £1000 phone market dominated by Apple i-phone and Samsung Galaxy. Both sell huge numbers with those same names as low as £100 based on the perceived image of their top models.

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I agree that accepting a form of simple registration (probably insurance too) is the best way forward to achieve change.

 

It's best in such a campaign to be ready for the counter arguments you might get raised against you:

 

First is that the Speed pedelec class hasn't proved popular, only achieving 1% of pedelec sales and with only Germany and very belatedly The Netherlands accepting it in the EU. France did plan to join them January 2017 but then scrapped the plan.

 

Second is the way the German market has undermined the case for more power. Following realisation that 250 watts was insufficient for the Speed pedelec class, it was raised to 500 watts and a flush of 500 watt rated machines quickly appeared. Since then they've largely disappeared, the market settling for 350 watts as the best power/range combination.

.

 

I should have been more specific re speed pedelecs. As far as I had ascertained from RM is that their Speed Pedelecs were selling extremely well especially in Holland. As a percentage of the whole market, I would expect the numbers to be small.

 

350W Nominal / 700Wh Max does seem to be a good balance as far as power/range is concerned and it seems to where the big motor manufacturers are pitching, hence their popularity.

 

The Orbea Gain is also a contender.

 

Another established roadie brand, basic front hub motor but the controls are neat enough.

 

And at about £2K it's significantly cheaper than any Fazua bike.

 

Vastly cheaper, rear motor, but I'm sure that was a typo on your part https://www.tredz.co.uk/.Orbea-Gain-D40-2018-Electric-Road-Bike_109757.htm?sku=406959&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=google_shopping&mkwid=sH54YoBHD_dc|pcrid|43133748533|product|406959|&gclid=CjwKCAjwlIvXBRBjEiwATWAQIo0Y_GjibR1WvSLjBDtRKD3Xgby7yKQDcALEfWmqc6bho9D_iw8HRxoCfb8QAvD_BwE#

 

I'll be interested to hear about the drag or lack of on the Fazua motor once above the assist speed. Even with the motor removed there must be some degree of drag on the bevelled motor drive.

 

Still nice to see developments heading in a direction that interests me.

As long as it covers the cost of its introduction it will add valuable status to the brand.

if it backfires, for example a plastic part breaks too easily, it can damage the brand too.

The new bike looks good, although it is not without its competition.

 

Cube offer Fazua bikes for about the same price - the £4K one in the link is lower spec.

 

As with Wisper's eMTBs, Wisper seem to think the customer will pay as much for a Wisper bike as for one of the established premium brands.

 

Strikes me as a brave strategy.

 

https://www.evanscycles.com/cube-agree-hybrid-c-62-sl-disc-2018-electric-road-bike-EV318118

 

We can of course dumb down the bikes to get the price point lower, however we feel that to compete we need to be better and less expensive at the spec point. It's going to be interesting, fortunately we are in a position to be able to experiment at the moment. If we have got it wrong we will adapt.

 

We are very lucky in having Jeremy on board, he still rides his monstrously expensive (< £10k 6.4kg) carbon road bike with his club and is a true roadie geek! He has also worked with Magura introducing Bosch power systems all over Europe so has the knowledge of parts and electronics not available to most. We are very fortunate to have both long term electric bicycle experience and now in depth road and mountain bike smarts.

Edited April 27, 20187 yr by Wisper Bikes

The rewards may be there if you can position Wisper as a cool, niche brand.

 

Not easy, but it's been done before.

 

In mountain bikes, Orange - and probably others I've not heard of - have successfully taken on the big brands and established themselves as the quality product the informed customer buys.

 

A few of the big brands in roadie bikes have become a victim of their own success.

 

Some customers shy away from the likes of Giant, Cannondale, and Cube because everyone else in their road club has one.

Edited April 27, 20187 yr by RobF

if it backfires, for example a plastic part breaks too easily, it can damage the brand too.

 

Good point Woosh, we are very mindful of such pitfalls. That's why we are using high end branded parts though-out, such as the Shimano Ultegra R8070 Di2 Disc Groupset which can be bought at just under £1,400.00 from discounters, but retails normally at £2,000 plus. No cheap plastic parts there I trust.

The rewards may be there if you can position Wisper as a cool, niche brand.

 

Not easy, but it's been done before.

 

In mountain bikes, Orange - and probably others I've not heard of - have successfully taken on the big brands and established themselves as the quality product the informed customer buys.

 

A few of the big brands in roadie bikes have become a victim of their own success.

 

Some customers shy away from the likes of Giant, Cannondale, and Cube because everyone else in their road club has one.

 

Hi Rob, thanks for your comments. We are endeavouring to go that way, but as you say, it's not easy. We have sponsored a Wisper Pro eMTB team that will start riding in mid summer. We have a couple of staff entered in the Enduro meeting at the beginning of May on Wisper Wildcats. We have ordered small numbers to start off with, so we are not over exposed financially.

 

We are using the same components as the high end brands then building them with a lot of care in small numbers, these are not mass produced bikes. We are giving it a go, no one could blame us for not trying!

Good point Woosh, we are very mindful of such pitfalls. That's why we are using high end branded parts though-out, such as the Shimano Ultegra R8070 Di2 Disc Groupset which can be bought at just under £1,400.00 from discounters, but retails normally at £2,000 plus. No cheap plastic parts there I trust.

no worries about Shimano parts, they have been tested millions of times. It's the electronics that is not so well tested. Things like battery casing, motor casing, the lugs on the battery cover when you remove the battery, cell welding failure, LCD broken, LCD cable that gets snagged. On my new road bike, there isn't a cable (electric) that is not routed inside.

Cables? What cables?

 

There! It can be done now get to it you lot! I cringe every time I see a factory made e-bike with brake cut offs...

I cringe every time I see a factory made e-bike with brake cut offs...

do you cringe as much as I when the guy in this video moans about the size of the downtube?

 

http://pedelecs.co.uk/forum/threads/pinarello-nytro-e-bike-video-review.31140/

 

There! It can be done now get to it you lot! I cringe every time I see a factory made e-bike with brake cut offs...

 

Not as much a cringe as when it comes to cable repairs and replacements.

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Edited April 27, 20187 yr by flecc

But when you buy a Stromer you get a mechanic in the bike box!

Cables? What cables?

 

There! It can be done now get to it you lot! I cringe every time I see a factory made e-bike with brake cut offs...

 

A thing of beauty!

no worries about Shimano parts, they have been tested millions of times. It's the electronics that is not so well tested. Things like battery casing, motor casing, the lugs on the battery cover when you remove the battery, cell welding failure, LCD broken, LCD cable that gets snagged. On my new road bike, there isn't a cable (electric) that is not routed inside.

 

Thanks for your concern, but we are completely satisfied with the high quality of all components on this bike. Have a great weekend.

Good point Woosh, we are very mindful of such pitfalls. That's why we are using high end branded parts though-out, such as the Shimano Ultegra R8070 Di2 Disc Groupset which can be bought at just under £1,400.00 from discounters, but retails normally at £2,000 plus. No cheap plastic parts there I trust.

Do you offer a complete parts list online along with repair manuals.

 

Sourcing and fitting common bike components like gears and brakes is easy. Its frame specfic parts that are problem like suspension pivot point bearing kits, hangers etc and torque settings for installing them. Being able to buy these parts directly from Whisper means bike can be supported anywhere.

 

In my case sourcing Cube parts is easy, finding Cube part numbers is the hard part.

Hi Trevor,

 

We already do that on our standard Wiper range, nearly 500 parts all available on line with 1,500 photographs of the parts to make certain the correct part is chosen. Currently this is only available to our dealers, but since you ask, there is no problem in opening this up to owners. I’ll have a look on Monday.

 

Parts for Wisper Pro bikes will be just as available.

 

Thanks for asking.

 

All the best, David

I have a customer waiting for something just like this! Shame it's not available now.

Thanks for your concern, but we are completely satisfied with the high quality of all components on this bike. Have a great weekend.

sorry if that post came through as critical, I felt forced to explain my reasoning. Of course it is a record breaking product and we should all feel proud of it and if anyone should lead such a project, you are the most qualified to do so among us.

Have a great weekend yourself. I am working today though.

sorry if that post came through as critical, I felt forced to explain my reasoning. Of course it is a record breaking product and we should all feel proud of it and if anyone should lead such a project, you are the most qualified to do so among us.

Have a great weekend yourself. I am working today though.

 

That’s very kind of you, thank you. I too am working today, no rest for the wicked!

I'm not working...

I'm not working...

 

Nor me.

Last time I worked in the employment sense was 27 years ago.

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I have 10 minutes to drink my tea. The customer is due back to collect his bike in 15.