Hi after lots of badgering our work has singed up to cycle to work, they are totally clueless so signed up to halfords/tredz scheme. The max voucher I could get was £1000. I'm ideally after an electric hybrid bike for riding a few miles each day to work and back.

 

I currently use a specialised pitch sport mountain bike, but after a long day on my feet an e bike would help on the way home.

 

Any ideas? Do you think I should wait until bike stocks have been refreshed and we get closer to winter to grab a sale bargain?

 

Seen a few sites that accept bike vouchers but they invoice you more than the bike costs as they include the commission the bike scheme charges them. Is this a good option?

 

Saw halfords was clearing last years models last week for under 1k but non left in stock now. Am I right in thinking you can't add money to voucher if bike is more?

 

Thanks in advance for any reply, looking for ward to joining you all on an ebike.

 

Cheers

the 2021 bikes come out in sep/oct so any bargains will be long gone buy now for last years bikes.

 

you wont get much for £1000 tho esp if you want a bosch or other main brand bike.

Think rear hub motor is what I will be able to get so not expecting bosch. Gutted that I missed out on the bargains. Any advice on the best thing to do with this voucher? Any blags or ways to maximise the voucher?

 

Cheers

https://wooshbikes.co.uk/

 

https://wisperbikes.com/product-category/e-bikes/

If you're definitely saddled with Hellfrauds, then I can heartily recommend the Subway Electric, though you'll have to chuck an extra 99 quid in the pot yourself - you can add as much as you like yourself.

 

Don't count on sales reductions of the magnitude we used to see at Halfords - retailers are selling bikes as fast as they can get them into the store, if not even faster, and with demand still vastly outstripping supply there is little need or incentive to do the huge sales reductions they used to. At the present time the retailers have the buying public by the cojones, and I can't see they'll stop squeezing any time soon.

Will take a look at the subway, don't mind adding some extra cash if that's possible. Need to check they got they right frame size available as I'm over 6ft.

 

Thought bike sales might slow as getting to end of summer. Will watch halfords over the next week or so. Voucher can be used at tredz too but think that's Halfords owned and expensive.

No subway bikes in stock near me in big frame size. They have the vulcan and crossfire e at 1400, are they worth paying the extra?

No subway bikes in stock near me in big frame size. They have the vulcan and crossfire e at 1400, are they worth paying the extra?

No is the answer, the only Carrera worth having is the Crossfuse with the Bosch motor.

No is the answer, the only Carrera worth having is the Crossfuse with the Bosch motor.

Rubbish. I've had more trouble with Bosch (quite a bit) than my SiL has had with Suntour (none at all). The current high output Suntour motor in Carreras is 60NM, and the motor itself is rarely problematic.

 

That said, the Vulcan itself isn't the nicest bike, let down by horrible forks.

Don't think I can stretch to the mid drive crossfuse price (no way the Mrs will allow it)

Carerra Suntour bikes are a bit of liability and hit and miss as to when the cut outs start or when they occur, the hub itself in all likelihood is quite bullet proof. The main issue appears to be the electronics, whether the latest models are any better we have to wait for owners to say. The TS BB is one of the problems and previous issues have included possibly battery BMS sensitivity as well as the motor connector.

Rubbish. I've had more trouble with Bosch (quite a bit) than my SiL has had with Suntour (none at all). The current high output Suntour motor in Carreras is 60NM, and the motor itself is rarely problematic.

Rubbish yourself, The Carrera Crossfire is plagued with problems just look at the amount of threads about cut outs on this site alone. I have owned both a Crossfuse and a Crossfire and the latter was nothing but trouble, while the Bosch motor in the Crossfuse has been faultless in over 2500 miles.

The crossfuse is 500 more than the crossfire and that is 400 more than the voucher. So without having to add 900 for the mid drive I will accept the bike in my price range will be a bit naff. As long as it lasts a couple of years I will be happy. I live and work close to a halfords so can take it back if it needs fixing.

 

Is it worth phoning or visiting my local halfords to see if they have any old stock that they are clearing out or would that be on the website?

I've been very happy with my Carrera Vengeance. It's the 2018 model with the Bafang motor and cadence sensor, and has given no trouble that regular lubrication and a replacement set of brake pads couldn't fix. The latest model has been updated somewhat and is now a little over £1000 (I paid £850) but it might be worth a look.

Current vengence is suntour motor and only in L size frame which is upto 6 feet 1inch. Im 6 feet 3ish will this be too small?

You haven’t really missed out on a bargain as most stocks seem to have been snapped up months ago during lockdown. I’m sure some importers will be bringing in 2020 stock so they still have something to sell before the 2021 stuff comes out.

Rubbish yourself, The Carrera Crossfire is plagued with problems just look at the amount of threads about cut outs on this site alone.

Those were on older models though, last December Richard Peace reported the Suntour ATS Hesc motor system had been changed to increase power

https://ebiketips.road.cc/content/reviews/carrera-crossfire-e-2020/carrera-crossfire-e-2020-2231

I prompted US ebike journalist Court Rye to talk to Raleigh in the US to ask what they thought of the new motor’s reliability and they reported few problems

https://electricbikereview.com/forums/threads/raleigh-ebikes-with-sr-suntour-motors.29128/

Those were on older models though, last December Richard Peace reported the Suntour ATS Hesc motor system had been changed to increase power

https://ebiketips.road.cc/content/reviews/carrera-crossfire-e-2020/carrera-crossfire-e-2020-2231

I prompted US ebike journalist Court Rye to talk to Raleigh in the US to ask what they thought of the new motor’s reliability and they reported few problems

https://electricbikereview.com/forums/threads/raleigh-ebikes-with-sr-suntour-motors.29128/

That's very interesting. Something isn't right is it. How can there be so many problems reported here and elsewhere, even on fairly recent purchases, and they don't know anything about it?

 

It reminds me of when I was quality manager for Avondale caravans. We were getting loads of people ringing in with exploding tyres after changing brands to a cheaper type (Vrederstein). Our customer service guy, who sat next to me dealt with the complaints. The tyre supplier had asked him to refer any complaining customers directly to them and not to do anything himself. After I heard him referring three different complaints on three consecutive days, I asked him what's going on. All I got from him was that there were lots of complaints that he had referred and not recorded, so I decided to ring the supplier to find out about it. They told me that they had only ever heard of one instance of an exploding tyre, which they put down to over-loading. Everybody knows that everybody over-loads their caravans, but other brands of tyres never exploded.

 

There had also been mention about this brand of exploding tyres in a caravan magazine, so I rang the journalist. He gave all the implications that it was a problem, but wouldn't give me any details. I guess he didn't want to rock any boats.

 

Eventually, I got their slimy rep to visit me under the threat of asking Trading Standards to enforce a recall. After a lot of pressure he said, "If I'm honest, we're not proud of our first batch of these tyres".

That's very interesting. Something isn't right is it. How can there be so many problems reported here and elsewhere, even on fairly recent purchases, and they don't know anything about it?

I returned 2 Crossfires in 2017 for multiple cutouts so it looks like someone is telling porkys about the bikes.

Don’t whoosh do cycle to work?

Rubbish yourself, The Carrera Crossfire is plagued with problems just look at the amount of threads about cut outs on this site alone. I have owned both a Crossfuse and a Crossfire and the latter was nothing but trouble, while the Bosch motor in the Crossfuse has been faultless in over 2500 miles.

 

You only have to look on youtube to see many crossfires and subways being used as courier ebikes. These couriers are racking up huge miles, sometimes over 100 miles a day and working 7 days a week although admittedly one only does it evenings and weekends but the Suntour system seems to be a very popular choice as are hub motors in general for their simplicity and reliability. You never hear of any courier stupid enough to use a Bosch motor, even if the motor kept working you would have all the additional chain wear to deal with. Your Bosch experience may be positive but that doesn't mean you can extrapolate it so it applies universally. Hub motors hugely outsell mid-drive but mid-drive problems dominate forums I would say. I've even read the suggestion that if you use an e-mountain bike with a Bosch motor keep it exclusively for off-road use and get a hub motor ebike for a general purpose ebike because of the far lower running costs and greater reliability. You only have to look at the internals of such motors to understand why hub motors are so much more reliable. Yes the Suntour system has a few issues but many of those seemed to be how the torque sensor and cables were fitted to the Carrera bikes and for those with problems the solutions now we understand them aren't that difficult or expensive. The Bosch motors are a premium motor both expensive to buy and maintain but with excellent feel and performance. It's like comparing a reliable Toyota Corolla with a BMW performance car. The Corolla will just keep working and cost very little, the BMW will fail frequently and need expensive repairs and many components just need far more frequent replacement.

 

https://www.reliabilityindex.com/reliability/search/273

 

https://www.reliabilityindex.com/reliability/search/36

 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZOtaF2WKa0wNysH4ZRH8-w

 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCruD32HAzsb9UN4KpOcSxZg

You only have to look on youtube to see many crossfires and subways being used as courier ebikes.

And you only have to look on this forum to see how many people have had problems with the above models( more than any other type of hub motor) There are plenty of couriers using Carrera Crossfuse bikes with the Bosch motor on youtube as well, The opinions I have given are based on personal experience having owned a Crossfuse and 2 Crossfires ( which were returned due to cutouts ) as for price the Crossfuse was £150 more expensive than the Crossfire when I bought it, so not expensive.

The opinions I have given are based on personal experience having owned a Crossfuse and 2 Crossfires ( which were returned due to cutouts ) as for price the Crossfuse was £150 more expensive than the Crossfire when I bought it, so not expensive.

Your experience isn't really relevant anymore given Halfords totally revamped the Crossfire in 2019 with new frame, new battery, new controller, revised torque sensor and (some say) a newer motor version. You say both your returned Crossfires dated from 2017 - that's not really the same e-bike at all.

 

And the Crossfire today is £1399. The Crossfuse today is £1899. That is for many a substantial £500 difference, and puts the Crossfuse firmly into the "premium brand" Cube/Scott etc territory. 3 years is a long time in the e-bike world and much has changed.

You only have to look on youtube to see many crossfires and subways being used as courier ebikes.

I just looked on Youtube for reviews of the Carrera ebikes from people that had used them for a length of time. I found two videos. Both mentioned the cut-outs. One had his and hers bikes, so that was actually three. All three owners were still running there bikes and living with the cut-outs. Three out of three still maintains the 100% record.

 

I only looked at one of your video links. The guy said that he's changing his Carrera for another brand shortly!

 

10:00 on this one:

 

7:00 here:

And you can tell just from the old Phylion batteries, both those videos relate to the old pre-2019 Crossfire versions. The question is how reliable are the newer ones (other than the fickle charging connector, which has now been resolved)?