May 30, 201114 yr Hi all, very little knowledge at all, I have put an advert saying I am looking for a pro connect or similar quality. But I am no really sure. Has anyone had exlerience of the Alien Ocean Apollo. I think I would quite like to start off without having to pedal, I would also like a bike that will get a move on and do at least 20 miles without hanging about, am I asking to much. All help will be appreciated. Regards barrie
May 30, 201114 yr Hi Barrie That is Exactly what we make we call it the commuter It is limited to 15 MPH that is the uk limit but it is throttle only and can be simply De restricted to 28 MPH BUT only for off road use Frank:cool:
May 30, 201114 yr Hi Barrie, If your not sure then its best to go and have a try ride. There are members who have Kalkhoffs Pro Connects and they are considered well. There are members who have Aliens but I'm not sure if anyone has the Apollo. If they do I'm sure they will let you know. Its not what they look like its how they feel. This is why the advice is always go and have a try ride. Good luck,
May 30, 201114 yr Hi Barrie, I would have a look at what dealers are in your area, it was very eye opening to me just to go to my local raleigh dealer and try the electric bikes they had, they are very similar to the likes of the pro-connect, though you do have to pedal, they have no throttle. The Tonaro machines from powerpedals look to be great value for money and a lot of people on here have said they are great, have yet to read anything bad about them, and they have a throttle, so I would suggest they are worth thinking about, I am considering buying one myself, just waiting on having enough money.
May 31, 201114 yr Look at all the bikes Hi Barrie, I am new to all this as well. I have just ordered a Torano Enduro which has the option to pedal, or not depending how you feel at the time. I have done lots of review reading and have not read a bad review of the Torano bikes yet. You will see we have lots of electric bike dealers in the forum and that is a good thing because they are always happy to give advice, usually on their own brand of bikes but often on other brands. The electric bike field is a minefield that you have to steer a path through yourself, because only you know what you really want. Make a list and post it on here and see what the other members have to say. Go and try bikes out if you can and you may end up with something you never thought about in the first place. Steve
May 31, 201114 yr Try ten, buy one! Great advice and what i did - although it wasn't quite 10. But seriously they all offer something and ride a little differently and most e-bike manufacturers are accomodating
May 31, 201114 yr Author Thanks Hi and thanks to all, If I ask some stupid questions please bear with me. If I do the some distance as quick as the slowest bike will let me but same speed on the fastest bike A on a 250 motor X 18 B on a 750 motor X 18 which battery will run out first I assume B am I correct Second if I am looking to do 20/25 round trip mostly on throttle what will be my best Amps, Volts and Watts Last there is a big difference between say, Wisper, Kallkoff etc than some of the other suggested bikes, eg Alien Apollo is there that much difference in quality Thanks again Barrie
May 31, 201114 yr Demo Hi Barrie Are you very far from Banbury We have demo bikes We are open 7 days a week My E mail is frank@xipi.co.uk Frank
May 31, 201114 yr If I do the some distance as quick as the slowest bike will let me but same speed on the fastest bike A on a 250 motor X 18 B on a 750 motor X 18 which battery will run out first I assume B am I correct Second if I am looking to do 20/25 round trip mostly on throttle what will be my best Amps, Volts and Watts Last there is a big difference between say, Wisper, Kallkoff etc than some of the other suggested bikes, eg Alien Apollo is there that much difference in quality Thanks again Barrie B will run out first. Bear in mind that if you are in the UK, 250 watts rating is the legal limit, though the peak powers of 250 watt bikes vary. These e-bikes are electric assist, so using on throttle only does greatly shorten ranges. What you need for range is Ampere/hours for a given voltage. A 36 volt 14 Ah battery bike will go much further than a 36 volt 10 Ah one. If the voltages are different, to compare use Watt/hours instead. That's the voltage multiplied by the A/h in each case. So a 24 volt 10 Ah battery has 240 W/h and a 36 volt 9 Ah one has 324 Wh and the second one is likely to have more range if all other factors are equal, despite it having less Ah. However, there are other factors in play so always ask about a possible choice of bike in here and try before buying. . Edited May 31, 201114 yr by flecc
May 31, 201114 yr Someone posted that the battery that sits in the frame was no longer being made by the battery manufacturer and was asking for alternatives. So be careful if considering one of those, make quite sure that spare batteries will be available again. The battery is the older NiMh technology and at 24 volts and 9 Ah isn't a very long range one. If you use it without pedalling as you are proposing, I very much doubt it would reach 20 miles. Otherwise it's a normal medium power rear hub motor bike, nothing special.
May 31, 201114 yr Author Thanks again to all, I thought I might ask another one, How many different bikes have the BOSCH system, that might be the road to go. Barrie
May 31, 201114 yr I only know of the Haibike, though there may be more in Germany now. The Haibike is around three times the price of that Izip, do you have a budget figure that you wish to spend up to?
May 31, 201114 yr Author Hi Flecc, I started with a moderate figure in mind say £7/£800 but I have soon realized that to get a bike to do most of what I want will cost more. Just had a look online at the Oxygen city ...
May 31, 201114 yr Barrie As flecc said there are more bikes available in Europe. From the Bosch web site Here is a PDF list of some of the bikes and manufactures with the Bosch drive system. Chris
May 31, 201114 yr Hi Flecc, I started with a moderate figure in mind say £7/£800 but I have soon realized that to get a bike to do most of what I want will cost more. Just had a look online at the Oxygen city ... I'd love to hear what you think of our bikes...
May 31, 201114 yr Yes, definitely have a look at the Juicy Bike Sport models that Bob mentions. With a 37 volt 14 Ah battery and a 16 Ah one shortly, combined with throttles as well, they have what you want and the range you need.
June 1, 201114 yr Author Morning all, cant thank everyone enough for all the help and please keep it coming. I feel a bit further on. I think larger is better, 16/18amp, 36 volts etc. so now I am compiling a short list. The hard bit is working out the difference in price [ what for ] between say The Juicy to name one and say the Kalkhoff or Wisper, it must be in quality, but to a novice thats hard to define. Barrie
June 1, 201114 yr Author Just a final thought but an important one. BATTERY LIFE, do some have a longer life, and if so how do you know which, for instance there seems to have been some battery failure in the "first year", on Alien and some others. I will certainly be looking for a 2year guarantee, which I think is fair. Barrie
June 1, 201114 yr The early battery problems are more or less a thing of the past. Certainly the batteries supplied today seem to be much better than a few years ago. Don't just single out Alien take a look at the eZee battery failures and others (Flecc could probably give chapter and verse on this) it affected many suppliers with the early Lithium types. These suppliers worked hard though to address the issues... Plan on a new battery between 2 and 3 years regardless, Lithium will degrade even if not used, although I note there where some posts a while back about a Ping battery still retaining near full capacity after 3 years...but typically capacity will have dropped substantially by that time and the battery will be due for replacement.
June 1, 201114 yr Author Hi NRG, did not meen to single out Alien, its just that in my short time on here I have seen 2 failures. I am learning all the time. I shall not be using my bike for comuting as I am retired. It will spend a lot of its time on the back of my Motorhome in France Spain etc. And will be used to explore rather than comute. Barrie
June 1, 201114 yr Hi Barrie, still plan on a 2~3 year replacement time frame though then it will be less of a shock!
June 1, 201114 yr Hi WARNING some 2 year warranty on battery's are a SCAM Look at the small print A warranty that only replaces or repairs the battery If the capacity drops below 50% is no good if you bought a long range battery say to get to work and it will only go half that distance It could happen in the first year then to do the Job you bought the bike for you are forced to buy a new battery although you have a 2 year WARRANTY ??????????? so the Availability of a new battery in 1 year and the cost is a part off the buying process Frank
June 1, 201114 yr Bear in mind Barrie that many bikes are pedelecs which have no independently acting throttle. The Kalkhoff you mention is like that, the power controlled by the pedal action only. Don't be misled by the optional throttle for them, it only operates at low speeds. On many of those with throttles, they only act while the bike is being pedalled. So to ride without pedalling, make sure your chosen model works like that, only a minority do now.
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.