electric bike

24-10-2013 8:02pm

Really ?

Beasty · 24-10-2013 8:17pm

If you want to query something a mod has done, PM them - discussion of mod actions is not permitted in-thread

24-10-2013 8:44pm

Beasty wrote: »

If you want to query something a mod has done, PM them - discussion of mod actions is not permitted in-thread

:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

The mods must love you ! :rolleyes:

Darkglasses · 24-10-2013 8:47pm

He IS a mod. Check your pm. No further discussion of mod activity in the thread, or you will be infracted.

And for the record yes we do love Beasty, everybody does.

Soulrider · 11-08-2014 7:42pm

If you want to buy an electric bike check out if the suppliers have a monopoly in the country or pay heavily down the line. I bought a Promovec in Dublin and found the after service hugely costly in terms of finance and emotions...I regret not checking if the suppliers had competitors. The agents for the Danish brand (Promovec) were dismissive and sold me a dud "new" motor for a bike needing a replacement motor and refused to accept responsibility for it- indeed they insulted me when I was able to prove it!.... In the end i sought legal legal advice and while I won the battle- I lost the use of my bike for the summer as a commute bike into town and the stress of it all costing more than I can tell. Stay away from Greenaer in Dublin if you want good follow up service on a Promovec.

Potchumkin · 11-08-2014 9:33pm

Sorry to hear of your travails Soulrider
I must admit to have not done too much research when I bought my E bike in Apr, 2012. I bought it from the Chinese lot CI-Ebikes. They are hard nosed Chinese but seemingly straightforward and willing to stand by their product
I had a very early problem with motor control which was rectified immediately. I have ongoing problems with rear wheel spokes, but overall, I have had real pleasure from my bike.
My usage pattern has required that I charge very infrequently. It will be interesting to see what the battery life will be. I have been informed by a local mechanic that the Chinese technology in the motor and battery is good, whereas the basics in frame etc. (I had to replace the pedals after 6 weeks, ongoing difficulties with the rear wheel spokes, and have had to have the crankshaft (apparently non-standard) replaced last month) leave room for improvement.

Soulrider · 11-08-2014 10:24pm

Thanks for this Potchumkin....I never knew that company existed. I've looked at the site and see that they also buy and sell used bikes- maybe I can sell mine and let them deal with Greenaer and their bully boy tactics. I like some of the bikes they ( CI Ebikes ) have for sale - thanks again. Do you know if faster motors exist - ie ones with a strong push power or are they all the same ( the lithium ones) - also do you know how often the battery needs changing ....I think i've had mine 3 years and wondering if it needs a change...

11-08-2014 10:51pm

There are lots of Electrics bikes sold in ireland for over 1200 Euro's that are worth 500 Euro's and bought in bulk from China for 300-400, some tidy profit.

Some Chinese products are excellent but these suppliers decide to buy the junk of junk, some even sold with lead acid batteries. Stay well clear.

The European made bikes that use the Bosch and Panasonic crank motors are among the best you'll buy, they cost a lot but worth it. And you can have them many years with proper care. The kalkhof and Haibikes are excellent. The crank drive motors are very efficient and much better climbing power than those useless weedy frond or rear hub motors.

Some Chinese kits are also excellent, such as the ones sold on em3ev.com, the guy that owns the site is called Paul, an English Gentleman, and has an excellent reputation among the diy E-Bike community. Of course you got to know what you're doing in order to build an E-Bike,.

Greenaer sell some superbly built German electric bikes, I have a Haibike and It's fantastic with the Bosch motor, even pulled me to the RTE mast on Mount Leinster !

OssianSmyth · 13-08-2014 8:56am

By contrast with a previous poster, I have bought two bikes including a BH Neo ebike from Greenaer and the after care service was always excellent. I have always found them helpful and would go back.

Soulrider · 13-08-2014 10:11am

It's a great thing when you find the right match in terms of buyer and seller and it's hugely important. I like dealing with people are creative and passionate about their thing ...whatever that thing is . I've been to Giant, Fitzers and go electric and this is the energy I like to deal with - authentic passionate bike riders who know their stuff and excited to chase a query if they don't have the answer...the team in stillorgan ( Fitzers) are among my favourite - hugely enthusiastic and helpful and polite.... - I know what my issue with Greenaer is now and it's the flatness of the transaction - I felt I was in a car sales room with a an over confident sales man who bluffing a sale....good at what he does ( sells bikes) but not good in the places that are important to me as a soulrider .....maybe I just don't like cocky sales men!.... glad to not to have to deal with Greenaer again though I appreciate others like its brand of shiny BMW sales men.

13-08-2014 10:50am

Just want to make clear I've never had any dealings with Grenaer, I imported my bike driect from Germany.

13-08-2014 10:58am

Just looked at ciebikies and don't like the quality of what I see at all.

If these motors are geared internally then there might be some hope but I strongly suspect they use the direct drive with very little torque.

Again, these bikes while maybe fine for level ground and very small hills they won't be very suitable where you need them most, on hills.

The crank drives are very expensive but they are very high quality and the Bosh is one of the best out there. You could look at the bike as an investment you'll have for years, imo those cheap bikes being sold for 1400 Euro's are not worth the money, better off buying a very good quality road bike instead.

You'd be very surprised at the difference a good quality bikes make to cycle.

Soulrider · 13-08-2014 10:58am

That makes sense ( no dealings with Greenaer and just importing directly from Germany). It's also helpful to learn that is a way to go but remember Greenaer have the monopoly on Promovec and that's where I got caught!. I bought the bike from Fitzers who were selling a few for Greenaer....I didn't know that ( I'd been to Greenaer and didn't like the man or his oily sales rap) but when the bike had a problem , learnt I had to deal with him or Fitzers had to deal with him and I sensed they didn't like him either ( they no longer sell his bikes!). Time to get on my bike !....thanks for all the postings and sympathy on the travails of dealing with pushy sales men....I don't mind admitting - I found it intimidating dealing with Greenaer and had to ask a friend to help me out ..

13-08-2014 1:17pm

Soulrider wrote: »

That makes sense ( no dealings with Greenaer and just importing directly from Germany). It's also helpful to learn that is a way to go but remember Greenaer have the monopoly on Promovec and that's where I got caught!. I bought the bike from Fitzers who were selling a few for Greenaer....I didn't know that ( I'd been to Greenaer and didn't like the man or his oily sales rap) but when the bike had a problem , learnt I had to deal with him or Fitzers had to deal with him and I sensed they didn't like him either ( they no longer sell his bikes!). Time to get on my bike !....thanks for all the postings and sympathy on the travails of dealing with pushy sales men....I don't mind admitting - I found it intimidating dealing with Greenaer and had to ask a friend to help me out ..

Did you get the problem sorted ? are you sure it's the motor that has failed ?

If someone wants to go electric then for the price of some of the junk bikes that are sold in Ireland you can install the following kit, however you do need to have a bike first but you can get excellent quality 2nd hand bikes in good condition without spending huge amounts of money.

http://em3ev.com/store/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=187

Choose your battery carefully and read all the coments, any questions e-mail and Paul will reply though it can take a few days with the time difference and he is busy but he's a very helpful fellow. Chosing the wrong battery will be an expensive mistake and it will be your fault. This kit can pull 30 amps and so your battery needs to be capable of supplying this power, read the specs for each battery.

You will only have one front chainwheel and the kit won't work with the front gears but it comes with a 48T chainwheel and if you need mega hill climbing you can buy one of these rear sprockets.

http://www.adapt-network.com/sports/2013/12/oneup-components-42t-sprocket/

Or this

http://www.ebay.com/itm/41-Tooth-Cog-for-Mountain-Bike-Cassette-41t-Sprocket/251408161635

If you're worried about legalities then you can ask for the motor kit to be shipped with or without throttle and it be set to pedal only and for the motor to cut assistance at 15.5 mph.

This is one of the best ways to go for electric assistance, and if you're like me with dodgy knees that suffer on hills and like to pedal a lot you can get away with a smaller battery than you ever could with a fixed speed underpowered hub motor, the crank drives are much more efficient on hills because they can use the bikes gearing.

You can also install this motor on a carbon frame, it has been done, for a light weight e-bike solution. Check the bottom bracket matches the requirments for this kit.

majic 69 · 13-08-2014 6:26pm

Had opportunity to test german bike Hercules TOURER 7 AGT on 50+ km hilly route and this e-bike is just amazing. This was my first contact with e-bike but I’m really impressed.

Bike has three levels of power low, med & high. Range on low power exceeds 100km on battery fully charged but the power is cut off at 20 km/h to save power.
On high power, electric support is cut at 26 km/h with range 30 -40 km. You can pedal faster but with no electric support. Build quality and integration of electric power system is very good - all cabling inside frame, illuminated integrated computer displaying various parameters etc.

Fantastic feature of this bike is automatic 7 speed gearbox. All you need to do is just pedal, when uphill computer will detect loss of speed/pedalling power and reduce gear at the same time increasing motor power maintaining constant speed. There is manual gear change but not needed – autobox works as good as in the car. On high power going steep uphill (10%) it was a piece of cake to maintain 25 km/h. That’s tour de France speed in Alps

13-08-2014 7:38pm

majic 69 wrote: »

Had opportunity to test german bike Hercules TOURER 7 AGT on 50+ km hilly route and this e-bike is just amazing. This was my first contact with e-bike but I’m really impressed.

Bike has three levels of power low, med & high. Range on low power exceeds 100km on battery fully charged but the power is cut off at 20 km/h to save power.
On high power, electric support is cut at 26 km/h with range 30 -40 km. You can pedal faster but with no electric support. Build quality and integration of electric power system is very good - all cabling inside frame, illuminated integrated computer displaying various parameters etc.

Fantastic feature of this bike is automatic 7 speed gearbox. All you need to do is just pedal, when uphill computer will detect loss of speed/pedalling power and reduce gear at the same time increasing motor power maintaining constant speed. There is manual gear change but not needed – autobox works as good as in the car. On high power going steep uphill (10%) it was a piece of cake to maintain 25 km/h. That’s tour de France speed in Alps

If that's the one I'm looking at, it has a front hub motor. If this is the cast then you'd be much better off with a Bosch or Panasonic crank drive, they give far stronger performance on the hills.

Crank drive might have more maintenance than a hub but they're well worth it imo.

I'm also not a fan of rear hub gears, they zap power and you're far better off with normal gears, they're more efficient, that's if you really like to pedal, if not then the auto box would have a lot of advantages.

13-08-2014 8:24pm

This would be far better from Hercules using the Bosch motor.

majic 69 · 13-08-2014 9:37pm

Bosch systems are great but only Hercules fitted with multisensor TranX AGT system are coming with automatic gear transmission which is really helpful for average cyclist.
A lot of pedalling power is lost by incorrect gear selection. With TransX AGT autobox all you need to do watch cadence on the meter and keep pedalling within torque sweet spot (80 -90 RPM) and system will change gear to maintain max torque available. Very much like CVT gearbox in car.
I was bit sceptic to auto gears as well but it works very well.

13-08-2014 9:55pm

Bosch biles are available with the Nuvinci Harmony automatic.

Most gear hubs loose efficiency or create a drag like effect.

I've no doubt the system would work and suit leisurely cyclists and commuters but for people that really like cycling you can't beat derailleurs.

They also add weight and electric bikes already add weight, but I guess most people would turn on some power to compensate.

I would like to try out the cvt's they even come with the option of belt drive. But I prefer cheap and simplistic and much lighter derailleurs and sprockets.

I had the Sram Dual Drive 3 on the Haibike and I took it off, didn't like the draggy feel but for tearing around on motor power it was terrific .

electric bike

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