Bosch Electric Bike System Tested.

Before I give my review, I would like to ask that people do not turn this into a 20 page useless argument against electric bikes for the sake of arguing.

I was in Germany in the south for a few days in a small place called Michelbach and I got the chance to test out the older Bosch 250 watt pedelec, it was a realigh road bike weight around 23 kg.

The German bike trails are any cyclists or mountain biker heaven, They are just unbelievable and being off road through forest trails that are much better and smooth than most of our country back roads and no traffic it's just a really fun experience, you can go from several towns and villages while rarely seeing a car. It's a shame all we got broken tar and chipping roads shared with tractors and cars up to 100kph.

This is the Bike I was on







This system is rated as 250 watts but I can tell you now that it is at least twice that power, it was tested as having 750 peak watts as shown in a youtube video using a speedict kit, There is a 250 and a 350 watt version and I'm not sure which the video showed, but either way it's still perfectly legal.

The E.U is in talks to try and lift the 250 watt limit, but I think they are far more relaxed now. The 15 mph limit for assistance on an unlicensed un insured bike will always apply. The limit removal in power is so that heavy riders or people who pull heavy loads can get up hills etc.

There are various assistance modes, I used eco 1, the lowest setting for most of the smaller hills which provided plenty of power for all but the really steep trails which I had to use max power. I'm talking 10-15% grades which is very steep. Most of the time I cycled with 0 motor power and has a huge benefit on range and of course exercise.

I have a loan of my brothers Trek racing bike and it makes a big difference to cycling especially climbing hills, cheap mountain bikes with cheap suspensions really slow you down as they are mostly cheap useless junk that adds several kg to the bikes weight.

My Halfords Carrera Kraken 3 year old bike weighs a tonne more then the trek and significant weight is the cheap heavy suntour suspension forks, when I lift the bike it really is front heavy, there is no rear suspension. Suspension bikes unless you can lock it out really wastes energy as you will spend most of your time compressing the spring when you pedal, the rear especially needs to be locked out when peddling.

Ok so enough about that, the Bosch drive has a pedelec sensor and responds to how heavy and fast you pedal, it is so smooth that it feels perfectly natural.

I build a few electric bikes mostly much much more power up to 5 kw 10kw peak and 41 (limited) mph and throttle only but the power delivery was not nearly as smooth. Of course using much more power doesn't help as you've heard by now how good electric motors are on take off ? well taking off on a high power electric bike the wrong way and you do wheelies and it will throw you off without any warning, think stepping on a rake, that's how fast the front wheel can lift. Ok if you are used to it you expect it and adapt but I couldn't allow people to ride it.

Anyway I was seriously impressed with the Bosch drive and anyone that has an interest in cycling but is turned off by hills, wind etc or who would like to go a specific route but won't because of the hills then this system is ideal.

For anyone who want's to do it will the least effort then it is also ideal, commuting or for fun it really will make you smile, the fun alone makes it all the more worth while.

This is another bike I didn't get to try buy weighs less than the raleigh, around 20 kg max. It's made by Haibike, a quality German manufacturer.

http://www.haibike.de/





I was really impressed by the quality of the Haibike.

A few other manufacturers are making them now with the Bosch drive such as

http://www.conway-bikes.de/en/modelle/

And

http://www.kalkhoff-bikes.com/int/en/models/2013/category/e-bike-8.html

This company in Ireland sells the kalkhoff who also have the Bosch system which is the best of all chain drive systems.

http://www.greenaer.ie/product/kalkhoff-endeavour-bs10-electric-bike/

Here is an internal picture of the Bosch motor.



The Bosch is taking the electric bike word by storm and for good reason, it is the best on the market. There are other electric bikes and much cheaper that use tiny useless hub motors, hub motors are good when they are big enough and fed at least 1000 watts, but they have disadvantages which can be talked about if anyone has the interest ?

The reason the Bosch is so good is because for one it it is more powerful than other chain drives such as the Panasonic. And the smoothness of operation.

Chain drive is a lot more efficient as the motor is allowed to spin very fast by using gearing and also the gearing in the bike, it means that where hub motors can't get up the hill they can burn out as they stall as the power will turn to heat, the Bosch drive can get up hills hub motors of twice the power will struggle.

Before I converted my bike to electric I was 20 kg heavier because I could go out in any terrain windy or not and as I saw the weight drop it encouraged me to keep it up.

Ireland needs to do a lot more to encourage cycling, such as bike lanes and bike only streets. screw the weather proper clothing will mean you are dry and warm without sweating much. If you are to use weather as an excuse you will not ever exercise and cycling is a lot more fun than the boaring car and traffic, 20 miles a day can easily be done especially with electric assistance.

I know the cost of the bikes are high but it's a lot cheaper than running a car.

Proper off road cycle lanes linking towns and villages will take a lot of time planning and corporation with farmers as they own all the land on this Island which there is little for the public to enjoy.

The cost of doing this would be high but the cost of health care for those who develop obesity related illness will cost us multiple billions in years to come as we are getting heavier.

Keep_Her_Lit

Deleted User wrote: »

I build a few electric bikes mostly much much more power up to 5 kw 10kw peak and 41 (limited) mph and throttle only but the power delivery was not nearly as smooth. Of course using much more power doesn't help as you've heard by now how good electric motors are on take off ? well taking off on a high power electric bike the wrong way and you do wheelies and it will throw you off without any warning, think stepping on a rake, that's how fast the front wheel can lift. Ok if you are used to it you expect it and adapt but I couldn't allow people to ride it.

Recently on my morning commute, I was clipping along at what I thought was a reasonable pace, when I glanced in my mirror and saw another cyclist maybe 50 metres or so behind. I was a little surprised, as there had been no sign of him the last time I'd checked, not long before.

I could see he was sitting bolt upright and was wearing a bright, somewhat bulky jacket. My auto-categorisation routine instantly kicked in and returned the result: "not particularly fast - no immediate threat". So I concluded that he must have swung in behind me from the left turn that I had just passed. But some unease remained - surely I would have been aware of that big orange jacket, trying to nudge out of the junction as I passed through.

So I glanced again and, to my horror, the gap had closed significantly. WTF?! Right - not sure what the hell is going on here - but it's time to get the skates on. Spun the cranks up, clicked up a cog, lashed on a few healthy dollops of torque and wound the cadence up again. That should contain the situation, I thought - checked once more and he's STILL gaining - and bloody quickly too. This is one angry fecker!

OK, I reasoned, in that riding position, at that speed, he must be giving it absolutely everything. If I can hold him off for another 10-15 seconds, he'll surely blow before he can close the gap. So I went up one more cog, put the head down and gave it full beans. But to no avail. Several seconds later he comes gliding past, effortlessly.

Hang on a second - what's that Whirrrrrrrr? And how come he's not even pedalling, FFS?! Yes, he's one of the new breed of cheater-commuter. 15mph and 250W? Eh, no. Rather more.

Tried to stay with him away from the next set of lights. No chance. This yoke pulled really strongly from a standstill. At the following set of lights, I had time for a quick chat - 80V battery and a 2kW motor retro-fitted to a Dahon folder. He hasn't used it at full power yet, since he's not sure how well the poor little Dahon frame will cope.

5kW+ would be nutty!

Unregistered.

Keep_Her_Lit wrote: »

15mph and 250W? Eh, no. Rather more.

Hahaha, sure.... we believe you

When I said above I build I meant Built!

Anyway, sure 5kw is a lot of fun but there were peaks of close to 10kw.

Sure you could ask why you would want that kind of power ? I needed it for fun in the woods with really steep hills. Then the power need is evident. And for trips out the main road on the shoulder, regular stints of 40 mph were common and on a few back roads conditions permitting. But steep hills above 25 mph need power if you don't want to pedal.

But if the lad on the bike had a 80V battery that would mean speeds over 40 mph are possible, as you really only need 36v with a hub motor to do 15-25 mph depending on the motor winding and if it's a geared hub or direct drive. Either way his frame should handle it but you need to re-enforce your rear drop outs or the axle will spin in the aluminium drop out, you need what are called torque arms or plates.

I certainly never rode above normal bicycle speeds in towns as you would attract too much unwanted attention, so high power bikes are rather useless in the likes of Dublin city where you would most likely get killed, however proper sensible use of the power is no problem the problem is you will get people that will act the edjit as always ruining it for those who can use the power responsibly.

Electric bikes have so much potential, and could seriously get a lot of traffic off the roads.

I have the motor off the bike as I sold the kit for funds for my next bike, it will probably be a bosch drive as that has more than enough power and all the electric bits are secure, battery lockable etc which is hard to do with a diy set up.

I cycled 20 miles yesterday in 1 hr 30 mins, there were some steep hills and a 12-15 mph wind, not exactly record breaking but not bad for a heavy mountain bike either and I weigh 96 kg. So no point carrying extra weight of a motor and batteries as you really notice the weight on the hills. But the Bosch weighs around 20kg in some frames and isn't much heavier than my bike with no electrics.

I don't take the Trek sometimes because the road bike kills my hands, neck and feet being locked into the pedals and my arse is mince meat after 20 miles, it is a lot faster than the mountain bike though and easier to climb.

Some of the Bikes I saw in Germany were just jaw dropping, a mountain bike full suspension with all the bells and whistles and it weighed less than my brothers trek racing bike. I was astonished !!! But it was around 7 grand !

Lumen

Deleted User wrote: »

Electric bikes have so much potential, and could seriously get a lot of traffic motorised vehicles cars off the roads.

Fixed.