e-bikes:views and reviews

[Joeblake]

I've often thought that views and reviews of e-bikes and conversion kits are scattered throughout this forum, so perhaps I'll start this particular thread where everybody can go straight away when either looking for or finding an e-bike. A good place to start is in the "gizmag" website, which is pretty quick to bring new technology to the attention of the general public. (Maybe we could include articles on batteries).

To kick off:

http://www.gizmag.com/barak-electric-bi ... kit/33306/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


http://www.gizmag.com/lexus-hb-electric-bicycle/13175/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


http://www.gizmag.com/visiobike-electric-bicycle/32291/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;



http://www.gizmag.com/nts-works-2wd-2x4 ... ike/29026/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Perhaps it could be made a "sticky" at the top.

Joe

[Joeblake]

http://www.gizmag.com/modular-vertus-e- ... ive/33564/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Joeblake]

http://www.gizmag.com/a2b-entz-ebike-conti-drive/33698/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Joeblake]

http://www.gizmag.com/daymak-dds/33809/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[softy]

Grace easy review;

Description: the grace easy is a purpose built bike made in germany fitted with a bionx kit. It comes with lights included. Price 4000+. The grace easy comes in two configurations, 9 speed with derailleur, or 3 speed internal sram hub. I choose the 9 speed sram x1.

Review:
Okay some maybe coughing at the price, but to put it in prospective, the bionx kit alone is 2000. So what do you get for 4 grand. A well balanced and constructed bike.

Well I bought one......
I have to admit I have modified this bike so the review will be as modified. The modifications are;
New major tom tubular rims
New rear tyre, challenge strada bianca cyclocross cotton tubular tyre 32mm
New front tyre, veloflex 25 mm arenberg cotton tyre.
New adamo seat road
New carbon fibre stem
Look keo max clip in pedals

The bike was reasonable good as stock but with the mods it is awesome. The bike rolls like a racer.
It is surprisingly easy to pedal at speed with little or no assist. The bionx system is absolutely quiet, you would have no idea it is electric. The battery is hidden in the front down tube, which also gives the bike good balance. Although not a all out racer it handles extremely well considering it's just over 20 kg. I would fully recommend this bike to anyone considering buying a ebike. The pedelec system gives a no fuss solution to riding, just ride it like a normal bike... no levers or speed controllers to fuss with. The brakes are awesome, hydraulic disk brakes which work extremely well. The bionx display is easy to operate whilst riding and gives very good increments for battery life left. The display can give time, kilometres traved, average, time used, trip and total kilometres. The 9 speed gives good selection for cadence to ensure the 80 to 90 cadence (recommended by bionx) is maintained. I have ridden 35 km on full assist and had a third battery life left. I picked this bike as I wanted a direct drive system and the two models I was looking at were the specialized and grace. On first look the specialized appears to be more highly speced, but when looking at the finer details the bikes are very similar, the total output of the motors is only 50 watts difference and the specialized has slightly better componentry, but it is 3 grand more and heavier.

Lights:
The lights fitted meet the german standards and appear to be a little weird after Chinese lights. The spot is like a square in a square, so gives a small area of light, one square brighter than the other. This is designed to stop blinding oncoming cyclists. Although different, works very well and is reasonable for cycling in darkness. I would compare it to 300 lumens approximately. So very good as oem fittment.
Rear light is very bright with a large reflector built in, but no flashing on front or rear.

Conclusion:
I am thrilled with this bike and it is an excellent commuter. Runs very smooth, quiet, with good balance and handling. What more could you ask for! Yes the price is steep, the only con.

[Joeblake]

http://www.gizmag.com/johanson3-electri ... ike/35331/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Joeblake]

http://www.gizmag.com/velove-armadillo- ... cle/36995/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[human909]

There are quite a few bikes on this page that are extremely structurally inefficient or just plain unsound (for the concept designs). A traditional bicycle frame is extremely structurally efficient. That is how they can be so light yet still very strong. A step through frame is less structurally efficient but it has some big usage advantages. Frames that lack seat tubes or seat stays are just stupid. Its often clear that the product design department has trumped the engineering department.

The johanson3 is clearly a kick starter con. A great way of taking money from the gullible.

[cj7hawk]

I can understand trying to make the bicycle look different, but those last two designs were not bicycles anyway - The Johanson3 was a motorscooter ( No pedals, not designed to be primarily pedalled ) and the second - the armadillo, had four wheels. Neither would be legal in Australia - though I think it's a shame about the second... I think they should allow four wheels and have never really understood why they didn't.

Regards
David

[geebee]

I can understand trying to make the bicycle look different, but those last two designs were not bicycles anyway - The Johanson3 was a motorscooter ( No pedals, not designed to be primarily pedalled ) and the second - the armadillo, had four wheels. Neither would be legal in Australia - though I think it's a shame about the second... I think they should allow four wheels and have never really understood why they didn't.

Regards
David

According to DOT in Tasmania there is no maximum number of wheels to be classified as a bike, at least when I checked with them a few years back, but then we are legally allowed to ride on the footpath as well.

[cj7hawk]

I can understand trying to make the bicycle look different, but those last two designs were not bicycles anyway - The Johanson3 was a motorscooter ( No pedals, not designed to be primarily pedalled ) and the second - the armadillo, had four wheels. Neither would be legal in Australia - though I think it's a shame about the second... I think they should allow four wheels and have never really understood why they didn't.

Regards
David

According to DOT in Tasmania there is no maximum number of wheels to be classified as a bike, at least when I checked with them a few years back, but then we are legally allowed to ride on the footpath as well.

From what I can tell, that still seems to be the case... I guess that makes partybikes OK there -

David

[cj7hawk]

I can understand trying to make the bicycle look different, but those last two designs were not bicycles anyway - The Johanson3 was a motorscooter ( No pedals, not designed to be primarily pedalled ) and the second - the armadillo, had four wheels. Neither would be legal in Australia - though I think it's a shame about the second... I think they should allow four wheels and have never really understood why they didn't.

Regards
David

According to DOT in Tasmania there is no maximum number of wheels to be classified as a bike, at least when I checked with them a few years back, but then we are legally allowed to ride on the footpath as well.

From what I can tell, that still seems to be the case... I guess that makes partybikes OK there -

David

Oh, I just found out - the wheels limitation just got lifted in WA a few days ago - Any number of wheels is now legal here too - !

A big improvement to bicycles...

David.

[Joeblake]

http://www.gizmag.com/wave-ebike-fast-affordable/37307/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Joeblake]

http://www.gizmag.com/mando-footloose-im/37494/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Joeblake]

http://www.gizmag.com/review-flykly-ele ... eel/38820/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[softy]

http://electricbikereview.com/grace/easy/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

My bike;
I selected the normal X9 sram cassette and derailleur.

Lovely bike to ride. Quiet, handles extremely well. Great for commuting relatively long distances.

[Joeblake]

http://www.gizmag.com/go-e-onwheel-bike-motor/39050/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Joeblake]

http://www.gizmag.com/comodule-automate ... ike/39160/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[eldavo]

http://www.gizmag.com/go-e-onwheel-bike-motor/39050/

I backed this one recently because they were set to reach their 2nd stretch goal, a twist throttle (a progress update today confirmed they have blown way past it).
I've used the Commuter Booster (CB) beta friction drive kit that ceased development, so had in mind what I liked and wanted in a friction drive kit. It was light weight, minimal battery voltage meant more capacity for less size. Using it on a fast/efficient pedal bicycle meant keeping the nice feel of good wheels. Kit weight effectively a rider/water weight addition. Because the pedal bicycle was rewarding to ride like normal, I use the assist as an exception, also because it's noisy and not a nice bicycle experience full time.
The Add-E was nicely minimalist (nice machining and carbon fibre use), no wires above the unit/battery proximity, but pedelec friction drive constant on when not wanted is a negative. To turn it off required reaching down to twist the faux bottle battery cap. It was also a lot more expensive, and motor phase wires still exposed out of motor. The battery also can't be swapped/changed for an alternative as easily as the bottle has the electronics.

The OnWheel like the CB has programming and display features, but keeps minimalist with no fixed display with an wireless Android app, and the removable motor/housing keeps the phase wires tucked away.
Having the choice of pedelec or throttle is a deal maker for me, able to set your max power and speed on bike computer display for testing and remove it when set up means just a throttle wire up to the handlebar.
While the standard 8Ah battery is cheap/dated, the kit price is low and allows use of a lighter/compact 8Ah LiPo or higher capacity 6S 16Ah LiPo within a 750mL bidon footprint in the bottle cage mount, that I've already got and can use in series for a 48V kit, so economy of generic versatility.
With all the boxes ticked, fingers crossed that the huge crowd funding success leads to a nice product delivery. They are heading towards the $300k Euro mark like the Add-E, which to our dollar is approaching half a million? Pretty powerful lean development! Timing it at EuroBike must be worth a significant bonus too.

[Joeblake]

http://www.gizmag.com/review-electron-wheel/39362/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[softy]

http://www.gizmag.com/review-electron-wheel/39362/

This wheel could be problematic, Why;
1. Forks breaking is a known problem with front wheel hubs, this may limit the bikes fitted with this device and I would say no carbon forks.
2. Wind effect on the front wheel could be a real problem in cross winds.

[eldavo]

I thought it would be better if nobody spoke of "it" again =D

[Joeblake]

Dead, buried and cremated!

[Joeblake]

http://www.gizmag.com/mando-footloose-2 ... els/39460/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Joeblake]

http://www.gizmag.com/rungu-juggernaut- ... ike/39451/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;