Thule Towball cycle racks explained: We get asked many questions about which Thule towball (tow bar) mounted car bike rack is best. We decided to do a brief review of the Thule range and explain what sets each car rack apart. Although this article is more focused on electric bikes it can be used to explain some of the key features of each Thule bike carrier. To set the record straight, who are Thule? Thule was founded in 1942 in Malmo, Sweden. It set out with a passion to 'make life easier' for outdoor enthusiasts to transport equipment in style, safely and easily. Thule don't just make bike racks, they actually produce for many different sports and applications, for skiers, fishermen, family luggage (roof boxes), surf boards and bikes alike. Plus much much more with an ever expanding product portfolio.Thule quickly established itself as the leading brand in the cycle industry for their car cycle transport options. They offer lots of applications from rear mounted racks to roof racks. Today we will be focussing on their range of tow bar (eBike) cycle carriers. Why choose a Thule eBike carrier? Thule are the market leaders in cycle transport, due to the 'ease ability' of their racks. They are well made, very well thought out & easy to use, with every aspect of the rack thoroughly thought out to make it a simple as possible. Often car racks have been fiddly to fit and can be a pain to use. This will only put you off using the rack and taking your eBikes further afield, so its worth spending a little on a decent rack you will actually not resent using. What's the difference between the racks? Thule offers 8 towbar mounted bike carriers in the range. We are going to focus on the top 4 latest racks, which also happen to be the best sellers. We will eliminate the Thule 'Hang On' & 'Xpress' as these look like traditional clip on racks that hang the bike from the frame (nothing for the wheels to rest on), but are towbar mounted to the car. We feel that if you have a towball fitted you might as well make use of a 'base rack' where the wheels are supported securely on a base and the weight is spread. This also means that minimal lifting is required as the bottom of the rack sits close to the ground so you don't have to lift eBikes (often heavier) too high off the ground. We will also eliminate the Thule 'RideOn' & EuroRide' as both these racks are very basic and have been improved on, although still available these racks have been developed and now have newer models taking their place. So that brings us down to the top 4 racks available today, the Thule 'EasyFold 931', the 'EuroClassic G6', the 'EuroWay G2' & last but not least the 'EuroPower 916'. What are the new features? All of the above racks have the latest features including new improved detachable frame grippers that offer limiter knobs so that not too much torque is applied when tightening to your precious new electric bike. These rack offers a large base so even slightly longer bikes wheels do not overhang the base too much. All of the featured racks also have a smart foot pedal release so that the rack can be tilted forward (with the bikes attached) for easy access to the boot, even with very wide doors the boot can be accessed without having to take the bikes and the rack off. The Thule car racks also feature a lockable tow bar mechanism so the rack itself requires a key to remove from the car and also the frame holders have a key lock for added security to the electric bikes themselves. All Thule racks come complete with easy click number plate mount, so you don't need to use tape or tap holes and screw the number plate on. They all feature built in lights with steady light, brake, reverse and fog light. Lets have a brief overview on each of these models.. Thule EasyFold 931 Towbar Rack This carrier is by far our most favourite rack of all. The Thule 'EasyFold' pretty much does what it says on the tin! Its unique design folds away easily to allow the rack to be transported with ease. In fact it fold so small that you can position it behind the drivers seat if the boot is full. We also offer a carry storage bag for this rack. Its the latest rack in the Thule range and set to be the most popular in the range due to its versatility. The 'EasyFold 931' weighs in at only 17.1 Kg's and is capable of carrying 60 Kg's. This means that it is perfect to carry 2 of our eBikes. The low weight of this rack coupled with small folded design means that it is easy to manoeuvre around gents and ladies alike. Here's a video of the EasyFold 931 rack in action to demonstrate its capabilities - The Thule EasyFold 931 is only available as a 2 bike rack. It offers a 13 pin power plug. It does not fit cars with spare tyres. You can view the full specification of this rack here - Thule EasyFold 931 Specification Thule EuroClassic G6 Towbar Rack The Thule EuroClassic G6 is the follow on from the G2 featured below. It has an improved sleeker design and ease of use and folds flat for easy storage. This rack is available in both 2 or 3 bike options as standard. We tend to stock it is the 2 bike version as the load capacity of this rack is 51 Kg's so will take two of our eBikes comfortably. This rack weighs in at 17 kg's. This rack is popular with both car and motor home users alike. It is the latest top of the range full size towball carrier rack on the market with great flexibility and loading capabilities. The Thule EuroClassic G6 is available as 2 or 3 bike options. Interestingly if you buy a 2 bike rack and wish to fit a 3rd at a later date, we can offer an extra bike adaptor that will fit. Here's a video of the EuroClassic G6 rack in action to demonstrate its capabilities - This rack features a 13 pin power plug and is compatible cars with a spare wheel with the purchase of a special adaptor. Thule EuroWay G2 Towbar Rack The Thule 'EuroWay G2' is the mid range towball bike carrier for everyday use. It is compact and lightweight. It folds flat for easy storage and is available in 2 or 3 bike options. It weights just 13.3 Kg's which makes it one of the lightest racks we offer. The G2 is the model beneath the G6, it is capable of holding 46 Kg's, so just about enough for 2 eBikes or 3 normal bikes. Unlike the G6, you can't add on another bike extender mount onto the 2 bike rack. So its best to weigh up how many cycles you may wish to transport ahead of buying one. We stock it as standard in the 3 bike version. But it is available to order in a 2 bike version as well. Here's a video of the EuroWay G2 rack in action to demonstrate its capabilities - This rack features a 7 pin power plug and can fit onto cars with a spare wheel with the purchase of an adaptor. Thule EuroPower 916 Towbar Rack The 'EuroPower' Thule bike rack is designed specifically for eBikes or heavier bikes with a long wheel base. The rack features a sturdy profile to cater for the extra weight and has been extended width wise by 25cm catering for longer bikes. The EuroPower is only available as a 2 bike rack and cannot be extended at a later date. It has a load capacity of 30 Kg's per bike or obviously 60 Kg's overall. Surprisingly as an electric bike specialist, we don't actually stock this model. We can of course order it on a next day basis for you. Why you may ask?.. We feel that the newer racks already have a long enough base to accommodate longer eBikes, a lot of bikes nowadays are 29" wheels so the new Thule racks absorb this into their design anyway. Also this rack has the same load capacity as say the 'EasyFold' and its only 9 Kg's off the 'EuroWay G6' load capacity of 51 Kg's. Its ideal for some heavier eBikes on the market, but most of our (own) eBikes are around 22 Kg's so in fact most of the racks we offer are capable of carrying 2 with no problem. The overall weight of this heavy duty rack is almost 19 Kg's so it does come up a bit heavier than the other racks available. Here's a video of the EuroPower 916 rack in action to demonstrate its capabilities - This rack features a 7-pin plug and can operate on cars with a spare wheel with the purchase of a special adaptor. To sum up the range The 'EuroClassic G6' is one of our most popular racks due to its sleek design and the capability of adding a 3rd bike on at a later date. However those looking for the ultimate rack with good load capacity and handy fold down mechanism for storage should look no further than the 'EasyFold'. Weigh up if you want to carry 2 or 3 bikes. If its just 2 then any of the range will cater. If 3 bikes then the 'EasyFold' and 'EuroPower' are out of the question. Remember 'EuroClassic G6' can be purchased in 2 or 3 bike racks or be adopted at a later date with the use of the '3rd Bike Extender Mount'. If you have a particularly heavy eBike (more than say 25 Kg's) we would suggest that the 'EuroPower' is the one. It also works well for Impulse and Panasonic equipped eBikes that have the battery between the seat tube and frame, causing a slightly longer bike. Most Bosch powered eBikes do not need the extra length as they don't come up any longer than a regular bike. For those not worried about fold-ability and sleekness, but want an everyday sturdy rack available in 2 or 3 bike options then choose the 'EuroWay G2', Simple. What else do you need to know? After reading this article you should have a fairly good idea of which rack to choose. You can view the full range on our website, which most are in stock ready to go out the door. Remember Thule products come with a fantastic 5year warranty and are built to last. They are certainly our favourite car rack brand, that's why we sell them! As an official Thule stockist we will deal with any warranty query in store, making sure you have a trouble free car rack for all those purchased from us. We like Thule because they also offer a large range of accessories and fittings for their racks. Be it from wheel adaptors to load ramps, they have thought out every possibility to make sure you are covered for your needs. We try to hold as much stock as possible, however if there is something you cannot see on our website, then please get in touch as we can have it here ready very quickly. The same goes for any spares as Thule give us access to a wide range of spares from keys to clamps to ensure it lasts a lifetime. For any other queries please get in touch, we can offer advice on vehicle specific fitment. You can view our Thule products here - Official Thule Partner Stockist in Surrey UK Other Thule products include Thule 13-7 pin rear light harness adapter Thule 7 - 13 Pin Rear Light Harness Adapter Thule XXL Fatbike Wheel Straps Thule Pack'n Pedal Tour Pannier Rack Thule 9152 VeloCompact Tow Ball Carrier Loading Ramp Thule Velo Compact 924021 Towball Mount 2 Bike Rack Thule VeloSpace 938 Towball Mount 2 Bike Rack Thule 9172 VeloSpace Tow Ball Carrier Loading Ramp
E-bikeshop have been very excited to get our hands on the brand new Lapierre Overvolt 2014 electric bike! We had the first batch arrive yesterday and have been eager to get these eBikes built up for a closer review. So on first impression when un-packing the Lapierre Overvolt is you can tell Nico Voulliez has added his special touch to the eBikes. From the balanced geometry to the smooth cut lines, the hydro formed frame and the suspension pivots. The eBike immediately comes across as well built and is fitted with components that are competitive considering the sub £4k price point! Lapierre Overvolt 2014 Frame Design & Smooth Lines The Overvolt frame features a FSA Internal tapered headset for a super stiff and responsive front end. The alloy hydro formed frame is both light weight yet durable and the unique 'Gull' style rear swing arm has some great design features. It is shaped in a way that all energy pushed up through the back wheel can be sucked up perfectly by the rear shock. This swing arm design also means that their is no chance that the chain can hit the chain stay at all, no matter what gear you are in. The design eliminates chain suck / chain slap ensuring a smooth and quiet ride. Unique swing arm design & smooth lines The gearing on this model is provided by Shimanos 10 speed drive train, the 1 x 10 system ensure you have a wide range of gears available for both climbing and descents. Lapierre have opted for a Shimano XT shadow rear mech that also has the new built in clutch to ensure the chain is always under tension, it is quiet in operation and the gears are precise. These are controlled by the Shimano SLX rapid fire shifters so changing gear is a breeze on the Overvolt electric bike. To slow this incredible machine down are the Formula hydraulic disc brakes. Formula The One Brake Levers & Handlebar Controls Formula have been creating excellent stoppers for many years now and Lapierre has not held back on ensuring this eBike can come to a stop as fast as it accelerates! The Formula brakes are minimal fuss and highly rated across the MTB community. Lapierre has mounted these on larger rotors and routed all the cables internally within the frame to keep those super sleek looks and minimize the risk of any snags. The Overvolt fitted with Formula The One Brakes Lapierre have used the new Bosch Performance eBike drive system on the 2014 Overvolt. This system has been beautifully integrated into the frame on this eBike design. Its well protected and sits as snug as a feather in keeping with the look. You can read more in depth about the Bosch eBike Performance system on our other blog posts. Bosch eBike Motor mounted in the Overvolt The Overvolt uses the Bosch Intuvia display to show the rider, with ease, all those essential pieces of data. Acting not only as the eBike drive system controls but also as a cycle computer to measure all the important values, it includes trip time, average speed, trip distance, range, maximum speed etc. This is all integrated neatly on the handlebars to ensure a clean clutter free cockpit. It can also be controlled by the user buttons on the left so no need to remove your hand away from the brakes to scroll through the functions. Bosch Performance Intuvia Display Lapierre has finished the Overvolt with RockShox Revelation 140mm travel forks with air adjust-ability and lockout mechanism so no energy is lost during those climbs. The Overvolt Electric Bike is well kitted out with Easton stem and seat post. A Selle Italia MTB saddle and FUNN Riser Trail Bars. In fact there's little you would need to change.. Just get on and ride! The wheel set is built on through axles front and rear for super stiffness and reliability. The rims are Mavic 321 alloy double wall rims so you can be sure to put the wheels through their paces without them buckling at the first hurdle. The Overvolt utilizes the new 27.5" (650B) wheel set to optimize all the benefits of a 26" rims and a 29" rim to combine them together to make the true performing wheel size. Michelin 27.5" Wild Grip R Dual Compound Tyres To keep these wheels firmly planted to the ground, Lapierre have wrapped them in Michelins rubber in the form of the super grippy Wild Grip R's. These tyres are very good at handling even the stickiest of situations and seem to last ages due to their durable compound. Whats the Verdict? The Overvolt utilizes all the previous technology advanced by Lapierre in their normal bikes and combined this with the latest Bosch eBike Performance drive system. This in turn brings a whole new contender to the electric bike market. The Lapierre Overvolt is well specc'd for a sub £4K eBike and no expense has been spared in getting it right! This new generation of cycling could be the kick up the ar*e that the mountain bike world needs. The only draw back of this Bosch eBike is the 15mph speed cut off, but of course when its fitted with one of our exclusive speed tuning kits, this is overcome, totally unleashing the full potential in the bike. Now riders can ride longer, faster & harder across even the toughest of terrain / hills. Click here to view the full specification - Lapierre Overvolt 2014
So many people have been asking about the 2015 line up of Haibike electric bikes, so I have pride in giving you a glimmer of whats to come to the UK shores soon. Here are 4 of the new models set to arrive shortly.In the 2015 line up follows a brand new new full suspension Haibike Fullseven RC 27.5" eMTB, a Haibike Hardnine 29" wheel hardtail which is also offered in a (hardseven) 27.5" wheel version. We will also be offering the new Haibike Trekking RX 700c electric bike. A brief overview of the bikes are as follows - Haibike Hardseven RC 27.5" 2015 Brief Overview: The Haibike Hardseven RC 2015 eBike is a 100m travel XC hard tail electric mountain bike. It is offered with a RockShox XC32 fork, Tektro hydraulic disc brakes, Shimano 10 speed drive train and the latest Bosch Performance eBike motor. This is a 27.2" wheel for all round trail riding. Price: £2700Wheel Size: 27.5" (650B)Sizes: 40, 45, 50 & 55cm Frames Haibike Hardseven RC 2015 Full Specification Haibike Hardnine RC 29" 2015 Brief Overview: The Haibike Hardnine RC 2015 model is built onto the same chassis / components as the Hardseven above. This model features a 29" wheel for faster rolling and easier ride on the road also. Again with the new Bosch Performance drive motor system. Price: £2700Wheel Size: 29" (29'er)Sizes: 40, 45, 50 & 55cm Frames Haibike Hardnine RC 2015 Full Specification Haibike Fullseven RC 27.5" 2015 Brief Overview: The Haibike Fullseven 2015 electric bike is equipped with a 120mm travel RockShox Recon gold front fork coupled with a Fox CTD rear shock. Its built for the everyday trail rider with 10 Speed SLX gearing and Shimano brakes. This full suspension model features 650B wheel and the latest Bosch motor. This bike is available in 2 colour variants - Black/White/Cyan & Turquoise/Yellow/Black Price: £3400Wheel Size: 27.5" (650B)Sizes: 40, 45, 50 & 55cm Frames Haibike Fullseven RC 2015 Full Specification Haibike Trekking RX 700c 2015 Brief Overview: The Haibike Trekking RX 2015 model is fully equipped for Road / Trekking / Hybrid styles of riding. It is fully equipped with all the essentials which come in handy. This model features the Sram Dual Drive for plenty of gearing, hydraulic Disc Brakes, super adjustable front forks and the latest Bosch Performance drive unit. This model is available in 2 variants - Gents and Ladies. Price: £2800Wheel Size: 700c (28")Sizes: 48, 52, 56cm (Gents) & 44, 48, 52cm (Ladies) Haibike Trekking RX 2015 Full Specification What we think?... Although all of the images above are artists impressions, they are super sleek looking with all new graphic designs. The geometry has been tweaked on each of the models for optimum riding and they now all feature the latest Bosch Performance system and the very latest up-to-date components. We have to say that we are very excited about the new models. They are very competitively priced and feature good quality components. All with that premium German build quality as expected! You can expect to see the full specification and features live on our website shortly. Along with reviews, guides and videos. These bikes will be available exclusively for pre order and we will be the first to receive these 2015 models into stock. All Haibike Electric Bikes can be viewed by clicking here.
We just received this review in from one of our eBike customers. This chap explains his journey into the electric bike world and how he concluded on the Moustache Samedi Gold Full Suspension Electric Bike. Full range of eMTB Moustache, Haibike & Lapierre eBikes It started, as these things so often do, without a plan. And that was my first mistake. If I had thought about it long enough I might not have been so eager to call in to see Martin at E-Bikeshop last Wednesday afternoon, or accept the offer of a coffee from his master mechanic, Jeremy. It was Jeremy who first suggested I take a close look at the new Moustache range. He proceeded with - Check out the Samedi 29/7, it’s the best-looking bike in the shop – but pictures don’t do it justice. Now, I do know my Haibikes from my Hai Karate but still, the Moustache range had passed me by up until this point. And if following the crowd is the way you roll too, they may not have pinged up on your radar either. I asked Martin why the biggest supplier of Haibikes in the UK had chosen to offer the Moustache range as an alternative. “The Haibikes are well-engineered machines,” he offered, “but cycling is not just about specs and dimensions and the Moustache bikes have a fascinating aesthetic which some people, me included, just ‘get’.” So, side-by-side, I pored over the Haibikes and the Moustache range and, to my surprise, the French brand looked fresher, cleaner, more cohesive, cooler. If you’re more MAC than PC, old Rolls than gold Rolls, or Jack Wills than Fat-Face you might feel the same. Although it is hard to explain why. What I can say is this: You have to see the bike in the flesh to appreciate it – even now when I look at pictures on the website they don’t appeal in the same way as some of the Haibikes. Moving on to the nitty-gritty, Martin asks questions. And more questions. He said - It’s my job to make sure you get the right bike,” he explained, I’ll tell you what type of bike will suit you best – it’s then up to you to decide on what look you like the most. I’ve a feeling he’s done this a few times before. Anyway, it turned out a hard-tail Samedi 29/7 Silver would be just the ticket. Or a RC29 Haibike. Both, reassuringly, at the lower end of the price range. “Yes, that’s all I need, it would be mad to go to a full-suspension model, its capabilities would be far beyond mine,” I agreed. Oh how we laughed at the spec-bling fan-boys who over-spend on unnecessary kit, dazzled by the latest, fastest, lightest components. Which does make it rather difficult for me to explain how I ended up with the top-spec, full-bling, Samedi 29/7 Full-Suspension Gold. I blame Jeremy and that bloody coffee. Oh, and my lack of a plan. Now, if you’re buy-curious like me, then you’d do well to leave your wallet behind when you visit Martin – one quick demo ride and you may be punching your pin into the little machine he keeps right beside him on his desk. Just like I did. Doh! So, how to describe the sensation of riding an electrically-assisted cycle? Well, imagine you were driving a gingerbread train on biscuit wheels. Actually, that’s not much help, is it? But in a way I’m right. You see there is a definite feeling of euphoria as your forward motion exceeds your inputs – there is a visceral disconnect between what you do achieve and what you expect to achieve. This can be quite heady. It’s a little addictive. And great fun. The Bosch power gives you four levels of assistance – with the top-rated ‘Turbo’ delivering a 275% boost – almost enough to give you a Jeremy Clarkson face-wobble. I asked my wife what she thought as she powered by me up our drive. “A-maz-ing!” was all I heard, as I watched her head towards the gravel. “Might have been a good time to mention the hydraulic disc brakes,” mentions my son to me, eyebrows raised, arms spread wide, palms up. Nodding, I winced at the thought of his mum pulling on the front like an old block-and-cable. No drama though. All safe and sound. All under control. And she was riding a large frame bike, when she’d be better suited to a small - That was one I dodged, then. Seriously though, I can see an unexpected benefit of these bikes is their ability to level-the-field in terms of enabling a group of disparate abilities (and fitness) to all have fun together. For us, that’s a big deal because in the past mum has always been a bit of a laggard – not through lack of trying - and to now have our wheels turning closer together for more of the time adds chocolate sauce to the ice-cream experience. “Keeping up with you two is soo easy now,” she said while idly cycling past us up ‘two-top’ hill. While polishing her nails. (I made the ‘polishing her nails’ bit up, to be honest). You get the idea though. One last thing. You might be wondering how this high-spec full suspension mountain bike performs on gnarly trails, or technical descents - Who knows? Certainly not me. I’ve hardly had a turn riding it since I got it home – I’ll prise it from the fingers of the family soon though, and I’ll let you know. Thanks to David Jenkins for this letter. To view the full specification of the bike in review click here - Moustache Samedi Gold Full Suspension Electric Bike
I’ve been riding mountain bikes for many years and had never considered adding an electric bike to my stable of rides. I thought I had no need for 1 as the old body was still working okay. So when Martin at e-bikeshop offered me a test ride on the Haibike NDURO PRO “e-MTB” I was very curious and welcomed the chance to try one out on the local trails near to e-bikeshops new premises in Farnham, surrey. Thankfully I picked a sunny and dry day. However the trials were very wet and muddy after week’s of rain so this was going to be an interesting first ride for me on the electric bike. The Haibike NDURO PRO was so easy to ride and the power assistance from the Bosch motor comes in quickly and smoothly to assist you as soon as you flick the power button on to Eco mode. I was soon easily cruising along at 15mph in eco mode. It was easy to change assistance levels whilst riding using your left hand on the control buttons. Come to a steep climb on or off-road and up the assistance mode all the way to Turbo and off you go. I had to remember to keep pedalling to keep the assistance going so no pausing for a quick breather. You can pedal as hard as you like on the eBike, just the same as on a normal bike, so you are still getting as much of a workout as you want. Climb in a lower assistance mode and the heart rate will still rise up nicely. The electric bike is really exciting and so much fun. Point it downhill and it’s off like a shot, but no need to panic about walkers or horses because as soon as you stop pedalling and brake then you can stop on a sixpence with the very powerful SRAM XO brakes. The best thing for me about the eBike is the ability to cut through even the deepest muddiest trail without stopping or really slowing to the usual pace of grinding through the mud. It’s a lot easier on the knee’s as you up the assistance mode and cut straight through the mud. I was having so much fun on this ride that I just aimed for the middle of each mud section rather than the normal route of trying to skirt round one side or another in a vain attempt to avoid the mud and keep going. The gears on this eMTB are excellent with positive shift’s coming from the SRAM X1 lever. With 11 gears on the rear you never run out of gears either at the top or bottom of the range. You have enough gears to climb the steepest gradient and then gears high enough to help you fly along at speed. Climbing on the eMTB is so much fun! Even when full of mud and splattered by endless puddles the gears were really positive and precise through the whole range. The suspension is amazing and soaks up all the bumps for a smooth, controlled and positive riding experience. The short stem and wide bars add up to spot on assured handling. Add in the dropper seat post for those tricky drop-off’s and descents and this electric bike is the whole complete package. Don’t forget the whole time I was having so much fun I was still getting a good workout. Ride everywhere in ECO mode and you can feel you are working. Another great thing about the bike is it’s off-road climbing ability. Just aim it uphill and flick the assistance into Turbo mode and off you go. Your own skill level will dictate what you can climb but you will be able to climb gradient’s you never thought possible before on a normal bike. You still need to balance and keep your weight over the front as you climb but it’s amazing. The Haibike handles really well in all modes of assistance and it is also a good ride with no assistance helping you, which is often the case when you are flying along the flat or going downhill. These times of no assistance will also increase the length and time of your ride that you will then have available in power assistance modes. The local bull calves also thought the new Mavic tyres were very tasty!! I was out for 3 hours and still had some battery power left at the end. I was covered in mud and so was the bike but I’d had the most fun on a muddy bike ride ever. If you’ve never considered an electric bike then think again. If you’re in to riding for fitness and fun and want to ride all year round, then this would make a great winter bike. I guarantee you will go out and ride a lot more as it’s so much fun. If you’re not sure then buy one for your partner or best buddy and go out riding with them. You’ll work so hard trying to keep up with them that you’ll be so fit, you will be in the Tour de France next year! Electric mountain biking equals fun, fun, fun. It will put a massive smile on you’re face. I think that’s reason enough to join the club and buy one. Don’t you? To view the full specification of the bike being ridden, please click here - Haibike NDURO PRO 2014 eBike
Following my great trip to Ludlow, yet another lovely sunny eBiking Wednesday came around and so once again the kitchen project could go hang. I set off from Church Stretton for Shrewsbury on the Moustache Samedi bike, again at 9:30. Instead of using the electric assist to shorten the time to one hour with an average speed of 16 mph, I went for best battery economy. I pedalled at about 60 rpm all the time. I used the gears to keep my pedal speed at about one double stroke per second. The pedal force I used was about the same as the force needed to raise my legs. So the pedal force was about a constant 6 Kg. This is an extremely low work rate. I think it represents about 250 calories per hour, it is about the same as a gentle level walking stroll at 2.5 mph. In this mode the electric assist is off nearly all the time. When rising ground strikes, I bang down the gears to keep the pedal rpm up to 60. As the speed drops to 7 mph in bottom gear, in goes the electric assist to maintain speed at 7 mph. The steeper the slope the more pedal assist gets fed in. As soon as the speed rises above 8 mph I back off the pedal assist level. The trick is to keep up the low constant personal work rate. I can keep that work rate up for 12 hours, just add Mars bars and the odd bacon roll. Going like this the trip took 1 hour 30 at an average speed of just under 11 mph. In Shrewsbury I loaded up with a Full English at my favourite pavement café in Butcher Row. I specially noted the freshly squeezed orange juice, the black puddings and the charming waitress. She was very interested in my Moustache. Guys, you do not need an R8 Spyder to get a favourable review! A good place to visit by cycle – Shrewsbury. I though ‘bugger it, it is such a nice day, why not visit the wife in Whitchurch for lunch?’ Well there was no reason. We get on very well, that is because we stopped trying to live in each others spaces. She is 40 miles away, perfect. So I carried on but was a little less economical than over the first 16.5 miles because I managed Shrewsbury with 90% of battery energy still in the battery. In other words I followed my own advice and got my battery economy measures in early. After 30 minutes for the Full English, I left for Whitchurch, 23.5 miles further on. I got there in a further 2 hours at an average speed of about 12 mph. I was in fine fettle apart from a trifle of sunburn. Lunch was excellent except that I could only manage bird sized portions on account of the Full English earlier. The Chablis was great, as it always is there and the 13 amp socket was just the trick. It took ninety minutes to fill the battery, so I guess that was about 45% used with 55% reserve after the 40 miles. The reason for the better range performance is all to do with the hills. This route involves only about a constant 40 feet of ascent per mile because North Shropshire is not hill country. It is not flat either, the hills are there but lower and more gentle. I am not so good at talking my own picture while riding the Samedi – yet. After lunch we took my third son’s dog for a 4-mile walk (a change is as good as a rest), then got an hours kip in. I woke up thinking ‘bugger it, why not go on to visit my oldest son and family in Chester another 24 miles on?’ My senior daughter in law texted that they would not be home until 18:10; there was risotto for dinner, did I want white or red? My eighteen-month-old grandson was reported hopping with excitement. With problems like this, who needs good luck? So I took my leave of the wife at 16:30. My wife and I will never get divorced, divorce is so common, everybody does it. This annoys our lovers no end! This time I was only going 24 miles on a full battery, so I used the high assist settings a lot and got there at 18:10. The sun shone all the way but a cool Northerly breeze got up and I would have been cursing that breeze were it not for what Bosch call ‘turbo’. The naming of the two higher electric assist levels are ridiculous. I have no problem with ‘eco’ and ‘tour’, however if you up the help level one more notch it is called ‘sport’ and the top level is called ‘turbo’. This is ‘boy racer’ thinking and most inappropriate. In my mind ‘sport’ equals ‘old fogies’ and ‘turbo’ equals ‘geriatric’. It is ‘assist off’ that equals ‘sport’, of course. This stuff induces ‘turbo-mode’ assertion. Note that you ‘sports’. Anyway, there you are. Personal fitness level a disgrace, smokes twenty a day and carrying about two stone overweight, the average speed was 11.5 mph, the day’s run was 63.5 miles, the total ascent was 2550 feet; the range would have been 70 miles without the recharge and still carrying a ten mile ‘tour’ reserve. The 64 year old subject did not die or even get tired from his 63-mile ride and 4-mile dog walk outing. I am against sun cream, it is highly toxic and definitely causes skin cancer, but a wide brimmed tie-on hat would have been desirable. Crash hats are for main-road ‘sports’; the routes that I take involve about the same risk as painting the kitchen ceiling. Now we do not generally wear a crash hat when painting the kitchen, do we? Bosch have got a tiny bit of their program wrong. Zero assist (assist off, but system on) motion is not averaged into the trip remaining range calculation. This leads the awesome 32-bit robot to draw some highly ridiculous conclusions. Bosch please take note here; the controls are great, why not get the range logic perfect? The programmers were scared of the divide by zero, infinite range issue on zero assist This is irrelevant. What we are interested in is trip miles since reset divided by total electrical energy input since reset times the remaining (available for power) electrical energy in the battery. In other words, ‘if you carry on with your recent personal performance pattern, terrain pattern and wind direction, this is how far you will go. The current assist level setting is changing all the time, it is irrelevant and should not bear upon the range calculation at all. Also I have to work out the battery state by manual estimation because the ‘fuel gauge’ works in huge 20% jumps due to the LCD display design limitations. The robot knows the battery status to the nearest erg. Why not tell me the battery state in numbers? i.e.: battery remaining charge state 230 (Wh) or 57 (%) etc. What I want would take me about 12 minutes on the cross compiler; one more information function in the info function stack. Battery state info display. There is no display provision for the Wh (or %) units text, so just put that units text into a manual addenda sheet. The battery state display could be advised by flashing the contents indicator when the battery state function is selected to view. Also if the robot knows how hard one is working (it knows very accurately, even in the ‘assist off’ position), then why not add in the trip biometric calories burned data too? That would take tiny changes to the LCD hardware, so possibly put that on the v2,01 ‘to-do’ list. In general I give Bosch and Moustache both a 10 out of 10 - could do better (and then get 12 out of 10, ha ha). Thanks to Ben Campbell for this fantastic write up - from the e-bikshop.co.uk team. To view the bike in review please click here - Moustache Samedi Silver Open
For the very first time Lapierre Overvolt eBikes will be hitting the UK shores in an exclusive deal with e-bikeshop. Lapierre has been at the forefront of the cycling industry for some time now. They have been creating beautiful machines for over 60 years, succeeding in each genre of cycling. The French manufacturer prides itself in quality and design and the heart of their production is still where it all started – Dijon, France. The step into the eBike market was an obvious one for Lapierre who have always been known to be ahead of the game; they could use all their design and innovation skills already achieved in the biking world and add this to the latest technology from Bosch, this has to be a winner!After a considerable time in development the all new Lapierre Overvolt was born. With the design input from their very own Nico Vouilloz (10 times MTB world champion) the Overvolt is equipped with the latest MTB components. When you combine this with the new Bosch Performance crank drive motors a new breed of eMTB’s is here. Your everyday mountain biker can now rider harder, faster and for longer on this powered trail machine.e-bikeshop is the largest independent crank drive specialist in the UK. They specialise in Bosch powered eBikes in many variants of road, hybrid and trekking bikes & in particular the new eMTB’s. With the recent expansion into their new sales & distribution centre, e-bikeshop is now fully equipped with the space to offer a large selection of bikes and brand new specialist Bosch eBike workshop bays to ensure their electric bikes are supported for the long term, not just at the point of sale.Martin Brown, Director of e-bikeshop.co.uk said – “We are very proud to announce that Lapierre eBikes will be coming to the UK for the very first time, this follows from an exclusive deal which has been months in the planning. We are already the largest dealer in the UK for the brands we stock so it’s nice to be able to add Lapierre to our ever expanding portfolio. I have actually been selling Lapierre non-electric bikes in my normal bike shops for years, so I really understand the brand and what it means. The quality is excellent and the design from Nico really shows when putting the bikes through their paces. I think the difference with Lapierre and Nico in particular is that he is an avid MTB’er and he actually ‘gets’ the eBike craze. Rather than ignoring it he has embraced it and has set to work creating some outstanding new bikes. We only sell quality, European, crank drive eBikes. So the Lapierre Overvolt range really does tick all the boxes for us, these are very exciting times indeed.”The new Overvolts are available to order from e-bikeshop.co.uk today, with the first models due to start landing in July.Expect to see updates, reviews, videos & more very shortly so watch this space.Lapierre Overvolt Full Specification & Pictures - Lapierre Overvolt 27.5 FS 2014
Part 1 of this story is here After the day of my Pilgrims Way trip, the next ride was The Ridgeway , across part of central England. The Ridgeway is an ancient road, the best know section of which starts at Overton Hill, in Wiltshire and ends at Streatley and Goring on the River Thames in Berkshire. This was to be a two day ride and I expected to cover about 90 miles in total. Catching the High Speed Train to London I cycled across London to Paddington Station, thinking how much nicer it would be riding along tractor ruts rather than trying to avoid cabbies and big red London buses attempting to squidge you into the kerb. The nice thing about the extra performance of the Haibike is that you can ride it a little like a motorcycle, well into the middle of the road with the traffic, until it speeds up to over 25 mph. Not that London traffic goes that fast for very long. The train to Pewsey took about an hour and a half and gave me a chance to top up the battery using one of the power sockets First Great Western now have next to some seats. The short ride up to the start of the Ridgeway was along a rutted bridleway which needed sport mode but the extra power of the motor took a lot of the pain out of a steep hill that would have otherwise had me pushing. I didn't need to be at the B&B until after 17:00 so I decided to ride along to Barbary Castle. Once on the Ridgeway the status is byway open to all traffic, whilst in Wiltshire. The going varies from a wide and heavily rutted and sometimes muddy surface to a semi made fine loosely packed stone surface. Up on the Ridgeway its easy to clip along at a good pace aided by the Haibike’s Bosch motor. On the easy parts eco was sufficient but in more difficult going tour or occasionally sport were selected. On the worst parts I set the Rock Shock Revelation forks to the full 150 mm travel. This really helped and for the most part the bike handled everything the Ridgway threw at it. Having 300mm suspension travel on my Yamaha WR450, I’m used to having a a bike with proper off road suspension. The Haibike didn't make me wish for my Yamaha’s greater travel and whilst I could still legally ride the WR on this part of the Ridgeway, that would change tomorrow.As I was riding at a goodly pace down a stony byway the rear end started to go wiggly. Curses! A puncture! Removing the rear wheel is as easy on the Haibike, with its crank motor, as it is with a conventional bike. On my previous electric hub bike, rear wheel removal is much more fiddly. The inner tube had been split by a small sharp flint pushing through the tyre. Bad luck, but then again I find MTB tyres too soft and I go for downhill tyres and heavy duty inner tubes full of that green “slime” puncture proof gunge. My WR has a mousse in the rear and similar things are available for bicycles. I do hate punctures.I rode up and through Barbury Castle thinking how the Saxons threw out the Romano British about 1500 years ago when this was an early fortress. I made a loop back the way I had come and rode through the ancient village of Avebury with its famous ring of standing stones. My B&B was in nearby Beckhampton. I’d covered a little under 40 miles and had two battery blocks left. That went on charge and after a wash and change of clothes it was a across to the Wagon and Horses for dinner. When cycle touring its tricky carrying everything but using a combination of a rucksack and also a special triangular bag I use on another bike, I found I could adapt it to fit around the Haibike’s frame and battery. That held the charger and part of the lock. With something as valuable as an electric bike you don’t leave it unsecured.After a comfy night and an early breakfast, I made my way to Avebury and spent some time walking around the stone ring. These were once buried by the medieval Christians who feared the Pagan significance of the stones. They have since been put back upright in modern times by people sensible enough not to be subjected to superstition. I marvelled at the timelessness of this but was also conscious of my need to keep to my own schedule and a train later that afternoon.The Ridgeway was up another long byway I’d whizzed down the previous day. Tour mode was enough except for a really steep part where I had to go to sport mode. As always the extra push was welcome. Unassisted pedalling is just so bad for morale. I met a group of motorcyclists from the Wiltshire group of my motorcycle club, the Trail Riders Fellowship. We exchanged pleasantries and chatted about the Haibike. Up to about 2004 it was possible to ride the whole of the Ridgway on a motorcycle. In fact there was a TV series called the Ridgeriders made from 1999 to 2001, presented by Nick Knowles, which followed down the Ridgeway some well know personalities like rock stars (Robert Plant) and actresses (Paula Hamilton) on vintage and classic motorcycles. It had a soundtrack and music by the Albion Band. The TRF were riding some of the other byways that criss cross the Ridgeway. Sadly for them (and my WR450) once you get to Oxfordshire, the Ridgway becomes (controversially) a Restricted Byway and is now closed to motor vehicles. The Ridgeriders are now history.But it was not closed to my Haibike and me!! Nevertheless, I think its important for all bike riders (motor/engined or not) to keep in mind the TRF Code of Conduct which in summary says, only ride where you are allowed, keep to below 25 mph, slow for walkers and if necessary stop for horses.I even had a clause added which says that we should “acknowledge other users with a wave or greeting”. On a bike as stealthy as the Haibike a friendly “good morning or “good afternoon” is all that is necessary. Even if some Ramblers blank you. I cracked on at a comfy pace of between 15 and 25 mph, but most importantly uphills could be maintained at nicely over 15 mph. The view was stunning and especially enjoyable from the saddle of a bike. Up on the Ridgeway you can see for miles about and there is a real sense of freedom. Riding down hill I was reassured by the powerful hold of the Magura MT2 brakes to keep progress in check.I stopped at Waylands Smithy for a banana and drink. This is an old burial mound and is one of the many locations on the Ridgeway that gives this ancient road a real feeling of timelessness.I occasionally came upon other cyclists. Again, no-one really noticed it was an electric bike. That was until you rode past them. There were one or two quickish riders, but I passed them (always saying “hi”) with a short burst in turbo mode. It was only if I stopped that they caught up and rode past; generally ignoring you!The suspension and frame geometry seems to be spot on and I’ve not noticed any idiosyncrasies in that area. Nothing fell off (I’d reengineered the broken pedelec sensor after my last ride) or broke and yet the terrain is quite demanding. The bike took it all in its stride.The mileage was now about 38 and I was down to the final battery block. Judicious use of eco and tour modes soon showed the computer telling me I had 2 miles of power left. Fortunately most of the ride off the Ridgeway to Streatley is downhill. I arrived in Streatley still with power available and pulled into a pub for a drink and sandwich. The total was 45 miles, mostly on unsurfaced green lanes. The bar staff let me charge the battery whilst I watched the River Thames flow past. After an hour the battery had three blocks which would get me to the station at Goring, across London and home. I arrived back home in Kent two hours later with well over 50 miles on the tripmeter. My legs ached but I’d enjoyed this Ridgeway ride much more than the last time when I was on an unpowered bike. So where to next? Thanks to Steve Neville - From the e-bikeshop team for this update.(Powered off-road Two Wheeler enthusiast) on his Haibike FS AMT 26
I completed my first proper ride on my new Haibike xDuro AMT PRO on Sunday: possibly one of the best days of the year so far for weather and dry trails. As a regular cyclist of many years, I ride a 30m round trip most days to work, and MTB in the Surrey hills with a group of up to 25 local riders every Sunday morning; all year round. Occasionally we venture further afield to Swinley Forest, Afan, Coed Llandegla and Coed Y Brenin. Recently I have turned to e-bikes since discovering I am nearing kidney transplant, in order to make up for the deficit in energy levels I am experiencing as a result. Having been let down by another supplier, I spoke to e-bikeshop.co.uk whom I’d been aware of and who had the added attraction of being local to me in their new custom built facility and showroom in Farnham. Check it out if you haven’t already done so – it’s impressive. As luck would have it they had a demo-day cancellation and before I knew it, less than 3hrs later I was on a test ride in the Surrey hills with a selection bikes to try! Group photo after the ride @ e-bikeshop in May 2014 The knowledge of the products by the whole team at e-bikeshop.co.uk was second to none and by the end of the ride I knew an e-MTB was for me. It quickly became apparent that the Haibike xDuro was the right model for me as I use my MTBs quite aggressively and I needed something which could cope with the hits, under the “All Mountain” category. It’s pure off-roader I was after, as I already have an e-hybrid which I use for daily road commuting. Given the increasingly national shortage of higher-end e-MTBs available, Martin at e-bikeshop.co.uk calmly helped me through the whole process smoothly and confidently and my customer experience was second to none. Even a minor initial technical glitch was resolved quickly and efficiently the same day. So back to the ride, I was justifiably nervous embarking on my first Sunday morning ride with e-power, would the bike be up to it? would I have enough battery power? how much respect would I lose with my ride-buddies, and the nagging feeling of “cheating”. Lovely shot taken along the way, Surrey Hills offers beautiful scenery! If you can keep your eyes of the eMTB! Despite the fact my fellow MTB-ers are of above average fitness levels, it quickly became clear that Eco setting was plenty to keep on the pace and near the front of the group. We covered the “3 peaks” ride – one of my favourite in good conditions as the views are spectacular: along the canal to Guildford, up Pewley Downs, St Martha’s and Newlands Corner on the North Downs. Across and down to Shere, back across Albury Heath, Blackheath and Chinthurst. On the climbs I used a touch of turbo to see how the bike climbed, and it was simply astonishing. My fellow riders were simply blown away – event the fittest of the group. I actually didn’t need turbo, tour setting would have been plenty but of course I had to see what she could do, and what Strava would make of it all. One of my biggest fears was losing the fun factor of my previous ride, an Orange Gyro. Although a very different type of bike altogether, I was delighted to find it just as much fun in an alternative kind of way. The ride across the Surrey Hills on the Haibike FS AMT PRO mapped on Strava Coming down the back of St Martha’s there are some wonderful pieces of single track with berms, jumps and drop-offs-a-plenty. With the additional weight and low centre of gravity, due to the crank drive motor and low mounted battery I found the Xduro to be incredibly well planted with the Schwalbe Hans Damf tyres providing seemingly endless grip - especially on the sidewalls. Although not as nimble as my previous bike, it was still more than possible to jump and get airborne and I found myself using most of the 150mm travel provided by the front and rear silky smooth Fox Kashima coated suspension. The Haibike Sprocket Equalizing System (SES) was perfectly balanced and provided increased confidence and predictability. The 27.5” wheels provide exactly the right balance of nimble turning but with the traction and bite of the bigger wheels. After 30 miles, 4 hours in the saddle, several sizeable climbs and a 10 minute “turbo” blast home after saying farewell to my ride buddies I was astonished to see I still had 2 bars of battery left! (I’d unnecessarily taken my charger in my Camelbak with me on the ride as I was unsure what to expect..) As it turns out by the end of the ride my fellow MTB-ers had nothing but respect for my new Haibike, and to say it raised a lot of interest in the group would be an understatement. It’s probably fair to say there will be a few more in the group as time progresses! My bike has been set up perfectly by the team at e-bikeshop.co.uk, with no adjustments required other than saddle position and height. After a good clean, polish and re-lube the Xduro was back to showroom condition once again and ready for action again. Next stop: a 5 day MTB adventure on the Isle of Man in June, and I can’t wait! With thanks to Matt Dibb for this lovely write up - From the e-bikeshop team. Expect an update on Matt's trip to the Isle of Mann soon. To view the full specification of the model featured, please click here - Habike FS AMT PRO Electric Bike
I've always loved exploring green roads and trails on a bike since I was a young lad. Discovery of mopeds at 15 years old and motorcycles at 17 meant that push bikes were used much less. On an assortment of trail and enduro motorcycles I could cover a much larger number of lanes for less effort and it was much more fun as they had engines. I first purchased a mountain bike once they had front suspension developed in the mid 1980's. It was a way of checking out new routes in a stealthy manner. Access is restricted for motor vehicles and it has become more draconian within the last 15 years. Its always been a reason to keep cycling. Mud, hills and headwinds are a limiting factor for push bikes, so around 5 years ago I started looking at the electric hub motors and conversion kits. Until recently electric bikes were only designed for your grannie to go shopping and there were few e-mountain bikes of good quality. Mountain bikers are purists and seem to focus on human power and gravity. Electric assistance? Thats for the aforesaid grannies and the old and disabled. Pay more, pedal harder and reduce weight is their only vision. As a motorcyclist I think differently. POWER is what you need.I tried a Heinzmann kit bike which was ok, but not very torquey and the cost of a conversion kit was around £1300. About 3 years ago I found a Bafang kit for £700 which I fitted to a hard tail Claud Butler. This was followed up by a similar conversion in a TREK EX5 giving me full suspension, after a few engineering headaches. Great fun but range is under 15 miles for these hub motors in spite of claims of more. Something else was needed to go any good distance. Bigger batteries? Too much weight. Ok more efficiency? Crank motors seemed the way to go. However crank motors tend to dangle below the bottom bracket just waiting for a rock to smash it to bits. Then I saw the Haibike. The motor was rotated up inside the frame like a motorcycle. Also the various chassis alternatives looked like they were designed for serious off road use and not shopping. Some e-mountain bikes you see are really commuters with knobbly tyres. I tested out a Haibike in Bedgebury forest in Kent and was impressed. Good power even though rated at the European legal 250 watts. However the best overall package offering zero finance was from the e-Bike Shop aka Crank Cycles based in Farnham and Alton. Initially, I was looking at the Xduro FS SL 26". That model has the smaller 300 watt battery with a range of about 30 miles. Martin at the shop suggested I look at the next model up. This was the AMT 26" which offered a larger 400 watt battery capacity and improved suspension at each end, plus better cycle components all round. I must say I agonised about this. Three and a half grand is a lot of money for a bicycle. Then again a pedal only bike of that specification would have cost over £2000. Add in a motor and battery; let's call it £1500 and there you are. By the way the off road dongle is an expensive (£150) but worthwhile option. I took it on holiday to the New Forest. That showed it to be a lot of fun and the performance and range was good. The first problem that arose was the front suspension lockout button kept jamming. To release it is a matter of tugging it; the warranty should sort that. Haibike FS AMT 26 On The Pilgrims Way The longer test was to ride the Pilgrims Way along the North Downs in Kent. The starting point was the car park at Wrotham and aim to finish at the Kent Gliding Club at Challock. This used to be entirely open to motorcycles but thanks to legislative duplicity and downright lies by anti vehicular groups parts of it are now closed being bridleway and restricted byway; but not to my Haibike Riding from Wrotham through Trottiscliffe to Halling is now possible. The Haibike rode even better than my electrified TREK EX5 through the ruts and bumps and I'd always been impressed with that and its overall motor performance. Problem two occurred as the system shut itself down reading 0 mph. A stone or stick had broken the pedelec sensor off its mounting. Investigation showed this to be of a really poor design made of thin flimsy plastic and not fit for purpose. Bosch really need to redesign this. Temporary repair with self amalgamating tape, but it's another warranty matter.The rest of the ride is a mixture of unclassified roads, over the River Medway and then over Bluebell Hill and along more byways to Detling. I overtook one guy on an unpowered MTB who was struggling up a hill and after a brief chat; as I accelerated away, I was not even sure he understood my comment that my MTB loves hills! A lot of cyclists don't realise what the Haibike is and a few that do, don't understand how good they are, or say it's cheating; most are in oblivious ignorance. All I know is I'm probably having more fun and enjoyment than they are on their unpowered bikes. After a recharge of the battery and coffee for myself watching the gliders, it was a ride down to Charing station and then the train back via Kemsing and the final western section of the Pilgrims Way, to the car. In summary, the Haibike AMT 26” works brilliantly. These are fully competent off road bicycles and are truly “all mountain terrain”; not just cosmetic MTBs. The range with the bigger. 400 watt hour battery is over 40 miles. This was using mainly tour and sport modes, with the occasional burst to turbo. If you can afford another £650 (ouch!) then carrying a spare battery ( 2.5 kg) would give a total of up to 100 miles of more gentle riding. So long distance touring is possible. If, assuming the glitches are sorted I'd recommend a Haibike for serious off road bikers who might just also be motorcyclists at heart; but you do need deep pockets.Now for the Ridgeway across Wiltshire and Oxfordshire. Thanks to our customer Steve Neville from Kent for this article.. (Ridgeway report to follow).To view this eBike please click here - Haibike FS AMT 26
This is my first electric cycle, so this is more a review of electric cycling in general. The Moustache is every bit as good as the photographs on the e-bikeshop website and is an excellent bike in its own right. It has a lovely silver finish, elegant metal mudguards made by the company and quirky but stylish composite welded handle bars. The 9 gears work perfectly and provide all one needs for uphill (up to 1 in 8) and up to 30 mph downhill. The disc brakes were my first experience of this type of brakes. Having tried them I would never go back to rim brakes or hub drums again. The carrier is able to carry my three large camping panniers. The bike is still manageable with 30 Kg loaded in the bags but feels more like a small motor bike to walk with when fully loaded like this. Cycle makers put great store in getting the cycle weight down. In my case this seems a bit pointless after my 120 Kg of body and camping gear is added. Anyway, the empty Samedi is very light. Even with its large battery and motor, it is about the same weight as a Pashley. This bike has an old fashioned ‘sit up and beg’ riding position. I was determined on a step through design, which this ‘open’ model is. With my top bag extended upwards, it is impossible to dismount by swinging the leg over the saddle. I am 64, 'sit upright' and 'step through' is what I wanted. The Samedi Open is my perfect configuration. My mission is to tour the South Shropshire hills with camping gear. The Samedi would also make a great commuter cycle, but 'they' will not give me a job and I do not want one, so back to long distance touring we go. My Moustache is fitted with the new Bosch 400 Wh – 250 Watt electric pedal assist system. So technically this is a cycling review of that kit, it is not so much a review of the excellent Moustache bike itself. Having said that, Moustache has done a really neat job of designing the bike for the Bosch system. When I first moved to Church Stretton in the South Shropshire Hills, I gave my mid range 27 speed (hardly used) touring bike to my fourth son to use as a commuter. Even on the flat, my knees hurt too much after a 30 mile ride. I was 60 and decided that my cycling days were over. This area is lovely, but the roads that do not have 40 ton trucks passing through, are all straight up or straight down. Well straight in terms of gradient, in odd places the roads are straight themselves for up to 100 yards at a stretch. Every so often I missed cycling and wondered if an electric assist cycle might help to scratch the itch. The local bike shop offered a 230 Wh Raleigh. I did some sums and laughed. The scenic route to Shrewsbury and back is a 32 mile round trip with a 2800 foot total assent. That is typical; any lanes trip around here involves an average 90 foot of assent for each mile of route. The 230 Wh battery would hardly get me there, let alone back home. So when Bosch nearly doubled that to 400 Wh, I sat up and took note. Far from being a lot, 400 Wh sounded like it might be nearly enough. Completely forget the published range figures. Any over-weight and unfit twit like me can sit on a cycle while it rolls down hill and can probably manage a smooth level road in still air quite well too. The trouble is all about going up hill or into the wind. I only go out when winds are light, so in my case the trouble is about going up hills and nothing else. Now in the case of going up hill, one needs to think. Say a route presented 40 miles of great cycling except for a 2 mile 2000 foot climb. In that case the electric assist is going to make stuff all difference because one needs to walk up the short two mile one in five section anyway. However South Shropshire is not like that. That 90 foot average assent per mile that I mentioned all comes as a little bit here and a little bit there. To get any where round here one needs magic to get up all the little rises. Well either that or get fit, which I refuse to do on account of the old knees. I was a bit scarred of finding out that the electric bike was no good for me. I waited for very compelling weather to find out. Two days ago, in the afternoon sun I tried my Samedi downhill to Shrewsbury. The route is 16 miles and it took one hour (wow!!). There is a total assent on this 'downhill' route of 700 feet. I never had to get off once. At a pavement café in Butchers Row I had a glass of wine and sushi to celebrate and came home on the train. I had used only 30% of the capacity of the Bosch battery, I was not even tired. My knees did not even twinge. It all looked good to go. Some people just choose the right town, Shrewsbury. Martin Brown from e-bikeshop.co.uk had been very helpful and knowledgeable in guiding me to this choice. It was not an easy sell for him. He stuck the course and now I am a happy bunny. I was a bit uncertain about buying from a business the other side of the country. However had I gone nearer home I would have bought the wrong bike. This is because Martin knows so much about the subject and most other bike sellers know almost nothing and are busy selling the wrong thing (or the right thing by accident). This guy does not do random, he does not make mistakes. Every action has a purpose, a reason. Some people just choose the right e bike shop. Yesterday was also very calm and sunny. So I left off refitting the kitchen for a wet windy day another time and at 10 am I set off for Ludlow, 20 miles away. Now the route from Church Stretton to Ludlow via the A49 would be a good 16 mile route to test a new Ferrari on but would be hell on a cycle. I carefully picked a route on the lanes through the hills of Wenlock Edge. That way the route consists of 20 miles with a 1500 foot assent and a 2000 foot descent. You need Memory Map, then you can know what is coming your way. On a sunny day in mid May, this route is as close to paradise as this little iron ball is ever going to present. There is the smell of the flowers, the bird song and stunning views in every direction. There is time to chat up the pretty girl cutting her father's hedge. There is time to stop and talk to the horses. On foot this route would kill and be a foot throbbing pain in the backside. Driving an open car or motor cycle one would miss the smells, sounds and conversations. In a car one would also miss 90% of the views. The cycle is the only way for non horse riders to fully enjoy it. At 64 and very lacking in fitness, the electric assist cycle is the only way for me (as a non horse rider) to do it. I did it. It was deeply satisfying. I reached Ludlow with what I thought was 55% of battery remaining. I sat at another pavement cafe in the sun and treated myself to a three course lunch with wine and a huge carafe of Ludlow branch (water). I loaded the bike with 6 Kg of vegetables and second hand Lee Child books from the market and decided to try going back home on the bike. I tried the alternative route home. This goes over a forest track to the West of the A49. I reached Onibury in fine fettle at 26 miles out with what looked like 40% of battery remaining and 14 miles to go. Then using low gear and boost power I winched myself up the 500 foot straight back into the hills. Big mistake! As I reached the tops at 800 feet altitude, the Bosch system tritely informed me that I had 6 miles of battery left with 12 miles to go. The forest bridleway had recently been relayed with football sized rocks. I always wondered how to legally close a bridleway. Now I know. So I had to walk for two miles over these rocks and even that tested the Moustache to the limit. My water bottle bounced off and I had to walk back half a mile to recover it. The Onny Valley, how to avoid the A49. When I got back down to Craven Arms I still had 6 miles of battery left but 11 miles to go. I should have got the train home from Craven Arms. I decided to ride it, but walk the big hill up to Cwm Head at 900 feet. It worked, and perhaps the three mile walk up hill was good for my figure. So the range of the Bosch 400 Wh system is about 32 miles in typical South Shropshire hill country and no wind. I used the 'tour' 100% assist setting all the way except for long gradients above one in twelve. On these I used the 'hot pursuit' (turbo) 225% assist. I found an interesting undocumented feature. The Bosch system has a 'walk assist' mode. It pushes the cycle at about 3 mph when top gear is selected. When using walk assist I found that the gears change normally. So now if I am about to take off from the kerbside but top gear (too high) is selected, I can walk the gears into the correct setting using walk assist. Some people just choose the right county, Shropshire How could I have done better? Suppose one has used electric assist to reach a hill crest, the temptation is to use electric assist to accelerate down hill. This is pointless and wastes battery. If it is downhill, switch to zero assist and make the gradient do all the work, every little helps. I found it possible to winch myself up one in eight gradients at 5 mph, using lowest gear with 225% assist. This hardly saves any time compared to walking with 'walk assist' mode. Take for instance the rise out of Church Stretton up to Hazler Hill. This is 400 foot up in less than a mile. It takes 20 minutes and almost no battery walking and takes twelve minutes winching. So why use 15% of battery capacity to save eight minutes? Why spoil ones day out like that? Also if battery capacity is going to be a problem on a ride, get the obvious battery energy economies in early in the ride while one is still fresh. I could have charged the battery in Ludlow, but then I would have failed to fully challenge the Bosch hill country range limit. The range estimates that the Bosch system gives are hopelessly optimistic for the first 50% of battery capacity. I think that with careful use of 'walk assist' and the downhill economy measure mentioned, the range might extend to 40 miles of hill country in still air. Not bad! Plus there are cafés and pubs with a new technology called 13 amp sockets. So take the charger along. Plan two three hour riding sessions either side of a long leisurely lunch each day, and 75 miles between overnight camp sites is completely possible. The Cotswolds, here I come! With thanks to our customer Benedict Campbell for this fantastic write up - from the e-bikeshop team! To view the bike Benedict loves click here - Moustache Samedi Open Silver eBike Part 2 of this story is here
Customer Review: Whilst waiting for my AMT Pro 27.5 to come in I have been riding my wife’s new xDuro RC 29 and thoroughly loving it. Mind you, I was always careful when returning with every square centimeter of blue paint covered in mud and clay to thoroughly Rhino Goo and hose down the bike before it was seen. Whilst waiting for my AMT Pro to come in I have been riding my wife’s new xDuro RC 29 and thoroughly loving it. Mind you, I was always careful when returning with every square centimetre of blue paint covered in mud and clay to thoroughly Rhino Goo and hose down the bike before it was seen.The AMT Pro is a thing of beauty, not just in terms of pure aesthetics, but in the way its components have been chosen and the care of putting it together. I am sure that Martin’s careful eye when setting the bike up would catch anything not quite right. One of the key advantages to me though was the Sram XX1 with its 11 speed cassette. More specifically I wanted one tooth less on the smallest cog (10 instead of the hard tail's 11) and the 42 tooth biggest gear as opposed to the 36. This translates to about 2.5 mph more top speed on the flat and some extra torque for the extreme uphills in the mud. Don’t get me wrong, the RC 29 was stopped by nothing but when you need to conserve energy being in the lowest cog up steep hills reduces the demands on the battery. The AMT Pro is the easiest bike to live with, even for someone of my modest MTB experience. This does not ride like a highly strung race horse or a temperamental Ferrari; this is docile, forgiving and very comfortable. The suspension soaks up all the big rocks, holes and roots. The only surface that is jarring is on protruding stones jutting out of the dried mud; this combination threatens to remove the fillings from my teeth. If I rode on that all day I would experiment with taking 5 or 10psi out of the tyres. The wonderful Crank Brothers rims don’t just look great, by placing the spoke mount points on the outside of the rim rather than drilled through the rim means it is really easy to go tubeless. Haibike knows this and thus chose the non-porous version of the Hans Dampf tyres. Going tubeless is a great idea as it allows you to run at lower pressures (no pinch punctures) but also way fewer punctures. The Hans Dampf tyres have an aggressive tread pattern with widely spaced central blocking threatening lots of resistance on tarmac. Actually they roll just as well as the RC 29, but Martin delivered them pumped up rock hard. I really appreciate the rounded section of the tyres giving a seamless transition as one leans into the corners. The downside is that in some muddy conditions you will sink in more than with a more shouldered profile. Then again, with the mud in Buckinghamshire this is giving me a greater chance of hitting something hard under the mud so on balance a good choice. Riding to maximise range is much less of a compromise than one might imagine. The display shows the amount of assistance being provided by the motor. If you get to your cruising speed and shift up to 11th but keep good pressure on the pedals you will see that you are being given maximum assistance but with that gearing you will not be accelerating. You will just be converting your precious watt hours into heat. Changing down from Sport or Turbo into Tour or even Eco will cut the assistance way down and your speed will not really be changed. I went out 13 miles this morning in Sport mode (second only to Turbo) and came home in Eco. My split times were almost identical and the power usage was 70% lower. You can go a long way between charges if you keep an eye on your usage. 40 miles at high speed is easily possible and this represents about half the accepted standard consumption of 20 watt hours per mile. You can get 40 miles whilst other bikes with the same battery would get 20. In the US the power limits are 750W for e-bikes and I have a 750W mid-drive fat bike (Lectric Cycles) with no suspension but 4” tyres inflated to 5psi over the rough stuff. Firstly the torque sensing of the Bosch system is vastly superior to anything available in North America. The sense that your legs have been replaced with Lance Armstrong’s is so palpable, the smoothness of the feeding in of the power as your input increases. The rest of the world is using cadence detection that waits for you to move the pedals then it just throws all its torque at you. No subtlety, just a bunch of torque being sent down the chain. There is no doubt the AMT Pro is a vastly superior machine, and also more capable. With 42 teeth on the lowest gear, set power to turbo and start peddling your only thought will be how to keep enough weight on the front wheel as you climb to stop it going over the top. On the way down the dropper seat is such a revelation. This is not about fine tuning the seat height as you ride, it is about lowering it so that you can keep your weight on the back wheel on steep descents and not feel that you are about to face plant over the bars. With the feet on the pedals you can move right back over the rear wheel on the steepest off-road sections. The brakes are the wonderful Avid X0 Trails. This has four pistons on each calliper allowing just an index finger to provide all the stopping force that you could ever need. Moreover, it has the most extraordinary sensitivity or modulation. I have never had a wheel lock up on me due to the ability to control so precisely the clamping pressure. Mind you, I have clocked up just over 300 miles in two and a half weeks and I noticed today that all the brake pads need replacing. One of the biggest surprises that I have found is that after say 15 miles of thick rocky clay single track every part of the gears and brakes are crammed, literally crammed, with mud. The gears and changers are packed with slimy heavy gunk yet the bike changes up and down instantly and without skipping a gear. I have not had a chain drop and nothing changes the feel or performance of the brakes. Going through the woods I use OS Mapfinder on my iPhone 5 mounted on the handlebars. Like most mapping apps it sucks up the power but I power the phone from the USB output from the Bosch Intuvia display. Having the highest resolution 1:25000 OS maps in full brightness really adds to the joy of riding this fine machine. I do feel that Haibike need to sort out the bike manuals. They seem to have one manual for all the e and non-e bikes. They do not provide you with the service manual for the Avid brakes for example.I do not know if I am the target demographic for this bike but I do know that I have had more fun in the last three weeks on Haibikes than I have ever done cycling. People get on this bike for the first time and I can hear them still laughing uncontrollably a block away. Its just that kind of a bike.
A new electric bike review just in from one of our long term customers who purchased a Haibike xDuro RC29 2014 model a few months ago. Ian really puts his RC29 Haibike eBike through its paces so it was good to get some feedback from him as to how his new Bosch powered Haibike Electric Bike performs. We broke this down into a few simple questions.. Who am I? 50 year old male with a dodgy left foot. 6'4" 14 Stone. Bike in question? Haibike RC29 from Martin mid January 2014. Why I chose this model? The bike being a replacement for my stolen KTM. The RC being chosen because of the inverted motor coupled with a half decent specification. How long have I been using this eBike? The bike has covered 1800 miles in 10 weeks or so. What do I use the bike for? 5 day a week round trip commute of 25 mile, in all weathers. Have you made any tweaks to the Haibike RC29? Weekend usage, off road pulling my daughter along on her Tout Terrain Streamliner (similar but better than the usual tagalong). The only modification has been to change the saddle and swap the tyres from the supplied all-rounder to Bontrager XR Muds. What do you like about the Haibike RC29 in particular? The bike performs extremely well both on and off the road. Pulling my daughter is a doddle even on the steepest hills. I do enjoy a fair bit of non electric mountain biking but this RC adds another dimension, I certainly would not entertain a 20-30 mile off road trip with my daughter on a regular bike but its a pleasure on the Haibike. One word to sum it all up? Hard to explain how good this bike is, but I would say Brilliant! To view more reviews on the Haibike RC29 or for the full specification please click here.
Bosch announces their new Nyon eBike controller for 2015 / 2016. The new Head Unit will run on the current Performance eBike motor system but will be built with a larger screen and some all new features! Here we give you a brief overview of the new features and benefits in this latest eBike tech...The new Nyon system is the latest advancement the German manufacturers Bosch have been working hard on, it was announced at Eurobike last year to gauge interest from both suppliers and end users alike. The system went down well as the first all in one eBike computer that can perform navigation, fitness training/mapping & smartphone integration.The new head unit is to work on the Bosch Performance system, it mounts in a similar way to the current Intuvia display although this one features a much larger 4.3-inch colour screen and hosts a few new buttons; both on the display and the separate handlebar control unit to make operating the new features easy. Let's break down some of the new functions featured on the Bosch Nyon system... Bosch eBike Navigation - Nyon has a new built-in navigation system designed specifically for cyclists in mind. The maps are based on the Wiki Open Street Map platform. This is integrated into the new Bosch unit with GPS so it can perform live maps in both 2D & 3D styles creating a full user-friendly navigation device directly on your eBike powered from the Bosch battery.Interestingly the mapping doesn't just show directions but calculates the best route possible by eBike. This means that you can take more direct routes that might not be possible by car. Another adoption is the range indicator. This calculates not just range left but also factors in your route, topography & your personal riding style to indicate clearly indicate on the map how many miles you have left in the battery. Neat huh?Quick demo of the unit in action here - Smartphone Integration - The new Bosch Nyon system is designed with the latest integration for smartphone users. The idea is that you can leave your phone in your pocket and the Bosch system will connect to your smartphone via Bluetooth. This brings with it lots of new neat features that allow your phone to connect with your Bosch eBike. For example, you can control what music is being played on your phone directly from the Bosch Nyon head unit itself.If you are riding and get an incoming call, the Bosch system will present this to you on Nyons new super slick screen. It will show you who is calling so you can be in full control. If you get a text message it will even pop the message onto the large screen to say who has texted and the message itself. This means there are no excuses for not seeing that all important message!While we are talking smartphones, Bosch tells us that they are going to release a new mobile app so you can perform multiple tasks on your phone that affect Nyons user interface. For example, you can set up things like a 'Favourite Screen'. eBike Fitness Training - Alongside the new Bosch Nyon eBike system, Bosch will release their 'Online Portal'. This means users can pull up all their latest eBike data up on their home computer. This is a really neat feature, it will allow you to track the progress of your recent routes and share them with others online. By connecting a heart rate chest strap via Bluetooth to Nyon you can use the system as a fitness training tool. This will not only track your ride but combine them with signals such as your heart rate so you can progress with your fitness training all in one place.By combining data such as your heart rate & cadence the system can measure your eBiking performance and calculate your progress in the form of calorie consumption and training efficiency. The Bosch Online Portal will present all of this data to you in the form of nice graphics charts and maps of your ride.Check out this video for a short demo - User Interface Customisation - Above we have mentioned lots of new neat features of the Bosch Nyon system. There have also been certain advancements in the user interface with regards to user customisation.With each screen, you, the user, can customise the layout to your preference. This is really good as it means you can get all the data available in the format you prefer to see and read. We mentioned the mobile app above & this will allow you to alter things like a favourite screen, this is really important so you're not just stuck with one layout.On this new Bosch eBike system, for the first time, the motor assistance can be adjusted by the end user. This means you can add up to 5 riding modes which can each be set individually. So you can actually fine tune the motor assistance levels that support your riding, this has never been possible before. Conclusion - We @ e-bikeshop are very excited for the release of the Bosch Nyon system. Some of the features detailed above are a vast step forward in the eBiking world. This is the first system to integrate all of the features through an 'all in one' system.No longer do you have to run mapping and fitness apps on the side, everything can be operated in one place. To top it all off all of the functions can be operated on the 4.3 inch backlit display which is easy to read in all light conditions. We expect these features to be very useful on a eBike and we are sure that Bosch will make a tremendous job of making it all function well as is already proved on their current eBike system lines.We will be visiting Bosch later on in the year to test the new Nyon device and we will have some more feedback to report back once we have done this. When can we expect to see this tech on new eBikes?.. At current, there are only one of these systems in the world, built as a prototype to demonstrate the new functions. We expect it will be a while before Bosch produces this on a mainstream level and then filter down the chain to the eBikes on our shelves.The system may feature on some 2015 model year eBikes but more likely it will be the 2016 model year lines that take it on fully. Bosch tends to test their products extensively before taking them to market. Whereas some manufacturers bring out a product to test and refine on the market by the end user. The German manufacturer Bosch always make sure their products are 100% before the end user gets their hands on them.Please note: this new Nyon system is just a head unit change. It operates using the current Performance motor and Battery Pack. We can't be sure yet if it can be retrofitted. But the current Bosch Performance line Motor and battery will be powering this display.Expect a full review on here, so watch this space.To view all our latest Bosch powered eBikes please click here