You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
I have just ordered one of these:
Looks pretty fun, and good for someone who lives in a flat in the centre of a hilly city and doesn't have a car.... me.
Although I do plan on getting a car again, I think this will be good for doing errands and shopping etc and the motor will help with the "Ugh, I can be assed cycling, I'll just take the bus" feeling I often get. I've also got friends who live ~10-15 miles away, so it will make visiting them less of a chore. Especially if there is a headwind!
While I would have preferred the versions with the mid mount Bosch motors, that almost doubled the price of this - which was on sale for £999. The ebikemotion stuff has a good rep it seems. Still, it comes with a basket, mudguards and built in lights and I imagine I'll put a rear rack and panniers on it.
Also, it looks fun.
Arrives on Monday - looking forward to cycling out to Ikea on it and buying a wardrobe. Well, maybe not.
Sounds like a bargain until you look at it 😛 Looks like the wheel/battery/controller could be fitted to a tho BMX, eh?
Hmm...
Of course you can go to ikea and buy a wardrobe, you just have to pay a fortune for it to be delivered*
Looks good and an ideal tool for the city, just make sure you lock it up well.
* even most estate won't take ikea furniture
Z1ppy sounds like as challenge for the xtra cycle that haha
oof, careful with that front wheel drive, all the ones we've had through the shop have had issues, especially with spokes, and lets not mention the self steer and wheel spin on wet corners. good luck!
Well, it arrived early!
Seems well put together. Controls and manual aren't particularly intuitive. Especially the manual being in Spanish. The "walk" mode did surprise me a little as it drove itself across the living room. It has companion app with maps etc that might not totally suck. Does look like it wants your phone to be bar mounted to work as a display.
Going to charge it up and see if it'll make it the 22 miles to my girlfriend's house tomorrow.
Will see how the front drive motor works. One review did mention doing big skids with it....
oh, it's an Orbea, should be good then, most of the ones we see are ebay specials and lower spec
Yeah, the bumf suggests that the control unit (made by ebikemotion) has relatively sophisticated power management.
Though none of the settings are "hyperspeed > 15mph"
is it set to KM/English? is it diagnostic compatible like the Bosch units? they are great for service/updates/fault finding
That looks ace for city work...
Impressive that it made it from a "just ordered" post to an "arrived early" post in 90 minutes.
Especially given the fun and games from your MyHermes Divide By Zero thread last year 🙂
That looks great fun. I think that practically designed ebikes have great potential for changing the transport mix in urban areas.
front drive ? Does that mean it has no power sensing for the rider? (I thought that was sort of mandatory)
Yes there is quite sophisticated diagnostics etc. It has a bottom bracket sensor for pedalling. A bit more pro than a cheap eBay conversion.
I did order a couple of days ago tbf....
Will report back after riding tomorrow
Not really a fan of e-bikes, but that does look pretty sweet. They make a non e-version don't they?
Yeah, the human powered ones are pretty cheap ~£300-500 depending on spec
That looks useful, fun even
I have a Brompton, if I was in your position I'd convert it to electric, makes sense for town use
looks like those funny cannondale town bikes (not ebikes) they used to make. what were they called again? i always fancied one
YES! come-on. they look great fun.
who's got one of them kicking about?
The Hooligans were cool.
Had a wee go around the block this morning. The motor is pretty good, but it doesn't have the grunt to take me up a steep hill at 15mph. However, you can keep a good speed on the flat while pedalling pretty easily in a low gear - I guess since the motor is at the front.
It doesn't feel like riding a motorbike, just that you have legs built like Chris Hoy.
Its not too heavy to carry up and down the tenement stairs.
Ride wise, it feels totally fine. Just like a normal hybrid.
Going to cycle the 23 miles to my girlfriend's place along the canal later and see what kind of range it has.
Well, it turns out the range is about 23 miles. Rolled in with a few percent left on the battery.
Easiest ride out there I've ever done!
Also had a good time cutting about a few pubs on it on Saturday night - perfect for it!
Just noticed Orbea are selling them off for £899 on their own site - wish I'd spotted that, could have saved £100!
Thought I would give a little update after a few weeks.
I am really enjoying it. It is perfect for doing errands around the city - it is perfectly designed for it. It just makes you not think about "can I bothered cycling all the way across town for that one thing?", you just do it.
The built in lights are good - definitely powerful enough to see your way if there are no street lights.
However, it does have some limitations.
Basically it has been designed for a very specific use case, and a speed.
It is all based on cycling at 15mph. That's when the motor cuts out and you are spinning out in top gear. And it is a bit annoying, as it is quite easy to get over 15mph.
Obviously the motor cut out is a legal thing, and the gearing is probably due to the small wheel diameter - it has a pretty big chain ring on it, and I almost always ride in top gear.
You probably couldn't ride over 15mph in the dark with the lights either - everything revolves around that speed.
Next step is to get a rack to go on the back with some panniers.
It is all based on cycling at 15mph.
Err…
It's almost like there's a reason for that like.