Professor Pivot answers your electric bike technical questions…

What is VOLTAGE and which Voltage is best?

Voltage can be thought of as the pressure or strength of electric power. All things being equal (see AMPS below), the higher the voltage the better, because high voltages pass more efficiently through wires and motors. Very high voltages (100+ volts) can give you a nasty shock because they also travel through people rather well, but the sort of voltages found on electric bikes (12 – 36 volts) are quite safe. In the early days,12-volt systems were used for low-powered machines, but today the industry norm is 36 volts, with a trend towards 48 volts, especially for more powerful machines. Electric mopeds and motorcycles tend to use 48 or 60 volts.

What are AMPS?

Amps can be thought of as the volume or quantity of electric power. To aid this analogy, the flow of amps is called the current, as in the flow of a river. Unlike a river, though, the speed of the current is fixed – only the volume varies.

The maximum flow of amps in a bike drive system can vary from 10 to 60 or more. A current of 60 amps requires thick wiring and quite substantial switchgear.

What are WATTS?

Once we know the voltage (or pressure) and current (or volume), we can calculate the power, or wattage by multiplying the two figures together. The number of watts in a system is the most important figure of all, because it defines the power output. A few examples of electric bikes:

The Zap motor draws 20 Amps x 12 Volts = 240 Watts
The Giant Twist Lite draws 15 Amps x 24 Volts = 360 Watts
The Powabyke draws 20 Amps x 36 Volts = 720 Watts
The Curry Drive draws 40 Amps x 24 Volts = 960 Watts

Despite having a fairly low voltage, the Curry is the most powerful motor, followed by the Powabyke and the Twist, with the Zap coming in last. It’s impossible to calculate the power without knowing both the number of amps and volts. Large machines, like cars, trains and trucks have their power measured in the same way – usually as kilowatts, or units of 1,000 watts. The old-fashioned ‘horsepower’ unit is the equivalent of about 750 watts.

I thought the legal limit for electric bikes was 250 Watts in the UK?

Well, yes and no. The legal limit refers to the continuous power output, whereas the figures above are for absolute maximum power. Most motors can give maximum output for a minute or two, but they’d melt if asked to do it all day – just like a cyclist. Obviously, maximum power is more useful than continuous power as a guide to the way a bike will climb a hill. Look at the spec of bikes on sale and you may see 200 watts, 250 watts or (illegally) 400 watts. These figures are only a rough guide to the true maximum power output.

How many watts do I need?

As a general rule, a cyclist can produce several hundred watts briefly, and one hundred watts for a reasonable length of time. To be really useful, a motor needs to produce another 100 Watts on a continuous basis, with peak power of at least 400 watts. Just to confuse things, our measurements are of power consumption – losses in the motor and drive system mean that the power output to the wheel can be much lower.

If you expect the motor to do most of the work, especially in a hilly area, you’ll want a peak consumption of 600 watts or more. On the other hand, if you prefer gentle assistance, a peak of 200 watts may be enough. For a moped, power will be measured in thousands of watts (kilowatts or kW) rather than watts. A continuous rating of one kilowatt will just about keep up with city traffic, but two or three are more useful, and motorcycles will obviously need a lot more to keep up with traffic out of town.

How big a battery do I need?

The capacity of the battery is usually measured as the amount of current it can supply over time (defined as amp/hours). However, this is useless on its own, because you’ll need to know the voltage too. By multiplying the two figures together, we get watt/hours – a measure of the energy content of the battery. Unfortunately, it isn’t that simple… but you didn’t think it would be, did you? In practice, you’re unlikely to get results that match the stated capacity of a battery, because battery capacity varies according to the temperature, battery condition, and the rate that current is taken from it.

Lead/acid batteries are tested at the ’20-Hour’ rate. This is the number of amps that can be continuously drawn from the battery over a period of 20 hours. However, an electric bike will usually exhaust its battery in an hour or two, and at this higher load, the battery will be much less efficient. So the figures for lead/acid batteries tend to look optimistic.

On the other hand, Nickel-Cadmium (NiCd) batteries are rated at a 1-Hour discharge rate, so although the stated capacity of a NiCd battery might only be half that of a lead/acid battery, performance on an electric bike will be much the same. Nickel-Metal Hydride batteries (NiMH) are measured at the 5-Hour rate, so their performance tends to be somewhere between the two.

The default capcity for an electric bike battery in 2015 is 360Wh (36 volts x 10 amp/hours), but capacities are gradually increasing. In the past they have varied widely, from Powabyke’s 504 watt/hour giant (36 volts x 14 amp/hours) to the tiny 84 watt/hour pack on the early SRAM Sparc kit.

It’s best to choose a package that will provide twice your normal daily mileage. It’s difficult to guess the mileage from the watt/hour capacity, because actual performance depends on the bike and motor efficiency, battery type, road conditions, and your weight and level of fitness.

How can I measure the efficiency of an electric bike?

We measure overall efficiency by dividing the watt/hours used by the battery charger by the mileage achieved, giving a figure of watt/hours per mile. This varies according to the terrain, the weight and riding style of the rider and the type of battery and charger, but our figures are measured in exactly the same way for each test, so they should be comparable, bike against bike. The best we’ve seen is 8 watt/hours per mile, and the worst is 32… Typically, an electric bike will consume 10 – 20 watt/hours per mile. So a big battery like the Powabyke’s will give a range of between 15 miles (doing all the work in quite hilly terrain) and 50 miles (a joint effort in flat terrain). This is fine for most uses, although it’s a big, heavy battery. A typical 360Wh Li-ion battery should give a range of about 25 miles.

Do electric bikes recharge when you coast downhill?

With the exception of the Canadian BionX, the answer is generally NO. Taking into account wind-resistance, road friction and so on, there’s surprisingly little energy left over for recharging the battery, even before generator and battery losses are taken into account. In most systems the motor coasts when you ride downhill, but those that don’t (mainly electric scooters) are capable of putting back only 15% of the power absorbed climbing the hill. Regenerative systems do have their advantages though – mainly in reducing brake wear and over-heating.

Which battery type is best?

Lead-acid batteries are cheap and easily recycled, but they are sensitive to maltreatment and have a limited life. They are rare on modern bikes.
Weight for weight, nickel-cadmium (NiCd) gives more capacity, but it’s expensive and the cadmium is a nasty pollutant and difficult to recycle when the battery fails. The life is greater, which tends to compensate, but disposal problems mean that nickel-cadmium has been phased out.
Nickel-metal hydride (NiMh) is theoretically more efficient still, but these batteries are more expensive, and because the capacity is measured at the more generous 5-Hour rate, the advantage is not what it appears to be. Our experience is that NiMH offers little, if any, improvement in range over NiCd. They are, however, easier and safer to dispose of when they eventually fail, and the good ones will last for a considerable time.
But NiMH is now rare, because 95% of modern electric bikes come with Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries. These are more weight-efficient than the other types, and are very sensitive to abuse, and have a much shorter life even if looked after with great care. Charging and discharging must be carefully controlled to prevent the cells going into terminal meltdown, so either the charger, the battery or both will be packed with electronics. Fires are now rare(!), but initial hopes that costs would tumble proved unfounded, and these batteries are still expensive. Cheaper brands abound, but their life can be very limited. Despite these problems, the Li-ion has become the default battery. Lithium-ion Polymer (usually called Li-pol) doesn’t really offer any performance advantage in terms of weight or range of Li-ion, but it’s safer and can be moulded into interesting shapes. The life of Li-ion batteries is gradually improving, but you’re still doing well to see four years.

Which charger is best?

Swings and roundabouts here. Batteries do not take kindly to fast charging, although NiCd and NiMH are more tolerant than lead-acid, which can start very fast, but prefers a long tapering charge thereafter. A fast (sub four hour) charger makes a great difference to the flexibility of an electric machine. You can, for instance, travel for the full range in the morning, recharge while visiting a friend, and run home in the afternoon. No lead-acid charger can do this, although the best NiCd or NiMH chargers will. Newer Li-ion batteries with the control circuitry on board usually have a very simple charger, but the charge rate with this type will be relatively slow for safety reasons. An advantage is that most 36-volt designs now come with a standard 3-pin battery plug, so the chargers are often interchangeable. For basic commuting, an overnight charger is safest and kindest to the battery, but if you expect to push a high daily mileage, you’ll need something faster.

Should I choose a brushless motor?

Broadly speaking, there are three types of electric motor –

Direct Current motors – simple but comparatively heavy and slightly less efficient, and
Brushless DC (BLDC) motors – smaller, lighter and more efficient over a broader speed range, but with complicated wiring
Sensorless, brushless DC (Sensorless BLDC) motors – even smaller, lighter and more efficient, with simpler wiring, but slightly tricky to start

Direct Current motors have brushes to transfer power into the rotating bit. They are simple and reasonably reliable, but now very rare, fitted to abut 5% of bikes. The vast majority (around 80%) of electric bikes now use brushless DC motors. These are a bit more efficient, because they use electronics and sensors in the motor to do the bit the mechanical brushes do, but the sensors are linked to the control box by tiny wires, so they’re vulnerable to mechanical damage. A more recent development is the brushless, sensorless DC motor, fitted to about 15% of bikes, but the number is gradually increasing. This uses clever electronics to eliminate both the brushes and the sensors, so everything is simpler except the electronics, which are fiendish. Sensorless BLDC will probably take over from BLDC, but don’t rule out Direct Curent brushed motors! They may have mechanical brushes, but they’re mercifully short of complex electronics.

What should I look for in an electric bike?

We’ve put together an electric bike specification wish-list below. At the present time, there are no machines that win in every category, but the closer yours gets the better. If the salesman is unable to provide all the answers, or starts blustering or attempting to blind you with science, we’d recommend looking elsewhere. A good shop should be able to provide most of the figures in a straightforward and honest manner, but some are quite incompetent:

Weight: Less than 30kg (66lb)

Price: Obviously as little as possible, but realistically, expect to pay £1,000+

Maximum assisted speed: Not less than 15mph (legal maximum), and preferably 18mph

Peak power: More than 300 watts

Power consumption: Less than 10 watt/hours per mile

Range**: More than 25-30 miles

Battery type: NiMH or Li-ion (nickel-metal hydride or lithium-ion)

Replacement battery price: As little as possible, but realistically, you’ll have to pay £300-£400 for a decent one. Whatever the price, INSIST on a two year guarantee

** You’ll need to verify this for yourself – manufacturers figures are universally dubious

A few other pointers: If you are expecting to tackle very steep hills (in excess of 17%, or 1 in 6), we’d recommend a Crank Drive motor. This type puts power through the rear gear system and can be fine-tuned to suit almost any environment. It’s the best system if you can afford it. The more common Hub Motor effectively has only one gear, and although some are very powerful, it will prove less efficient in a really hilly area. For most other purposes a hub motor is fine, but avoid Friction Drive unless you intend to make light use of the bike. The roller and/or the tyre tend to wear out in a few hundred miles.

Electric Bike Manufacturers Worldwide
Compiled by Richard Peace of Excellent Books, and co-author of Electric Bicycles

For a list of UK based electric bike distributors and manufacturers please refer to Section 6. of our UK Electric Bike Price Guide.

Electric Bike Manufacturers

Name	Description	Manufacture	Design
8 Fun	A Chinese Giant now with direct UK sales doing both kits and whole bikes.	China	China
Aerobic Cruiser	A range of semi-recumbent machines from a firm in Memphis, US.	–	–	–
AGOGS	Czech-based company with Chinese made hub motor machines, selling in central and western Europe. Bikes are based on well-known Bafang motor systems. AGOGS also act as resellers of Protanium bikes.	China	China
Aima	Apparently Chinas fourth largest manufacturer of electric bikes	China	China
Akkurad	Manufacturer of electric-assist velo mobiles and add-on kits.	Various	Germany
Ampler	UNDER DEVELOPMENT – DUE AUG 2016 Single speed bikes with a claimed weight of 14-17kg	Various	Estonia
Ansmann	Maker of batteries, drive systems and retrofit kits. Stopped making electric bikes in 2015. Concentrating on developing and selling new systems .	China	Germany	–
Antec	Hub-motor pedelecs.	China	Netherlands
Anthrotech	Recumbent tricycle manufacturer with electric-assist option.	Various	Germany	–
AS Bikes	Budget folders.	China	China
Ave	German-made city-styled pedelecs.	Taiwan	Germany
Avon	Mainly moped style electric bikes and scooters serving the Indian market.	–	–	–
Azor	Hub motor systems fitted to classic Dutch style Omafiets or ‘granny bikes’.	Netherlands	Netherlands
Babboe	Dutch cargo bikes in the ‘bakfiets’ style.	–	–	–
Bangkok Cycle Industrial Co Ltd	Mass producer of more than 1 million bicycles annually.	Thailand	Thailand
Batavus	Dutch style city bikes – part of the Accell group, so extremely similar in style to Sparta.	Netherlands	Netherlands
Batribikes	Range of hub motor bikes.	China	China
Bauer	Hub-motor pedelecs plus Bosch crank motor options.	Multiple	Germany
Bear Print	Chinese hub motor machines with a 2 year battery guarantee.	China	China
Beat Bikes	Chinese made mini-folding bikes.	China	China
Benelli	Unusually have opted for a single road race design with rear hub motor.
Bergamont	German based company producing Bosch and Shimano powered machines.	Various	Germany
BESV	Stylish high end city bikes from Taiwanese manufacturer Darfon.
BigFish	Folder with the Japanese Sunstar kit added. May not be in production since 2012.	Multiple	Italy
Binbike	Belgian-based manufacturer of crystalyte hub-motored town bikes.	China	Belgium
Blix	Slimline looking town and folding bikes. Appears to be a US / Swedish concern.
Bottechia	Now a mixture of Chinese style pedelecs with hub motors and Shimano STEPS and Bafang crank drives. www.cicliadriatica.it	Multiple	Italy	–
Busettii	–	–	–	–
Bridgestone	High quality Japanese pedelecs.	Japan	Japan
Bronx	Reasonably priced, lightweight UK bikes.	Taiwan	United Kingdom
Byocycles	Range of hub motor bikes.	China	China
Cleanairbike	A highly unusual fuel-cell powered cargo bike. MAY NOT BE IN DEVELOPMENT / PRODUCTION ANY LONGER	–	–	–
Claud Butler	Hub motor style bikes from a longstanding UK manufacturer.	China	United Kingdom
COBOC	Sleek German single speed design		Germany
Corratec	German designed pedelec with Bosch and Shimano crank drive motors.	Germany / Japan	Germany
Cube	High tech models featuring wireless technology. Storck hub motor technology used under license.	–	–	–
Cutting Edge	NO EVIDENCE STILL IN PRODUCTION	China	China
Cycles Maximus	Powered tricycles for heavy duty business style use. Redesigned for 2013.	United Kingdom	United Kingdom
Cyclotricity	Part assembled in the UK	China / UK	China
Cytronex	Using their own bespoke electrics with the excellent Tongxin friction hub motor, these are some of raciest, lightest bikes around.	China	United Kingdom
Dahon	Dahon Boost using a Sunstar pedelec system has been replaced by the even heavier Ciao Ei7 with Tranz-X motor system.	China	China
Ecolo Cycle	A range of Asian made machines aimed at the Canadian market.	–	–	–
Eden Bikes	Nice simple looking bikes from Taiwan with a Dutch feel. Possibly no longer in existence.	–	–	–
Eflow	Powerful town bikes from Furth, Germany.	–	–	–
E-motion	Spanish manufacturer using a wide variety of motor systems.	Multiple	Spain
Energie	U.S. based firm using Bafang crank drives and quick chargers delivery 7 amp charging	China	?
Enzobike	US company’s take on a 20″ folder with hub motor
Estelle	A range of city, touring and trekking bikes fitted with high-quality Heinzmann hub motors and also ‘specials’ such as the unique Smike with detachable sidecar.	Germany	Germany
EZ pedaler	US-branded Chinese hub motor machines.	China	China
Freway	US based MTB style rear-hub motor models	–	–
Freygeist	Claimed weight of 12kg for a rear hub motor model.	–	–
FST	Hub motor design and manufacture. NO LONGER IN PRODUCTION	China	Japan
Gazelle	High quality Dutch bikes. Hub and crank drives.	Netherlands	Netherlands
Geobyev	Chinese hub motor machines MAY NO LONGER BE IN PRODUCTION	China	China
Gepida	Hungarian makers using Bosch technology plus their own design.	Multiple	Hungary
Giant	2016 bikes now use Yamaha syncdrive crank motors	China	Taiwan
Gitane	French take on the Panasonic crank drive.	Japan	France
GoCycle	Stylish, unique British design. Demountable, with magnesium frame.	–	–	–
Goericke	Pedelecs with hub motors and Bosch crank motors POSSIBLY NO LONGER MADE	–	–	–
Grace	High end, made to order germanic ‘superbikes’	Germany	Germany
Greens	Pedelecs with Bosch motors.	–	–	–
Greenspark	Italian branded Chinese style machines	–	–	–
Gtech	From the makers of cordless vacuum cleaners. Single speed with belt drive.
Haibikes	Bosch and Yamaha motor driven with high quality components. Trekking and mountain bike models.	Germany	Germany
Halfords	Halfords bikes, sold under their own Carrera brand. Suntour motor	Taiwan	Taiwan
Harbin	Dutch branded Chinese style bikes	–	–	–
Hase	Various kits fitted to unusual tandem recumbent.	Germany	China
Hebb	Hub motor machines. NOT SELLING BIKES BUT STILL SELLING PARTS THAT ALSO CLAIM TO FIT EZEE BIKES	–	–	–
Heisenberg	Range of crank powered bikes from German based company	Various	Germany	–
Helkama	Finnish-made pedelecs using a range of Panasonic crank drive systems.	Japan	Finland
Hercules	Using Bosch, Shimano and Suntour systems	China	Germany
Hero Eco	Umbrella company from India where it makes electric scooters. Includes Fast4ward, A2B and Ultramotor electric bikes	–	–	–
Herskind & Herskind	Classic city bikes with a designer’s touch. NO ELECTRIC BIKES IN RANGE	Multiple	Denmark
Honda	Single speed lead acid model now in the UK DIFFICULT TO TRACE	Japan	Japan
Hongdu	Heavy looking Chinese style machines from a former military aircraft manufacturer.	–	–	–
HPVelotechnik	Recumbent makers offering models ready fitted with BionX systems.	Canada	Germany
Ideation	–	–	–	–
IGO	Hub motor bikes with interesting fully-equipped Dutch style model
Italwin	Shimano Steps and hub-powered machines	–	–	–
IZIP	Large US manufacturer with a huge range. Now part of the European Accell group	China	United States
IUVO	Taiwanese hub motor specialist and maker of the Mobiky folding electric bike	–	–	–
Jewel	Chinese hub motor machines NO LONGER IN PRODUCTION UNDER THIS NAME	China	China
JD / TranzX	Maker of complete electric bikes as well as various parts used by other firms. Automatic gear changing system for electric bikes sold as OEM.	Taiwan	Taiwan
Johnny Loco	Cargobike offering with Shimano Steps crank drive	Netherlands	Japan
Juicy Bike	Well priced bikes of reasonable quality	China	China
Leisger	Chinese hub motor machines.	China	China
Lohner	Austrian scooter manufacturer, now building electric bikes and scooters	Germany	Austria	–
Lvneng	Chinese moped style machines	China	China
Kalkhoff	Superb range of pedelecs with Panasonic and Daum technology	Japan	Germany
Kettler	Panasonic and Bosch crank drive pedelecs. Recently filed for insolvency.	Japan	Germany
Klever	Subsidiary of Taiwanese scooter manufacter, with own entire brand system and design, based in Germany	Taiwan / Germany	Germany
Kreidler	Bosch, Shimano and Panasonic drives plus hub motor machines	Various	Germany
Koga Miyata	High quality pedelecs with hub motors and Bosch crank drives. Dutch city bike style.	Various	Netherlands	–
Kona	A range of well-priced hub-motor bikes, including a transport bike. MAY HAVE STOPPED PRODUCTION WITH ELECTRICS	Taiwan	–	–
Kranium	Hub motor machines with frame concealed batteries. Information hard to come by. Velorution sell in the UK.	–	–	–
Kudos	‘Budget’ bikes sold in the UK with reasonable battery prices.	China	China
KTM	Swiss manufacturers offering a large mix of styles and high quality motor systems.	Germany, Japan	–	–
L.A.	Thai company with a range of electric bikes	–	–	–
Lightfoot Cycles	Recumbents and cargo bikes with the option of a chain drive or BionX hub motor assist. CLOSED AUGUST 2015	–	–	–
Luther & Luther	Cargotrike and rickshaw specialist.	–	–	–
M55-Bike	Bike with impressive video For super-rich jetsetters.	–	–	–
Mando Footloose	Highly unusual chainless series hybrid from South Korea		South Korea
Matra	French take on the BionX system	Multiple	France
Megamo	Italian based firm using hub and Shimano crank motors	Multiple	China
Ming	Shimano Steps powered pedelecs	Taiwan	–	–
Miyata	Quality Japanese pedelecs	Japan	Japan
Momentum	UK based company and designers of a great value, impressive quality pair of pedelecs	China	United Kingdom
Mondraker	Austrian Bosch-powered MTB specialist
Montego	Dutch company producing pedelec hub motors	The Netherlands	–	–
Monty	Spanish company with a large number or rear hub-motored bikes, often folders plus an electric tricycle kit.	–	–	–
Moskino	Now using Bafang MaxDrive crank motor	China	China
Motorino	Interesting looking 1960s retro design with coaster brake.	–	–	–
Nihola	Well-known and respected Danish cargo bikes – produced BionX powered option but information on electric options now scarce	Denmark	Denmark	–
Ohm Cycles	Canadian designed BionX bikes	Multiple	Canada
Optibike	Very powerful and very expensive bikes from the US.	United States	United States
Orbea	Bosch and Shimano powered pedelecs	Multiple	Netherlands
Ovo	French manufacturers of hub motor machines	China	France
Oxygen	Chinese style hub motor machines	China	China
Pacific Cycles	Folding electric pedelec.	Taiwan	–	–
Panther	Pedelecs using Bosch and Shimano systems	–	–	–
Part mobil	High quality chair style bikes with Heinzmann motors for those with limited mobility	Germany	Germany
Patria	BionX powered bikes ELECTRIC OPTIONS NO LONGER AVAILABLE	Multiple	Germany
Pedego	Beach cruiser style hub motor machines	China	United States
Peugeot	French auto style bought to ebikes	Multiple	France
Pfiff	German company specialising in bikes for special needs	–	–	–
PG Bikes	German company offering hugely fast, powerful and expensive bikes APPARENTLY DEFUNCT WEBSITE	–	–	–
PiCycle	Unique US design of hub motor bike. HOLDING WEBSITE	–	–	–
Pihsiang	Taiwanese based company producing relatively lightweight electric bikes.	–	–	–
Polaris	US company inspired by power sports
Porterbike	Bikes with carrying capacity within the frame fitted with a BionX kit.	Canada	Germany
Powabyke	Long-established UK firm of well-priced machines	China	United Kingdom
Powacycle	Powabyke’s main rival for budget-priced UK bikes	China	United Kingdom
Prodeco	US based hub motor bikes and kits. Two year battery guarantee and very competitively priced.	–	US	–
Prodigy	Unusual looking crank drive system and a variety of bike designs
Promovec	Danish pedelecs with hub motors	Denmark	Taiwan
Protanium	Hub and crank motor pedelec bikes and kits	–	–	–
Puch	Shimano, Bosch and hub motor drives motor bikes	Japan	Austria
Quipplan	Folding electric bike from Spain with belt drive. Claimed 18.5kg weight.	?	Spain
QWIC	Dutch brand featuring hub and MPF crank motors	Multiple	Netherlands
Radkutsche	German cargo bike specialist	Multiple	Germany
Raleigh	Panasonic crank drive pedelecs and a newer range of hub motor machines.	Japan	Germany
Reef	Australian-based company selling China made machines and importing a small selection of higher end bikes.	China	China
Reise & Muller	A range of very distinctively designed bikes with Bosch drives	Germany	Germany
Rixe	Another range featuring Bosch and Kalkhoff Impulse technology. Like Kalkhoff and Raleigh, Rixe are part of the giant Derby cycle group, and all have similar offerings.	Japan	Germany
Rose Bikes	German based producer of Bosch powered pedelecs
Rotwild	e-MTBS from Germany using the German Brose motor
Sachs	A good range of styles of hub motored bikes.	Taiwan	Germany
Samhyun	Hub motor kit manufacturers from South Korea who also manufacture electric motors for cars.	–	–	–
Sanyo	Developers of the Eneloop bike with regenerative power.	Japan	Japan
Saracen	Saracen’s first electric bike is a Shimano STEPS powered hybrid.
Schachner	Austrian hub motor bikes with kit option.	–	–	–
Scott	US firm using Bosch and Shimano systems
Seven Star	Chinese hub motor machines	China	China
Sinner	Recumbent trike with hub motor.	–	–	–
Smart	BionX powered model from the makers of the eponymous car	Multiple	Germany
Smike	Highly unusual side car option with Heinzmann hub motor.	Germany	Switzerland
Sparta	Quality Dutch city bikes. Pedelecs with hub motors and the Bosch crank drive	Taiwan	Switzerland
Spencer Ivy	German Panasonic drive machines with a peculiarly British marketing slant and a practical looking spec including rack with child seat mount. LOOK TO BE DISCONTINUED	Germany	Japan
Storck	Trekking style bikes with their own design of hub motor.	Germany	Germany
Stealth Electric Bikes	Hugely powerful MTBs from Australia.	–	–	–
Steppenwolf	Part of the same German group as Grace. Make mainly Brose powered crank drives but also with Suntour hub motors.	Germany	Germany
Stromer	High quality Swiss design with direct drive motor and frame-housed removable battery.	–	–	–
Swiss Flyer	High quality Swiss bikes with Panasonic crank drive. Includes tandems, a folder and a full suspension model.	Japan	Switzerland
TDR	A very interesting design of crank drive pedelec with a specially enlarged seat tube. NO EVIDENCE OF BEING IN PRODUCTION	–	Netherlands	–
TDS	Swiss manufacturer of their own design pedelec design as well as Bosch and Shimano systems.	Multiple	Switzerland
Third Element	Hugely powerful mountain bike pedelec. POSSIBLY DEFUNCT	–	–	–
Thompsons	Extremely well-priced hub motor bikes.	China	China
Tonaro	Budget crank drive models fitted to standard-spec budget bicycles. Also marketed in the U.S. as Evelo	China	China
Tout Terrain	German manufacturer of rugged city and touring bikes using GoSwissDrive gearless motor and Pinion bottom bracket gearing.
Trek	Shimano Steps and Bosch offerings	–	–	–
Twinburst	French company pioneering two-wheel drive transmission with motors in both wheels.
Urban Mover	Mid-priced hub motor machines with strong UK presence MAY NO LONGER BE OPERATING	China	United Kingdom
Velocab	Rickshaws and cargo bikes with 250w electric assist option.	–	–	–
Velocity	Unique belt drive system designed for speed DESIGNER MICHAEL KUTTER DIED IN 2015 Remaining technical backup companies listed here	–	–	–
Velo de Ville	German manufacturers whose range includes Bosch and Shimano drive model	–	–	–
Velomini	Electric folding bikes with batteries in the frame	–	–	–
Velonom	Longtail style cargobikes with e-power options SEEMINGLY NO LONGER MADE	Multiple	Germany
Velorbis	High quality, built to order Danish bikes MAY NO LONGER PRODUCE ELECTRIC BIKES	Multiple	Germany
Victoria	A wide range of hub and crank drive bikes.	Japan	Germany
Viking	–	China	China
Vintage	Based in California, manufacturing retro style cruisers with motorbike styling	Various?	U.S
Visiobike	Croatian based digital tech loaded bikes using a variety of crank drives		Croatia
Vivax Assist	Tiny frame housed motor, claiming to be the lightest in the world		Austria
V’lec	Based in eastern France and claiming to make the lightest electric folding bike in the world
Volt	UK based company that started with hub motor machines but have headed upmarket with their own Shimano crank motor model	China / Japan
Voltage	U.S. styled motorbike / cruiser design. Images and videos on the website but little other info!  FACEBOOK PAGE SEEMS TO INDICATE BUSINESS DISCONTINUED
Voltitude	Folding electric bike with Swiss army knife style branding!	–	–	–
Vital Bikes	Hub and crank drive bikes.	–	–	–
Wallerang	Swedish firm making Shimano Steps powered bike
Wattworld	A range of reasonably priced hub motor bikes.	–	–	–
Wayel	Shaft drive electric bikes from Italy.	–	–	–
Wheeler	Large eurpopean based manufacturer using largely BionX	–	–	–
Whyte	Shimano Steps hybrid style models for 2016	Japan	Various
Wilier Trestina	Italian brand using TDCM hub motor and Shimano crank motor	Japan / Taiwan
Winora	Hub motors bikes using various third party systems, including TranzX, Bosch and Yamaha	Multiple	Germany
Wisper	Hub motor machines	China	UK
Woosh	Budget machines from the Far East.	–	–	–
X-Streme Scooters	90 days warranty and rock bottom quality	–	–	–
Yamaha	Yamaha’s own models fitted with their own PAS pedelec system	Japan	Japan
YouMo	Swiss cruiser design with gearless GoSwissDrive hub	Switzerland & ?

Electric Bike Conversion Kit Manufacturers

Name	Description	Manufacture	Design
8 Fun	A Chinese Giant now with direct UK sales doing both kits and whole bikes	China	China
Ansmann	Maker of batteries, drive systems and retrofit kits.	–	–	–
BionX	Sophisticated hub kit with regenerative power.	China	Canada
Clean Republic	Easy install hub kits	China	United States
Conv-e	British wheelbuilding, battery case and cables, Chinese motor, twistgrip, battery cells and BMS circuit	China	United Kingdom
Crystalyte	Long established Chinese manufacturer of powerful hub kits	China	China
Currie Electro-Drive	Powerful kit that drives through the rear hub and spokes from US manufacturers IZIP	–	–	–
Cyclone	Variety of mainly crank-drive style kits.  Cyclone USA	–	–	–
DB Revo	Motor, controller and battery all in one wheel, controlled wirelessly.	Taiwan	Taiwan
Dillenger	Australian company selling budget eastern made direct into the UK.
EclipsEbikes	Unusual belt drive kits	–	–	–
E-BikeKit	US spec hub kits	China	United States
Ecospeed	US kit that drives through the chain	Multiple	United States
EGO	Hugely powerful kits that claim to fit 70% of mountain bikes. Designed for getting you to the top of a mountain for you to hurtle back down…	–	–	–
Eplus	Hub-housed motors and batteries. Successor to Wavecrest / Tidalforce. May have ceased	–	–	–
E power mobility	Chinese style hub motor kits	–	–	–
Evelo	Produce the all in one Omniwheel. Sold via a US based shop.	–	–	–
Ezee	Hub motor kits	China	China
Falco	Lightweight hub motors rated in 250w and 1000w versions	China	China
Golden Motor	Front and rear wheel hub kits.  Alien Ocean (UK)	China	China
Greentrans	Hub motor kit with torque sensor	Taiwan	Taiwan
Gruber Assist	Unique motor that hides in the downtube and drives through the bottom bracket.  Electric Goat Bikes (UK)	–	–	–
Heinzmann	German made kits of outstanding quality	Germany	Germany
Monty	Spanish company with a large number or rear hub-motored bikes, often folders plus an electric tricycle kit.	–	–	–
Protanium	Hub motor pedelec bikes and kits	–	–	–
Ridekick	Electric trailer designed to push your non-electric bike along.	US	US
Sunstar	High quality crank drive kit.  UK distributors are Sparticle	Japan	Japan
TBA	Geared and gearless hub motor kits and a crank drive, all keenly priced
Tongxin	Excellent friction drive hub motor – the narrow version is the most common motor fitted to Bromptons. Freedom eBikes (UK)  Electric Wheel (UK)	China	China

Name	Description	Manufacture	Design
Justwin	Single and dual seater electric trikes	Taiwan	Taiwan
Team Hybrid	Specialise in fitting Heinzmann kits to handcycles	–	–	–

Ten good reasons to use an electric bike…

Faster Travel

In theory a car can average a high speed, but in practise speed often falls below 10mph in cities. The problem is congestion – motorcycles get around this to some extent, but they’re still confined to the road network. An electric bike can maintain a higher average speed than a bicycle, yet take advantage of the full network of cycle facilities, giving access to routes that cars and motorcycles cannot reach. The result is often a faster door-to-door journey time than any other mode. And by nipping along the relatively uncongested cycle network, but eliminating hills and headwinds, electric bikes tend to be the most consistent mode of travel.

No Sweat!

Sweat may not be a serious issue when you’re out for a leisure ride, but it’s more important if you’re cycling to work, and arriving at work sticky puts a lot of people off cycling. Although some employers are rather grudgingly providing showers and other facilities for cyclists, the vast majority have no intention of doing so. An electric bike eliminates the problem at source. Oddly enough, you won’t sweat on an electric bike, even if you put in the same amount of effort as you do on an ordinary bike. This is a matter of physics as well as exertion – higher road speed and greater air flow mean instant sweat evaporation. In hot weather, it’s possible to maintain a normal schedule by transferring a bit more load to the electric motor. In colder weather – or if you feel in need of exercise – just throttle back, or turn the motor off.

Safety

It sounds unlikely, doesn’t it? But the mathematics is compelling. Think of a steep and busy road, with cars climbing at 30mph. If you previously slogged up the hill at 6mph, but can tackle the same gradient at 12mph with an electric bike, you will see 33% fewer cars, and they will pass you at 18mph rather than 24mph. Or at least, we think that’s correct. Whatever the figures, there’s no doubt that an electric bike helps to keep you out of danger. The same general principle applies to road junctions and roundabouts – the faster your acceleration, the sooner you can get out of trouble. And with no need to rush the hills, you won’t be tempted to ride downhill at breakneck speed… another useful safety feature..

Hill Climbing

That may sound obvious, but it’s the primary advantage. A good electric bike effectively flattens hills, increasing your average speed and eliminating the ‘groan’ factor when a gradient comes into view. Provided you supply a reasonable amount of effort, you can expect to climb hills of 1:10 (10%) on an electric bike with ease, and clear a maximum gradient of 1:7 (14%), or even 1:4 (25%) with the right bike. In hilly country, the effect is nothing short of miraculous.

Electric Bike Running Costs

Purchase cost is a little more than a conventional bike, mechanical wear and tear is about the same, and electricity is so cheap as to be largely irrelevant, but there is an extra expense in terms of battery depreciation. Consequently, an electric bike costs more to run – typically 8 – 12 pence per mile against 3 – 7 pence per mile for a non-assisted bike. [1]. However, electric bike running costs should really be compared with those of a moped, car, or public transport, typically 20-40p per mile by bus, 20-60p by train and 30-150p for a small car.

Motorised, but no Red Tape!

Electric bikes are bicycles in the eyes of the law, so they require no tax, insurance, MoT or licence. You can ride one while disqualified, or after a couple of pints… at your own risk, of course. You CAN get into trouble, but nothing you do will affect your driving licence providing the bike is within the law. You are of course free to insure the machine if you wish, but there’s no compulsion to do anything but enjoy yourself!

Personal Fitness

Surely a conventional bike will keep you fitter? That, of course, depends how much – if at all – you use it. Research [2] has found that 46% of conventional bikes are used only once or twice a week, with a further 30% being used once a fortnight or even less. By contrast, a 2001 survey of electric bike owners reveals that a third ride their bike at least once a day and 81% use the bike at least once a week [3]. The figures confirm our experience that an electric bike typically gets used at least twice as often as a conventional machine. Because riding an electric bike is a great deal more enjoyable in hilly country, into strong winds, or when carrying heavy loads, users tend to make better use of them. The motor provides up to half the effort, but more regular use means more exercise for the rider.

Electric Bike Fuel Consumption

Electric bikes are the most fuel efficient mode of transport in everyday use. Typical fuel consumption is 8-16 watt-hours per mile, or something like a tenth as much as a small motorcycle. In old money, that’s the equivalent of 800-2,000mpg.

Sustainable

This is a bit weird, but the evidence is very compelling. Ride a normal bicycle and you will have to top up with extra calories at Tescos. Producing and transporting that food takes a lot of energy, and it’s typically more than the electric bike battery needs to do the same amount of work. Depending on the source of the electricity and the air-miles of the food, an electric bike is responsible for 5.8-13.7g/CO2 per mile, and a normal bike 10.5-18.5/CO2 per mile [4]. Incredible!

High Resale Value

At £400-£2,000, an electric bike costs more to buy than a conventional machine, but they tend to hold their value, so you get more of your money back when you move on.

References

[1] A to B test data. Both figures assume depreciation over ten years, and annual mileage of 2,500 (electric) and 2,000 (conventional).

[2] Transport Research Laboratory report: ‘New Cycle Owners: expectations and experiences’ (Davies and Hartley 1998)

[3] Leeds University report: ‘The New Generation of Private Vehicles in the UK. Should their use be encouraged and can they attract drivers of conventional cars?’ (Neil Guthrie 2001)

[4] ‘Electric Bicycles’ 2010, Richard Peace and David Henshaw

So there’s now a British electric bike? Well, yes and no, but mostly no. To explain how and why this has come about, we need to blow some dust off the corporate history books.

Raleigh is (or was) a big British bicycle manufacturer that helped to keep the wheels of the British Empire turning for over half a century. It had divisions all over the world, one of the last being established in Germany in 1974. But by the 1980s, the company seemed to have lost its way, like so much of British industry, and it was sold by British multinational Tube Investments to the giant Derby Corporation of America.

This arrangement seems to have worked quite well, and the company even launched some innovations, such as the Select electric bike, produced with Sanyo in 1998. This was one of the first machines of its kind, but it was slow, with limited range, and at £1,000, it was too expensive. This glorious flop lead Raleigh to retreat from electric bikes altogether, and concentrate on MTBs and BMX bikes, the only serious money-spinners in the fickle UK market. As it turned out, they had missed a big opportunity.

Back in 1988, Derby had absorbed a small, near bankrupt German manufacturer called Kalkhoff, ultimately turning it around as Derby Cycles Werke or DCW, trading under the Kalkhoff and Raleigh brands in Germany. DCW seems to have been bursting with ideas, one of which was to pair the excellent Panasonic crank-drive power unit with some decent equipment and a quality roadster frame… this was the Kalkhoff Agattu, now also badged as the Raleigh Dover. By this time in the early years of the new millennium, the wonderful, but commercially unsuccessful Giant Lafree had been and gone, leaving the Agattu to slip quietly into its shoes. A classic had been born.

Bikes like the Agattu helped to kick-start an explosion in European electric bike sales and the Kalkhoff brand was cannily picked up by 50 Cycles in the UK. Having thrown away a lead of nearly a decade, Raleigh UK was blundering around looking for an electric bike partner, and in late 2006 it settled on a marketing arrangement with Powabyke.This was rather bad news, as Powabyke was still producing stodgy lead-acid electric bikes. So for a while, a customer walking into a UK Raleigh dealership would be pointed towards the agricultural Powabyke Shopper, while Herr Schmidt would be offered the svelte, sophisticated Raleigh-badged Kalkhoff. The collaboration did result in the Powabyke X-bike, which put a Powabyke motor in a light Raleigh frame, but it soon dawned on Raleigh UK that it was stuck with the tractors of the E-bike world, while its smarter, more innovative German cousin had control of the Bentley, or of course the Mercedes, as we must now call it, Rolls-Royce having gone the way of the best of British industry.

In 2007, Derby Corporation decided to concentrate on its core markets, selling the German DCW to an investment bank, so it’s now nominally a separate entity, but the Managing Director is still a Raleigh shareholder, and the company is still licensed to use the Raleigh brand in Germany. Confused? We quite understand.

Two years later, Powabyke went into administration (it was bought for a million pounds in October 2009 by Metroelectric PLC) and the hiatus gave Raleigh UK the excuse it needed to escape from the tie-in deal, and go for the much better German bike that already carried a Raleigh badge. A brash young team was assembled with a brief to get a Raleigh UK badge on DCW’s Agattu and set up a UK dealer network.

Yes, it’s a complicated story, but the upshot is that Raleigh has finally got the electric bike it deserves, and – crucially to this global player – it’s better than the eBikes marketed by Giant, Trek and the other big brands. More by luck than judgement, Raleigh has acquired the rights to an extremely good machine.

The Raleigh Dover

The Raleigh Dover As we gave the Agattu a good going over in A to B 63 back in January 2008, we’ll stick to the differences here, although there aren’t many. Kalkhoff was already selling the Agattu as the Raleigh Dover in Germany (embarrassingly, the German Raleigh bikes seem to be named after cities knocked about by the Luftwaffe), so it was a simple matter to bring the bike to the UK. If you’re looking to buy one, it’s almost identical to the Kalkhoff Agattu, but interestingly – and perhaps surprisingly – the Raleigh version costs £1,795, against £1,595£1,645 for the Kalkhoff, a premium of £150-£200. On the positive side, of course, you are paying for the reassurance of a big, well-trained, dealer network and a name that almost everyone will recognise. Mind you, the Agattu is one of the most reliable electric bikes around, so the dealers will – hopefully – have little to do. Meanwhile, the ever-canny 50 Cycles has wasted no time in adding ‘Like the Raleigh Dover’ to its advertising material.

Equipment is almost identical. In 2008, the Agattu was fitted with B&M Lumotec Senso lights, a skirt guard, Post Moderne sprung seat pillar and sprung front forks. Sadly, the frame lock and skirtguard have disappeared from the 2010 bikes, but the rest of the equipment remains as good as ever, with an upgrade from a 7- to an 8-speed Shimano hub. The only differences on the Raleigh are Schwalbe Advancer tyres in place of the Continental City Rides on the Kalkhoff, and a plain rather than sprung seat post.

Our Raleigh test bike feels much sprightlier than the 2008 Agattu, but that’s probably because the Agattu and Raleigh now share the sporty Pro-Connect’s 1:1.5 assistance ratio on the ‘High’ setting. It also feels ‘peakier’, meaning there’s less power when pedalling slowly, and progressively more as pedal cadence rises. This may be part of the same changes, or it may be some subtle reconfiguration for the UK, which Raleigh has hinted at. Either way, it feels annoying at first if you’re used to older bikes, but you soon get the hang of changing down sooner on hills and avoiding slogging along in a high gear. The general feeling is of a much sportier and livelier bike, and this is confirmed on our ten-mile test ride which the Raleigh knocks off in 33 minutes 15 seconds – nearly four minutes faster than the 2008 Agattu, and 45 seconds faster than the Pro-Connect.

It feels livelier on the road too, partly because of quick, light steering, but no doubt too because it’s quite light for a well-equipped electric: 21.6kg for the bike, plus 2.4kg for the battery. In reality, the speed is something of an illusion, because like all Panasonic-powered bikes the gearing is kept deliberately low to limit the maximum speed. Compared to the 7speed we tried back in 2008, first is much lower at 27.3″ (helpful for getting you home with a flat battery), and top is slightly higher at 83″ (previously 80″). That’s a touch low, but not low enough for your legs to become a frenzied blur at the maximum assisted speed of 16.6mph.

As regular readers will know, the top speed of crank-drive bikes is usually factory set by fitting a sprocket large enough for the motor to run out of steam at the legal speed limit, so if you like to go slower and/or climb steeper hills, you can easily re-gear it. Conversely, a smaller sprocket will make the bike go faster, which is technically illegal, but we think the police have better things to do with their time. As long as you don’t go mad, of course.

Back in 2008, our Kalkhoff Agattu had a range of 26.7 miles at 13.7mph on High, and the lighter, lustier Pro-Connect managed 31.5 miles at an average of 14.7mph. Today’s Raleigh (and, again, this probably applies to the 2010 Kalkhoff Agattu as well) achieved a median 28.4 miles, but with its higher gearing and peakier power output, average speed was a cracking 15.3mph. So the new bikes are faster and more economic than the 2008 Agattu, and a little faster or more economical than the older Pro-Connect. And all this is on full power. From experience, we’d say that 28.4 miles would equate to at least 31 miles on Normal power, and perhaps as much as 50 miles on Low.

Fuel consumption comes out at 10.9Wh/mile, and again, that’s more or less par for the course against the Kalkhoffs, and a very low figure for such a high average speed.

According to Jane, who knows the Giant Lafree well, the Raleigh/Kalkhoff has a more upright seat tube, which combined with bigger 28-inch wheels, and a relatively high bottom bracket, makes it impossible to get a straight leg riding position, and put a foot down comfortably at the lights. This does seem to be an issue with these big European bikes, and putting the saddle right back is only a partial answer. For now, Raleigh will only be importing the small 45cm (step-thru) and 53cm (diamond) frames, but if you really need something bigger (very unlikely) you can buy the Kalkhoff version.

Running Costs

One advantage of the widespread adoption of the Panasonic crank-drive is that quite a list of bicycles are now fitted with identical batteries, so if you’re in the market for a replacement, you can shop around. The primary brands in the UK at the time of writing are Emotion, Kalkhoff, Kettler, Monark and Raleigh. Raleigh admits it isn’t the cheapest for batteries and other spares, but there’s no obligation to buy from a Raleigh Ebike dealer. Like all other Panasonic bikes, the battery guarantee is two years, something that is gradually being adopted as an industry standard.

As far as we know (do tell us if we’re wrong) 50 Cycles is currently the cheapest for batteries, but be prepared for a shock, because it now costs £400. This is effectively the only running cost, but no one can yet say for sure how long the batteries will last. Pessimistically, we assume failure the day after the guarantee runs out, and on that basis, the Raleigh will cost 10.7p per mile to run. That’s better than average, helped by the high mileage per charge.

Conclusion

Watch out gents, the Raleigh is a big hit with the ladies. One who happened to be passing fell in love with it, Jane decided it was the first electric bike she would consider to replace the venerable Lafree, and Teresa already has a Kalkhoff… We ended up doing more mileage with the Raleigh Dover than anything since the Giant Lafree.

Where the Dover/Agattu really succeeds (particularly with the extra oomph in High power) is that it does the business for most of the people most of the time. It’s a big, elegant town bike, but it’s also fast enough to eat up the miles on cross country rides, and economical enough to go a long way. It has a low bottom gear to tackle Cornish/Yorkshire/Cumbrian gradients, and a high enough top to nip smartly across the big landscapes of East Anglia. The equipment is good enough for all-weather, all-year-round use, but the bike is still one of the lightest in its class.

All design involves compromise, and there are compromises here aplenty, but the Dover has few obvious weaknesses.You have to be a bit careful with gear changes, and without labouring the point, there remains a question mark over battery life and running costs, but for our money this machine really does continue to redefine the bicycle. The Kalkhoff Agattu is almost identical and cheaper, the E-Motion is a touch more efficient but limited by its gear options, and so on. But there remains a degree of loyalty to that Raleigh badge, despite the fact that there’s no British content.We think it will be a hit.

Specifications

Raleigh Dover £1,795 . Weight Bicycle 21.6kg Battery 2.4kg Total 24kg (53lbs) . Battery Li-Ion . Capacity 270Wh . Replacement £400 . Range 28.4 miles . Gear Ratios 26″-79″ Full Charge 6 hours . Overall Consumption 10.9Wh/mile . Running Costs 10.7p/mile Importer Raleigh www.raleighebike.co.uk info@raleigh.org.uk T 01773 532680

A to B 79 – Aug 2010

The E-motion is made by B H Bikes in Spain, or more accurately Bicicletas de Alava S.A. Now, we’d never heard of B H, which might be because they’ve yet to make much of a mark in the UK, and they specialise in racy machines.We’re talking skin-tight Lycra and shaven legs here. Dead serious.

However, the company does also produce a few city and commuter bikes, with names like Cambridge and London, and has recently adapted a few of its frames to accept the Panasonic power-assist system, now fitted to city bikes in almost every European country except, er, the UK.Well, we did have a word with Raleigh at last year’s London show, but no doubt they know best.

Once you’ve seen one power-assisted European city bike, you’ve seen them all, or so you might think, but with B H being something of a sporty brand, these are a bit different. As far as we know, these are the first mass-produced crank-drive machines to use a conventional derailleur, and as well as the step-thru and top-tube models one might expect, there’s also an aluminium/carbon fibre sports job weighing a claimed 16.8kg.

You might, at this moment, be thinking that power-assist on a lightweight sports bike would be at best a bit of a contradiction and at worst a travesty, act of vandalism, appalling desecration of this temple to human endurance, and so forth, depending on your strength of feeling. It does seem a bit odd, but there are several of reasons why you might want a bike like this.

The bikes that work best with power-assistance are generally the ones that work best, full stop. So if you want to go a long way at a decent speed, you’re much better off starting with a good European racing bike than a crummy Far Eastern excuse for a bicycle. And then, you might just want to show off, striding into work in your skin-tight Lycra with freshly waxed legs, but absolutely no sweat, demonstrating your remarkable virility.We make no moral judgements on how one might use the bike, merely that it is available for those who want such a thing.

If this bike was fitted with a hub motor, we would also say that the power was merely an add-on for hills, giving assistance up to 15mph, and allowing you to sail off at racing speed on the flat or – more pessimistically – the downhill bits. But the E-motion Sport has a crank drive, so the pedals are geared low enough not to exceed that speed by very much. They’ve ‘detuned’ it thus by fitting a relatively large 13-tooth top gear sprocket, although anyone with a modest technical knowledge will be to fit an 11-tooth sprocket in less than 10 minutes, making the bike much nicer and more practical to ride, yet still barely exceeding the increasingly ludicrous 15mph speed limit.

Obviously you all want to hear about this carbon fibre job, so perversely we’re testing one of the sensible commuter bikes, because we do so love practical machines. The range starts with the City 650 in either step-thru or top tube options, both with 7-speed derailleur and a relatively small 208Wh battery. Next up is the similar City 700 with 8-speed derailleur, followed by the 700 Deluxe, with 8-speed Shimano Sora gears, a better saddle, improved gear shifters, wheel lock, suspension seatpost, alloy pedals, front suspension lock-out, skirtguard on the step-thru and other tiddly differences. The important one is a larger 260Wh battery (as fitted to the Kalkhoff et al).This larger battery is also available as a £65 option on the cheaper bikes, and we’d say ‘buy it’. Our general advice is always to choose a battery capable of twice your normal daily range if possible. A big battery will have an easier life and last longer, and give you a little something in reserve for that deviation to Tescos, longer holiday trips and so on.

All the ‘sensible’ bikes in the range offer battery-powered lights of various kinds, a rack, and full mudguards, but there’s also a broadly similar ‘Cross’ version (you will be when it rains) bereft of all the useful bits, but with nicer gears.At the top end, the Sport models have flat-spoke wheels, Shimano Tiagra gears and carbon forks, plus drop handlebars on the Deluxe variant, which might be a first on an electric bike.All variants sold in the UK come with a Mach 1 speedometer.This is a basic device, without Ride Time or Average Speed, but fitting it is a really nice touch that we’d like to see repeated elsewhere.

Prices are comparatively modest.The 650 or Cross cost £1,350, which is only a shade more than the basic Panasonicdrive 3-speed Monark Eco, or somewhat inferior Giant Express or Ezee Torq.The 700 costs £1,400, and the 700 Deluxe £1,550, undercutting the Kalkhoff Agattu, mid-range Giant models, Kettler, Gepida and – most importantly of all – the Kalkhoff Pro-Connect.The Sport comes in at £1,650, or £1,800, which sounds a lot, but it’s some £500-£600 cheaper than the similar (but allegedly unrestricted) Kalkhoff Pro-Connect. Is this all too good to be true? We’ve tested the £1,550 City 700 Deluxe to find out.

On the Road

The 700 Deluxe is the first electric bike we’ve tested for a while to attract favourable comment from friends, relatives and passers by.We often hear phrases like ‘How useful’, ‘Goodness that’s practical’, or ‘How much?’, but the E-motion had everyone drooling. Like most of the 2009 bikes, it comes in either white or black (fortunately ours was the latter) and it looks and feels like a normal, if slightly heavy, sporty hybrid with some unusual echoes of the 1930s in the handlebars, and frame graphics that wouldn’t look out of place on a BMX.

This model has a suspended seat post, which feels slightly at odds with the sporty nature, and front suspension forks, but these can be locked out on the right sort of road surface, generally sharpening things up. For our money – unless the daily commute involved tracks or city potholes – we’d go for plain forks and a lighter bike, and keep a few quid safe in the bank (well, maybe not).The suspension is the main reason that the E-motion 700 Deluxe weighs 23.3kg, which is a respectable weight, but 2.3kg more than the rigid, but otherwise very similar, Kalkhoff Pro-connect. A definite disadvantage.

Power-assist is the now widely fitted Panasonic crank-drive, but in this case, almost uniquely, power gets to the back wheel via a conventional derailleur rather than hub gears.We were a bit concerned about this at first, but there’s no technical reason why a derailleur shouldn’t be able to handle the extra torque, which is no greater than a serious athlete or a spirited couple on a tandem might produce.All the same, a little bit of extra care is needed when shifting, especially changing up, or at low speed.With High power selected, the change is smoother if you relax pedal pressure briefly when changing gear. Because the motor takes a fraction of a second to disengage, there is still plenty of power there to effect the change, but without any nasty noises, which can happen if you’re standing on the pedals. In the lower settings, or with power-assist turned off, change gear as normal.

Gearing is everything with these crank-drive bikes. As standard, the E-motion bikes come with a 14-28 tooth gear cassette, giving an overall gear range of approximately 41″ 81″ (or just 38″ – 76″ with the 650, which has smaller 26-inch wheels).Without power, 41″ would be ludicrously high for hill-climbing, but power-assist makes this sort of gear viable, if a bit marginal if you live somewhere hilly.Top speed is a shade over 15mph, and that’s all you’re allowed.

Range is certainly something to write home about.As a rule, these Panasonic-driven bikes manage somewhere between 25 and 30 miles depending on gearing, rolling resistance, weight, and so on. Following the same hilly course we ride with all the electric bikes, the E-motion achieved an unprecedented 35.6 miles at an average of 14.2mph in High. In the default Medium setting, the bike ran for 38.2 miles at 13.6mph, not the fastest ride, but a considerable mileage. Both those results are a shade slower than its nearest rival, the Kalkhoff Pro-Connect, but four to five miles greater range.With this standard 41″ bottom gear, the bike restarted on a 1:6 hill, but only just, and a weak rider might well have been defeated.The 81″ top gear is high enough to give assistance up to 15mph, but the general feel is a bit uninspiring. On the positive side, the range in the Low power setting will be quite substantial – certainly in excess of 50 miles.

Our bike also came with an alternative set of cogs, although the distributors are at pains to point out that they wouldn’t dream of suggesting this as a road-going alternative, and what the customer does with it is entirely up to them.An 11-30 tooth cassette hardly sets the world alight, but it widens the E-motion’s gear range to 38″-104″, improving the bike across the board.Top assisted speed on the flat increases to 17mph, but as we’ve made clear on numerous occasions, these are not powerful motors, and typical assisted speed will be closer to 15mph, so the illegality issue is a purely technical one.

With these alternative cogs, the bike feels much more capable, with a reserve for climbing hills, and a tall enough top gear to pedal in comfort up to about 22mph when conditions allow. In High, range is cut to 28.2 miles, but speed bounces up to 15.3mph, so in this trim, the E-motion is faster than the Kalkhoff, but with slightly inferior range. Swings and roundabouts, unfortunately. In the Medium setting, range is 31.7 miles at 14.1mph, and perhaps a little over 40 miles in Low, which isn’t a huge scary penalty. With the lower first gear, restarting on the 1:6 hill is fairly easy in High, but in the lower power settings, you really need that first gear to get up the hills.

On our standard 10mile commuter run, the regeared E-motion made the fastest run of any crank-drive, with a speed of 32 minutes, some two minutes ahead of the Gepida and Kalkhoff ProConnect. Our advice is definitely to go for the wider gear range.The higher speed helps the bike tackle the ups in those annoying short, sharp ups and downs, and if you want economy you can still get it by using a lower power setting, or turning the power off altogether in top gear.

Power consumption is 8.18.7Wh/mile with the 14-28 tooth sprockets, or 9.8-11Wh/mile with the 1130 tooth which is definitely state-of-the-art, and jolly good, considering the high average speed. Interestingly, we were expecting to see a clear advantage over the hub-geared Kalkhoff bikes, but this wasn’t really the case.The E-motion is faster and more economical than the slightly frumpy Agattu, but more or less on a par with the sportier Pro-Connect.As derailleur gears are measurably a shade more efficient than hub gears, we can only assume that the Pro-Connect’s excellent Continental Contact tyres offer slightly lower rolling resistance than the Schwalbe Energizers fitted to the E-motion. In any event, the difference amounts to no more than a percentage point or two. Incidentally, the Schwalbes punctured twice within a few miles after taking whacking great thorns in the sidewall, whereas the Continentals didn’t puncture at all for the period we had the Pro-Connect. That might mean everything or nothing.

Charging and Running Costs

Charging is exactly the same as for any other Panasonic-powered machine.A full charge takes around 51 /2 hours, and the charger is a bit bulky (although much smaller than the Yamaha device). Running costs are kept low by the two-year battery guarantee and the high mileage per charge, but hindered by the £395 battery replacement cost, and we won’t see that come down until the pound perks up.We estimate running costs of 10.8p on the default Medium power setting, rising to 11.1p in High.As ever, our figures rather pessimistically assume the battery will need replacing the moment the warranty expires.

Incidentally, all the Panasonic batteries are interchangeable, so if you own any of these bikes, feel free to shop around for the best battery deal.The other money-saving option is the smaller battery fitted to the cheaper E-motion variants.This 208Wh battery costs £350 to replace, but it offers at least 20% less range than the big ‘un, and may need replacing more often, so the relatively small price differential suggests that the smaller battery would be a false economy, unless you make short trips at low speed.

Conclusion

Unusually, this is quite an easy one to sum up.The E-motion has lots of potential competitors, but the primary one is the Kalkhoff.The E-motion has a clear advantage in terms of price, and the only other real question is whether you prefer hub gears or derailleurs.The Kalkhof’s hub gears are much the best option in town, and changing the overall ratios is easy and cheap by swapping a single rear sprocket.You can make big changes too – very low gears for exceptionally hilly areas, or very high ones for the Norfolk polders.

The E-motion’s derailleur gears provide slightly closer ratios and an arguable efficiency boost, but they can be a nuisance in traffic, and although the sprockets can be mixed-andmatched to produce a custom gear set, the upper and lower limits are strictly fixed. On a normal bike the chainring (or rings) could be swapped, but with the Panasonic crank-drive, this component is not changeable, so your options are constricted by the biggest and smallest rear cogs offered by Shimano: a big 34-tooth or thereabouts to get you up steep hills, and a small 11-tooth for easy cruising in top. So in very hilly, or very flat areas, the Emotion is not quite as flexible, and probably isn’t suitable for hills in excess of 1:6, unless you are quite a spirited rider, in which case it will be fine.

Taking all this into account, it really has be a draw. Competition is a good thing, and the Kalkhoff now has a worthy adversary.

E-motion 700 Deluxe Specifications

E-motion 700 Deluxe £1,550 . Weight Bike 20.9kg Battery 2.4kg Total 23.3kg (51lbs) Gears 8-speed Shimano derailleur . Gear Ratios (Standard) 41″ – 81″ (Alternative) 38″ – 104″ Battery Lithium-Ion . Nominal Capacity 270Watt/hours . Replacement Cost £395 Range (Standard Gearing) 38 miles . Full Charge 51/2 Hours . Overall Consumption 8.1-11Wh/mile Overall Running Costs 10.8-11.1p/mile . UK Importer OnBike www.onbike.co.uk tel 01299 251514 info@onbike.co.uk

A to B 72 – July 2009

Not long ago,crank-motors looked like an endangered species,but suddenly the Panasonic drive is everywhere,doing rather well against more powerful machines on the race track,yet very much a favourite on city bikes too.It’s that flexibility that makes a crank drive so useful.The last three electric bikes we’ve tried have been crank drives,and all have used the same Panasonic Li-ion system.It’s now by far the most popular crank drive system worldwide,and is possibly unique in having a two-year battery guarantee. After the various Li-ion battery problems of the last few months, that’s quite reassuring. The latest machine to reach our doorstep is the Monark Eco.It’s unlikely you will have a Monark in your shed,because they are rare in the UK,but in Sweden the name is synonymous with cycling,rather as Raleigh used to be here. Actually, Monark is more like Pashley, because it produces the Swedish post bike and numerous other practical load-carriers. Raleigh,of course,is run by corpulent suits importing Chinese MTBs,whereas Monark (now part of the Cycleurope group) actually makesthings. With Chinese manufacturing becoming increasingly expensive in terms of wage rates and shipping,the manufacturing ball will soon be very much back in the European court…Bad news for the UK,of course,because we’ve wiped out our industry,but mainland Europe is doing well,and that’s why electric bikes are flooding into a hungry UK market from Holland, Germany,and now Sweden.

Monark bikes are typical North European machines;practical,slightly frumpy,and equipped with back-pedal brakes,wide puncture-resistant tyres and very few gears.The Eco is no exception.It has a one-size step-thru alloy frame,Panasonic powerassist,3-speed Nexus hub gear,and a chunky rack for carrying your girlfriend home from the va?a?rdshus after a few jolly fa?a?rsko?o?ls.

The Monark Eco

On the road,the Monark feels somewhere between the solid and meticulously equipped Gazelle,and the lighter,sportier Kalkhoff.The machine weighs 24.6kg,only 10% of which is accounted for by the tiny Li-ion battery.That’s average for a crank-drive bike – it’s heavier than the Kalkhoff Pro Connect,but lighter than the Gazelle or Kalkhoff Agattu.The 1.9-inch tyres give an unstoppable steam roller impression and roll pretty well, provided they’re pumped up hard enough.If the tyre pressures are low (they’re rated 4065psi) the rolling resistance can rise appreciably and the handling becomes a bit wayward, made worse by some flex in the very low step-thru frame.Even at higher pressures,the Eco has a tendency to wag its tail above 30mph,but,let’s face it,that’s not a speed you’re likely to encounter on a city bike of this kind.

The three-speed Nexus is simple,light, cheap and easy to adjust;a transmission design classic in other words.Three gears and a range of less than 200% is perfectly adequate on an electric bike,even somewhere quite hilly,but the gears are a bit widely spaced for the Panasonic motor, which prefers to buzz along at a fairly constant speed.In a flat city this will matter not one jot, but in Cumbria,the Eco would struggle a bit on awkward climbs.

Monark uses this hub quite widely on its conventional bikes,but we’re a bit concerned about its longevity on a crank-driven electric machine,which produces the sort of torque you’d expect from a tandem.And as the motor can be a little slow coming off the power when changing gear,you do have to change rather slowly and precisely to avoid grunts and bangs from the hub.This sort of thing is OK once in a while,but do it too often,and the hub will fail relatively quickly,a fate that befell some Giant Lafrees.

Generally speaking though,it’s a practical and pleasant machine to ride,the simple hub gears and powerful motor making mincemeat of city traffic queues.Even out on the open road,the Monark nips along pretty well,although the narrow gear range does limit the top speed and climbing ability.Despite the rather high 41-inch bottom gear,we found a restart on our 1:6 hill relatively easy on the High power setting,but only just doable on Medium.If you live somewhere hilly and have limited leg power, you’ll certainly want an electric bike with a lower first gear.At 76 inches,top is just adequate for spinning along on the flat.As we found with the Kalkhoff Pro Connect, the new Panasonic motor is chirpier than its predecessors,giving a smidgen of power up to quite high leg cadence,so despite the low gearing,assistance is available to around 16mph with a fresh battery.This doesn’t sound very exciting,but the bike is lively enough,and the power boost encourages the rider to pedal faster.Odd thing,human psychology.

Range & Charging

We ride all these electric bikes on a fairly hilly course,including a handful of long, steepish climbs and a short stretch at 1:6.On the Medium setting,the Eco managed no less than 34.8 miles,a shade more than the Kalkhoff Pro Connect and the greatest range we’ve seen from a crank drive,other than on the Economy setting.In practice,you would probably get less in city stopstart traffic,but a little more in the wide open spaces of East Anglia,so it’s a realistic figure.Average speed is 13.6mph;significantly lower than the Pro Connect,but only to be expected with the lower gearing.

On High,over the same course (but on a rather blustery day),the bike managed 29.3 miles at a slightly higher speed,but this setting is certainly preferable in the Great Outdoors,as it gives the bike a bit more zing to tackle those demoralising steep little climbs.We didn’t have the bike long enough to find the full range in Low,but as with the Kalkhoffs, we’d guess that 50 miles would be possible in the right conditions.

Obviously,13.6mph is at the low end speed-wise,but the Eco nips along pretty well,completing our shorter,flatter ‘commuter route’ in a very reasonable 36 minutes,which equates to just under 15mph.On longer, slightly more challenging rides,14mph is fairly easy to maintain.So the Eco’s low gearing gives better range and a lower average speed than most, but generally speaking,the performance is typical for this drive system.

Charging is just as for the Kalkhoff Pro Connect,and all the other recent Panasonicequipped bikes.The battery is more or less full after five hours,but it continues to take a trickle charge for a further hour before cutting off.The capacity seems to be a genuine 260Wh or even more,something born out by the fairly impressive mileage figures.Clearly Panasonic’s watt/hours are bigger than most.We’ll say no more about that…

Equipment

With the Eco’s roadster origins and £1,200 price tag,it’s reasonable to expect decent equipment.The XACT stand is a little lightweight for an electric bike,but it’s the first we’ve seen with an adjustable leg,which can be screwed in and out by hand – useful for fine-tuning the stand angle when carrying shopping,for example.The SNG V-brakes work well enough,but we spent a lot of time getting them bind-free,partly because the wheels were poorly trued,but as our bike is an advance sample,this should improve.In classic north European style,the rack is nice and solid,but beware of carrying a friend wearing floaty chiffon,because there’s no skirt-guard…odd for this sort of bicycle.

The Eco has no suspension,relying instead on those balloon tyres and a Selle Royale saddle with great big springs under it, which make some odd creaks when you pedal hard.By and large,the rigid front forks are good news,but we’d rather see a suspension seat post than a squidgy saddle,although you might disagree.Riding with less air in the tyres will give a smoother ride,but as we’ve already said,the handling and rolling resistance can be compromised.With full pressure,pot holes can be a bit spine jarring,but the bike floats over cattle-grids and the like very nicely.

With just a single frame size,the fit of the machine will be a bit of a compromise for the short and tall.The saddle spans a height range of 92cm to 106cm, the low end being just adequate for a rider of 5′ 3″ and the top somewhere in the six-footsomething region.The bars start at around 92cm and are adjustable for both height and reach,thanks to one of those stem adjustment-thingies.

The front dynohub is a SRAM ILight D1,which looks the part,and works well,but appears to offer a little more resistance than some,although that shouldn’t matter too much on a power-assisted bike.The dynamo works the front light,a rather plasticky Basta halogen,which gives out plenty of yellowish light,but is not a patch on a good modern LED lamp.The rear light is a simple auto LED device called an H-Goggle Auto…yes,another brand we’re unfamiliar with. A Trelock rear wheel lock and chunky steel mudguards make up the package.By British standards,the Eco is equipped to the gunnels,but in Germany or Holland,the lack of a pump,skirtguard and LED headlight might be considered a bit mean.

Longevity

As we’ve said more than once,the Panasonic drive system and battery come with a twoyear warranty,which is good news if you’re nervous about modern battery technology, and in this case the bicycle is also guaranteed for two years.Incidentally, our machine threw its chain within a few minutes,something the Kalkhoff Pro Connects have done,both on our test and during the Presteigne Tour.A brief investigation revealed that the chain tensioner pivot needed lubrication,and a few drops of oil cured the problem – a useful tip if it’s happened to you,because these units should be100% trouble-free.Hopefully someone in Osaka will have their bottom smacked,because this small error must have caused numerous warranty claims.

Elsewhere, there isn’t a great deal to go wrong, apart from that question mark over the durability of the Nexus hub.These bikes are designed to be simple and rugged,like the post office bikes they’re loosely based on.

Conclusion

Once upon a time,we thought £900 was a lot of money for a bicycle,but we’ve got accustomed to four-figure price tags,and with petrol at £5.50 a gallon,the public seem to be catching up with the idea too. Yes, you can buy an old car, or a new Chinese moped, for less, but a quality power assisted bike brings all the attributes of the bicycle with the bonus of assistance.

At £1,250, the Eco is currently the cheapest of the ‘quality’ bikes, undercutting the Giant Twist, Kalkhoff Pro Connect, Gazelle, Heinzmann, and Sparta.The only competition comes from the Kalkhoff Agattu,currently also £1,250,but only in the medium frame size. The Eco is not as well equipped as some,but it’s reasonably light,sportier than you might expect and has the makings of a rugged and reliable town bike,capable of longer journeys when asked.If you have discounted shopping by roadster because of hills,look again!

Specifications

Monark Eco £1,250.Weight Bike 22.1kg Battery 2.5kg Total 24.6kg (54lbs)Gears 3-spd Shimano Nexus hub . Gear Ratios 41″ – 76″ . Battery Li-ion Manganese Nominal Capacity 260Watt/hours.Replacement Cost £295.Max Range 29.3-50 miles Full Charge 6hrs . Consumption 6.4-10.9Wh/mile. Running Costs 9.0p-9.7p/mile Manufacturer Cycleurope Sverige AB www.monark.se UK distributor IDASS tel 0844 8009310 mail info@battery-bike.co.uk

A to B 67 – Sep 2008

Kalkhoff Aggatu Wave. FIRST PUBLISHED IN A to B 63, January 2008

Not long ago, when the innovative Giant Lafree was discontinued, we began to wonder if the electric bike had any future, other than as a rollerskate for lazy leisure riders. When Giant replaced the Lafree with a crude hub motor system, it looked as though the wonderful Panasonic power unit was dead, and with it the dream of quality, economical power-assisted machines. Why is this system so wonderful? If you live somewhere like Cornwall or Cumbria and you’ve tried a Giant Lafree, you’ll know why. The Panasonic, almost uniquely amongst electric bike power systems,assists at the pedal crank, which makes it very good at climbing hills: when you change down to a low gear, the motor automatically changes down too. The result is a bicycle that’s more or less conventional in every way. It weighs little more than a non-assisted roadster, and feels similar on the road, but come to a hill and the bike gently swishes up at something like double the normal speed. When you’re faced with a steep hill with two heavy panniers of groceries, the bike will chug sedately up.

The Aggatu

Fortunately, the reports of the death of the Panasonic were exaggerated, and for that we must thank our cycle-friendly cousins in Holland and Germany, whose factories kept the faith when the Taiwanese had moved on to building other, tackier, things. We tested the Gazelle Easy Glider in A to B 61, and mentioned in A to B 62 that Raleigh-Univega in Germany had introduced a range of equally well presented electric bikes using the same system,much to the confusion of Raleigh UK, where the suits had just signed a deal with Powabyke.

It turns out that the Univega is actually a ‘badge-engineered’ version of the Kalkhoff Agattu. All these brands were once part of the Derby Cycles mega-corporation, but when that pyramid collapsed a few years ago, some some seem to have gone their own way, while others remained under a reformed Derby umbrella. So we think that Kalkhoff and Raleigh Germany are the same thing, but distinct from Raleigh UK, which is something different, but seems to share a logo. Anyway, who cares? All that really matters is that the Agattu is lovingly handcrafted in Germany with most of the technical bits coming from Japan, and in engineering terms, that’s jolly good parentage.

The Agattu is a typical sensible European roadster,available in two forms; the step-thru Wave and the diamond-frame Diamant. The electric option is new for 2008 – a stock Agattu fitted with the latest 260Wh version of Panasonic’s lithium-ion power unit. The bike weighs a reasonable 23.3kg (51lb),plus a battery of 2.5kg, giving overall weight of 25.8kg (57lb). That’s lighter than the Gazelle,a shade lighter than the Schwinn Transit, but heavier than any of the Lafree variants, which goes to show that the technology hasn’t moved on that much.

Like the Gazelle, which shares similar technical bits, the Kalkhoff is practical, well-equipped and capable – in short, it’s about as good as a bicycle gets. The machine is fitted with Shimano’s Nexus 7-speed hub, which is ever so slightly disappointing, because the Nexus 8-speed is demonstrably better, but gears are less important on an electric bike, so you’d have to live somewhere very hilly to miss the extra gear. Like all Panasonics, the power-assist is simple to use. Jump on the bike, pedal off, and it rides like any other, but press a button on the small handlebar switch and the fuel LEDs and power meter light up. From your next pedal stroke until the battery is exhausted, progress will be assisted.

Unusually, there are three levels of assistance. Default is Medium, giving 1:1 assistance (in other words, the bicycle exactly matches your leg power), but you can choose Low (1:0.5) or High (1:1.3) if you prefer. On this free-running machine, Low is more than adequate for a flattish town, the effect being somewhat akin to a normal bike with a gentle tailwind. Medium is more like a typical power-assisted bike, but a little weak at low pedal/motor speed, so you have to make good use of the gears to get the best out of the system. High power is basically the same, but with increased grunt at low speed.

In all cases the motor assists up to about 15mph (more like 16mph with a fresh battery), and like all crank-motor machines there is the disadvantage that the top gear is capped by the manufacturer to prevent the motor assisting beyond this speed. However,crank motors are easily tuneable by simply replacing the rear hub sprocket. The standard sprocket has 22-teeth, giving ratios more or less evenly spread between a lowish 33-inch and a highish 80-inch. A larger sprocket (not easy to find) will give lower gears for hills, and a smaller one will enable the motor to assist you up to an illegally high top speed, but don’t get too excited, because these are low powered machines. Experience with the Lafree suggests that 17 or 18mph is about top whack. The optimum gearing depends on rider weight, fitness level and topography.

Riding our largely flat 10-mile commuter route on High power gave a time of 37 minutes, which is noticeably faster than the similar Gazelle Easy Glider, but broadly typical for an electric bike. On our hilly test circuit, undulating between sea level and 500 feet, the motor feels quite meaty on High, pulling well from low speed, and hanging on to the high gears for longer (typically two gears higher than on the Medium setting, if that makes any sense). The bike gallops up hills in a most satisfactory manner, giving an average speed of 13.7mph, which is on the high side,but not spectacularly so. The Agattu walked away with the 1:6 (17%) restart,and easily changed up into 2nd gear after a few metres. The maximum gradient is hard to judge, because we don’t have anything steeper to try it on, but like the Gazelle, we’d guess the bike would climb 1:4 (25%) without giving the rider a heart attack. Overall range on the High setting is 26.7 miles.

On the same circuit, Medium feels a bit over-stretched. In easy conditions, the bike feels quite chirpy, but the motor has a lot less torque at low speeds, so when the gradient really bites, you find yourself changing rapidly down through the gears, using 2nd,or even 1st on quite modest hills. A restart on a 1:6 hill is possible, but you really need that 33-inch 1st gear, and you won’t progress into second without strong legs. The trade-off is a battery range of 30.2 miles; one of the best results we’ve seen, even under these quite trying conditions. Average speed is a rather leisurely 12.7mph, which is almost identical to the Gazelle Easy Glider on its Low power setting, albeit over a greater range.

In typical Panasonic style, the battery has a stack of five fuel warning lights, but you can’t see these on the move unless you hop off and press a button on the casing. In this case, there’s also an array of three LEDs on the handlebars. These give an accurate indication of the power left in the battery, but they’re not very linear. Typically, the first light pops off at 71% capacity (Kalkhoff claim 40-70%), the second at 36% (claimed 10-20%), and the last light begins to flash at 27%. According to the manual there should be less than 10% capacity left at this stage, but there’s enough juice for another eight miles, so no need to panic. When the battery really is down to its last 10% a battery-saving mechanism cuts the power right back, so if you’re planning to climb a steep hill 28 miles from home, you probably won’t make it. That said, a range of thirty-odd miles is pretty good, especially from a battery weighing only 2.5kg.

We normally ignore Low or Eco power settings because as a rule they don’t do anything you can’t do with your legs alone. But when we tested the Gazelle,we felt the lower power setting was genuinely useful. And Low on the Agattu is even lower…

According to Radtouren magazine, three Kalkhoff engineers achieved a record 101 miles on Low back in August 2007, but this was at 12.5mph, on a level track, under carefully controlled conditions. In the real world, mileage is much less exciting, hill-climbing rather feeble, and average speed a bit uninspiring (much the same as a conventional bike, albeit for less rider effort). But as we clocked up the miles, we really began to value this gentle power option. It’s valuable for parts of a journey where full assistance isn’t needed, and you can easily switch back to the higher settings for hills and headwinds. It’s also useful if you, a weaker cycling partner, or an elderly relative needs a small boost to keep up with other cyclists. On this free-running bike, the very low assistance level really is useful. For the record, we achieved a range of 47.6 miles at 11.2mph – reckon on a bit more in warm weather, or a bit less if you ask for extra power on the hills.

Economy is excellent, but disappointingly, the bike doesn’t break any records on the higher settings, consuming 11.8Wh/mile on High, and 10.3Wh/mile on Medium (a shade more than the Gazelle which managed 9.9Wh/mile). On Low the Agattu hits a new low of 6.5Wh/mile, but as the rider is putting in two-thirds of the effort, this isn’t a very meaningful record. All the same, these are pretty much state-of-the-art figures. In layman’s terms, it will run all day on the energy Jeremy Clarkson consumes boiling an egg for breakfast.

Equipment & Charging

Charging is a touch slow. Importer 50 Cycles reckons the battery should be fully charged in four hours, but it actually takes between five and six hours. This misunderstanding probably arose because the handbook suggests the battery is full when all five charge lights are illuminated, but our test equipment showed that there was more than an hour to go at this point. As there’s no other indication of a complete charge (the falling temperature of the charger gives a clue) it makes sense to leave the battery on a bit longer, but don’t over-do it, because Panasonic says battery life may be compromised if it’s left connected for more than 48 hours.

The charger is rather large more of a docking station really, so it’s not readily portable – but a compact travel charger is expected in summer 2008. Bearing in mind Panasonic’s troubles with UK-issue Lafree chargers, will all this new technology prove reliable? It’s certainly a neater, lighter, more weather-proof battery/motor unit than the original one. We can’t guarantee it will be reliable, but the signs are good, and a company like Panasonic has a lot to lose if it doesn’t work.

Other equipment is excellent, and almost as classy as the Gazelle Easy Glider, but not quite.The Kalkhoff Agattu comes with an Abus wheel lock, pump, skirt guard, long-legged ESGE stand, Post Moderne sprung seat pillar and Verso sprung forks. These are rather good, giving a well-damped, but resilient ride. Cattle grids just disappear, as do small kerbs, although the big ones can give you quite a jolt through both the forks and the sprung seat pillar. The forks are adjustable,and on this very rare occasion the adjusters demonstrably do something, but there’s little point in stiffening up the ride too much with an electric bike.

Unusually, for a bike equipped with Nexus hubs, the Agattu has V-brakes, also by Shimano and excellent: squeal-free, powerful, and progressive, but not as weather-resistant as the rather spongey Nexus roller brakes one expects on this sort of machine.

The lighting system is in the 9/10region: Busch & Muller Lumotec Senso Plus headlight and Selectra Standlicht at the rear. Both have a standlight function, which is not only a safety bonus, but extremely useful, the front light being strong enough to guide the bike into a dark garage or find a house number. Both work on a sensor system, which cuts in and out unobtrusively at dawn and dusk, but the hub dynamo absorbs so little energy, there seems little point in turning it off, in the winter at least. The road illumination is good, although not quite up to the standard of B&M’s LED headlight. We also had an intermittent problem with the rear light, which always worked perfectly at home or in town, but would sometimes cut out on country roads…

The big chunky Continental CityRIDE tyres (42 x 622mm) inspire great confidence and despite being rated at only 65psi, they roll pretty well too,with a roll-down speed of 14.7mph. That’s fast enough to give the bike a light, rideable feel, something very few electric bikes achieve.

Like all good European designs, the Kalkhoff comes in no fewer than five frame sizes: 45cm, 49cm, 53cm (our test bike) and 57cm for the step-thru, and 49cm, 53cm, 57cm and 61cm for the ‘gents’. For former East German shot-putting ladies, a ludicrously large XXL version of the Wave will be available in a few months with a stronger 61cm frame.

Running costs depend very much on how you use the bike,varying between 8.7p/mile for gentle shopping trips to 10.2p/mile riding hard on High power. The difference, incidentally, is a matter of battery depreciation and range per charge. A spare battery costs £305 and we work on the basis of 350 charges in a lifetime (Panasonic claim 500 charges).

Conclusion

Transport decisions are not always logical. In a perfect world, everyone would do their shopping with a bike like this Kalkhoff and traffic congestion would melt away. It can be ridden day or night, summer or winter, wet or dry, tail wind or head wind, and it will always carry your groceries home. But relatively few people will buy an Agattu, which is a real shame, because if you haven’t ridden a well-equipped power-assisted European roadster, you are missing a seriously top-draw experience.

And so to price.The 2008 Gazelle Easy Glider has better spec and the same motor and battery for around £1,600, whereas the Agattu is being introduced at £1,195, albeit rising to £1,250 in the spring. It may not be quite as classy as the Gazelle, but it’s an excellent price for a competent European machine – similar to the most expensive Chinese electric bikes and cheaper than the Lafree in its final form. Not so long ago, you had to travel hundreds of miles just to see a brand like Gazelle or Kalkhoff, but both manufacturers are busy setting up dealer networks in the UK… Are we witnessing the much-prophesised roadster renaissance?

Kalkhoff Aggatu Wave Specifications

Price £1,195
Weight Bike 23.3kg Battery 2.5kg Total 25.8kg (57lbs)
Gears 7-spd Nexus hub
Gear Ratios 33″ – 80″
Battery Li-ion
Nominal Capacity 260Wh
Replacement Cost £305
Range 26.7-47.6 miles
Full Charge 6 hours
Running Costs 8.7-10.2p/mile
Manufacturer Derby Cycle Werke GmbH www.kalkhoff-bikes.de
UK distributor 50 Cycles tel 01509 266656 fiftycycles@50cycles.com

A to B 63 – Jan 2008

Before its untimely withdrawal last year,we considered the Giant Lafree a jolly good electric bike – arguably the best you could buy.The magic ingredient was the Panasonic crank-drive unit,which placed the motor ‘upstream’ of the hub gears,so the motor worked via the gears:Whenever your legs felt the strain,you’d change down a gear,automatically easing the load for the motor too. Bio-feedback,if you like.This very efficient arrangement made the Lafree a superb hill-climber that was also one of the most economical electric assist bikes on the market.The only real downside was stress on the gear system,which had to deal with tandem-plus power levels.

For various reasons – chiefly cost – Giant axed the Lafree,and dropped the Panasonic system too.The replacement ‘Twist’ model (see A to B 58),was equipped with a conventional hub motor.This bike had its strong points,but against the lightweight,free running,hill-climbing Lafree,it was rubbish.Panasonic was already marketing a new crankdrive unit, utilising a lighter,more compact lithium-ion battery,which Giant had used briefly on the Revive semi-recumbent (A to B49),but there weren’t many other takers outside Japan,and it began to look as though this excellent crank-drive system was dead.

Fortunately,Dutch manufacturer Gazelle had the faith to incorporate the Panasonic mechanism into its Gazelle Easy Glider,which was released a couple of years ago,rapidly becoming one of the best selling electric bikes in the cycle-friendly markets on the Continent. This is the bike that Giant could,and should,have made,but it’s made in Holland – is the Gazelle the new Lafree?

The Easy Glider

As a general rule – and generalities can be dangerous – cyclists of the non-technical kind love bikes with the Panasonic drive system.There’s no twistgrip,and no awkward power adjustments or scary flashing lights to worry about.You either don’t turn it on and ride a normal bike,or you turn it on,and the bike magically adds hidden power to your pedal strokes.If you don’t know what that feels like (and don’t knock it until you’ve tried it) it’s a bit like riding with a tail wind.Not a gale,but the sort of pleasant summer breeze that is guaranteed to put a smile on your face.Come to a hill and the whole character of the machine changes.The speed gradually drops as you change down through the gears,but the level of assistance increases,so although hill-climbing speed is generally quite modest, the bike feels as though it can climb anything,and with the right gearing it will.

We have to slightly qualify this,because the new system fitted to the Gazelle Easy Glider is not quite as powerful as the old one.For reasons possibly linked to the demands of the domestic Japanese market,Panasonic has gone for quite a low-key power system on the new crank motor,with a choice of relatively small batteries.Wisely,Gazelle has chosen the biggest 187Wh version for the Glider,but it’s still a bit mean in terms of output.On the other hand,the battery weighs only 1.9kg,a mere handbag against the weight of a typical Dutch roadster,the Easy Glider weighing a total of 28.2kg,including motor, battery and numerous accessories.For transport boffins,and collectors of facts and figures,the battery weighs less than 7% of the gross weight of the bike – a remarkably low figure,and the equivalent of a full tank of petrol in a 1,000kg car.

On the Road

Power assist is launched via a push button on the handlebars.First impressions are that the bike is heavier and slightly weaker than the Lafree,but not by a great deal.It also seems crazily low geared, but that’s a side-effect of the crank-drive system and Euro regulations.With a crank motor,maximum assisted speed is proportional to the gear inches in top,set in this case at 78″ to make the motor run out of steam at 15mph.The downside is that it’s difficult to pedal faster than about 18mph without your legs going round in a frenzy,but the good news is that first gear is very low indeed.As with the Lafree,you can fine tune the characteristics of the bike by fitting a different rear sprocket,and a smaller sprocket will raise all the gears slightly.This is technically illegal,but the motor really isn’t powerful enough to pull a speed much above 15mph,so don’t worry too much about getting a blue light on your tail.Slightly higher gearing will give the bike a more relaxed laid-back feel that should suit it better, and have little negative effect on hill climbing.

Once up to the jaunty 15mph cruise,there’s not much to say about the way the bike rides,which is good news. There’s our usual grumble that gears 7 and 8 on the Nexus are almost identical,but with eight rather low gears,and power assistance,you tend to miss most of them out anyway in normal riding.On the flat,the bike pulls away best in gear 3,followed by 5,possibly 6,then 8.As the hills close in,it’s much the same in reverse – the bike copes with many inclines in 6th and quite steep ones in 4th.We found a restart easy on a 1:6 gradient and even managed to get up into 2nd.In 1st,given a spare battery,this bike should grind up any hill in the British Isles,from long Scottish 1:8s through the short sharp 1:4s of the North Yorkshire Moors,to the switchback 1:6s of Devon and Cornwall.If you live at the bottom of one of the these,the Gazelle really is your best option.More powerful electric bikes can storm up steep hills with a bit of careful planning,but riding the Gazelle you can stop and talk to Mrs Johnson halfway up,or pause to look at the scenery,then pull cleanly away again.With this sort of bike,hills might slow you down,but they won’t bring you out in a sweat,and you won’t be walking.Riding our largely flat 10-mile commuter route,the Gazelle achieves a comfortable 14mph,completing the course in 381/2minutes. That’s up with quite fast conventional bikes,but only average for a power-assisted machine.Against its top end electric bike competitors,it’s muchslower than the Ezee bikes, slightly slower than the Sparta Ion, but notably quicker than the stodgy Giant Twist,the replacement for the Lafree.

The ride is very good,with adjustable front suspension forks that really are adjustable for damping (not enough in our opinion),and a suspension seat post under the derriere. This combination is compliant enough to more or less eradicate cattle grids and small kerbs,which is an odd feeling,but suspension only has so much travel,so don’t go mad.If you ask too much – particularly of the seat post – the result is a nasty bump and a crash.In general,the Easy Glider rides extremely well,with an air of solidity,and rock-steady handling at speed,even hands off.Not quite Rolls Royce stuff,but amongst the best.

Brakes are Nexus roller,front and rear.Shimano has done a good job of answering the criticisms of brake fade on long descents,and a lack of ‘feel’,but they’re still a bit of a compromise.Slightly unsettlingly,the roller brakes don’t seem to do anything when first applied,as it takes a few microseconds for the brake force to reach full strength.In an emergency,you squeeze a bit harder,resulting in an over-fierce application when the brakes do come on.We managed to briefly lock the rear wheel at 30mph when the car in front braked suddenly at the bottom of a steep hill (twit), resulting in the Glider giving a momentary wag of the tail.Having experienced roller brakes before,we can only say that they should get better with age,so don’t worry too much,but bear it in mind.

Range

Although the battery is small and light,it has a nominally bigger capacity than the Lafree 187Wh against 156Wh.But it’s a demonstration of just how unscientific (or,indeed, meaningless) these battery ratings are,that the range is about the same at 19.5 miles (our various Lafree tests gave averages of 18.5,20 and 22.9 miles).Similarly,the Gazelles’s 13.2mph average speed is right in the middle of the Lafree figures of 12.8,13.2 and 14mph. So whatever our initial impressions might have suggested,the performance of the Gazelle is very much on a par with the Lafree.And with a battery weighing only 1.93kg and measuring a compact 25cm x 10cm x 9cm,carrying a spare will not be a serious issue.In fact,you’d hardly notice the weight or bulk of two spare batteries,giving a total range of 60 miles.

We repeated our mileage test on the ‘MIN’ setting,engaged with another stab at a small handlebar button.Normally,we ignore these low power settings,but this one works rather well,and we’d like to see a ‘super-minimum’ as well.As far as we can tell (the effects are subtle) you have to pedal a bit harder before the motor will cut in,and the power is limited when straining at low pedal/motor speed.In practice,this encourage you to ride in a more economical way – spinning the pedals faster in lower gears,and generally making better use of the gearbox – and that’s where the extra mileage comes from.In MIN,you really do need to use all the gears for best results,but the bike isn’t much slower overall (12.6mph against 13.2mph) and range increases by nearly a quarter,to 24.1 miles.For such a small speed penalty,that’s an attractive trade-off. Incidentally,the handlebar control unit is supposed to flash an LED light at you when the battery capacity drops to 10%,but it comes much later than this – typically anything from a few hundred metres to a kilometre before the thing conks out.There is a five-LED array on the battery,but you can only see this by hopping off and pressing a button, so it’s only a guide.

If maximum range is important to you,Gazelle will be releasing a larger 260Wh battery early in 2008.On the basis of current performance,that should give a range of 27 to 33 miles.

Overall efficiency (including charging losses) is similar to the Lafree,but without breaking any records.On full power,consumption is 12.3Wh/mile,and on MIN the Gazelle just breaks into the exclusive single-figure club at 9.9Wh/mile.If you’re still sceptical about the green credentials of these machines,bear in mind that a gallon of petrol contains around 41,000Wh of energy,and will only heave a Nissan Patrol 25 miles or so. On the MIN setting,the Gazelle Easy Glider achieves a little over 4,000mpg

A more topical comparison is carbon dioxide emissions.Generating one kilowatt/hour of electricity in the UK results in emission of 0.43kg/CO2.So if you recharge on a conventional mains tariff,the Glider will average 2.7g-3.3g CO2per kilometre,or zero if you produce your own power (a typical 4×4 emits 300g/km).Running costs – mainly depreciation and the £209 replacement cost of the battery – come out at 11.5p per mile.

The charger is the same pattern as the old Panasonic charger,but now clips onto the battery with a sort of clumsy cassette thing.Charging is pretty typical,taking 4 hours and 40 minutes for a complete refill.Like the Lafree, the battery has to be removed for charging, but in this case,the battery key is the same as the rear wheel lock key.This means you have to lock the bike in order to release the key and remove the battery,which you may or may not consider a good thing.More positively, the key is (or should be) always to hand when you need it.The key itself is a delightful folding affair,which – like almost everything else carries the Gazelle brand.

Accessories

If you live in Germany, Scandinavia or The Netherlands,you’ll wonder what all the fuss is about, because most bikes there are sold with essential equipment, but here in the mid-Atlantic MTB-orientated UK,this level and quality of accessories is almost unknown.The Easy Glider has Continental Contact tyres,a Selle Royale gel saddle,a skirtguard, long rack with shock cords,a Power Click stand that looks as though it would support a Harley-Davidson,‘Switch’ handlebar quick-release,giving instant adjustment for height and reach,a full chainguard,tool kit,saddle bag,pump,a smashing rotary bell,rear wheel lock,auto lights,trip computer,and the Nexus 8-speed hub and suspension we’ve already mentioned.Phew.

The bell looks like a gearshift,but rotating it produces a lovely tinkly shop bell noise. The lights are rather nice – a Power Vision battery 5-LED rear light with auto option,and Power Eye front light.This remarkable device fits into a sculpted plastic housing,integral with the forks,with power supplied from a Nexus hub dynamo in the front wheel.As this short section of wire is fully enclosed,the system is effectively cable-free.Output is excellent,as one might expect from this state-of-the-art job,and the auto functions are less sensitive than some,and generally unobtrusive.Our only grumble is that when you first start off,the front light doesn’t get going until you reach 10mph or so,presumably because it’s charging the standlight.On the other hand,after you’ve ridden a mile or two,the standlight gives full output for a couple of minutes when you stop.

Typical of Dutch roadsters,the Easy Glider has quite a large frame.Gazelle offers small,medium and large step-thru models and a gents,only in large.But as our small stepthru sample gave a saddle height from 91 – 105cm,which suited pretty well everyone who tried the bike,that’s the one to go for,unless you’re safely over six foot.

On the saddle,a neat quick-release gives instant adjustment of the saddle angle,while another adjusts the bar reach and height (112cm – 118cm on the small frame).The speedometer offers only mileage,trip miles and average speed,which is mildly disappointing,but it’s adequate for most purposes.As with the ride,there isn’t much else to say – the bike is equipped for mud,rain,snow,darkness,minor repairs,and of course, getting the shopping home.And you can wear whatever you like without getting wet, muddy or oily.Every home should have a Dutch roadster.

Conclusion

This is undeniably one of the best machine we’ve seen. It has it’s faults: the weight might be a problem, it’s low geared, and the battery is small. But these really are minor niggles. The Easy Glider may weigh 28kg, but there’s not a gramme of flab on it,and indeed, for a bike so laden with accessories,it’s really quite light.The gearing is easily fixed for a fiver,and a second battery solves the mileage problem,although bear in mind that higher gearing will tend to use more power,reducing the range even more.

Would we pay £1,400 for the Gazelle? Not long ago we thought £900 was a lot for a bicycle,but if you want a machine with this level of equipment,plusthe ability to climb hills, you do have to pay a bit more.It isn’t quite as lively as the Lafree,but it’s better equipped, better made,and not that much more expensive.Against the competitors in this price bracket,it does extremely well.If you want speed rather than equipment,go for the Ezee F-series or Torq.Otherwise,apart from a few specialist imports,it’s Giant Twist 1.0, Heinzmann Estelle and Sparta Ion,all at around £1,400.The Giant we would tend to dismiss on all counts except range,the Heinzmann is good,but not Gazelle-good,leaving only the Ion:a faster,prettier bike,but without the equipment or hill-climbing capabilities. For our money,the Gazelle is best of the bunch.A new 5-star electric bike,in other words.

Gazelle Easy Glider Specifications

Gazelle Easy Glider £1,460. Weight Bike 26.3kg Battery 1.93kg Total 28.2kg (62lbs) Gears 8-spd Shimano Nexus hub .Gear Ratios 25″ – 78″ .Battery Li-ion Manganese Nominal Capacity 187Wh. Replacement Cost £209 . Maximum Range 24 miles Full Charge 4 hrs 40 mins. Consumption 9.9Wh/mile. Running Costs 11.5p/mile Emissions <3.3gCO2/km. Manufacturer Koninklijke Gazelle www.gazelle.nl . UK: Electric Cycle Co (stockist) tel 0131 553 4900 mail sales@electriccyclecompany.co.uk Cambridge Dutch Bikes (to order) tel 07772738899 mail enquiries@dutchbike.co.uk

A to B 61 – Sep 2007

Back in the summer of 2003,a slightly odd-looking electric bike called the Ezee Forza landed on our doorstep. It was reasonably light,and some of the equipment was a bit dubious,but it came with everything a regular cyclist might need,plus a gutsy power-assist system that offered a decent range at an enjoyably nippy pace.The prototype Forza was a bit rough around the edges,but we liked it,and the production version (known as the Sprint) sold in droves. It wasn’t the prettiest machine in the world,but it promised to get you up the hills and generally got you to work on time,even when something went wrong, which it occasionally did.

Four years later, Ezee has become a respectable brand,and the Sprint has been extensively revised,using that early experience.Loaded with extras,it now commands a price tag of £800-£900,but with the market for electric bikes expanding rapidly in the £500-£600 zone,Ezee has gone back to basics,introducing the Liv.This new bike is broadly the same as that early Forza:similar equipment,with a similar bare alloy frame,but without the ‘unisex’ 45cm step-thru (the Liv top tube is 67cm high – almost the same as the Torq). The bike was launched a few weeks ago at a distinctly eye-catching price of £545,complete with NiMH battery.

Things move fast in this business:following some dramatic increases in the price of NiMH batteries (reportedly due to a shortage of nickel),it has been decided that the Liv will sell for £595,equipped with the latest lithium-ion battery.So the bike still squeezes into that ‘economy’ banding,but apart from the tiddly little Powacycle Lynx,it seems to be the only bike under £1,000 to be fitted with a lithium-ion battery,and it’s the biggest battery of its kind on the market.

On the road

So the Liv started life as a back to basics model,but has become a high-tech commuter.It still holds true to the Ezee philosophy of simple,practical everyday transport, but with superb spec where it counts.Equipment-wise,the bike comes with full mudguards, a dynamo lighting set (not the best,but it works well enough in dry weather),and – where other cheap brands are fitted with nasty cheap derailleur sets – a Nexus 3-speed hub gear. This light,simple hub is ideal for purpose – changes up or down are very slick,and the gear range (46″,62″ and 85″) is limited,but sufficient on an electric bike.

The DC motor is the same simple reliable unit fitted to the Low-tech Ezee Rider.It’s not as efficient as a brushless motor,but it pulls cleanly and powerfully to 16mph,or even 18mph with a fresh battery.You can cover a lot of ground by spinning fast in that 85-inch top gear,and with reasonable assistance from the noisy,but willing little motor,the Liv will climb quite steep hills at a good speed.The result is an impressively fast bike,completing our 10-mile commuter course in 33 1 / 2 minutes.That’s about the same as the Sprint,and second only to the Ezee Torq,a much more sophisticated (and expensive) machine.It just goes to show what you can do with three hub gears, sensible ratios and some modest power assistance.In hillier country,the bike does equally well,recording an average of 15.7mph with NiMH and 16.9mph with the Li-ion battery over our new 14-mile course.That’s much faster than the other budget electric bikes,and a hefty three to four mph faster than the Giant Twist or Sparta Ion (see A to B 58 ), which cost nearly three times as much.Speed isn’t everything,we hasten to add,but as with a car,it makes sense to have something in reserve.Sooner or later you’ll be climbing a gradient into a headwind with a bad leg.

With only three gears,the maximum gradient is a bit limited,but we found 13% (1:8) easy enough, and climbed 17% (1:6) at a steady pace.Restarting on that sort of gradient is feasible,but with a 46-inch bottom gear,this obviously takes a bit of legwork. Maximum motor output is similar to the Sprint,at a shade under 600 watts,so there’s plenty of oomph for most situations.

More for you money

If you’re searching for a budget-priced,practical electric bike,it’s the battery that counts, and the Liv offers no less than 370Wh of lithium-ion power – exactly the same battery fitted to its more expensive cousins.With the older NiMH battery,range in hilly country is 23 miles,but with the new battery we recorded a range of 27 miles,still averaging 16mph, despite plenty of hills and some town work.Remember,that’s at quite a high speed – if you keep speed down,30+ miles should be well within its capabilities.

When the battery does conk out,the Liv is a pleasant bike to ride unassisted – not quite up to Lafree standards,but perfectly rideable.At 28.5kg,the Liv weighs the same as the Sprint,give or take a few grams.That’s 4kg heavier than the new breed of lightweights like the Windsor,but 10kg lighter than most £600 electric bikes.And this is a solid machine, offering more range and a great deal more speed than most,particularly on hills.

Fuel consumption of 15Wh/mile is a little on the high side,but extremely good for an electric bike with this sort of performance. The charger is a quality fan-cooled device (two speed,no less!),and quite rapid,reaching half capacity in two hours and full in just over five.A few words of warning,as we’re still slightly suspicious of Li-ion technology.Our battery refused to charge at first,and although it settled down quickly enough,it would still occasionally turn off early.Switch the mains power off and back on,and it runs to full charge,but if you’re commuting some distance,we’d suggest doing this as a matter of course before going to bed…With Li-ion,both the battery and charger contain a mass of complex electronics,and one theory is that ‘spikes’ in the mains supply cause the charger to ‘trip-out’.On the other hand,we’re not hearing negative reports from consumers,so they must be working well enough out in the field.Running costs are 7.1p/mile.That’s quite high for a budget bike (replacement batteries cost £250),but as cheap as you’ll see for a performance machine with a Li-ion battery.

Conclusion

At £595,the Ezee Liv has a lot of competition,but most of these machines (and quite a few costing £700 or more) can be dismissed.Against such single-speed,overweight monsters as the Powabyke Shopper,Sakura Cruiser and even more horrible things,the Ezee Liv is light years ahead.The only real competition comes from the Giant Suede and the new LPX versions of the Powacycle Windsor and Salisbury,but (apart from arguably looking nicer and providing a step-thru frame option) their performance and equipment just doesn’t come into the same ballpark as the Liv. Things may change,but at the moment,this is the best all-round machine we have seen:it offers astonishing value,and with saddle height of 86cm-101cm,it fits almost anyone.If you want an electric bike on a budget,don’t hesitate – the Liv is a great buy.

Ezee Liv Specifications

Ezee Liv £595 . Weight Bicycle 24.1kg Battery 4.4kg Total 28.5kg (63lbs) . Gears 3-spd Nexus hub . Gear Ratios 46″, 62″, 85″ . Battery Li-ion . Nominal Capacity 370Wh Max Range 27 miles . Full Charge 5hrs 15mins . Consumption 15Wh/mile inc charger losses Running Costs 7.1p/mile . Manufacturer Ezee Kinetic Co www.ezeebike.com UK Distributor 50Cycles tel 01509 266656 fiftycycles@50cycles.com

A to B 59 – April 2007

FIRST PUBLISHED April 2007 in A to B 59

Lithium-Polymer, as readers may recall from the chemistry lesson in A to B 57, is a safer variant of the increasingly common lithium-ion battery. Polymer batteries have been used for a while in mobiles and the like, but big examples are still rare, so we think Powacycle is pretty brave introducing the first Li-pol battery on a budget bike at a budget price (Urban is close on its heels, but at a rather higher price). All the experts agree that these batteries are safe and user-friendly, but there’s no consensus over how long they will last in this sort of environment. The LPX battery can be retrofitted to the Windsor and Salisbury (price to be announced), or specified on either of these bikes from new for an extra £100.

The LPX weighs 2.4kg,against 3.7kg for the old NiMH unit, so it’s easier to carry, and it knocks the overall weight of the bike down to 22.4kg, which is more or less as light as a full-size electric bike gets.

The lithium-polymer battery is claimed to have capacity of 273Wh, against 192Wh for the old version. We only had a few days to try it, but our results of 20.6 miles on a hilly ride (including the notorious 1:5 Ham Hill), and 29.5 miles in easier going, was an improvement, but not the 42% claim. We have to be cautious,because batteries vary with temperature and conditions, but the Li-pol battery went 11%-19% further than the new NiMH and some 40% further than the old one, which has deteriorated quite a bit in 1,000 miles. Despite the larger capacity, the Li-pol charges a little faster than the NiMH unit, taking 4hrs 30 minutes, against 5hrs 10 minutes. And the Windsor felt perkier at 14mph, although this effect seemed to wear off after a few miles.

Is it worth it? If carrying the battery is a problem, it certainly will be,as long as you’re comfortable with the role of technology pioneer. The lithium-polymer battery might fail relatively quickly, or it might last for years – no one really knows. If you’re less concerned about weight and showing off your techie credentials, a spare Powacycle NiMH battery costs only £100, giving a slightly heavier machine,but a range of up to 50 miles. That’s the common sense alternative, but we still suspect the LPX will outsell the NiMH. Powacycle Windsor or Salisbury LPX £599.

A to B 59 – April 07

In The Netherlands,as any small boy will tell you,there are no hills (or very few),but they do get some nasty headwinds out on the polders.Being a great bicycling nation,it is perhaps no surprise that the Dutch are also big manufacturers of power-assisted bicycles. And as a general rule,they design bikes with Dutch conditions in mind – endless,flat, windswept bicycle paths,rather than steep Cornish lanes,for example.

Typical of the genre is the Sparta Ion,a power-assisted roadster which has been selling fiendishly well in its home market for a year or so.Who,you may ask,are Sparta? As in the UK,mainland Europe once had many bicycle companies.Ours were mostly gobbled up and turned into meaningless brand names by Raleigh,while the Continental brands were eaten by something called ATAG, which appears to major on kitchen appliances these days.

In the late 1990s,ATAG ‘hived off’ its bicycle interests under the group name Accell: Sparta is one of the key brands, but Batavus is the biggest,and the group also produces Hercules,Koga-Miyata,and several others we’ve never heard of.Headquarters are in The Netherlands,where the Accell group has nearly 50% of the market,and in marked contrast to the British slash & burn approach, manufacturing plants have remained open in five European countries.Most of the frames are made in the Far East these days,but unlike the ‘British’ Raleigh,an Accell machine can reasonably be described as European.The brands seem to have considerable autonomy,but they benefit from shared technology.Thus,the Sparta Ion power system is also available on the similar Batavus Padova,Koga-Miyata Tesla and Hercules Emove.

Last summer,the Sparta rep visited us at the start of a UKwide dealer tour,and was fully expecting to have the bike on sale here within a few months.Maybe the UK market didn’t seem worth the effort,or perhaps Sparta took on board our dire warning about gradients in the Celtic fringes.Whatever the reason,the project to build a dealer network went quietly onto the back burner.This is still the case,but the Ion is now available through longtime Sparta specialist,Drakes of Cambridge,and Amsterdammers,a small shop in Brighton specialising in secondhand Dutch roadsters.

The Ion is available in several variants,from the steel-framed,single-speed Comfort at £1,250,to the matt black alloy Style,with derailleur gears,no suspension and a £1,720 price tag.The one you’re most likely to see in the UK is the mid-range M-Gear: alloy frame,seven-speed derailleur,suspension and drum brakes for £1,429.This is the bike we’ve tried.Just for the record,this bike (and most variants) also comes with a stand,rack, fitted lights,pump,wheel lock,full chain guard,decent mudguards,Continental City Contact 42 x 622mm tyres,and – very rare in the UK – a skirt guard.

Motor & Controls

Like the BionX,with which the Ion shares a few similarities,the Ion has a direct drive motor,so it’s virtually silent – even quieter and smoother than the BionX,which makes a few gentle noises at low speed.And although the motor spins all the time,it isn’t geared like the new Twist,so there’s no discernable drag.This low-key motor,coupled to an invisible battery pack (it’s in the frame) make the assisted element of the machine very hard to spot.To all intents and purposes,this is a normal Dutch bike,and at 28kg (there a lighter single-speed too),not even precociously heavy.If you want your power assist well disguised (and customer surveys suggest that buyers do ),the Ion is the bike for you.Direct drive motors are also well suited to providing regenerative braking,but the Ion doesn’t have this facility.No hills in The Netherlands,of course.

Lack of regen is a bit disappointing,but the bike is otherwise laden with technology. What the Ion does very cleverly is to make good use of the various sensors,computer capacity, battery and motor that make up the power-assist package.For the first time, these elements are integrated into the bike rather than bolted on as afterthoughts,just as electronics have become an integral part of the modern car.On the handlebars is a round control unit,featuring a speedometer, odometer,battery meter,power switch and light switch.To prevent tampering and keep it safe from the elements when you’re not riding,the control unit simply twists off – the idea being that you take it with you,even if you’re just popping into the corner shop.Removal of this master display will not stop a passing thief half-inching the bike, but the integral wheel lock will,and without the display,the systems are unusable.Each unit is programmed with a unique code,so a potential thief won’t be able to make it work without access to Sparta’s diagnostic plug-in whatnot. Incidentally,we were told that removal of the rear wheel may also make reprogramming necessary – something to think about if you get a puncture.

It’s becoming the norm on electric bicycles to take a feed from the traction battery to run the lights (front,rear and speedometer on the Ion).And in this case the system continues to function when the battery is flat by using the motor as a generator.

The controls are nice and ergonomic.The smaller bits of the liquid crystal display can be hard to read in sunlight,but at night it’s backlit in a sexy blue and much improved. Unlike the Giant Twist,the Ion has just two well separated buttons,one for the lights,and another which clicks through a menu,including a mileometer (kilometre-ometer in this case) and three power levels.There’s also a diagnostic function that tells you when something has gone amiss.The bad news is you can’t do anything about it,but the good news is that your jolly local Sparta dealer will plug it in to his whatnot,reboot it and away you go.In the UK,this means a trip to Cambridge or Brighton,but people have dreamt up stranger excuses for a long weekend.

When the nice man in the Sparta shop plugs in his diagnostic whatnot,he will be able to tell you how far you’ve been,how much effort you’ve used,how far you get on a charge,and much more besides.It’s all a bit Big Brother,but useful in terms of keeping the bike in tip-top condition.Some say the dealer can tweak power levels up or down to suit your riding style,but others deny it.

On the Road

The Ion is available with ladies or gents frames in no fewer than five sizes.Ours is the smallest (46″) ladies frame and it fits more or less everyone,so size should not be an issue…First impressions are of a lithe and lightweight bicycle,which is somewhat illusory, because at 28kg it certainly isn’t light.Nevertheless,it’s reasonably light by electric bike standards,and it feels lively,which is all that really matters.With no appreciable drag from the motor,rolling resistance is more or less conventional for a bike of this type – we recorded a roll-down speed of 14.7mph,which is slightly off the pace,but adequate.Rolldown speed might seem unimportant on an electric bike,but it’s a surprisingly accurate guide to the ‘IT factor’ – whether a bike makes you grin,or grumble.

If you choose to dial in some power assist,you simply set a power level and keep pedalling.With a very gentle surge,the bike then accelerates a bit faster.There’s no noise, no vibration,indeed no suggestion of any kind of intervention.Stop pedalling,and the assist melts away.Lean on the pedal at a junction and nothing happens,but start turning the pedals and the gentle surge returns.With such a quiet motor and unobtrusive assistance, it’s hard to judge the cut-off speed.Sometimes the power has gone by 15mph,but at other times the bike seems to pull to around 17mph or so.Whatever,there’s very little indication of the motor starting or stopping.The only indicator is a ‘fuel’ gauge consisting of a ring of little bars (3% increments) around the speedometer.Like everything else on the bike,this is well thought through,and pretty accurate.

Should you be getting terribly excited that the Ion might be all things to all people, there are a few downsides.With the motor in the back wheel,there’s no room for hub gears,so the Ion has to make do with a cheapish Shimano Nexave derailleur.This limits the gear range,resulting in some rather unhappy compromises.At 37”, first gear is too high for hill climbing,and the 81” top gear is too low for comfortable The Ion is a pretty bike,and with the battery hidden in the curved frame tube,few people would even realise it was assisted cruising.What the bike really needs is something like the Megarange – we don’t know whether this can be shoehorned on,but it would help sell the concept no end,because direct drive motors tend to be weak on hills.

Now,you may be saying,if a motor is no good on hills,what’s it for? A valid point,and the usefulness of this sort of bike depends very much on where you live and how big the hills are.In undulating country,or into modest headwinds,the Ion is great fun.It’s basically just like any other bike,but it goes further and faster for the same effort.Hit a hill,and you’re soon slogging up in that 37-inch gear,which sounds like hard work,but you only have to turn the motor off to prove that it’s still doing a fair bit.Maximum gradient? As with the Giant Twist,it’s hard to put a figure on this,but the Ion is certainly a little weaker. Interestingly,Sparta has promised a more powerful motor for 2008,with sales to the UK and other hillier markets in mind.For now,though,it’s just about up to 1:7 (14%),but it isn’t keen on restarting on this sort of hill,and it won’t climb for long.After a sustained 700 foot climb – not all of it particularly steep – the bike flashs error message E21,which means the motor is overloaded.You don’t need to do anything – the Ion simply backs the power off for a while,but it’s a clear message that this isn’t a hill-climber.Having said that,it still managed 12.4mph in hilly country (the same as the Twist) but it certainly felt less able.

Back in gentler country and you’re soon smiling again.On our largely flat ten-mile test route the Ion did much better than expected,completing the course in 37 minutes – slightly behind the similar BionX,but about as fast as you can go with an 81-inch top gear over that sort of distance.Average speed comes out at 14.7mph (yes,it’s not exactly ten miles),which is pleasantly fast,but not wildly so.

At night,the ‘push of a button’ lights are very welcome,as is the illuminated speedometer – why has this simple innovation taken so long to arrive? Rear light is a typical Busch & Muller LED and the front light a Spanninga Radius with halogen bulb and – nice touch – a Sparta badge.In 2005,we’d have described the Radius as state-of-the-art,but since the arrival of the single LED B&M DLumotec,halogen front lights are merely ‘good’ in our book.

Brakes on our bike are Sturmey Archer drums front and rear.Stopping the bike from high speed takes a mighty heave,but the brakes are powerful,progressive and consistent – just what a cyclist needs.Cheaper models have V-brakes all round,and some others have a Nexus roller brake at the front and Sturmey drum at the rear,but despite the small weight penalty,the double drum package seems the best.The only slight grumble is that the rear drum (made by Sparta,not Sturmey) has a tendency to squeal when cold.

Most Ion models have suspension front forks and a suspension seat post.We’re usually a bit dismissive of this combination,but the components really do work here,giving a supple,comfortable ride.

Range & Charging

Sparta claims an exciting 44 miles in idea conditions,but it’s best to leave these sort of figures to the fairies.In practice,we returned a range of 22 miles in mixed use,falling to 19 miles on a hillier route.The Ion has three power levels – Eco,Normal and Power.We generally rode on the Power setting,but Normal is virtually indistinguishable,and the bike is light and agile enough to be used on Eco for long stretches,provided it’s not hilly,so with care,it would be possible to go a lot further.For all it’s worth,the handbook suggests a range of anything from 7 to 44 miles,which is really hedging their bets…The fuel gauge seems pretty accurate,but it descends a little slowly at first,then more rapidly,the last quarter disappearing in a few miles.This last bit should really be treated as reserve capacity, because after 15 miles,the already gentle motor is rapidly losing oomph.At 14-16Wh/mile,fuel economy is fairly typical for this sort of bike.

When your 22 miles are up,and the power pops off,the display helpfully flashes the code E01,meaning flat battery,but you don’t need the Sparta man to tell you that,because it’s back to muscle power alone.The Ion is quite a pleasant bike to ride unassisted,but with the limited gearing, hills are bound to be a problem.Range can be extended with an optional 168Wh battery pack that slots onto one side of the rear rack,pannier-style. This costs £265,and by our calculations,should extend the range to 32-37 miles.

The standard Ion has a 24 volt NiMH battery of 240Wh,which is a typical sort of size.Replacing the cells will cost £265,which is reasonable,but the main expense is depreciation of the bike,and on such an expensive machine,that pushes up running costs to around 9.6p per mile overall.

The charger is a delight.It’s small (16cm x 12cm x 6cm),light (700g) and with a fast rate of charge,refilling the battery in a little under three hours.A nice touch is that the fuel gauge works it’s way back up,giving a precise indication of the state of play.

With such a compact charger and speedy charge time,this is one of the few bikes you really could top-up over a relaxed lunch.The only problem with the batteries being in the frame is that you need to get the bike to within 3.1 metres of a power point – no carrying the battery into the pub unless it’s the sort of place that lets the bike into the lounge bar. In The Netherlands,this needn’t be a problem,because Sparta has established a network of charge stations at cafes and other public places.Civilised lot,aren’t they?

Conclusion

We are sometimes accused of falling too firmly for or against a particular bike,but there’s no escaping the fact that this is a good ‘un, and thousands of Dutch cyclists have already voted with their wallets accordingly. In Dorchester, the Ion proved something of a surprise hit with just about everyone who tried it.The only grumbles were with the lack of hub gears – unavoidable unfortunately – and the limited hill-climbing ability. Yes, it costs an arm and a leg, but it’s one of the nicest electric bikes around.

Sparta Ion M-Gear Specifications

Specification Sparta Ion M-Gear £1,429 . Weight inc battery 28kg (62lbs) . GearsShimano Nexave Ratios37″-81″ . Wheelbase110cm . BatteryNiMH . Capacity240Wh . Range>19 miles Full charge2hrs 45 min . Fuel Consumption overall 13.6-15.7Wh/mile . Running Costs 9.6p per mile . Manufacturer Sparta B.V. www.sparta.nl/uk . UKagents (Cambridge) Drakes Cycles tel 01223 363468 . (Brighton) Amsterdammers tel 01273 571555

A to B 58 – Feb 2007

When Giant announced that the Lafree Twist (hereafter referred to as the Lafree to avoid confusion) was to be replaced,we were somewhat sceptical. Despite a few quirks, the old bike was light, efficient,and much loved – clearly it would take some beating.

The new bike was launched first in The Netherlands and Germany last year,and information has been oozing out ever since.It seemed the motor was a derivative of the Sanyo front hub motor we’d rather disliked on the cut-price Giant Suede,and there were two battery options heavyish,cheapish NiMH on the Twist 2.0, and state-of-the-art Liion on the Twist 1.0.In both cases,the bike carried two batteries, and the range was claimed to be phenomenal – ‘up to’ (we see that phrase a lot) 100 miles.There was also a suggestion of regenerative braking. Finally,we have a sample.Is it all true?

The Twist 1.0

Giant may be based in Taiwan,but it’s a truly global company,and where models are aimed at a specific market,the big cheese in Taipei wisely opts to use local knowledge. This wasn’t true of the original Lafree,an ugly, brutish creature,but the ‘classic’ Lafree and the new Twist have both been designed in The Netherlands,and it shows.

The Twist is a huge machine – high in the saddle and even higher in the handlebars.Ours has a medium frame,and most people can ride it,so the three options should cover one and all. Handlebar height is taken care of by a Tranz-X adjustable stem,giving adjustment from 110cm to 123cm on our bike.

And in true workaday Dutch style,it’s well equipped:suspension,full lights (battery LED at the rear and traction-battery powered halogen at the front),mudguards,centre stand,panniers,chain guard,wheel lock,and the latest Nexus 8-speed hub.In The Netherlands,this spec would be nothing special,but it’s rare in the UK.And,of course,this one has assistance too – behind the panniers (and sort of inside too,but we’ll come to this) are twin 27 volt Li-ion manganese oxide power packs of 270 watt/hours each.If that sounds like a chemistry lesson,the total 540Wh capacity is nearly three and a half times that of the superseded Lafree,and one of the biggest electric bike packs around.In other words,it should go quite a long way.These batteries are high-tech stuff,weighing only 2.6kg apiece.In terms of weight efficiency,the NiMH battery on the 2006 bike offered a reasonable 40 watt/hours per kilogram,but the new ones pack 104 watt/hours per kilogram.

The bike itself is a bit heavier than the Lafree,weighing 24.9kg,against 18 – 22kg.Add the pair of batteries,and the 2007 model weighs 30.1kg (66lb),against a class-leading 22kg (48lb) for the old Lite model.The good news is that it’s more rigid.The chunky,but beautifully finished alloy frame making the Lafree look a bit spidery.Oddly,the main tube is made to a ‘U’ profile,being open underneath,but there’s plenty of strength there.

First Impressions

The Sanyo front hub motor is based on the Electric Wheel,designed by O J Birkestrand of the Rabbit Tool Co,Illinois (see A to B15 ).This design showed great promise,but the road from prototype to production can be rocky,and the production version is not quite so clever.It’s an AC motor that’s permanently engaged,which enables it to provide power to get you up hills,and reabsorb power down the other side,but unlike a direct drive motors fitted to the BionX or Ion,the Sanyo has internal gears.To work quietly and without friction,these gears have to be very well engineered,and in practice we found the Suede’s Sanyo motor noisy and aggravatingly slothful.This one is much better,and actually quieter than the Lafree,but by modern standards it’s noisy,with a shade too much drag. We could forgive this if it offered regenerative braking,but as we’ll see,it doesn’t.

…the Nexus 8-speed is one of the best… the gear range is better, the number of gears is increased…

First impressions are that the crank feels strangely ‘cushioned’.This is caused by the sensing mechanism,which judges how hard the rider is pedalling.Like the old Lafree,this bike is a pure pedelec, meaning that the motor will only function if you’re putting in a reasonable amount of effort,so it isn’t suitable for those who don’t want to,or are perhaps unable to,turn the pedals.You get used to it,but in this area the Lafree won hands down,because it had a superb sensing mechanism – the best and most ‘conventional’ we’ve come across.

Another slightly odd sensation is of the front tyre ‘tram lining’ on the road surface.In fact,this is quite harmless and caused by a return spring,biasing the front wheel to the straight ahead position.It’s a useful feature when the bike is on the stand,protecting the motor cable from being stretched,but some people may be unnerved by the handling quirks.

The Nexus 8-speed hub gear is one of the best around,and certainly an improvement on the 7-speed Nexus fitted to the cheaper Twist 2.0.It’s usually possible to pedal right through upward changes,as you would with a derailleur – something you can’t always do with the Sturmey 8 or SRAM 7.But,human nature being what it is,you end up pushing the technology by doing it every time, and once in a while the hub gets caught out,producing a nasty clunk. We were also a bit disappointed by the gaps between gears,which vary wildly.We have no objection to a 22% gap between Gears 1 and 2,but are less keen on 14% between Gears 7 and 8, where a big gap can be useful. The hub is adjusted by lining up two yellow pointers in Gear 3, but they’re under the hub,and in this case,inside the chainguard which has to be partially removed.

The old Lafree Lite was fitted with a 3-speed Nexus,which didn’t give a wide enough range,and the more expensive models came with the 4-speed Nexus (more gears,same range),and later the 5-speed and 7-speed SRAM.On the new bike,the gear range is better,the number of gears is increased,and as the motor output takes a different route to the road,hub life should be improved definitely a plus point.

Gearing is about right for a bike of this kind.At 29 inches,first is low enough for most eventualities,even without assist,and at 89 inches,top is just up to fast riding,although another few gear-inches would be welcome.As usual with a Giant electric bike,power melts away at precisely 15mph,but the squidgy pedals and the constant drag mean you’re unlikely to voluntarily pedal any faster.The extra drag is little more than a dynamo,but it’s annoyingly noticeable,and several people observed that the Twist felt slower than the Lafree.It isn’t,but the drag makes it feel as though it is.Strangely,the resistance seems to melt away at very high speed,and the bike thunders down steep descents – we saw 40mph on two occasions.

On the Road

The high handlebars are very typical of a Dutch roadster. The batteries are effectively hidden

Generally,road speed is not high.We averaged 12.4mph on a hilly route,which is a little slower than the Lafree,but identical to the Sparta Ion.It’s worth pointing out that the Lafree’s crank motor could be tweaked with higher gearing to give ‘longer legs’,or with lower gearing to improve hill-climbing – all for the cost of a little sprocket.Although technically illegal,higher gearing only increased the average speed by 1mph or so,but gave nicer ratios for pressing on,with or without power,particularly useful with a following wind.On the new model,this sort of fine-tuning isn’t possible,or at least it is,but a change of rear sprocket will only increase the gearing for your legs , because the motor drives the front wheel.So in terms of adaptability,the old bike was much better.

With the slight motor drag,the extra weight,and that sharp cut-off at 15mph,journey times will not bring forth oohs and aahs from your friends.Our largely flat,but somewhat exposed 10-mile ‘commuter’ circuit took 41 1 / 2 minutes (an average of 13.2mph),where 35 to 40 minutes would be the norm for a good electric bike,and even a decent non-assisted folder (see Moulton in this issue) can better 40 minutes.

Tyres look jolly good.They’re designed in Holland (or so it says on the sidewall) and made by CSR,which turns out to be our old friend Cheng Shin Rubber,manufacturer of almost every bicycle tyre on the planet.Being generally slick,but with a handful of groovylooking swept back grooves,they look distinctly sporty.In practice,it’s hard to tell how effective they are,because the motor drag limits the rolldown speed to 10.6mph,which is bad news for a big-wheeled bike like this.Anyway,the tyres certainly look the part.

Brakes are a bit of a mixture.The front V-brakes are a bit too powerful,easily achieving a stable,safe emergency stop of .68G.It’s easy to go a bit too far – we saw .72G,but at this point the rear wheel is starting to lift off. In marked contrast,the Nexus roller brake at the back is a bit feeble,scraping up to .2G a long way from locking the wheel.From experience,we know these brakes improve a bit when properly ‘run in’,and they can easily go on to outlive the bike,but they’re not really strong enough to control a heavy trailer,and can overheat on long descents.

The ride is a bit hard,certainly compared to the Sparta Ion.Like the 1960s Moulton, the Twist front suspension uses a single spring hidden within the fork tube,but it doesn’t work half as well,being stiff and unresponsive,with limited travel.

…Giant claim up to 100 miles… 40 miles seems a safe overall figure…

Hill Climbing

The old Lafree was a slow but able hill climber, chugging up more or less anything.Putting the motor in the front wheel is easier and cheaper for Giant,but it does put a limit on hill climbing,because as road speed falls,the motor begins to lose interest.This makes it a bit difficult to put a figure on the maximum gradient,because so much depends on the strength of the rider. We found gradients of 1:8 relatively easy,and even managed a restart on 1:6,but that’s about it. This sort of thing is only possible because of the low first gear – something the cheaper Twist 2.0 won’t have.

As for going down the other side,the Twist does technically have regenerative braking, but it’s extremely limited.You have to find and press a rather fiddly button to make it work, it only cuts in above 10mph,and when it does,it’s so weak as to be almost unnoticeable. Only on a couple of long fast descents did we feel any retardation,and then only for a few seconds. Our bike may have been faulty,but the regen braking is too weak to be of any practical use. Disappointing is the word.

Range

Giant claims a range of up to 100 miles for the Twist,but that’s on the flat,with no headwind,using the lowest ‘Eco’ power setting,and subject to almost a page of caveats.No doubt this is possible in ideal conditions, but for the averagely tubby Westerner,in late for work mode,on a miserable cold and wet January morning,forget it.To be fair,Giant is realistic about this worst case scenario,claiming a more modest 25 to 38 miles.Using the highest ‘Power’ setting in near freezing weather and with some icy headwinds gave a figure of 18.5 miles per battery,which is more or less in line with expectations. Further trips yielded 20 to 23 miles per battery,so 40 seems a safe overall figure.

The battery capacity is indicated by a line of five LEDs.The first two are pretty inaccurate,popping off at the first sniff of a gradient,and very often coming back down the other side (no,that’s not regen).Then there’s a long pause until somewhere around 10 miles,when light three goes out.Once light four has gone (15 miles or so),power starts to sag,warning you that the final act is not far off.Normally, a slightly vague gauge would be a problem,but with two batteries,you simply flick a switch…assuming,of course,that you charged the correct battery last night.This reminds us of a friend with a Jaguar 420G who took out a second mortgage to fill both tanks,drove until the first tank was exhausted, pressed the button…and found the second fuel pump wasn’t working.There’s a moral there somewhere.

Is it fair to test the Twist only in ‘Power’ mode? We think so.We’ve used the setting that gives the closest approximation to the performance of the old Lafree in the same conditions.Ridden hard,that would do about 20 miles,or a fair bit more with care,but with twin batteries,the new Twist beats it hands down in terms of range.It’s actually rather less economic,drinking 15 watt/hours of juice per mile,against 10 or so for the old bike, but that was – to be fair – exceptionally frugal.In any event the Twist has so much more battery available,economy isn’t a major issue.

Charging

Things fall down badly here,but it’s a new design,so Giant should be able to sort things out before they hit the shops.The batteries are hung either side of a special rack,and they’re neatly encased by a pair of equally special panniers.The idea is that you turn a key with one hand,open the pannier and reach in with the other hand,then swing the battery down,unfurl a handle and lift it free.Ha! The man from Giant couldn’t do it,and we couldn’t either. In the end,two of us removed the panniers, and after quite a bit of head-scratching and pushing and shoving,we had a battery out.Once it’s out,be very very careful. On the front face,and serving no particular engineering purpose,are four plastic plates,as sharp as razor blades. We received a nasty cut on Day One,and a guest was bitten the following day…

Unfortunately,the charge socket is under the battery handle, and the handle cannot be folded down until the battery is most of the way out.Catch 22:you can’t grab the batteries without removing the panniers,but if you remove the panniers,the battery has to come right out or it will fall on the ground.And when you pick it up,you cut a finger on the nasty projections.Some people simply will not be able

…The battery problem sounds suspiciously like Computer Aided Design disease…

to charge the Twist batteries unless this lot is sorted out.Something else you could never predict is that with two identical batteries, your typically muddle-headed A to B tester soon forgets which is charged and which isn’t. ‘A’ and ‘B’ labels would help a bit here,and give us some free publicity.

Once the battery’s out,the charging process is straightforward.At 1.2kg and 20cm x 10cm x 5cm,the charger is rather large,but reasonably quick.It runs at full power for two hours,bringing the battery to 70% capacity,then at a slower rate for another hour and three-quarters,before shutting down – exactly the same as the old model.You can leave the battery connected for the rest of the night if you wish,but no longer,says the manual. Unfortunately,the batteries have to be charged independently,so a commuter travelling more than twenty miles a day will need to get the body armour back on and brave another battery swap late in the evening,leaving the second battery on charge overnight.

The whole battery problem sounds suspiciously like Computer Aided Design disease. In this sadly all too common scenario,some bright,spotty-faced young thing creates a wonderful 3D object d’art on a computer screen,but no-one actually finds out whether it bites until tens of thousands of dollars have been spent on tooling and it arrives at Manor Road,Dorchester.Amazing. Yes,the old Lafree battery was an ergonomic delight to whip in and out.Sometimes we used to do it just for the hell of it .

Accessories

Good and bad news here.Starting with the very minor things,the bell is superb wonderful clear note,nice action,clever bit of design.The nice big centre stand looks a great advance on the puny side-stand fitted to the old Lafree,but it (literally) falls down in practice by not going far enough ‘over-centre’,leaving the bike vulnerable to rolling forward off the stand.This tends to happen as you finally and triumphantly wrestle a battery out. Gravity being what it is,removing one battery causes the rear of the bike to bob gently up, and if it’s on a slight slope,the stand will fold slowly away,leaving you open mouthed as the S S Twist launches gently forward to roll away into the flowerbed.A change to the stand geometry will cure the problem,and it needs to be done.

The lights are good,but again there are minor niggles.The rear light is a batterypowered LED,with a top-mounted switch that can be easily prodded on with a gloved hand.Unlike the Lafree Comfort,this is not automatic,and ours failed within a week.This could happen to any bike,of course,but for £1,400 you rightly expect the best.

The Spanning a Radius halogen light is controlled from a fiddly little push button on the handlebar ‘dashboard’. This probably looked fine spinning around in 3D too,but with gloved hands,riding on a dark country lane,it’s all too easy to turn the light off as you grope for something else.To get it back on,you have to steer your finger by the little constellation of LEDS and make a stab in the right place.If you’re blinded by car lights,this is near impossible,and quite a dangerous operation.The headlight will also go off if the systems shut down for any reason.This happened to us a couple of times pulling out of junctions, when the motor stuttered then returned,but the light stayed out.The same is true if you change ‘tanks’ on the move – the motor only goes off for a second,but the light stays off until you hit that little switch.Annoying,and potentially dangerous.

In most respects,the light is an improvement on the old dynamo system.Drawing power from the traction battery means it’s always available,so there are no worries when stationary and turning right.Even if both the batteries are flat,Giant reckons there is enough power left to run the light for ten hours.A good system,but the switch needs a rethink.It would be safer to put a nice big chunky light switch safely out of reach (see Sparta).So mixed fortunes here – the new lights are better than the cheapy dynamo lights fitted to the old Lite model,but not as good as the wonderful Busch & Müller automatic lights on the Lafree Comfort.

Elsewhere,it’s nice to see a pump (neatly hidden under the panniers),the wheel lock is great,and the chainguard is functional,but a bit fiddly to remove.The panniers themselves are futuristic sculpted affairs,but as Jane immediately points out,compared to the capacious Bling Bling panniers that have been fixtures on her Lafree since we tested them in A to B54 ,they are too small,and fiddly to use.A4 paperwork fits neatly inside,but you have to scrunch the papers through a letter box slot to get them in.Stylish maybe,but the capacity just isn’t there,and the unusual rack means that normal rigid-backed panniers,such as Carradice or Ortleib,will not fit.If this bike is going to be truly practical for nipping to the shops or commuting,a rethink is needed.

Conclusion

That’s our technical analysis,but most cyclists aren’t interested in whether the battery is a Nimby or a Lion;they just want something that will work and keep working at a reasonable cost.There’s no escaping that the Twist 1.0 will be expensive to run.A £1,400 purchase price,plus an estimated £300 per replacement battery (don’t forget there are two) gives a scary running cost of 12.1p per mile.

We rounded up four Lafree owners to try the new model – would they swap their tired old machine for this shiny new one? The rigid frame and build quality of the bike were much admired,as was the handling,but it was also described as ‘slow’ (this,of course,is somewhat illusory),heavy (again,not entirely fair),and boring.Some came round to it,but grumbles persisted about the small panniers,and problems with upgrading them,the pedals being too far back,the lack of a handle to lift the bike onto the stand,and the price,which was considered way over the top for a Chinese machine,albeit a good one.The fact is,the Twist is closely related to the Giant Suede,but it costs more than twice as much.

It should be a matter of some concern to Giant that only one was willing to swap his old model for £1,400 worth of shiny new bicycle,and he was very unsure.Of course,in some respects,a focus group in love with the old model is bound to be biased from the start.Giant is delighted with the bike’s reception in The Netherlands,where 5,000 are reported to have been sold since November.

The new Twist has some good features,and one or two excellent ones,like the 40mile range,which is more or less unbeatable.But we have a hunch buyers will opt for the 2.0 model instead.This has most of the same features,but is fitted with a pair of (arguably more reliable) NiMH batteries instead of lightweight Li-ion.This means a more reasonable £1,100 for the bike,with running costs of around 8.4p per mile.

Specification

Giant Twist 1.0 £1,400. Weight bicycle 24.9kg batteries 5.2kg total 30.1kg (66lbs). Gears Shimano Nexus. Ratios29″-89″. Wheelbase116cm. BatteryLi-ion. Capacity2 x 270Wh Range40 milesFull charge 7hrs 30min . Fuel Consumption overall 13.5-16.8 Wh/mile Running Costs 12.1p per mile. Manufacturer Giant Bicycles  UK distributor Giant UK Ltd tel 0115 977 5900 mail info@giant-uk.demon.co.uk

A to B 58 – Feb 2007

Nothing stands still,especially in the world of electric bikes.Not so long ago,buyers who couldn’t afford the £850+ for a basic Giant Lafree were faced with a huge choice of cheaper alternatives,all of them heavy,slow and relatively crude. That looks like changing,with a new breed of bikes in the £500-£600 range,of which Giant’s own Suede is the most obvious example.And these cheaper bikes are getting better:the Suede is expected to be relaunched in 2007 with a freewheel in the motor, the lack of which was one of our biggest criticisms. None are as sophisticated as the purely pedelec Lafree,but the new generation all make use of Nickel-Metal Hydride (NiMH) batteries,which weigh about half as much as traditional lead-acids, and they are finally starting to come down in price as production volumes increase. The Powacycle Windsor is one such,and at £499 appears to tick most of the right boxes.It’s got a NiMH battery,aluminium step-through frame,smart black wheel rims,Vbrakes and a sturdy rack. And it weighs 23.7kg – slightly less than claimed,and lighter than almost anything except the basic Lafree. There’s been a fairly obvious attempt to give it a Lafree sort of look,and in a chunky,less elegant way, they’ve succeeded. If there’s a drawback,it’s that the Windsor’s battery is a relatively puny 192 watt/hours (the Ezee range,for example,offer 324 watt/hours) so it won’t be burning any tarmac.

Stately Performance

Still,that’s very much in keeping with the Windsor’s appearance,which suggests genteel potters to Thameside shops rather than pounding the mean streets of Bristol or London.Ladies who lunch will love it,but they might find the riding position a bit odd the bottom bracket is mounted a couple of inches further back than usual,so your feet keep slipping forward on the pedals,though the wide,pull-back bars are comfy.The saddle is a large squishy item that feels quite pleasant at first,but gets to be a pain after a dozen miles or so. Progress is stately.The Windsor,like many electric bikes,gives riders the choice of both pedelec (power comes in when you pedal) and twistgrip control,though in this case the throttle gives a power boost over and above pedelec mode.At least,that’s the theory,and using the twistgrip certainly draws extra energy from the battery,though the effect is pretty subtle.The motor is whisper-quiet,and the power delivery so gentle that one could be forgiven for forgetting that this bike has any power assistance at all. That illusion was soon dispelled by riding into town without the battery,which made it clear that the Powacycle’s motor is doing some useful work.But there’s none of the playful thrustiness of an Ezee – it’s more like having a gentle wind at your back all the time. That’s all very nice,but don’t expect to waft along at an effortless 15mph or more – the Powacycle motor has given its all by 13mph. Despite this,it climbs hills surprisingly well,needing only light pedal assistance to keep up a steady 8-10mph on moderate inclines.The gears help,a cheapo Shimano 6-speed derailleur that offers a 37-73 inch range.That’s not bad,but it would be nice to have a lower first when stuck with a flat batt in hilly country, and keen types will find that top gear runs out of cadence at 16-17mph.

…A range of 25 miles isn’t at all bad… and miles better than Powacycle would have you believe…

In town,we tended to use the twistgrip just for pulling away,especially up hills,for which it comes in very useful.Pedelec power doesn’t waft in until walking pace,so the twistgrip gives extra pulling away confidence from red lights and the like.As ever with the cruder type of pedelec sensor,power continues for a second or so after you stop pedalling,which can be alarming,if not dangerous,if you’re not ready for it.

Speaking of flat batteries,Powacycle claims a 13-17 mile range for the Windsor,‘with gentle pedalling on a flat surface.’ As most range claims have as much to do with truth as Enron’s accounts department, that comes over as exceedingly modest. And it is. Starting out from Dorchester with a full battery,we made it to Sherborne (20.5 miles) with plenty of power left over. Admittedly,we were only using the twistgrip on hills (of which there were only a couple),our average was a leisurely 12.3mph and we had a good strong tailwind,but even so…

Next morning, the 3-LED system finally flashed on to ‘Empty’ at 21.5 miles,and at 24.6 power became intermittent on the twistgrip – a bit like a moped running out of fuel,if you’ve ever experienced that
Like the Lafree, the Windsor draws its styling from the classic ladies roadster. A comfortable position and decent luggage carrying ability

a genuine battery capacity of around 190 watt/hours, which is even more amazing…

The solid purple line shows twistgrip power consumption,and the dotted line,pedelec power only.For comparison,the blue line is for the Giant Lafree 3-spd - faster and noticeably more powerful

the pedelec following suit at 26.1.Professor Pivot tells us this intermittent power is due to a rather crude low voltage cut-out,which cuts in again immediately as the voltage rises. This cutting on and off is apparently bad for both electronics and battery,so at the first sign of this,it’s best to switch off the electrics and rely on pedal power alone.

A range of close on 25 miles isn’t at all bad for such a small battery,and miles better than Powacycle would have you believe.But just to be sure,we gave it a tougher test the following day,an 18-mile round trip, with some big hills and the sort of wind that’s always against you.Despite using the full twistgrip power wherever possible, speed was down to 11.9mph,and the trip almost flattened the battery.But the range was still better than Powacycle’s claim,with the Empty light staying on at 18.5 miles,and the cut-out cutting-in a mile later.

One interesting point is that the power didn’t get noticeably more feeble when the battery was low, and the first warning sign (you can’t see the three LEDs from the saddle) was that intermittent running.In any case,the three LED display is less than informative,the ‘Full’ light disappearing within a couple of miles. Powacycle claim a 4-6 hour charge time,which seems optimistic when you see the size of the diddy charger.This gets quite hot, though it managed a full recharge in 5 hours 10mins. Once again,this is bang in the middle of the importer’s claim,and suggests a genuine battery capacity of around 190 watt/hours,which is even more amazing.

The Bicycle

As a bicycle,the Windsor is quite pleasant,with its relaxed riding position (we got used to the backwards bottom bracket after a while).There isn’t enough saddle adjustment (86-96cm) for six-footers,though the handlebars can be swivelled between 94-99cm,and the Windsor is physically bigger than all but the biggest Lafree.

It’s very stable too,even at 38mph down a long steep hill,and the 6-speed derailleur might be cheap,but it works well enough.The cheap V-brakes are what you’d expect,and once again,they do the job without any great finesse,but what really concerned us were the suspension forks.As forks,they soak up the bumps quite well,and are especially good at wafting over speed humps. But those on the test bike had an alarming amount of play.Peel back the loose fitting gaiter, and you can see just how bad a fit the plastic bush is in the fork.They judder badly under heavy braking,and if bicycles had to pass an MOT, these would have brought an instant failure. If it’s impossible to supply decent suspension forks at the price,they shouldn’t be there at all. Ordinary forks would be stronger and could save up to a kilogram – useful in a market where weight competition is becoming very keen.

The rest of the Windsor’s equipment tells a happier tale. The rear rack looks strong,and doesn’t come with bungees but has plenty of hook points,there’s a useful kickstand,a proper bell,a chainguard,full mudguards and chunky looking Kenda 26 x 1.75 tyres,which seemed to roll along well.On the other hand,you don’t get lights,the brake levers aren’t span-adjustable and the battery lock consists of a spigot that pokes through a hole in the plastic battery casing,which doesn’t inspire much confidence.The battery is easy to slide in and out,unlike some we could mention,and one nice point is that Powacycle offer a second battery for a very reasonable £99. At that price (and given that the battery weighs only 3.7kg) it would be worth making this a twobattery bike,with a theoretical range of 50-odd miles.

The low purchase price,reasonable range and economical battery replacement combine to give running costs of 4.8p per mile – the lowest we’ve measured in ten years of electric bike testing.That’s very significant.

…running costs of 4.8p per mile – the lowest we’ve seen in ten years. That’s very significant…

A to B Fact File

POWACYCLE Never heard of Powacycle? Neither had we until a few months ago.The company is part of Ultima Networks,which supplies computers and electronics and was set up in 1979.It seems the Chairman has an interest in green issues and alternative transport,and decided to import electric bikes after seeing them in use in China. The first bikes arrived in August last year and by November the company was specifying changes to the Chinese manufacturers.For example,the early batteries had kettle type three-pin sockets, so they could mistakenly have been connected directly to the mains;these have now been changed to small circular sockets. According to Wazz Mughal of Powacycle, the company sold 15,000 bikes in its first 12 months,and they’re aiming at 20,000 in the next twelve,on a turnover of £1 million. Until now,most have been sold direct to the public,but a dealer network is being built up. As they say,watch this space…

Verdict

There’s no doubt that the Windsor is slower and less sophisticated than an Ezee or the now defunct Lafree.We proved this the hard way when we allowed 20 minutes to reach a remote station – a schedule that should have been easy for an electric bike – and missed the train by a full five minutes.But at £499 ready to roll,the Windsor is a real step forward from the old lead-acid dinosaurs of the past,making NiMH light weight technology genuinely affordable.Of course,the price is reflected in the componentry (especially those forks) but it should make electric bikes more accessible to more people, which has to be good news for all of us.

Specification

Powacycle Windsor£499 . Weight Bicycle 21kg Battery 3.7kg . Total 24.7kg (54lbs) . Gears Shimano SIS 6-spd derailleur . Ratios37″-73″ . Wheelbase117cm . BatteriesNiMH Capacity192Wh . Spare battery£99 . Range 19.5 miles . Full charge5hrs 10mins Fuel Consumption Overall 11.5Wh/mile . Running Costs4.8p per mile . Manufacturer Powacycle tel 01279 821243 mail info@powacycle.co.uk

Peter Henshaw

A to B 56 – Oct 2006