The terrain in the Cotswolds is extremely hilly, my local areas that i really need to get to may only be 4-5 miles away most of the time and some are actually quite flat to get too.
My need for and electric bike is quite simple, i can no longer drive as i have been diagnosed with macular degeneration and my eyesight no longer meets the visual fields requirements needed for the DVLA.
With an electric bike the simple requirement for not needing a licence is that it can go no faster than 15 mph either by throttle or pedal assist, well let me paste the gov.co.uk regs below
EAPC requirements
The requirements are:
- the bike must have pedals that can be used to propel it
- the electric motor shouldn’t be able to propel the bike when it’s travelling more than 15mph
- the bike (including its battery but not the rider) must not be heavier than 40 kilograms (kg) if it’s a bicycle, or 60kg if it’s a tandem or tricycle
- the motor shouldn’t have a maximum power output of more than 200 watts if it’s a bicycle and 250 watts if it’s a tandem or tricycle
- the bike must have a plate showing the manufacturer, the nominal voltage of the battery, and the motor’s power output.
I purchased a Kudos Tornado, it has a battery with the samsung cells in, which after research seemed a good idea.
The battery is cheap to replace from Kudos at £200, so thats another bonus.
The Kudos Tornado has 5 speed assist, at the moment because my level of fitness is very low i am using mainly assist level 5, heres the thing though, you have to remember that if you are descending a slight hill the battery cuts out at 15 mph and you can either carry on pedalling or roll, so the battery is not always being used.
I have made 2 journeys so far to the extent of what i want it for, both around 12 miles in total, each journey has used i would say 25% to 35% of the battery. Now if you had bought a throttle e-bike and was not pedalling this would easily use up more, for me the idea is to get fit as well as be able to get to places that i just could not with a normal bike.
The brakes are fantastic, just touch them and i am stopping like i request them to do.
Going up hills so far is not bad, because the tornado is very light, this leaves more power from the motor to help you with the assist you need.
I still have to get used to the saddle, i am sure this is just a bike thing that i am not used to.
Next test is to go a little further afield when i am a bit fitter.
How did i decide on the Kudos Tornado, well i did speak to a few places, i ended up speaking and then going to Fosse Electric Bikes, near Leicester who advised me on what the right e-bike would be right for what i needed it for.
At £1095 it has proven to be excellent value, so much that my fiancée now wants her e-bike, so time to put on our saving hats and get another.
I will include Fosse Electric Bikes video review until i get my own done.
I will also add that so far my 6.2 mile return journey took 25 minutes and getting there took 30 minutes (slighty uphill) will post results of times as fitness level hopefully rise.
Thanks for posting this - I'm very tempted to get one of these!
ReplyDeleteI'll check back for longer term reviews/thoughts... I'm also in the Cotswolds and am hoping that, during the summer at least, I'll be able to cycle the 16 miles home uphill without breaking myself!
Just to let you know i did 12 miles the other day going via icomb hill possibly the steepest hill around my area, it was easier to ride up the hill than walk up with the bike,i dropped it into the lowest gears and did a steady 6 miles an hour, somewhere like stow on the wold hill is actually more easy as it is a main road and far more less taxing, you would easily climb that at ten miles and hour. I cycled 18 miles the other day going via kingham turning to chasleton a steepish hill, that was a ten miles an hour climb. On my 18 mile journey the battery had still only used 1 bar out of five. If you are going to work for a while or somewhere for a few hours you can always drop the charger in a back satchel and take it with you. Dont get fooled by big bikes with big batteries as the weight of the bike will use up the battery. The less weight to cycle with the better for the battery too. Thats why i liked the kudos range. I will say the tornado was the middle of the range because of the disc brakes, had i known this was probaly a was of money as the lower range choice £200 less would of been just as good choice.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the update Tudor.
ReplyDeleteIt's a shame they don't stock the Kudos range at the new eBike shop in Stroud, as I'd like to try out the Kudos and compare it to the F4W range they have in stock.
Sounds like the cheaper Cobra might be up to the job from what you're saying too... perhaps my commute from the other side of Ciren to Stroud and back everyday might be doable!
The Only reason i wanted the disc brakes is because of Stow on the Wold Hill, I get upto 40 mph free wheeling down that, with traffic lights at the bottom a sudden need to stop is needed badly!! Your journey looks like about 12 - 14 miles, depending where you live in cirencester, so you could always buy two power adapters, leave one with you at work to charge in the day.
DeleteBy the way the speedo module on the tornado is very easy to supe up to set it to 18.5 mph, naughty but fun.
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