A Haibike won the 'Bike of the Year' thing in the Fall of 2014. I was curious and went to look at Haibikes at the dealer in St. George, Utah. That dealer is Espokes and they seem to do a decent job. They must have dropped the Haibikes because their premium brands are now Felt, Kalkhoff, and Focus. I was a little disappointed the Sduro would not be available an hour away, but the Sduro line is being aimed at young people, mostly young men. I don't know what kind of dealer network Cube might have. I was wondering what the Bosch on the bikes that are available really do, but that means some real testing.
I believe the 250/350 thing came up when I looked at the Haibike, but I had no way to sort it out. I know that European wattage limits are more strictly enforced. Wattages in the US market just don't work for consumers, there's no value to it. You can use controller max amps and figure out where the speed is governed, basically. California is supposedly going to measure wattages, or force manufacturer to certify max watts, and put it on a permanent label.
I thought Haibike making a $2500 bike was very significant. I just can't see volume sales of ebikes in the $4k and up, and I'm not really in that market. Something like a Cube is much better for an older ride, in many cases. I'm not a fan of pure pedal assist, and it's not a US requirement.
The basic Felt ebikes list a 350w Bosch motor. If that motor really put out 500 watts, going up an 8% grade, it would be a solid motor. I could figure it out, or come close, but it's confusing that they wouldn't give some guidance on this, officially. They are pretty strict in the EU, so when an EU company comes over here with a spec, it seems like it might be a 'real' number.
It's very early in the game. I see a lot of places where ebikes don't make sense, there's bad information. Just too many meaningless standards, too many marketing gimmicks, too few real dealers, bad regulations that people ignore. That's why the builder market is locked into Bafang, almost to the exclusion of everything else. It works. It's a mid-drive. You can fix it. A billion people look at the YouTube videos on every aspect of the thing.
It impresses me when someone like
@J.R. buys a European style bike, a BH. He knows more than I do about bikes, so he could make a kit work. But he sees more in a manufactured bike. The dealer community should take a lot of comfort in that. I still don't see how the dealer bike works more me. Even a 50 miles distant dealer is two three hour trips for any adjustment or repair, two days.
Shame that there is no thru axle fitted though.
