E bike Newbie - Is this Electric Mountain bike Good? Has 8FUN Motor

[ScottPeter]

Hi,

I want to get into cycling, and am looking at electric bikes to get me started as my knees wont handle on their own. The bike im looking at has a 8FUN motor???

O love the idea of mountain biking, and found this whilst searching google for different types (link below). It says Navitas Cycles a new E bike company.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/725497/electric-mountain-fold-up-bikes-new-design-initiat

For the price in the UK it looks great to me based on what i have found, and i like the look of the hidden battery so it doesnt make me stand out! But i would like peoples opinions before i purchase. I have found bikes such as Kudos and Cyclo but the prices are in the thousands. Not too sure i want to pay that just yet.

Any thoughts would be welcomed.

Scott

 

[MLB]

With the motor AND the battery both in the wheel that is going to be a crazy heavy wheel! No discussion of the motor and it's size or power output which is worrisome to me.
This seems a bit more gimicky than ground breaking.
The 8Fun is a great motor for mtb's. A rear hub motor is less ideal though certainly workable.

 

[JoePah]

Hi,

I want to get into cycling, and am looking at electric bikes to get me started as my knees wont handle on their own. The bike im looking at has a 8FUN motor???

O love the idea of mountain biking, and found this whilst searching google for different types (link below). It says Navitas Cycles a new E bike company.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/725497/electric-mountain-fold-up-bikes-new-design-initiat

For the price in the UK it looks great to me based on what i have found, and i like the look of the hidden battery so it doesnt make me stand out! But i would like peoples opinions before i purchase. I have found bikes such as Kudos and Cyclo but the prices are in the thousands. Not too sure i want to pay that just yet.

Any thoughts would be welcomed.

Scott

The Copenhagen wheel is an all in one motor/battery/controller that has been in development for 2 years.. Product release is now planned for Spring 2015.. They keep pushing the date. The design looks tempting.
https://superpedestrian.com/

FLYKLY was a Kickstarter project with another all in one wheel.. It was delayed then the whole design was turned over to an Italian startup.. They are now shipping to customers after an 8 month delay, with a much smaller battery and motor.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/flykly/flykly-smart-wheel

TidalForce was a startup company that was heavily financed.. like $30 Million.. Battery in one hub motor in the other.. .A complete bust.. Some people picked them up cheap and upgraded them... https://www.electricbike.com/tidal-force/

My advice: Don't invest in another KS project where the battery is in the wheel! these people probably have no idea how much development is involved.

 

[Spotty dog]

You can buy a BBS01 kit with 14.5ah battery for about £600 in the uk prob better suited to mountain bike riding off road, if you prefer a front hub set up take a look at the Ansmann front hub drive kit.
I rode one at bike show a couple of years ago it was very nice I almost brought one, they come with excellent warantee 3 yrs on motor and 4 yrs on battery kit is about £800 u pay a premium for german quality.
Then the Banfang BBS crankdrive kit came on the scene I live in a hilly area so my money went with what I felt offred best bang for my buck and stronger hill climbing ability but bafang option doesnt offer such a strong warantee Only 1yr motor and battery.
A hub drive at 250w will have very limited assist up steep hills and stating an 8Ah battery will give you 50km of pedal assist range is very optomistic.