First impressions after 60 kms.
BMW I am disappointed. Everything works as stated, the build is very high quality and although feeling like a drugged-up Lance Armstrong when on the bike, I am quickly reminded that I am not quite there yet when I turn the power assistance off. And thanks for a new niggle in my life which goes by the name of Range Anxiety! With 6 kms range left and unsure if I would make it into work in the morning at 3kms I decided to ride into work on Sunday night to retrieve the Charger just for the hell of it….. retrieving the Charger was my excuse anyway! The range on the display, previously detailing 6 kms range left went down to 5 kms after my 3 kms dash on Turbo Assist mode to retrieve, and therein lies a part of my story. This is a refined bike that I WANT to ride.
Whereas the article should be focussed on the BMW Cruise Ebike 2014 model, this is also my first experience of riding and owning an ebike and for reasons of completeness it is important to give my purchase context; New Years Resolutions are strange things, often declared to oneself with such determination and commitment and often forgotten about barely a few weeks later. Well this particular path has been walked down not because of a New Years Resolution as such but for a commitment around that time to do something, to get out more and enjoy the outdoors, to get fitter and meet head-on the middle-aged spread. And to relieve some of the stress and worry that goes along with running your own business and travelling the UK often by van, hours and hours spent on the road with little chance to exercise. A rowing machine is a banal and repetitive but otherwise efficient way of working out and that got me through the first three months of 2015 with a measure of success given the comments of others, but I wanted to be more active and to enjoy what I was doing when exercising, to incorporate activity into my life which otherwise I didn’t have time for.
Back to the bike, at least temporarily. A joy to ride in summary. Unsure whether to associate her with being a lady - refinement - or a male given the more male-associated trait of power and solidity. Just re-read my last sentence and realised I have referred to the bike as a ‘her’ so that will stick, a refined lady with power and solidity. The stock tyres and positioning of the left-hand controls point this bike towards road use although BMW refer to off-road use in the press-releases, when I have permission from AG Munich I will point to the relevant extracts.
I did some light trail riding in the first couple of days and felt guilty to be honest, this is such a gorgeous head-turning bike that something feels wrong about going off road with her, (tyres are definitely suited to fast road use and cornering, something I have enjoyed immensely given my experience of motorcycles.) How many times do you see a Ferrari parked up with two wheels off of the road for example, you just don’t. I wanted to see how she performed off-road anyway and how difficult it was to lift her up the stairs of an overhead railway crossing for practical purposes. I usually ride a Scott Spark 29er down the stairs on the other side with backside hanging over the rear wheel (a deliberate action not due to my physical state) but I didn’t want to do that with the BMW, it just didn’t seem right. With a little bit of effort for this 43 year old male the bike was manageable enough lifting up the stairs, more manageable than I imagined anyway, however I am used to hauling and lifting fairly heavy televisions and speakers 65 kgs+.
But go off the beaten path I did, the superb Bosch mid-drive low-end torque was warmly received and judicious use of the gears allowed me to lift the front wheel when needed but who would have guessed it, the bike then became sluggish, a twig in the rear derailleur? It was clean. Panic set in. At last something to find flaw with!!! When negotiating obstacles at very low speed control of the bars is to me (and indeed others) crucially important, your hands grip and regrip, reposition themselves (as do your feet, at least they should do!) to gain balance and deal with whatever terrain faces you as a rider, but with a control placed on the left of this ebike, the top of my left-hand thumb socket had inadvertently nudged the - (minus) presspad and turned the power assistance off. Splitting hairs? Not really, because for medium-fast road use when you want the top of your left-hand thumb socket to nudge the power assistance level upwards you as a rider have to lift your hand (but not your grip) from the bars in an uncomfortable fashion to reach the + (positive) presspad. This was most telling when travelling up extended inclines or hills. I am not aware that the buttons can be programmed in reverse, and after all up/top for positive or to go up a gear and likewise for the reverse is intuitive. Intuitive is not always practical though.
At this point I should throw in a technical fact in case the technically minded are getting-bored - first charge (with five miles range remaining showing up on the display) took three hours and five minutes before the charging lights extinguished. Now I have sleeved the battery up, although it is warmer weather in the UK presently I want to protect it in the event of stone-chips/debris from the road, given the speed at which I find myself riding, and therein lies another story, boy this experience is just flowing!
What I expected from this ebike and what I am experiencing are unrelated things, but please bear in mind that I am in the UK and the output of the motor is limited to 250W and assistance from the mid-drive Bosch Power Unit cuts out (or should do) at 15.6mph, therein lies another story but I am exhausting that line now so no more! I have researched quite a lot about eBikes and read a lot of articles and forum-related advice. And disputes that do not need detailing, but in summary the stalwart cyclists who view ebikes as motorbikes, having no place in the discussion of bikes whatsoever. One particular author who wrote a piece was slaughtered in the comments section for reviewing an ebike in a bike magazine -“If I wanted to read about motorbikes I would bought a motorbike magazine…… shame on you….” went the comments. We can leave that debate until another time, but the BMW is not a motorbike and don’t think you can get away with an easy ride if you want to travel relatively swiftly and therein…….. no I stopped just in time!
Which takes me back to technical matters, the brakes are superb, as is the stability of the bike under braking, no lockups to date and I am leaving my braking later and later. I guess I have to come up with figures too for the figure-hungrey, 52.6 km/h is the fastest I have been on the bike with nothing but a big grin and feeling of unbounded elation to mention or worry about.
Back to more important matters, hands up I expected more with less effort. But not more effort through the legs, effort through my head and the superb gears. Hands up I thought this bike had electronic gear shift detection and I haven’t paused once at any time whilst changes gears and the drivetrain must have taken a real battering over the past few days because I have been having fun - surely it has to have to have some sort of gadgetry though, the upshifting is seamless under load, when dashing away from traffic lights for example. I digress again, I’ll do some research or email the BMW ebike hotline. So back to the… back to intro……. the performance of the Bosch power plant is superb at low speeds and whereas not quite capable of Ferrari performance away from a standing-stop this to my mind is where the BMW excels, the key part of the performance range that matters to most leaving you only semi-open to accusations of dishonesty for riding (and enjoying riding an ebike.)
For me 15.6 mph causing speed is way too low - I wish to ride at the heady speed of 18 mph on the road! Why have I wasted my money on a BMW ebike if I am having to work at this thing then? I want to get/keep/remain overweight (delete where applicable or perhaps delete none of them) and unhealthy by letting the ebike do all the work, that is why people have ebikes. Forget it. As a get-fit aid, one to enjoy with the family or on your own, this particular ebike is highly recommended as long as you can get on the bike. The low-speed torque is superb and allows riding at any speed up to 15.6 mph whatever your physical condition and by riding your ability to ride with less assistance will improve too. In the UK if you go above 15.6mph the assistance totally cuts out leaving you to put in all of the work to keep up the pace. Well sort of, you do get some assistance if there is an incline even when traveling above 15.6 mph, the numerous crank/load/incline sensors appear to work well. Very well.
As do the lights for that matter, again super. So far I have mentioned the handle-bar left-hand control panel could be improved, arguably so could the bike stand, it seems a bit feeble and ideally should lock in place. Tyres, brakes, handling, battery are in these early days of ownership just brilliant, I am whipping round corners and scraping the front of my FiveTen trainers (in dry conditions) and enjoying riding again. 60 kms without even consciously doing it, and so much more enjoyable than rowing. But do I really want to fit the tuning box, given the health benefits of having to do all the work above 15.6 mph, well most of it? I’ll write more about that after I have fitted it, after all this is a 350W Bosch mid-drive limited by software only to 250W, with a similar restriction on the top speed cut-off.
Part Two to follow, but having fun at the moment and it feels good to ride again! The bike is unexpectedly light for me, but I may try the walking assist function just for the hell-of-it, I can think of no reason to use it other than to try it for the sake of this review, the bike is so easy to push with one hand whilst the other hand is restraining a young Beagle for road crossings, but it is a feature so I will check it out and report! The gear change has to my mind an innovative feature, a two-stage lever allowing you to change one or two gears at the same time as you wish and to suit your riding style. Great for hurtling towards a ninety degree corner, braking and dropping two or four gears quickly laying the bike over and driving with your legs simultaneously.
What are the experiences of other Page Members? Are your experiences similar to mine? Have a good day!
BMW I am disappointed. Everything works as stated, the build is very high quality and although feeling like a drugged-up Lance Armstrong when on the bike, I am quickly reminded that I am not quite there yet when I turn the power assistance off. And thanks for a new niggle in my life which goes by the name of Range Anxiety! With 6 kms range left and unsure if I would make it into work in the morning at 3kms I decided to ride into work on Sunday night to retrieve the Charger just for the hell of it….. retrieving the Charger was my excuse anyway! The range on the display, previously detailing 6 kms range left went down to 5 kms after my 3 kms dash on Turbo Assist mode to retrieve, and therein lies a part of my story. This is a refined bike that I WANT to ride.
Whereas the article should be focussed on the BMW Cruise Ebike 2014 model, this is also my first experience of riding and owning an ebike and for reasons of completeness it is important to give my purchase context; New Years Resolutions are strange things, often declared to oneself with such determination and commitment and often forgotten about barely a few weeks later. Well this particular path has been walked down not because of a New Years Resolution as such but for a commitment around that time to do something, to get out more and enjoy the outdoors, to get fitter and meet head-on the middle-aged spread. And to relieve some of the stress and worry that goes along with running your own business and travelling the UK often by van, hours and hours spent on the road with little chance to exercise. A rowing machine is a banal and repetitive but otherwise efficient way of working out and that got me through the first three months of 2015 with a measure of success given the comments of others, but I wanted to be more active and to enjoy what I was doing when exercising, to incorporate activity into my life which otherwise I didn’t have time for.
Back to the bike, at least temporarily. A joy to ride in summary. Unsure whether to associate her with being a lady - refinement - or a male given the more male-associated trait of power and solidity. Just re-read my last sentence and realised I have referred to the bike as a ‘her’ so that will stick, a refined lady with power and solidity. The stock tyres and positioning of the left-hand controls point this bike towards road use although BMW refer to off-road use in the press-releases, when I have permission from AG Munich I will point to the relevant extracts.
I did some light trail riding in the first couple of days and felt guilty to be honest, this is such a gorgeous head-turning bike that something feels wrong about going off road with her, (tyres are definitely suited to fast road use and cornering, something I have enjoyed immensely given my experience of motorcycles.) How many times do you see a Ferrari parked up with two wheels off of the road for example, you just don’t. I wanted to see how she performed off-road anyway and how difficult it was to lift her up the stairs of an overhead railway crossing for practical purposes. I usually ride a Scott Spark 29er down the stairs on the other side with backside hanging over the rear wheel (a deliberate action not due to my physical state) but I didn’t want to do that with the BMW, it just didn’t seem right. With a little bit of effort for this 43 year old male the bike was manageable enough lifting up the stairs, more manageable than I imagined anyway, however I am used to hauling and lifting fairly heavy televisions and speakers 65 kgs+.
But go off the beaten path I did, the superb Bosch mid-drive low-end torque was warmly received and judicious use of the gears allowed me to lift the front wheel when needed but who would have guessed it, the bike then became sluggish, a twig in the rear derailleur? It was clean. Panic set in. At last something to find flaw with!!! When negotiating obstacles at very low speed control of the bars is to me (and indeed others) crucially important, your hands grip and regrip, reposition themselves (as do your feet, at least they should do!) to gain balance and deal with whatever terrain faces you as a rider, but with a control placed on the left of this ebike, the top of my left-hand thumb socket had inadvertently nudged the - (minus) presspad and turned the power assistance off. Splitting hairs? Not really, because for medium-fast road use when you want the top of your left-hand thumb socket to nudge the power assistance level upwards you as a rider have to lift your hand (but not your grip) from the bars in an uncomfortable fashion to reach the + (positive) presspad. This was most telling when travelling up extended inclines or hills. I am not aware that the buttons can be programmed in reverse, and after all up/top for positive or to go up a gear and likewise for the reverse is intuitive. Intuitive is not always practical though.
At this point I should throw in a technical fact in case the technically minded are getting-bored - first charge (with five miles range remaining showing up on the display) took three hours and five minutes before the charging lights extinguished. Now I have sleeved the battery up, although it is warmer weather in the UK presently I want to protect it in the event of stone-chips/debris from the road, given the speed at which I find myself riding, and therein lies another story, boy this experience is just flowing!
What I expected from this ebike and what I am experiencing are unrelated things, but please bear in mind that I am in the UK and the output of the motor is limited to 250W and assistance from the mid-drive Bosch Power Unit cuts out (or should do) at 15.6mph, therein lies another story but I am exhausting that line now so no more! I have researched quite a lot about eBikes and read a lot of articles and forum-related advice. And disputes that do not need detailing, but in summary the stalwart cyclists who view ebikes as motorbikes, having no place in the discussion of bikes whatsoever. One particular author who wrote a piece was slaughtered in the comments section for reviewing an ebike in a bike magazine -“If I wanted to read about motorbikes I would bought a motorbike magazine…… shame on you….” went the comments. We can leave that debate until another time, but the BMW is not a motorbike and don’t think you can get away with an easy ride if you want to travel relatively swiftly and therein…….. no I stopped just in time!
Which takes me back to technical matters, the brakes are superb, as is the stability of the bike under braking, no lockups to date and I am leaving my braking later and later. I guess I have to come up with figures too for the figure-hungrey, 52.6 km/h is the fastest I have been on the bike with nothing but a big grin and feeling of unbounded elation to mention or worry about.
Back to more important matters, hands up I expected more with less effort. But not more effort through the legs, effort through my head and the superb gears. Hands up I thought this bike had electronic gear shift detection and I haven’t paused once at any time whilst changes gears and the drivetrain must have taken a real battering over the past few days because I have been having fun - surely it has to have to have some sort of gadgetry though, the upshifting is seamless under load, when dashing away from traffic lights for example. I digress again, I’ll do some research or email the BMW ebike hotline. So back to the… back to intro……. the performance of the Bosch power plant is superb at low speeds and whereas not quite capable of Ferrari performance away from a standing-stop this to my mind is where the BMW excels, the key part of the performance range that matters to most leaving you only semi-open to accusations of dishonesty for riding (and enjoying riding an ebike.)
For me 15.6 mph causing speed is way too low - I wish to ride at the heady speed of 18 mph on the road! Why have I wasted my money on a BMW ebike if I am having to work at this thing then? I want to get/keep/remain overweight (delete where applicable or perhaps delete none of them) and unhealthy by letting the ebike do all the work, that is why people have ebikes. Forget it. As a get-fit aid, one to enjoy with the family or on your own, this particular ebike is highly recommended as long as you can get on the bike. The low-speed torque is superb and allows riding at any speed up to 15.6 mph whatever your physical condition and by riding your ability to ride with less assistance will improve too. In the UK if you go above 15.6mph the assistance totally cuts out leaving you to put in all of the work to keep up the pace. Well sort of, you do get some assistance if there is an incline even when traveling above 15.6 mph, the numerous crank/load/incline sensors appear to work well. Very well.
As do the lights for that matter, again super. So far I have mentioned the handle-bar left-hand control panel could be improved, arguably so could the bike stand, it seems a bit feeble and ideally should lock in place. Tyres, brakes, handling, battery are in these early days of ownership just brilliant, I am whipping round corners and scraping the front of my FiveTen trainers (in dry conditions) and enjoying riding again. 60 kms without even consciously doing it, and so much more enjoyable than rowing. But do I really want to fit the tuning box, given the health benefits of having to do all the work above 15.6 mph, well most of it? I’ll write more about that after I have fitted it, after all this is a 350W Bosch mid-drive limited by software only to 250W, with a similar restriction on the top speed cut-off.
Part Two to follow, but having fun at the moment and it feels good to ride again! The bike is unexpectedly light for me, but I may try the walking assist function just for the hell-of-it, I can think of no reason to use it other than to try it for the sake of this review, the bike is so easy to push with one hand whilst the other hand is restraining a young Beagle for road crossings, but it is a feature so I will check it out and report! The gear change has to my mind an innovative feature, a two-stage lever allowing you to change one or two gears at the same time as you wish and to suit your riding style. Great for hurtling towards a ninety degree corner, braking and dropping two or four gears quickly laying the bike over and driving with your legs simultaneously.
What are the experiences of other Page Members? Are your experiences similar to mine? Have a good day!
. If that kickstand bugs you, consider an Esge double stand with the scissor style legs. Both legs of the stand fold up on one side just like the one you have now, but it provides much better stability for these more weighty ebikes. The impression of 'lightness' has a lot to do with the weight distribution and frame geometry, both of which make for a better balanced ride--that's good design!
