Haibike Urban Plus 2017 - The most exciting Urban E-bike!

[bob armani]

I don't understand this fear of the cobi system.

I think it is actually a pretty good one and I prefer it to anything on the market now. Whenever I can, I prefer using my phone screen
The Bosch, Yamaha etc. displays are a joke in the world we line in today. They don't even show cadence or many relevant information, you have to do the button dance to get something, the displays look like they are from decades ago.

In terms of motor performance I don't think Transx is worse than anything else. It also supports 28mph out of the box.

All these for $1700. The cheap chinese kits are being sold for those prices!!!

Imo this bike is almost as good as the Trek commuter which is $5K. Yeah Bosch may support higher cadence but it is not their motor it is simply because they internally geared it which makes it less pleasant to ride without motor support.

Johnny- Here are my concerns:
So many people are a bit confused about this bike's reliability. Do you purchase a bike with TransX motor and COBI interface, or do we wait and see if Haibike gives us a heads up regarding COBI phones and Bluetooth compatibility. If your current Android or Iphone is not compatible, apparently you will have to upgrade your phone to make COBI work properly. Perhaps the older phones may not work well with this system.
Good comparison with the Trek Super Commuter8. Not sure how the TransX motor will compare to the Bosch performance and logevity.
Your thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[Ravi Kempaiah]

So, yesterday I brought home the Haibike Urban Plus for the first time. I picked it up from the shop in Brooklyn and rode to back to New Jersey. Bear in mind that before yesterday, I'd only ever seen the Urban Plus on the internet. To my surprise, it's a very stout looking bike in person! I was standing right next to it on the showroom floor yesterday and I didn't recognize until the clerk told me that it was mine. That said, the bike is also gorgeous! To me, it looks even better in person than it does online! Before leaving, I also picked up a suspension seat post on Court's video recommendation. The suspension seat post really looks good on the Urban Plus (see attached pics).

As for the ride, the bike is fast! Considering its apparent bulkiness, it's quite nimble under motor assist and I had a blast zipping across the Brooklyn bridge! Naturally, the TranzX motor may not compare to the more premium brand in terms of overall experience, but neither does it disappoint! Two items in its favor are the high speed and super quiet motor (even quieter than the Bosch system). Though, now that I've experienced it first hand, there is a drawback with going TranzX and saving a lot of money. ;-) Primarily for me, its how the TranzX motor handles gear shifting. I noticed after I would shift gears on the Urban Plus that the assist from the motor tends to lessen. I know the shift sensing TranzX motor is designed to do that in order to protect the drivetrain, but after the shifting is complete, the powered assist does not re-engage as fast as I feel it should. Granted, my expectation may be a bit unrealistic since my only other point of comparison is Bosch's top of the line Performace CX/Nuvinci system, which I test rode in the store. Anyway, the effect is much less noticeable on the Urban Plus when shifting through one gear at a time (opposed to multiple gears at once). Also, I found today that if you stop pedaling when shifting through the gears, the effect is lessened even further so yeah, all things considered, not so bad.

The COBI system is pretty sweet too! While it's true that my Apple phone can already do most of what COBI offers, COBI brings all of that functionality to the click of one finger (or thumb). Overall, at $1,699.00 I'm extremely happy with this purchase. However, now that Court has finally reviewed this bike, I'm not sure how important it is for me to continue posting my experiences with it. He did a fantastic job covering the bike. At any rate, I'll post another update after a few weeks for anyone else still considering to buy.

@Emerson ,

For best riding comfort, I suggest you tune the suspension seatpost. Looking at the image, it can use a bit of tuning there. When you are completely seated on the saddle, it should not bounce around. There should be minimal sag. Check out this video.

 

[Johnny]

Johnny- Here are my concerns:
So many people are a bit confused about this bike's reliability. Do you purchase a bike with TransX motor and COBI interface, or do we wait and see if Haibike gives us a heads up regarding COBI phones and Bluetooth compatibility. If your current Android or Iphone is not compatible, apparently you will have to upgrade your phone to make COBI work properly. Perhaps the older phones may not work well with this system.
Good comparison with the Trek Super Commuter8. Not sure how the TransX motor will compare to the Bosch performance and logevity.
Your thoughts would be appreciated.

Bob- I think the best way to understand TranzX reliability is to ask Izip owners. What I understand is that the 2016 M25 models had some problems but the 2017 models resolved the issues about the motor. It seems the importer is changing the motors under warranty if there are any problems with it. Since brushless motors have been around for forever I don't think it is hard to iron out the issues.

 

[bob armani]

Bob- I think the best way to understand TranzX reliability is to ask Izip owners. What I understand is that the 2016 M25 models had some problems but the 2017 models resolved the issues about the motor. It seems the importer is changing the motors under warranty if there are any problems with it. Since brushless motors have been around for forever I don't think it is hard to iron out the issues.

Thanks Johnny-This helps a lot with all of the bad rap I have been seeing about TransX. Hopefully no one will have any major issues with it moving forward. I would like to see how Izip owners feel about their experience. Good point to followup...

 

[bob armani]

Bob- I think the best way to understand TranzX reliability is to ask Izip owners. What I understand is that the 2016 M25 models had some problems but the 2017 models resolved the issues about the motor. It seems the importer is changing the motors under warranty if there are any problems with it. Since brushless motors have been around for forever I don't think it is hard to iron out the issues.

Johnny- FYI-I did more digging regarding the TransX motor recalls and it does in fact look like the company is standing behind their motor fails and putting in replacements. Very reassuring for anyone thinking about purchasing an ebike with a TransX motor. Thanks for the heads up!

 

[nickybcareful]

Review – My new Haibike Urban Plus/Cobi/Sena X1/Topeak. Court, you’re a rock star. I don’t know how I could have sorted through all the ebike confusion without your excellent reviews and website. After some research, I realized that nearly everyone really liked the ebike they bought. My task was to figure out exactly what I wanted and then see how all the options matched up. So here it is…

Top priority was to get more exercise. I’m 70, in reasonable shape, and have a 5-mile commute to work. I also have access to a bike path close by (moderately hilly) that goes right passed the back door of my office. Build quality of the ebike was next on the list along with ‘high tech’. So, here’s my commute this morning.

For those not familiar, the Sena X1 is a Bluetooth enabled helmet. Standing next to my bike I power on the helmet. I have a Galaxy Note 8 in the Cobi cradle. Installed is the app ‘Tasker’ that detects the Bluetooth signal from the helmet, starts playing Spotify through my helmet speakers and then powers up the Haibike and Cobi display.

I’m off to work. I ride at power level 1 or 2, which gives me a fair amount of exercise. When I get to a hill, I power up to turbo. Like any manual transmission, shifting is an art and IMHO one of the joys of riding. Only downshifting in power level 1 or 2 results in a crisp, smooth ride.

I park my bike outside my office door and take the phone out of the cradle. Cobi links to ‘Google Fit’ which in turn displays my ride statistics in ‘MyFitnessPal’ – 18 minutes and 205 calories.

I also found the Topeak bag to be perfect for my needs. I can ‘just barely’ fit my 15” laptop in the side pannier with plenty of room on top for a jacket and gloves. While there is no convenient hook near the hub, I can easily hook a bungy cord to the rack and around the bottom fender rod to securely tether the pannier to the side of the ebike.

The icing on the cake was the price, about $2k for all of this. I had expected to pay twice that much!

 

[jam]

Very cool. I just ordered my Urban Plus yesterday after poking through this thread and many others. Thanks all for your insights. In the interest of similarly helping others, here are my personal thought processes on the various topics. YMMV.

• Mega sale!? -- I worried that there is something wrong with the bike. "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is". After talking to a number of folks in stores and reading online it "seems" that a) Haibike is really overstocked and b) they have/had too many different models. One dealer mentioned they had like 80 models and are paring down to 20. This is somewhat substantiated by many other Haibike models being similarly discounted. There may still be something wrong with this specific model (see below) but there are other potential business reasons for the mega sale.
• motor -- There have been several mentions of the Transx M25 motor and potential issues. Some say the 2016s were problems, 2017 ok. Hard to say what's in these bikes. While motor problems are never fun, Transx does not seem to be going away and the Transx problem specific forum here notes a few issues that all seemed to have been addressed very promptly. So, its not as guaranteed bulletproof as some of the others but it seems unlikely to be permanently bricked.
• cobi -- Would love to hear from folks about their setup experience. I've got a recent phone, and am very computer enabled so feel confident here. It is not going to be as simple as the fully integrated systems but for me, the potential to mess with the COBI APIs and write my own controls etc is a bonus. Love the idea of integration with my heart monitor, fitness apps, etc.
• battery -- this has not gotten much coverage in my reading. These bikes have been in warehouses for a while. Seems unlikely that they are periodically topping up the batteries. There's a non-trivial chance that the battery capacity/lifetime will be significantly diminished upon delivery of the bike. I reconciled that with warranty possibilities and assuming the cost of a new battery in the price of the bike.
• warranty -- There is wording on the Haibike site about the warranty being between the consumer and the reseller. They seem quite emphatic about that. I was going to order online (habit) but instead worked with a local Haibike dealer. Cost a bit more (taxes) but they gave lots of great advice and will do the servicing as needed.

Anyway, my bike is about a week out so we'll have to wait and see.

 

[Barry S]

• warranty -- There is wording on the Haibike site about the warranty being between the consumer and the reseller. They seem quite emphatic about that. I was going to order online (habit) but instead worked with a local Haibike dealer. Cost a bit more (taxes) but they gave lots of great advice and will do the servicing as needed./QUOTE]

Smart move on going with LBS on the Haibike. I've read that section of the warranty too, and they're very explicit about the consumer/reseller relationship for warranty fulfillment.

 

[keithd]

I most likely would have purchased this bike if it was not for that fact. I cannot drive over 2 hours everytime something goes wrong.

 

[Emerson]

Interesting, since Haibike is a German brand, the Urban Plus is apparently not sold in the EU at all.
Cannot find it in any European web shop, it isn't mentioned anywhere.
Was this bike only produced for the US market?

The same bike is sold in the EU under a different brand name ("Winora", which owns Haibike). I think it's called the "Radar Urban". The EU has different requirements for bicycles than the US so there are subtle changes.

 

[Emerson]

Appreciate your first impressions. Do you have any good hills to check out the bike's climbing prowess?

Hey Mister M,

Now that I've had a chance to really try the bike out, I have to say the Urban Plus really likes hills. I'm told the TranzX M25 motor has 70-newton meters of torque. This being my first e-bike and all, I'm not sure I really know what that means. However, I do know that I weigh 240 LBS (and the bike itself is another 60 Lbs), and on the highest level of assist, I'm going uphill without having to stand up out of the saddle to pedal. That's pretty awesome. I live in Weehawken NJ. "Weehawken" is a native American word meaning cliff. We have lots of hills around here, both sharp and gradual, and the Haibike Urban plus takes them all like a champ! Naturally, you'll want to be in the correct gear and level of assist, but I'm sure that will be different for everybody.

 

[Emerson]

Emerson-Congrats on your new purchase. Yes the bike is a bit thick, however that probably adds to the rigid frame. Just curious if you found the bike is in need of a front suspension fork. In addition, how long did it take to setup COBI on your phone and if you have noticed any dropouts with the connection while riding. I also like the suspension seat post. Looks like it is spot on to increase riding comfort and also compliments the looks of the bike as well. Your concerns with motor cutout during shifting are valid IMO. I once rode a bike with a Brose' motor, and I was feeling the same sensation opposed to a performance line Bosch speed motor. The Bosch seemed more tight while shifting between gears with no hesitation. I also like the color, which I believe creates a better visual footprint while riding in traffic congestion. Nice choice indeed!

Well, I'd have to say that the Haibike Urban Plus is definitely not an off road bike! However, the tires on this thing are no joke and they cushion the ride more than I ever would have expected. The caveat here is speed. This bike can cruise at pretty high speeds and that makes a big difference when it comes to impact. I found this out the other day when the paved back road I was speeding down suddenly turn into cobblestone. LOL! That experience aside, I don't want to imply that this is not a fun and comfortable bike to ride, because it is! Just stick to paved roads and level dirt or grassy paths. The suspension seat post I put on REALLY makes a difference, too. I highly recommend one, especially for a bike this fast.

 

[Emerson]

Very cool. I just ordered my Urban Plus yesterday after poking through this thread and many others. Thanks all for your insights. In the interest of similarly helping others, here are my personal thought processes on the various topics. YMMV.

• Mega sale!? -- I worried that there is something wrong with the bike. "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is". After talking to a number of folks in stores and reading online it "seems" that a) Haibike is really overstocked and b) they have/had too many different models. One dealer mentioned they had like 80 models and are paring down to 20. This is somewhat substantiated by many other Haibike models being similarly discounted. There may still be something wrong with this specific model (see below) but there are other potential business reasons for the mega sale.
• motor -- There have been several mentions of the Transx M25 motor and potential issues. Some say the 2016s were problems, 2017 ok. Hard to say what's in these bikes. While motor problems are never fun, Transx does not seem to be going away and the Transx problem specific forum here notes a few issues that all seemed to have been addressed very promptly. So, its not as guaranteed bulletproof as some of the others but it seems unlikely to be permanently bricked.
• cobi -- Would love to hear from folks about their setup experience. I've got a recent phone, and am very computer enabled so feel confident here. It is not going to be as simple as the fully integrated systems but for me, the potential to mess with the COBI APIs and write my own controls etc is a bonus. Love the idea of integration with my heart monitor, fitness apps, etc.
• battery -- this has not gotten much coverage in my reading. These bikes have been in warehouses for a while. Seems unlikely that they are periodically topping up the batteries. There's a non-trivial chance that the battery capacity/lifetime will be significantly diminished upon delivery of the bike. I reconciled that with warranty possibilities and assuming the cost of a new battery in the price of the bike.
• warranty -- There is wording on the Haibike site about the warranty being between the consumer and the reseller. They seem quite emphatic about that. I was going to order online (habit) but instead worked with a local Haibike dealer. Cost a bit more (taxes) but they gave lots of great advice and will do the servicing as needed.

Anyway, my bike is about a week out so we'll have to wait and see.

Hey Jam,

Congrats on the new bike! Be sure to share your experiences with it.

 

[Emerson]

Review – My new Haibike Urban Plus/Cobi/Sena X1/Topeak. Court, you’re a rock star. I don’t know how I could have sorted through all the ebike confusion without your excellent reviews and website. After some research, I realized that nearly everyone really liked the ebike they bought. My task was to figure out exactly what I wanted and then see how all the options matched up. So here it is…

Top priority was to get more exercise. I’m 70, in reasonable shape, and have a 5-mile commute to work. I also have access to a bike path close by (moderately hilly) that goes right passed the back door of my office. Build quality of the ebike was next on the list along with ‘high tech’. So, here’s my commute this morning.

For those not familiar, the Sena X1 is a Bluetooth enabled helmet. Standing next to my bike I power on the helmet. I have a Galaxy Note 8 in the Cobi cradle. Installed is the app ‘Tasker’ that detects the Bluetooth signal from the helmet, starts playing Spotify through my helmet speakers and then powers up the Haibike and Cobi display.

I’m off to work. I ride at power level 1 or 2, which gives me a fair amount of exercise. When I get to a hill, I power up to turbo. Like any manual transmission, shifting is an art and IMHO one of the joys of riding. Only downshifting in power level 1 or 2 results in a crisp, smooth ride.

I park my bike outside my office door and take the phone out of the cradle. Cobi links to ‘Google Fit’ which in turn displays my ride statistics in ‘MyFitnessPal’ – 18 minutes and 205 calories.

I also found the Topeak bag to be perfect for my needs. I can ‘just barely’ fit my 15” laptop in the side pannier with plenty of room on top for a jacket and gloves. While there is no convenient hook near the hub, I can easily hook a bungy cord to the rack and around the bottom fender rod to securely tether the pannier to the side of the ebike.

The icing on the cake was the price, about $2k for all of this. I had expected to pay twice that much!



View attachment 20874

Hey nickybcareful,

Congrats on the new bike! It's beautiful. I had a tough time trying to decide on which color to get, but in the end, I chose white since my previous bike was also grey and black. I see we also installed the same mirror! How did you get the Topeak Trunk Bag to go onto the Carrymore rack??? I didn't know that was an option and it looks awesome!

 

[nickybcareful]

Hey nickybcareful,

Congrats on the new bike! It's beautiful. I had a tough time trying to decide on which color to get, but in the end, I chose white since my previous bike was also grey and black. I see we also installed the same mirror! How did you get the Topeak Trunk Bag to go onto the Carrymore rack??? I didn't know that was an option and it looks awesome!

 

[nickybcareful]

Hi Emerson,

It's the Topeak bag with the velcro straps. It is secure and does not slide around. I was concerned it would be too big, but it turned out to be perfect. Just big enough for my 15" laptop, yet fairly compact on the rack.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004WSLT2O/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

As for the ebike, I need to remember to keep it in power level 1 or 2. It really zips along at level 3. The other day I got a little carried away and found myself at work 15 minutes later - about the same time as when I drive!

 

[jam]

OK, I picked up my bike today and here are the first impressions based on ~10 minutes riding. Keep in mind that while I've done a lot of club-cycling in the past, this is my first ebike so anything I say about "power" etc is not really calibrated against anything tangible.

• Above caveat aside, there is really quite some boost from this Transx motor. I did not setup the COBI display so was not really paying attention to the power levels. Turns out I was riding around at level 2 and feeling OK. I accidentally pushed the UP button (more on that later) and hmm, lots more power. Wonder what happens if I do another? Holy crap! And another. At a certain point there it was getting away from me on a slight incline. Will have to see after a longer ride but like @nickybcareful I doubt power will be an issue. Guys in the bike store who did a test ride also commented on the good amount of power.
• I have not setup the COBI system yet. So can confirm that riding without a phone paired is totally doable and very simple. I'll report separately on the full COBI setup.
• One key point, the COBI with these bikes was made before USB-C was popular on cell phones. Mine came only with Apple and Micro USB cables for connecting the phone to the system. AFAIK, that is only for charging so not critical. COBI has one online https://get.cobi.bike/de_en/accessories.html but they say they don't ship to the US (odd). Will ask. Quick look on Amazon found a few but it may be hard to get one short enough (4") and with 90deg ends to be as discrete as the originals.
• The Up and down buttons by the left hand are really easy to hit. Good but also easy to do inadvertently (found myself going quite fast a few times). Not really a problem but something to be aware of.
• Bike seems pretty sturdy with no unwanted clicks, ticks, creaks etc. The headset is a little loose and I can feel a clunk on moderate to heavy front braking. Will make a quick adjustment there. That's more of the shop's bad IMHO.
• Fit and finish seemed pretty good on a reasonably cursory inspection. All fenders aligned and not rattling. One nit is the routing of the rear light wires where they exit the fender and go to the light. Would have been great (cleaner) if that were about 3" further forward. The wires would be more hidden and less likely to get caught.
• It is a touch heavier than the others I tried. Saw that on the specs but felt it in person. Not horrible.
• I'm 6' with about a 33" inseam and bought the medium (48cm) size. I think it's the right size but definitely have to get the seat up and back to get good leg extension and knee position. Still fiddling but the Kintek seatpost is up at 9-10 inches. I don't know how long the original post is (shop forgot to give that to me)
• There were lots of manuals with the bike. Haibike, Winora, COBI etc. Have not dug into that yet.

That's my first set of impressions. First real ride will likely be this weekend. I'm happy to answer questions as best I can.

 

[jam]

Day 2: COBI update

Not much riding today but did have time to setup the COBI system. It was a snap with my Samsung S8. Get COBI app. Turn on hub (goofy name for the COBI unit). Tell app you want to connect. In my case it detected the hub and reported some bluetooth errors. I just tried it again and it said there was a Firmware update for the COBI unit itself. 5 min to download and do the update. After the update, the phone connected to the unit and I was ready to go. Total time including getting app, creating account, doing firmware update etc, ~10 min. Not much tech savvy needed. Just follow the instructions.

Rode around for a couple KM and it appeared to be measuring everything just fine. Got to 42km/h on a short flat in turbo mode with very little effort Interestingly while setting up the device it asked what kind of bike. Not sure what difference it makes. Also not sure which type to pick. It had "urban" and "trekking" and others that seemed applicable. I picked trekking as the bike picture looked most like the Urban Plus.

A few notes:

• The universal mount can interfere with some of the on-screen buttons. Just be sure to mount the phone a touch to the left (that reveals the Navigation screen back button)
• On my phone in landscape mode, the app rotates the display the wrong way so it appears upside down. There is a setting for that. It defaults to "Auto". I set mine to Rightwards to ensure the power plug was near the power outlet (though I do not yet have a power cord...)
• The navigation screen is a dead end. I have yet to figure out how to get out of the map view while the app is in bike mode (i.e., rotated). There is some user interface gesture I am not getting so got stuck in the view that shows just the map. Curious.
• The map looks quite good and you can download maps for a number of regions
• The speed etc display appear fast and responsive to changing reality. The watt meter (top right corner) might be a bit gimmicky. I'll have to see what it's like on a real ride.
• I'm looking forward to getting a bluetooth enabled heart monitor to connect.
• Very cool that it has Strava integration (as well as Google fitness and Komoot)

So, not a lot of distance on the bike yet but all the systems are looking good. I'm going to charge up the battery and then do a bit of a ride (likely weekend) and will report more then.

 

[HaiGuy]

This bike has got to be one of the best deals going. Just picked mine up yesterday. First post BTW!

Question: The rack comes with some kind of retention system, what is that for and what fits it? Seems well integrated and has a push to release button. I'd love some rear luggage that fits that locking system.

 

[ConvertedEbikeHater]

Hi All,

I just bought this bike as well. I am a daily commuter (about 10km each way). Coming from 4 years on a BH Emotion Neo Xtrem. I like the bike. There are a few differences I'm adapting to between the rear hub motor (Xtrem) and the mid drive. Today was my first ride into work.

I'm indifferent to the COBI system. The lights work, and the brake light is useful, but similar to what Jam above mentioned, I accidentally got into the full screen 'music' interface and could not escape. Center button would pause and play, Right and left would skip songs, and up and down controlled the volume. I ended up having to pull over and kill the COBI app to get back to the main screen.

User question... Has anyone tried setting up more than one phone for their bike? Is that possible? Can I setup my wife's phone for when she uses the bike?

My first add-on to the bike was a shock absorbing seat post.

Thanks,

Converted.