Need help with Haibike, M1 spitzing, stealth, optibike, Stromer,focus, or grace e bikes

Your favorite brand of electric bike

  • Total voters
    17
  • Poll closed .
Racingkyle

Racingkyle

Member
NOTICE:THE M1 SPITZING HAS WON! I HIGHLY ENCOURAGE EVERYONE TO CHECK OUT THE BIKE, ITS TECHNOLOGY IS MUCH FARTHER THAN ANY OTHER BIKE ON THE MARKET. IF YOU HAVE ANY FURTHER QUESTIONS REGARDING WHY YOU SHOULD BUY M1, THEN PLEASE CONTACT ME.

(I'll be posting reasons why you should buy the M1 Spitzing on page 19+)


There are a lot of posts on this thread, but I still encourage people to participate in the poll in order to get accurate results. Also, feel free to post! I get an email, and will be happy to receive your 2 cents!


Hello Everyone!

Recently I have been interested in purchasing an electric bike. I read that Hi power cycles had a lot of bad talk of showing incorrect specs, so I didn't add them to my list. I live in a very hilly area, so I will need a bike with a lot of power. My main question is which of these bikes would be good for street and trail riding. I am looking for something that is a good commuter but also equally as fun. I am looking at the following bikes. You guys can tell me which bike/brand is the best, or you could list these bikes from best to worst. Anything works!

Stromer ST2
Stealth Fighter
Optibike M7 or R8
Haibike Sduro allmountain (Let me know if the Xduro would be better because of the Bosch system instead of yamaha)

And lastly, what is the difference between the optibike M7 and R8. Does the R8 have significantly more power and acceleration? Looking forward to hearing from everyone. Thanks!
 
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I did not vote because I have not met most of the other candidates, except the Stromer, and I love my Haibike FS RX. Some of those bikes are electric motorcycles with pedals, not really in the same class. And some can be unlocked to help meet your fun factors while voiding the warranty. We always strongly suggest test rides up here, and well that is where you appear to be at this time. Good luck! -S
 
Shea N Encinitas said:
I did not vote because I have not met most of the other candidates, except the Stromer, and I love my Haibike FS RX. Some of those bikes are electric motorcycles with pedals, not really in the same class. And some can be unlocked to help meet your fun factors while voiding the warranty. We always strongly suggest test rides up here, and well that is where you appear to be at this time. Good luck! -S
Click to expand...
Thank you for your reply. I completely see your point of view about some of these bikes being motorcycles with pedals. A piece of information I can throw in about the warranty is that stealth bikes give you an access code so you can switch between legal and track mode. This doesn't void the warranty, but again it falls under the category of motorcycle with pedals. I am quite into the power since I go on trails all the time, but since where I live has such massive hills it is difficult to get to the most fun areas. Thanks again for your speedy reply, and I hope to hear from more people!
 
The most recent article or links may be of some help.
Do you know the percent grade of your hill?
Where do you live? Some bikes are restricted to certain regions.
How much torque do you estimate you need?
 
Mike leroy said:
The most recent article or links may be of some help.
Do you know the percent grade of your hill?
Where do you live? Some bikes are restricted to certain regions.
How much torque do you estimate you need?
Click to expand...
I live in California, and the most steep hill that I climb would be about a 10-15% grade. I weigh 120 pounds. I honestly don't know how much torque I would need. I looked at the comparison between the motorcycle and the hpc. I heard that hpc states specs that are much higher than their actual specs, and they also feed their motors more power than the motors are manufactured to handle. Do you know anything of this? Thank you for your reply!
 
Also, is anyone here aware of the difference between the optibike M7 and R8? Optibike is my favorite right now because of the mid drive. The M7 has external gears, and the R8 has gears inside the hub. What is the difference? I also like Stromer and stealth, but they are on opposite sides of the spectrum. I might like HPC, but I need a bit more information on them since I've heard some bad stories.
 
Racingkyle said:
I live in California, and the most steep hill that I climb would be about a 10-15% grade. I weigh 120 pounds. I honestly don't know how much torque I would need. I looked at the comparison between the motorcycle and the hpc. I heard that hpc states specs that are much higher than their actual specs, and they also feed their motors more power than the motors are manufactured to handle. Do you know anything of this? Thank you for your reply!
Click to expand...
Kyle,
Torque is climbing power and often stated as Nm (Newton-meters), rather than ft-lbs.
I estimate 5Nm per % grade for my weight, 180 lbs. The difference between 10 and 15% is very large, in terms of torque. You might need around 50Nm to go uphill at 10mph (weave speed).

Not sure if all your candidate bikes are 50Nm or more.

I do not know if HPC overstates their specs.

How far do you want to bike?
What gear ratios will you need? 300-400%?
 
Mike leroy said:
Kyle,
Torque is climbing power and often stated as Nm (Newton-meters), rather than ft-lbs.
I estimate 5Nm per % grade for my weight, 180 lbs. The difference between 10 and 15% is very large, in terms of torque. You might need around 50Nm to go uphill at 10mph (weave speed).

Not sure if all your candidate bikes are 50Nm or more.

I do not know if HPC overstates their specs.

How far do you want to bike?
What gear ratios will you need? 300-400%?
Click to expand...
20 miles is plenty for distance. To correct my statement, the hill is about 12% grade. The gear ratio would probably depend on the motor size wouldn't it?
 
It seems to me your list of bikes you're looking at is all over the place, from 100% off-road to heavy commuter to full suspension off-road.

There's no "best" bike out there. You're best bet is to get in to see a well stocked dealer where you can try and test bikes lik you can at our store, for instance. If you don't have a dealer, at least try to narrow down by your speed requirements, riding requirements and range requirements. In Haibike's range, the Trekking is the ideal commuter. The RX9er can be made to be a great commuter wit street tires. If you like speed, the BOSCH system can be programed to do 28 (we do it). But Felt makes a great commuter in the Sport-E and I would also steer you to BH Easymotion for some good commuters. The OHM Cycles are among the best with the D500 BIONX ebike system, which I personally love.

Joe
 
motostrano said:
It seems to me your list of bikes you're looking at is all over the place, from 100% off-road to heavy commuter to full suspension off-road.

There's no "best" bike out there. You're best bet is to get in to see a well stocked dealer where you can try and test bikes lik you can at our store, for instance. If you don't have a dealer, at least try to narrow down by your speed requirements, riding requirements and range requirements. In Haibike's range, the Trekking is the ideal commuter. The RX9er can be made to be a great commuter wit street tires. If you like speed, the BOSCH system can be programed to do 28 (we do it). But Felt makes a great commuter in the Sport-E and I would also steer you to BH Easymotion for some good commuters. The OHM Cycles are among the best with the D500 BIONX ebike system, which I personally love.

Joe
Click to expand...
Thank you for your post. I understand that my requirements are all over the place, but that is because I'm quite flexible. I would like to go above 20mph. I will look at OHM cycles.
 
I would. If they are in your range. Well worth it. I commuted on one myself for a few months and it was hard to switch back to the BOSCH when I did.
Admitedly because I used the throttle a little much, but it's a bike that is easy to maintain a high speed with. Where are you in California?
 
Racingkyle said:
20 miles is plenty for distance. To correct my statement, the hill is about 12% grade. The gear ratio would probably depend on the motor size wouldn't it?
Click to expand...
Gear ratio depends upon steepness and your leg strength. You probably need about a 350% gear ratio. The number of teeth in the chainring and rear gear cassette.

You can eliminate the bikes that are designed for high speed on flat areas, as opposed to steeper hills.

12% is steep! Do you feel winded and sweaty when you climb to the top?

Here is a link to a chart of the sprockets and good explanations of the concepts. This site is about Internally Geared Hubs. This helps you understand the conceptual differences between internal and external gears.

(Link Removed - No Longer Exists)

http://www.rohloff.de
 
Mike leroy said:
Gear ratio depends upon steepness and your leg strength. You probably need about a 350% gear ratio. The number of teeth in the chainring and rear gear cassette.

You can eliminate the bikes that are designed for high speed on flat areas, as opposed to steeper hills.

12% is steep! Do you feel winded and sweaty when you climb to the top?

Here is a link to a chart of the sprockets and good explanations of the concepts. This site is about Internally Geared Hubs. This helps you understand the conceptual differences between internal and external gears.

(Link Removed - No Longer Exists)
Click to expand...
thank you. Yes it is very steep. Sometimes I wish I could avoid it. I believe all the bikes I listed would be good for hills by my knowledge, but obviously I don't have much intelligence regarding torque and gear ratios! It appears that Internal gears might me slightly better.
 
motostrano said:
I would. If they are in your range. Well worth it. I commuted on one myself for a few months and it was hard to switch back to the BOSCH when I did.
Admitedly because I used the throttle a little much, but it's a bike that is easy to maintain a high speed with. Where are you in California?
Click to expand...
I believe focus has the same drive system too.
 
Racingkyle said:
Nope! I just thought that choosing an electric bike would be more regarding reputation and experience with the bike. Do you have any personal favorites when it comes to electric bikes? my goal in this forum is to narrow down the brands, and then narrow down the results.
Click to expand...
Kyle,
Selecting by brands is one strategy. My approach is to understand the principles first. Second, Apply the principles to the brand. It requires a lot of patience. I will lead you thru the process. It is easy.

I think we are making progress. If you are like Rider B in the Rohloff page, you will need closer to 400-500% gear ratio. you should be able to eliminate any of bikes that have less than 50Nm of torque and the wrong gears for your purpose. Have you eliminated any of your choices yet?
 
Mike leroy said:
Kyle,
Selecting by brands is one strategy. My approach is to understand the principles first. Second, Apply the principles to the brand. It requires a lot of patience. I will lead you thru the process. It is easy.

I think we are making progress. If you are like Rider B in the Rohloff page, you will need closer to 400-500% gear ratio. you should be able to eliminate any of bikes that have less than 50Nm of torque and the wrong gears for your purpose. Have you eliminated any of your choices yet?
Click to expand...
Well, Stromer is a gearless hub motor, but I'm not sure if it has that amount of torque. On the other hand, you will be pedaling which will add onto the power. Stealth and optibike are defiantly in the game. I can't seem to find the gear ratio or torque for haibike or focus.
 
Focus and Haibike both have external gears of many speeds, and they are both mid drive-so there would be a good gear ratio considering I bike up the hill with the same size sprockets. lol!! Stromer is 500 watts. Haibike is 250 watts. Same for focus
 
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Racingkyle said:
Focus and Haibike both have external gears of many speeds, and they are both mid drive-so there would be a good gear ratio considering I bike up the hill with the same size sprockets. lol!! Stromer is 500 watts. Haibike is 250 watts. Same for focus
Click to expand...
Kyle,
Watts tells you more about speed than climbing.

How many Nm of torque do they have? More or less than 50Nm?

Let's take gear ratio after we figure out torque. Torque is easier to deal with. Gear ratios require some simple math that I can do for you.
 
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