Hey Guys,
Since everyone seems to love the bike, I wanted to give you my feedback on my use and the reason why
I did not enjoy the bike and sent it back
First I have to say that NewGen is an amazing company, they have helped me all the way with the small issue I had, A guy came to my flat to replace a disk brake that was slighly bended during tranportation. They have also helped me all the way with sending it back and get a refund even though I had unpacked the bike and ride it.
One of the issue I had with it is about the speed. I am use to ride a very light single gear bike (living in central london) and making my way quite quickly between my home and my office. Riding the 345 was a nightmare compare to this. You get very quickly up to 25 miles an hour and basically if you want to go quicker, you have to pedal very hard, in an awkward position, a bike that is 30kg heavy.
I can tell you that I am going MUCH faster with my single gear light bike. It is also much harder to circulate between cars and buses due to the super relax wide position you have when ridding it. I did not had any good feeling ridding it.
I am also currently rehabing my knee after ACL reconstruction and the low position on the bike plus the weight of it made it really painful for my knee. Even though I am quite fit, the low position of the bike (I am 1m82) and the saddle makes you use just your leg instead of your hips to work out which makes it way too hard to a pedal.
Another issue I had was with the storage, the large tyre doesn't fit in most bike sheds around london and the width of the handle makes it hard to park near other bikes. You almost need a motorbike parking spot for it.
Unfortunatly it didn't work out for me. Newgen was very helpful and concidering the knee pain and the fact that there was no way for me to try out the bike before buying it, accepted to take it back with full refund. And I thank them for that.
I hope I could give my honest feedback to all the people that wonder if they should buy this or not, please concider all of this before buying it.
Storage, size, weight, your location, your commute, your body, your expectation of the bike, etc.
It's beautifull technology but it is not meant for everyone.