Riese & Müller Abbreviations, Model Names, Etc.

[Matt A]

Visited Best Electric Bikes today, and test rode the DeLite, of which they have the high speed dual battery belt drive on the floor as a demo. It is *very* nice! Between the relatively fat tires and suspension, it is a very luxurious ride. The belt is silent, so the only noise is the motor, which is pretty quite at ECO and TOUR, and more noticeable at SPORT and TURBO, perhaps heightened for me by the lack of drive-train noise that I'm used to. Having ridden many thousands of miles on a Bosch speed pedelec (Felt NINEe) setup for commuting duty in similar tires, fenders, rack, but a significantly lighter bike without the full suspension and second battery, it does seem like ECO is not so practical on the R&M, while it's required on the Felt by the lack of battery capacity. However, my interest in twice the battery capacity is to be able to run at higher speeds on higher assist, so not feeling like ECO works as well seems an acceptable tradeoff. I am curious how much efficiency is lost due to the belt and Nuvinci, though again this to me is an acceptable trade-off for lower maintenance.

At this point, I am ready to pull the trigger, and will probably place an order in the next week, but not necessarily for the DeLite. I'm still drawn to the Charger. I'd love some feedback from anyone regarding maintenance and reliability of two models and trim levels, as follows:

1. DeLite with full suspension vs Charger hard tail. The charger is bound to be lighter, and more efficient, and simpler, which means lower maintenance. Any thoughts on how the extra roller in the belt on the DeLite will effect belt life? How about suspension care?
2. Each of these models is available in either chain/Rohloff or belt/NuVinci configurations. I'm drawn by lack of need to clean and lube the belt and the long duty cycle of the belt to go with the NuVinci config, despite reservations that it will hold up like the Rohloff. But I'm afraid with the Rohloff I'd wind up doing frequent chain maintenance, and/or need to replace the chain and sprockets frequently.

My riding is all commuting, year round, on relatively smooth, clean paved paths and roads. I'm used to a hard tail, and rode the last 30k miles on one, so the full suspension has more future use case appeal than any daily justification. So I'd happily trade simple, lighter, and durability for suspension, but what really is the impact of the suspension on reliability? And with the price difference of the NuVinci and Rohloff, I'd be happy with the NuVinci provided it lasts something in the neighborhood of 15k miles or more...

As nice as the DeLite is, I'm leaning toward the Charger because I'm aiming to put 1500+ miles per month on it, and my preference is for reliability. Thoughts on reliability between the two configs? And is there any justification to consider the Rohloff, given the chain drive?

Hey Dan, I have owned the Delite GT Nuvinci HS for over a month now, and I just ordered a Charger GT Nuvinci HS for my girlfriend. I have ridden the Delite GX Rohloff on multiple occasions. In my opinion, the Rohloff is clearly a better system and a higher gear ratio of around 540%. The NuVinci is 380%. Having owned the Delite and Nuvinci for a while, I tried it at Propel again with the Rohloff to see if I made the right decision. It does have a better gear range, but really I feel the NuVinci has enough for most uses. The only time I have thought I would want a higher gear was going downhill at 30mph, so not really necessary. The low end of the range is enough for the most extreme climbs.

What I really have come to love about the NuVinci is being able to dial it in perfectly to whats comfortable, no jumping between ratios. While riding, I can keep pedaling and riding along like normal while making adjustments, which is great for taking off quickly from a stop in the city and racing up to that 28mph mark. With the Rohloff, you have to stop pedaling in order to shift, which I do not like. I am sure I would get used to it and it would become normal, but the Nuvinci just feels like a smoother and more luxury system. The Rohloff is supposed to have a longer life than the NuVinci, but I expect my NuVinci to last thousands of miles. I cannot really comment on longevity.

For me, the NuVinci lifespan is enough, I plan to put around 1,000 miles a month on the bike. The Rohloff will give you a longer life and some extra gear range if you really want to push it on those flats or downhills. But the tradeoff is the chain, and the price. You can buy 5 NuVincis for the price of the Rohloff when it comes time to replace it. I particularly did not like to stop pedaling everytime I wanted to shift gears.

As for your first concern, the Delite is heavier, and more complicated than the charger. But in my opinion, it rides much nicer because of it. When I get off the Ben Franklin bridge into Philadelphia, there are cobblestones with deep and wide spaces between it where all the mortar or whatever eroded. So it would be a very bumpy ride. Have you ever seen that gif for the bodyfloat where it shows the guy sitting on the saddle which stays perfectly still while the bike vibrates beneath him? That's how I actually felt going over those cobblestones, and it was at a speed of about 20mph probably. It is at the bottom of a long hill but it curves so I wasn't flying that fast. The bike rides like a motorcycle. For suspension care, I was told the suspension can be rebuilt easily if it ever starts losing pressure. Other than that, just clean the salt off it during the winter and clean it in general with just water.

The roller on the Delite keeps the belt from bouncing over bumps and causing varying tension. I would think the life is the same with or without it.

This has all been from my experience and what I learned at Propel, I am new to ebikes.

 

[BurbManDan]

Well, I've ordered a Charger GT Nuvinci HS from Best Electric Bikes in Denver. I paid for air freight shipping, and hope to see the bike in a couple weeks. In the meantime, they were kind enough to loan me a battery to use with my Felt nineE 20, so I'll have the range to make the entire ride to the office again while waiting for the new bike.

 

[BurbManDan]

Well, I've ordered a Charger GT Nuvinci HS from Best Electric Bikes in Denver. I paid for air freight shipping, and hope to see the bike in a couple weeks. In the meantime, they were kind enough to loan me a battery to use with my Felt nineE 20, so I'll have the range to make the entire ride to the office again while waiting for the new bike.

So, four weeks, and no status... How long a lead time are others seeing for R&M's these days?

 

[Chris Nolte]

So, four weeks, and no status... How long a lead time are others seeing for R&M's these days?

Air shipping could be about 4 weeks. I would recommend reaching out to them to get a status. It should take about a week in transit as opposed to ~4 with sea freight so then it's just the time to build it. I imagine you have to be really close at this point unless they were short on a part or something.

 

[BurbManDan]

Parts shortage. Last update was it might ship week of 6/1.

 

[BurbManDan]

It's arrived!

It's assembled and tested, and ready for pickup, but I probably can't make it in until Sat morning because my work/commute schedule has me pass by the shop before they open in the mornings and after close in the evenings. Plus I'll also want to make some adjustments before settling into riding it - swap on my seat and pedals, adjust the handlebars, fit some grips with extensions, mount my supplemental lights, actioncam, bags... That would make for a late night of wrenching, and then I'd have to drive over to the shop Sat to retrieve the old bike, unless I want to ghost riding the new bike 20 miles home from the shop. Probably better to be patient - besides, after 8 weeks, what's another day and half to get it home without incident...