Salisbury Electric Powacycle

Aurora · Post by **Aurora** » 18 Mar 2011, 11:50

As from Wednesday the 23rd March, Makro will be offering the Salisbury Electric Powacycle for £299.99 & VAT.

Normally listed for £499.99 & VAT at Makro, the same bike retails at £780.00 from Powacycle direct.

See: http://www.powacycle.co.uk/Salisbury-Li ... c-Bike.asp

Probably made in China but only £359.99 (inclusive of VAT). Anyone interested?

DominicJ · Post by **DominicJ** » 18 Mar 2011, 12:00

A little bit.
Not looking now, but if my next job is closer (extended to at least this time next year), I'd go for one, at least in summer.
Really needs a bigger battery, really needs a better voltage.

26v and 273wh?

I suppose if you only go a mile or two its fine

ujoni08 · Post by **ujoni08** » 18 Mar 2011, 17:07

Hmmm, seems a good price. Is that for the LPX?

Where is the motor, in the rear hub?

They cite 500 charge cycles as the life of the battery, then over £300 for a replacement...

jon

CountingDown · Post by **CountingDown** » 19 Mar 2011, 07:04

Very interesting - was just looking at a new bike for about 320 anyway. It gets good reviews from what I can see, heavy, but lighter than most elec bikes.

Can't see the offer on the Makro site though

Aurora · Post by **Aurora** » 19 Mar 2011, 07:13

andrew-l wrote:Very interesting - was just looking at a new bike for about 320 anyway. It gets good reviews from what I can see, heavy, but lighter than most elec bikes.

Can't see the offer on the Makro site though

It was featured in a Makro newsletter that arrived in the post on Thursday. Offer starts next Wednesday.

Replacement battery cost at £300+ is a bit worrying.

CountingDown · Post by **CountingDown** » 19 Mar 2011, 07:39

Maybe buy a second bike for spares!

That does sound v steep - are all e-bike batteries that pricey?

madibe · Post by **madibe** » 19 Mar 2011, 17:00

LOL

featherstick · Post by **featherstick** » 19 Mar 2011, 22:45

Most people would be better off getting a granny ring on the rear - perhaps a 48 tooth ring or so. Honestly.

madibe · Post by **madibe** » 19 Mar 2011, 22:58

Sorry,but why would your granny's ring make this better? I noob in these things. Please explain

lancasterlad · Post by **lancasterlad** » 20 Mar 2011, 06:01

maudibe wrote:Sorry,but why would your granny's ring make this better? I noob in these things. Please explain

Gearing. A larger sprocket on the rear cassette and/or a smaller chain-ring on the front gives a lower gear - like on a mountain bike. "Granny Ring" is a term for a very small front chain-wheel making it so even granny could get up that hill.

Before making any changes to gearing, you need to be sure your rear derailleur can cope with the chain take up and tooth differences on the rear cassette and chain-wheels.

I have to say, the quality of many Chinese made bikes and frames is somewhat dubious. Also most people, once reasonably fit, should be able to cope with riding 40 or 50 miles in a day without the need for an electric bike. If you go back 50 years or so, many cyclists were touring on a single gear!

snow hope · Post by **snow hope** » 23 Mar 2011, 09:44

At this price I am interested and I was about to post up a similar thread.

I was considering buying a Giant tourer, which starts at about £280. But if I can get something similar with a battery, why not?

Are there any drawbacks? It says something about the max speed being 12mpg, that seems a bit low.....

Any experts or battery bike owners out there who can give us the benefit of their knowledge?

DominicJ · Post by **DominicJ** » 23 Mar 2011, 10:16

Legaly, the motor has to turn off at 15mph.
If you can peddal to 50mph, you can go 50 on it, but once you hit 15, the motor switches off and its all you.

snow hope · Post by **snow hope** » 23 Mar 2011, 12:17

Is there an "adjustment" that can be made to turn off the max. speed limitation?

DominicJ · Post by **DominicJ** » 23 Mar 2011, 12:46

I would have thought so, I was just quoting the site linked above.
I'd be very surprised if you gave yourself a top speed of 20 and the police noticed....

****
http://visforvoltage.org/forum-topic/13 ... peed-limit
http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/electri ... limit.html
****

It sounds like the motors cant really do much over 15mph, however they can continue to assist you up to much higher speeds, if modified.
Just googled "remove electric bike speed limit", you can probably find guides for specific models and engines/controllers.

Assist up to 30 would be ideal, a stressed driver is considerably less likely to run me over.

Aurora · Post by **Aurora** » 23 Mar 2011, 13:12

snow hope wrote:At this price I am interested and I was about to post up a similar thread.

I was considering buying a Giant tourer, which starts at about £280. But if I can get something similar with a battery, why not?

Are there any drawbacks? It says something about the max speed being 12mpg, that seems a bit low.....

Any experts or battery bike owners out there who can give us the benefit of their knowledge?

I still think that £300+ for a replacement battery is a bit stiff.