Issue Six - Spring 2013 - Electric Bike Magazine

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+ON TEST The Falco’s distributors, Team Hybrid, are initially offering the kit as a rear wheel motor, wireless handlebar display and a 2 kg, 8.8 Ah, 36 V battery in either bottle cage or rear rack-mounted format. The kit will be sold principally through dealers and manufacturers, but private buyers can also contact Team Hybrid, as they now offer a ‘build it into your bike’ service (just a very few bikes may not be compatible, they note). Prices for kits vary depending on configuration, but around £1250 would be an approximate starting point. Warranty is two years. Bob from Team Hybrid visited us in York with the first in their range of complete bikes with the Falco system already fitted. The £1995 Genesis Core e120 is a hardtail MTB, as is the £1750 Core e100 (with slightly lower specification on the bike parts). The e120 is a 250 W/15mph fully ‘bicycle’ legal machine. There are also a number of higher powered versions available. Our review bike was a ‘launch special’, which for £2235 came complete with handlebar-mounted GoPro Hero 3 video camera. Currently the bike starts at £1995, while the GoPro, complete with SD card and handlebar mount, can be added to any Falco-equipped bike for £245 (it’s usually £315). These cameras are very robust and are popular for sharing ride footage online. So how did it go? The light wasn’t promising on the day of Bob’s visit, but I took him to a local woods, where we managed to mess around and get both bikes and electrics extremely muddy. The new kit is certainly vastly more polished and finished than the prototype version we tried before, and the full torque sensing control (matching your efforts and adding to them) worked just as it should, giving a very lively ‘cycling’ feel. The display/control unit has been somewhat simplified, with fewer power and regenerative braking levels to scroll through, and with a separate button pad next to your hand to adjust the assist level. All easy to use. Overall I was very pleased with the new Falco system: it was silent, smooth and responded as well as any torque sensing system I’ve tried. It had been neatly fitted to the bike, too, and didn’t falter even caked in wet gloop. We didn’t have time to reach any Falco e-motor kit: Genesis Core e120 Last issue we rode a pre-production version of the Falco e-motor. It’s now good to offer an early update: the system is in production, has full torque-sensing drive mode, and is available on complete bikes as well as in kit form for existing bikes. So how did it perform in the £2,395 Genesis Core e120 mountain bike? 14 Electric Bike Issue 6
ON TEST: Falco e-motor kit: ON Genesis TEST: Core Ezee e120 Torq ABOVE: The exact kit contents vary according to specification. Team Hybrid now offer a ‘fit it to your existing bike’ service, so they can take care of the technical details. LEFT: The GoPro camera on the bars is fully waterproof and shockproof, ready to record your most extreme off-road exploits! serious hills, sadly, but in claggy mud the electric assist was a godsend for keeping the speed up: only when excessively timid did I bog down and get a foot muddy too. Without the electric I’d certainly have really struggled on some of the consistently boggy trails through the wood, or on the sharp rises over banks and ditches. Younger and fitter Bob did go in for wheelies and jumps, which the bike handled without complaint. I felt it was a well balanced bike for manhandling, with the extra weight distributed evenly between the front battery and rear motor. I didn’t get a chance to weigh the bike, but Falco say the motor adds around 4.5 kg to an unassisted machine, plus the battery of course. The Falco system is competing (when it comes to fully equipped bikes) with the likes of the BH Emotion Neo range, Storck Raddar bikes, and machines equipped with the BionX system. But as a silent torque sensing hub drive kit which dealers or Team Hybrid can fit to your existing machine, it’s pretty much unique on the current UK market; its (more expensive) competitor BionX is between distributors currently, and the Sunstar crank drive, while torque sensing, is a very different bit of kit. As an MTB, the Core e120 is a strong performer, with the quality of frame and components well up to scratch for the price, giving a lightweight and responsive ride. I was pleasantly surprised how well modern derailleur gearing handled being covered in mud, incidentally – and Bob was left with the task of cleaning and oiling! One other aspect to strike me was how well a silent motor matches getting out into the woods. While mountain biking is rarely silent (there’s the squelch or crunch of knobbly tyres for a start) it was ever so pleasant to ride without mechanical buzz intruding, and that’s something that only a direct drive motor like the Falco can currently deliver. Peter Eland Team Hybrid: Tel 01329 832 068 or see www.teamhybridebikes.com Falco e-motors 250W-1500W MOTORS REVOLUTIONARY MULTI PHASE, MULTI-POLE, BRUSHLESS, GEARLESS MOTOR TECHNOLOGY. High Power Light Weight High Torque High Efficiency Reduced Cogging UK Distribution: Telephone: +44 (0)1329 832068 E-mail: info@teamhybrid.co.uk www.teamhybridebikes.com MAXIMUM PERFORMANCE Unit F3, Knowle Village Business Park Mayles Lane, Knowle Hampshire PO17 5DY Issue 4 Electric Bike 3
Page 1 and 2: £3.95 where sold Issue 6 www.elect
Page 3 and 4: Contents 4 News: All the latest fro
Page 5 and 6: NEWSI Mission and Conv-E team up a
Page 8 and 9: +ELECTRIC MTBS Mountains to molehil
Page 10 and 11: +ON TEST Grace MX German brand Grac
Page 12 and 13: +ON TEST clicks neatly into its soc
Page 16 and 17: +ON TEST Volt Alpine The Alpine is
Page 18 and 19: +ELECTRIC MTBS Electric mountain bi
Page 20 and 21: +ON TEST Beatbikes Beatbike We revi
Page 22 and 23: +ON TEST ABOVE: The folding process
Page 26 and 27: +ON TEST Hero Eco A2B Hybrid 24 Wit
Page 28 and 29: +ON TEST This would make the bike r
Page 30 and 31: +ON TEST Klimax Hase Bikes What, yo
Page 32 and 33: +FIRST LOOK The Sunstar electric bi
Page 34 and 35: +E-BIKE BASICS ELECTRIC BIKE BEGINN
Page 40 and 41: +LETTERS From Simon Lord I was diag
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Page 46 and 47: B I K E S The KLIMAX of all-weather
Page 48: Amazing Electric Bikes Classic Elec

Issue Six - Spring 2013 - Electric Bike Magazine

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