# Help/Advice on Electric Bike



## Mr Whyte (8 Oct 2020)

Today I came out of hospital after having the virus, sadly it has damaged my lungs more ( COPD) and for some very strange reason I now have Angina from it too. I have to build my strength up again so won`t be able to use my Whyte Ridgeway for a long time, so I want to get a Gravel/road ebike, but it has to be very light to carry up some steps. Idea`s ?

Oh price is about £4,000.


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## Drago (8 Oct 2020)

What are you defining as 'very light'. Even the best of them are bricks when compared to conventional equivalents. What is light to a lumbering hulk like me might seem like an anvil to a feeble weakling like Dirk or Dave7 

You then have the second problem of there being no standard measuring method for bicycle weights. Some quote without tyres, some without pedals, some ready to ride...and of those that do quote there is then no industry standard sizing schemeto compary weight for weight between manufacturers. When someone says a bike weights X kg, what exactly does that actually mean? The anseer can differ wildlymfrom brand to brand.

I'm sure its not an impossible ask, and your budget is very healthy. In your position id start scoping out some retailersmin person, because with that budget to spend it is they who should bendoing this dokey work for you.

I hope your quest goes well and you make a decent recovery.


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## Mr Whyte (8 Oct 2020)

Thank you Drago, I`d hope a lighter than my Whyte Ridgeway which is about 13.8 so anything lighter really.


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## Drago (8 Oct 2020)

I think that might be a tall order, although my knowledge of that end of the ebike market is poor indeed.


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## Zanelad (8 Oct 2020)

You could remove the battery when you have to carry the bike up or down the steps. When I put my bike in the car it's very much easier when i remove the battery. I estimate that the battery must weigh the best part of 3 kgs. Not all ebikes have an readily removable battery though.


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## Mr Whyte (8 Oct 2020)

Think I might of found one, a bit over budget but I do like it.

Specialized Turbo Creo SL Comp Carbon Evo at 12.4kg £5,500


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## cougie uk (8 Oct 2020)

What about getting the powered front wheel kit to turn an existing bike into an e bike ? About £500 isn't it ?


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## Mr Whyte (8 Oct 2020)

cougie uk said:


> What about getting the powered front wheel kit to turn an existing bike into an e bike ? About £500 isn't it ?




I did have a quick look when I got home, but it would add a bit more weight to my bike.


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## Specialeyes (8 Oct 2020)

How about a Ribble CGR AL-e? Full disclosure: I've got one set up tubeless with 650b wheels and 1x Sram gearing and it's around 12.6kg... and it's ace!


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## gzoom (8 Oct 2020)

Mr Whyte said:


> Think I might of found one, a bit over budget but I do like it.
> 
> Specialized Turbo Creo SL Comp Carbon Evo at 12.4kg £5,500



The Creo is your best bet, its got a good motor and battery range. Your struggle to get a lighter eBike.


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## Mr Whyte (9 Oct 2020)

Specialeyes said:


> How about a Ribble CGR AL-e? Full disclosure: I've got one set up tubeless with 650b wheels and 1x Sram gearing and it's around 12.6kg... and it's ace!




Been looking at a Red one, as they look beautiful.


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## Pale Rider (9 Oct 2020)

Mr Whyte said:


> Specialized Turbo Creo SL Comp Carbon Evo at 12.4kg £5,500



This site is reliable and gives a weight of 14.33kg, which is also more in line with what I would expect.

One thing's for sure, you won't find anything significantly lighter.

https://electricbikereview.com/specialized/turbo-creo-sl-comp-carbon-evo/


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## richtea (9 Oct 2020)

Pale Rider said:


> This site is reliable and gives a weight of 14.33kg, which is also more in line with what I would expect.
> 
> One thing's for sure, you won't find anything significantly lighter.



https://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/ribble-endurance-sl-e-pro/
*Approximate Weight* - 11.5kg/25.3lbs

I'd call that significantly lighter - 20% lighter. But also 20% more than £4k. I like the symmetry.


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## Pale Rider (10 Oct 2020)

richtea said:


> https://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/ribble-endurance-sl-e-pro/
> *Approximate Weight* - 11.5kg/25.3lbs
> 
> I'd call that significantly lighter - 20% lighter. But also 20% more than £4k. I like the symmetry.



I'm bound to wonder how 'approximate weight' the approximate is.

Whatever, hub motors are often lighter than crank drives, and all of those Ebikemotion bikes have a small, I mean light, battery.


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## Mr Whyte (10 Oct 2020)

As I want an ebike soon I just ordered a Specialized Turbo Vado SL 4.0 EQ, hope to have it by Wednesday next week.


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## samsbike (12 Oct 2020)

great looking bike, hope it works out for you


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## Mr Whyte (14 Oct 2020)

Well my beautiful new Specialized Vado arrived, and Wow what a great looking bike.


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## gzoom (14 Oct 2020)

Mr Whyte said:


> Well my beautiful new Specialized Vado arrived, and Wow what a great looking bike.



Enjoy, any pictures.


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## Mr Whyte (15 Oct 2020)

At the moment no pictures, as just been on to Rutland cycles telling them I`m NOT happy that Mission Control app won`t update the bike firmware, as it says take the bike to a Specialized Retailer to do the firmware update. Spend over £2,500 and it tells me to update as it is on red for a warning.


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## jowwy (15 Oct 2020)

Mr Whyte said:


> At the moment no pictures, as just been on to Rutland cycles telling them I`m NOT happy that Mission Control app won`t update the bike firmware, as it says take the bike to a Specialized Retailer to do the firmware update. Spend over £2,500 and it tells me to update as it is on red for a warning.


thats normal.......cube/bosch can only be updated by going to the retailer


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## Mr Whyte (15 Oct 2020)

As I have already thrown the box away, can any bike shop do it ?


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## Pale Rider (15 Oct 2020)

Mr Whyte said:


> As I have already thrown the box away, can any bike shop do it ?



No, and if it's anything like Bosch, not all Specialized ebike dealers will be able to do it.

The retailer needs to invest in a dongle and software, which not all do.

Specialized may have a different system or insist all their ebike dealers have the kit as a condition of supplying bikes.

Worth ringing your local Specialized ebike dealer to see what, if anything, they can do.


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## Mr Whyte (15 Oct 2020)

Thanks, if I can`t get it sorted the bike will still be ok to ride ?


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## Pale Rider (15 Oct 2020)

Mr Whyte said:


> Thanks, if I can`t get it sorted the bike will still be ok to ride ?



Yes, no question about that, you cannot break anything by using it.

What do you hope to achieve by updating the Mission Control app?

It's unlikely there's many, or even any, exciting new features on the update.

It may work perfectly well for your purposes as it is.


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## Mr Whyte (15 Oct 2020)

Just been phoning about, and have an appointment with a Specialized dealer here in town. So about a 6 mile ride in all so, just wanted it up to date on the firmware and thank you too.


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## Pale Rider (15 Oct 2020)

Mr Whyte said:


> Just been phoning about, and have an appointment with a Specialized dealer here in town. So about a 6 mile ride in all so, just wanted it up to date on the firmware and thank you too.



There's no harm in having it up to date, particularly as it's a partly online system.

The Bosch system is closed, but even that can acquire errors as time passes, leading to faults on the road.

My local Bosch dealer recommends updating every year or 18 months.


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## Mr Whyte (16 Oct 2020)

@Pale Rider if I choose not to update the firmware just yet I`m fine on the bike ?
As don`t fancy paying out any more money yet.


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## Mr Whyte (16 Oct 2020)

This is what the app is saying.


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## CXRAndy (16 Oct 2020)

Off you go to a authorised and equipped retailer. 

That is one thing that puts me off certain manufacturers, locked into taking your equipment just to get an update. 

My Tesla doesn't need to go anywhere for latest and greatest updates


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## Mr Whyte (16 Oct 2020)

Know need to go off and get it done, as bike works great so will leave it for a bit yet. Happy riding


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## richtea (16 Oct 2020)

CXRAndy said:


> Off you go to a authorised and equipped retailer.
> 
> That is one thing that puts me off certain manufacturers, locked into taking your equipment just to get an update.
> 
> My Tesla doesn't need to go anywhere for latest and greatest updates


Same for Fazua-based bikes - do it yourself updates via a quite well hidden USB port. Perfect! Everybody wins, and the LBS in particular can get on with 'proper' spannering!

For ebikemotion (Orbea, Ribble, etc), the main components supposedly have to be registered together by a dealer app in order work with each other, so I suspect ebikemotion is a closed system. Backward old school thinking. Having said that, I've swapped ebikemotion wheels over and it worked fine.


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## Pale Rider (17 Oct 2020)

Mr Whyte said:


> Know need to go off and get it done, as bike works great so will leave it for a bit yet. Happy riding



It won't matter if you don't get it done for a few months, maybe longer.

At some point the version you have might stop working, but equally it might continue to work as it does now for years.

Be interesting to hear what you think of the bike.

I doubt many on here have any experience of the Mahle motor - I haven't and I've ridden a lot of ebikes.


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## Drago (17 Oct 2020)

MAHLE are a very well respected automotive component manufacturer, far more so than Bosch, so it will be interesting to see if their mojo has rubbed off on their ebike motors too.


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## Pale Rider (17 Oct 2020)

Drago said:


> automotive component manufacturer



One of the earlier crank drive ebikes used the wiper motor from a Fiat or Renault or somesuch.

It worked well enough, but intermittently.


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