Woosh e bikes

[sneggysteve]

Hi everyone – new member here looking for advice on e bikes.

I bought a Giant Sedona hybrid back in 2011 and not really had much use until this year. Like thousands of others, I got the bike out to get some exercise in these lock down days. Changed the tyres to Schwalbe Marathon Original GreenGuard Rigid MTB City Tyre and found I could wizz along and I am really enjoying myself.

I go out 2 or 3 times a week covering between 30 and 60 miles. Now my problem – I am in South Wales where there are LOTS of hills so I am restricted to the same old flatter routes. I am 68 and taking medication for a heart condition and the steeper hills I find tough so I thought an e bike would give me scope to travel further afield. I only want assistance on the steeper hills really. I travel on roads and cycle tracks.

I have a budget around £1000 / £1200 and saw a recommendation here

A 1k ebike isn't going to have top end components, more like Alivio or low end group set stuff.
Some will opt for crappy cable disc brakes and cheap £50/£60 forks.
Have a look at Woosh bikes or something like the NVM Moscow.

for Woosh bikes. They seem attractive at those prices - https://wooshbikes.co.uk/?gran-camino

Anyone have a Woosh with good / bad reviews? Will the 24Kgm weight give me problem if using without power assist on the flat?

Thanks in advance

Steve

[Grldtnr]

For your budget of up to £1200, don't expect to get a very good bike, if you consider the motor and battery will take most of that budget up, typically £700 to £800 ,you can guess how low rent the rest of the bike is.
That's not to say Whoosh cycles don't have a good reputation ,in the contrary they do ,they are local to me, and have had good unbiased dvice from them.
I would suggest that you fit a e-bike kit to what you have already, the motor & power pack will cost up to £800, plus fitting if you are a novice bike mech , tho it's fairly easy to do.
You have 2 options of kit, one is wheel hub kit either front or rear, probably front wheel is easiest to fit & maintain, or a center drive kit, one that replaces your bottom bracket and chain wheel, the centre drive is perhaps your best option, as hub drives don't cope with hills that well.
I have used both types of motor, of the 2 ,the centre drive was best for me, but I have gone back to analogue cycling now.

[hemo]

The only issue with Woosh is like other online dealers, one can't test ride or try the bike for fit. That said CS from them is brilliant as is sending out spares, they arrive almost before you have breckie the next day.

[Grldtnr]

For your budget of up to £1200, don't expect to get a very good bike, if you consider the motor and battery will take most of that budget up, typically £700 to £800 ,you can guess how low rent the rest of the bike is.
That's not to say Whoosh cycles don't have a good reputation ,in the contrary they do ,they are local to me, and have had good unbiased dvice from them.
I would suggest that you fit a e-bike kit to what you have already, the motor & power pack will cost up to £800, plus fitting if you are a novice bike mech , tho it's fairly easy to do.
You have 2 options of kit, one is wheel hub kit either front or rear, probably front wheel is easiest to fit & maintain, or a center drive kit, one that replaces your bottom bracket and chain wheel, the centre drive is perhaps your best option, as hub drives don't cope with hills that well.
I have used both types of motor, of the 2 ,the centre drive was best for me, but I have gone back to analogue cycling now.

Further more, I would suggest you look for a donor bike to fit the kit, for a nominal sum ,I expect you can get a well specced one, which will be far superior to a budget e-bike, of you look for a hub drive kit, make sure the gears are in good condition, if for a centre drive one the block & chain will need replacement anyway.

This is my opinion , not so much advice.

[Boyonabike]

Did a Woosh conversion on my old Dawes commuting tourer and very happy with the result. Front hub (as I have hub gears) for improved reliability and reduced chain wear. A few compromises were needed such as a bottle dynamo (AXA HR is superb) and I had to upgrade the brakes to accommodate the additional weight but very pleased with the final result, on the flat it's like cycling with a pleasant wind behind you and hills are flattened. I find the motor comes into its own on hills and when accelerating from standstill so actually uses little power when cruising along which improves battery life.

Suffice it to say that within a few few weeks my wife bought an off-the shelf Woosh for her commute too as she could no longer keep up with me on family rides and it's superb value for money. Oh and although they are a mail order supplier which makes trying things out in advance almost impossible, Woosh's customer service is second to none when it comes to advice or modifications.

[sneggysteve]

Thanks for advice from all

Decided to go for Woosh Gran Camino but have to wait until Jan / February.

Steve