My Gtech Sport ebike

[Taipan]

Decided to buy an ebike after trying one, as it enables me to exercise with my fooked back and I need to get my fitness levels up and lose some weight. I liked the simplicity of the Gtech design with its lack of gears and belt drive. So a 2nd hand V2 Sport was sourced and a deal clinched at £600. It'd had literally been used twice but the old guy was too nervous using it in London after a couple of near misses from cars.

It differs to a lot of ebikes as it doesn't have gears. It has two assist modes, ECO which assists up to 8mph or MAX which assists up to 15.5 mph?? If I'd understood it right, then in eco mode I was on my own after 8mph and that appealed to me and it seemed to work well on my inaugural 3-4 mile ride.
On the ride I managed to get up a long steep hill, that even as a kid we used to dismount and push the last bit. Same again on the next shorter, but steeper, hill! I was really impressed! Unsurprisingly, this hilly terrain, coupled with my far from insignificant weight, took it's toll on the battery dropping it down to 60% on that short, but hilly, 3-4 mile ride! It felt superb doing some proper exercise again and really getting big lungfuls of air and my thighs feeling like are made from lead.

I'd researched and read the criticisms about the battery life on these bikes, so aren't put off by it and will more likely ride flatter terrain in the main anyway and strategic on/off use of the battery gives most people 15-20 miles range, which is more than enough fo rme. I'll probably look at a 2nd battery if I need longer times, but that's another £240 when Gtech do their 20% discount weekends . I did scour the web but couldn't find anyone re-celling these to bigger capacity batteries as they are a bit of an odd design?

Mine came with the additional mudguards, lock, lights etc, but I've ordered a better seat like I use to have on my old bike a few years back. I'll need a rack and panniers so I can do something useful like pick wine up whilst I'm out. I really could do with the bars being higher and may look into that if I don't get used to it? Apart from those minor issues it seems perfect for my current needs! Looking forward to some more saddle time over the weekend!

[formula400]

Looks fun, I got over taken yesterday buy a guy on a eMTB, I was doing 33/35km and he flew.

I bet your love it.

[Taipan]

Sort of enjoying it, but yesterdays ride out came to an early halt. The seat was killing me and the battery went flat. Also the bars are too low. So I have a new seat on its way anyway and I'll order a stem riser and i've bit the bullet and bought a new battery. I'm hoping to get the cells in the old one upgraded. Most say it cant be done but https://ebikebatteries.co.uk/ thinks it can be done. Got to send them a pic of the battery and once my new battery is here i'll hopefully send them my old one. If it works I'll either keep or sell the new one?

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

The battery on my emtb will last for 50 miles easily, I rarely ride it more than 20, so I could either use more turbo, or save weight with a lighter battery.

But ebikes really do come into their own on hills, they smooth out that effort needed to get up hills.

[weeksy]

Sort of enjoying it, but yesterdays ride out came to an early halt. The seat was killing me and the battery went flat.

After what sort of distance ?

[Taipan]

Sort of enjoying it, but yesterdays ride out came to an early halt. The seat was killing me and the battery went flat.

After what sort of distance ?

both rides combined about 12 miles!! Should easily
Be 20+ really but I can’t be sure it was fully charged to start with?

[weeksy]

Mmmm that seems a bit poor.

How much was the bike,?

[Taipan]

Mmmm that seems a bit poor.

How much was the bike,?

It is poor even by their standards! Bike was £600. They're £995 new.

[Taipan]

Well eBike batteries can re-cell my battery. They'll replace the Gtech's 5600mAh Li-Lon with Sanyo 6700Ah BL ones,whatever they are? Apparently there is a shortage of these and brexit is causing havoc with getting them here, but he hope to have some arrive tomorrow.

New battery from Gtech with their 20% discount is £243 delivered and the re-cell is £285 with courier collection and delivery. I've ordered a battery from Gtech and it's been dispatched so I can't cancel the order, but they will accept a return. So I'll do that and get my battery re-celled to higher spec batteries which should hopefully improve things?

[weeksy]

What should it get in terms of miles ? Out of interest, how many do you want/need it to get?

[Couchy]

You’ve only got a 200w battery, most I’ve had out of my Lapierre with a 250w battery is 16 miles. But that is off road and it isn’t fast rolling.
Are others getting 20+ miles ?

[Taipan]

What should it get in terms of miles ? Out of interest, how many do you want/need it to get?

Supposedly up to 30 miles in eco mode, but that might be for a skinny 5 year old and not a lump like me! Given I was attacking hills to test it, my c10 mile range maybe about right? It is a bike that's criticised for its range and it appears a lot of people that love the bikes, run with a second battery in a standard water bottle holder, rather than ugrade the bike itself.

At this stage and being realistic, a 10 mile range would probably do, but if we did have days out it wont be long enough and I'd rather carry one battery with a better range than carrying two. The wifes ebike certainly has a longer range and it makes sense to try and match that.


Gtech eBike (2020): What’s the range like?
The biggest weakness of the Gtech eBike is its limited range. With only a small 6.4ah battery, the most you’ll get is 30 miles in Eco mode, with Max mode returning less than this – I found I was able to get around 16 to 17 miles before the battery ran dry with the motor doing most of the work.

[Taipan]

You’ve only got a 200w battery, most I’ve had out of my Lapierre with a 250w battery is 16 miles. But that is off road and it isn’t fast rolling.
Are others getting 20+ miles ?

Not really sure what others are getting, as many turn the battery on and off and only use it for hills and headwinds, so its near impossible to gauge what they should do. Plus I get the feeling there's a bit of a pissing competition going on and some may be telling porkies!

[Scotsrich]

I’ve got a Hoy hybrid and I’m really tempted to electrify it.

The big stumbling block is the cost.

A decent power Bafang kit with battery is now getting on to 800quid.

Cheaper kits are available but more power is always better...right?

[Couchy]

You’ve only got a 200w battery, most I’ve had out of my Lapierre with a 250w battery is 16 miles. But that is off road and it isn’t fast rolling.
Are others getting 20+ miles ?

Not really sure what others are getting, as many turn the battery on and off and only use it for hills and headwinds, so its near impossible to gauge what they should do. Plus I get the feeling there's a bit of a pissing competition going on and some may be telling porkies!

I carry a spare battery on my Lapierre so range is then around 30-35 miles off road which is enough and more than my Bosch bike.
I even ride it now with motor off so give it a few months and you’ll be surprised how quick fitness improves

[Taipan]

I’ve got a Hoy hybrid and I’m really tempted to electrify it.

The big stumbling block is the cost.

A decent power Bafang kit with battery is now getting on to 800quid.

Cheaper kits are available but more power is always better...right?

I imagine outright power and range is probably more important to eMTBs with varying and very steep terrain?

[Gedge]

Sort of enjoying it, but yesterdays ride out came to an early halt. The seat was killing me and the battery went flat. Also the bars are too low. So I have a new seat on its way anyway and I'll order a stem riser and i've bit the bullet and bought a new battery. I'm hoping to get the cells in the old one upgraded. Most say it cant be done but https://ebikebatteries.co.uk/ thinks it can be done. Got to send them a pic of the battery and once my new battery is here i'll hopefully send them my old one. If it works I'll either keep or sell the new one?

If you haven’t ordered one, I have a stem riser ( with spacers ) here that you can have, call it £5 posted ..if interested PM me and we can sort out getting it sent ..

[Gedge]

I’ve got a Hoy hybrid and I’m really tempted to electrify it.

The big stumbling block is the cost.

A decent power Bafang kit with battery is now getting on to 800quid.

Cheaper kits are available but more power is always better...right?

My brother did his bike using the Tongshen kit which has torque sensor which most bafang don’t..total cost was £450 and that included a genuine Samsung celled battery ..He went for the 350w which is visually identical to the 250 but has much more torque .works great ..

[Taipan]

Sort of enjoying it, but yesterdays ride out came to an early halt. The seat was killing me and the battery went flat. Also the bars are too low. So I have a new seat on its way anyway and I'll order a stem riser and i've bit the bullet and bought a new battery. I'm hoping to get the cells in the old one upgraded. Most say it cant be done but https://ebikebatteries.co.uk/ thinks it can be done. Got to send them a pic of the battery and once my new battery is here i'll hopefully send them my old one. If it works I'll either keep or sell the new one?

If you haven’t ordered one, I have a stem riser ( with spacers ) here that you can have, call it £5 posted ..if interested PM me and we can sort out getting it sent ..

Thanks Bud, but one is winging its way to me as we speak...

[Taipan]

Spoke with some more owners and riding in hilly areas using battery assistance will certainly drop the range to c10 miles. So at least I k ow it’s not just my bike.

Got some bits to fit tomorrow which will hopefully see it become comfortable enough to ride over a mile or two!