Review: Haibike S-Duro Cross 9.0 Part 1

If you had asked Keith and I what we thought of electric bikes a year ago we would have said what a lot of people say to us now, which is that they are for getting about when you're that bit older, less fit and that having an electric bike is not real cycling it's 'cheating'. But then we realised that actually having an electrically assisted bike adds another dimension to what we can do and where we can go on our bikes with the added bonus of still keeping fit by going out more often and on much longer rides. Plus having converted to an electric bike we just love our cycling even more!

So where to begin when choosing the right electric bike? As a starting point we researched the most popular brands, read loads of reviews and talked to other owners of electric bikes. Having done that we decided that the Haibike with the centre driven Bosch Performance  CX motor (German engineering) seemed to be the best option, we also wanted a bike with on road/off road capabilities with gravel trails in mind. So where to go to see and try out our chosen bikes? Fortunately for us we have within a 30 minute drive just the right place to go -
 E-bike Sussex in Shoreham-by-sea.


We phoned ahead to find the right time to visit the store, it's an expensive purchase buying an ebike so you need to feel you have all the information and not to be rushed.
Richard at E-bikes Sussex is both passionate and knowledgeable about his product and gave us the time and the information to make the choice that was right for us. We were also able to have a test ride of a few different bikes. We eventually decided on the Haibike S-Duro Cross 9.0, it seemed to meet all our requirements.

Having made the purchase our bikes were ready and prepared for the road in a few days and on collection Richard gave us detailed instructions on riding and caring for our e-bikes.
We were so excited those first few trips out on our new bikes (in fact I still get excited a few months later!)
When you reach a hill you select the Turbo setting and just sail up effortlessly - Wonderful!
We have found that we are able to go twice as far, twice as high and have twice as much fun!!
The bikes have a comfortable riding position and we changed to gel saddles to improve our comfort on a long ride. As you can see from the photos we have added some other useful extras for our touring, racks, pouches, a rear luggage box (essential for our picnic lunch!) and mudguards. We also have lights, ping bells and high quality shackle locks and the propstands are supplied as standard.
Riding the bikes is so easy with the 10 gears and 4 power settings, they handle well and we have been able to put them through their paces touring in Spain, climbing rough gravel and rocky trails and also climbing on tarmac roads into the National parks to almost 4000 ft of altitude.
We are often asked about the range of the 36volt/500watt battery supplied and of course there are many variations depending on the amount of ascent, overall weight, headwinds and rider usage of the bike, but we regularly ride up to 40 miles with battery range left when we return. We are able to charge the batteries using our inverter in the motorhome or the more usual direct to mains 240v (battery can be charged on or off the bike) and the approximate charging time is 2.5 hours.
One thing I learnt along the way is that when riding on the flat the pedal assisted motor is governed at approximately 16.5mph (a legal requirement) so it's no good when you reach this speed trying to pedal faster it will only tire you out! But going downhill is another matter and I reached 38mph the other day, the disc brakes back and front work really well which inspires confidence when whizzing down the hills. Another thing we have found about riding an ebike is that we are never daunted by the prospect of a long hill or strong headwind or worry about the hills on the journey home, you just relax and enjoy the scenery as you ride the hills with ease. We often go on mini adventures exploring an interesting looking deviation from our planned route.
To be continued in Part 2!
If you would like to look at the E-bike Sussex website, here is the link:

https://ebikesussex.com/

This is my own personal review not a technical review and all words and opinions expressed in this review are my own. I have not received any financial incentive to write this review.