Considering a second hand Wisper 906 Alpino e-bike

Johnmcl7

My Mum has hired an e-bike out through a local scheme a few times and absolutely loved it plus I found it good cycling with her as it gives me a decent work out on the bike and I don't need to be picky about routes as hill climbs aren't an issue. She's noticed a Wisper 906 Alpino come up for sale locally for £700 although I don't know the age or usage, it looks like it's probably around three to four years old. She hadn't mentioned buying an e-bike but the spec on this one looks good as it has an Alfine rear hub and disc brakes, I hadn't heard of Wisper before but they seem to be well rated for e-bikes.

My main concern though is the battery, a replacement one is a huge £550 which would mostly wipe out the benefit of buying second hand if it needs a new one shortly, anyone any experience how long the batteries actually last on them?

The other potential issue is that the electric system is said to be more suited to 'confident' riders, the bikes she has been hiring have the motor fitted around the bottom bracket and give a boost to pedalling which is pretty simply but the Wisper has the motor on the front hub so I'm not sure how that works in terms of control. I assume it's not as simple as just pedalling and getting a boost?

Thanks,
John

SailorSam

They have a good forum here for anything on Ebikes.

http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/guides/choose-electric-bike/

Richard53

I have a Wisper 905 Classic and I am very impressed with it. Build quality is superb and to be honest it has done everything I ask of it. It's a big, heavy old thing, but then I was a big heavy old thing when I started riding it. I am still old, but less big and heavy. I didn't know the Alpino, but I have just Googled it and it looks similar in many ways, except with a livelier colour scheme and hub gears as opposed to the 9-speed derailleur on mine. On the basis of 15 months' ownership and a year of commuting, I would be happy to recommend the brand.


If you haven't seen it already, there is a good write-up here: http://www.electricbikemag.co.uk/showStory.php?storynum=66
It doesn't say there, but I assume the frame is aluminium, which is one of two slight drawbacks with the bike. The ride on rough roads can be quite harsh, even with suspension forks. My road bike, with a steel frame and no suspension, is far nicer to ride on potholes and rough surfaces. Mine has a rear hub motor, but same idea as the 906. My wife has an ebike with a crank drive, and while it gives a more natural feel to the ride (the assistance seems more proportionate to the rider effort), it is also very hard on the transmission. The hub motor lets you know it is working with a distinct push as you move away (after a couple of turns of the pedals), but you soon get used to it. If I were buying again, I would go for a front hub motor - mechanically simpler, easier to maintain, and in bad weather you effectively have two-wheel drive. However, the hub motor runs at the same speed as the wheels (obviously) so doesn't get the benefit of the gearing as with a crank drive. On steep hills, it means the motor slows down to an inefficient speed and feels strained. For really hilly terrain, perhaps a crank drive would be better. But my commute is all hills, and the bike is holding up fine.


As for battery life - don't quote me, but I seem to remember reading somewhere that the battery was good for 1000 charge cycles. For me, commuting regularly, I charge it fully twice a week, so that would imply a life of nearly ten years. If you are using the bike to replace some or all of your car use, then £50 per year (plus the few pence each charge costs you) is trivial.


But yes, new batteries are horrendously expensive. There was a discussion about this recently on the Pedelecs forum, and someone mentioned a bloke who will refurbish your battery with new cells for a lot less than a new one. Have a hunt around, as the thread won't be more than a month old.


Personally, in your position I would go for it, and put a few quid aside each week in a battery fund. But I think £700 is ambitious. I enquired about part-exchanging mine with the supplying dealer (I was considering going to crank drive but changed my mind) and I would have been lucky to get half what I paid for something that was in great nick and under a year old. The second-hand market for ebikes is not strong, and I'm sure you could talk that price down quite some way. The Alpino will have cost £1900 new - half that and then half it again, I would have thought.


I'm a big fan of ebikes, for getting people who would otherwise not be riding back onto two wheels. Mine has got me fitter than I have been for 30 years, to the point where next year I will be selling it and going to 100% leg power again. But then again, I might keep it if it's worth so little, because they are also a heck of a lot of fun.


Edit: I have just found the Pedelecs thread and I see you have already posted to it! Post 6 has the link to the battery man.

Nebulous2

Batteries are a leap into the unknown. I understand that some bikes dont cover them by their warranty.

The issue seems to be how well they are looked after, never run out and regularly charged is best. Leaving them with no charge for substantial periods of time can wreck them very quickly.

My mother never learned to ride a bike and has bought a second-hand electric trike to go out cycling with my father. She has picked it up remarkably well and has no problem operating it. It has a front-hub motor.

Johnmcl7

Thanks Richard, you're right I've been on the pedelec forum already but it's quite difficult to get started with as all discussions are comparisons between different e-bikes bits and not being familiar with any of them it wasn't making much sense to me. I agree with you about the price and from what I gather on the pedelec forum there's basically nothing you can do to verify the batterylife which can vary depending on how it's been treated.

If it was me I'd have probably taken a punt on it as it's a decent brand and I like the Alfine hub and disc brakes but it's a fair chunk of money for my Mum, it's a time when she likely wouldn't be using it much with the colder weather and there's a big risk that she'd have to pay out nearly the same amount of money again if battery wasn't good enough.

John

RebeccaI

Maybe check with any local / national suppliers to see if they offer an kind of warranty with second hand e-bikes? You may find that although they won't replace for free, they may do a reduced rate for trading in broken parts etc?

Richard53

Johnmcl7 wrote: »

Thanks Richard, you're right I've been on the pedelec forum already but it's quite difficult to get started with as all discussions are comparisons between different e-bikes bits and not being familiar with any of them it wasn't making much sense to me.

Agreed. It can get quite technical on there, and if you don't know your Kalkhoffs from your KTMs (I don't) it can be a bit confusing. I visited there a lot when I first had the bike, but these days I hardly go there.