Veloteq

I would be interested in hearing your impressions of the Veloteq. I was leaning towards an XB700Li but am also very interested in the Veloteq Commuter.

Thanks.
Thom

I have a 2007 Veloteq Commuter which I love. Of course the 2008 came out this year with the new gear reduction. Story of my life, a dollar short and a day late.
My buddy bought a 2008, and while speed is the same on both, he can climb steeper hills than me. My range seems to be better than his mind you. I think switching to the gear reduction puts a little more stress on the battery to gear down. Overall though we both ride our bikes to work and have had no major problems short of a flat tire a couple of weeks ago. I bought mine at the Green Living Show last year where they had a good selection of colors and styles. If you go on www.veloteq.com there are dealers scattered around the GTA.

I have a Luyuan E-Bike that has the same gear hub motor. And the geared motor plus a torque mod to the controller I can climb almost anything. My take off pickup speed from a stand still is faster then most cars till I hit the 32KM speed limit. I am glad I chose the gear driven model instead of the standard hub model.

Ken Finch

I bought a 2008 Commander Sho-GT

It actually gets around quite well -- handles all the hills pretty well, and the range is doing great so far. I added a large Top Case to the back, a windshield, plus some additional flashing brake lights and rear side running lights for better visibility by the drivers.

Keeping the tire pressure at 40psi also helps the range and speed. I'm a little over 6'5" with size 18-19 shoes, so I needed something a little bigger than the Commuter.

Overall, the bike is getting me around quite well everyday.

Nice looking E-Bike. I like the side runnung lights, where did you get them? Specifications?

Nice looking E-Bike. I like the side runnung lights, where did you get them? Specifications?

Thanks...

Actually, I lucked out with the lights because I work at the company that carries the ones I have on the bike. I'm just their computer geek in the back room, and am hopeless with anything mechanical, but (thankfully) they helped by setting the lights up for me.

I don't know any of the tech stuff about the lights themselves, but I can go back into the warehouse and grab a package (the info is probably on them). Either that, or I can just ask one of the guys in the front office -- anything specific [specs] I should ask them for?

I've been really surprised at the difference the lights have made on the road. Drivers quite visibly seem to give me way more room now as they approach and/or pass. I do feel a bit stupid though -- working at the company, but I spent the first month riding without the lights. I just didn't think it would make as big a difference as it did for riding.

Now I won't ride without the lights on (day or night), and I also wear a reflector vest. Drivers seem way more courteous now that they actually see me.

Let me know what info you need, and I'll see what I can find out.

They look like the same strip lights Canadian Tire sells for campers and RVs. But those are incadescent and draw quite a bit of power. If your companies strip lights are LED technology then it sounds interesting.

They look like the same strip lights Canadian Tire sells for campers and RVs. But those are incadescent and draw quite a bit of power. If your companies strip lights are LED technology then it sounds interesting.

I checked with the guys in the front office. I wasn't able to grab all the specs (rather, I haven't a clue what kind to ask for), but here's what I have so far:

The lights I have hooked up for my running lights: (approx) 2mm thick, 8mm wide, about 30cm long, draw less than 50mA (don't have exact figures, but they said their bigger lights draw less than 50mA for the most part).

I ride with the side lights on all the time (day and night) -- I've noticed a big difference with drivers giving me way more riding room (daytime) since the guys put them on for me. At night, well, you can see them from way far, so no more close vehicles nacing right next to me anymore [a lot of the stretches of road I ride getting back and forth to work don't have any street lights, so it was really nervewracking in the dark before the lights were added].

I'm hoping to talk [bribe] them into adding some more lights later. I may have them put on the same kind of lights with white LEDs (they said they may include the white version soon) along the front sides of the bike. I'm also thinking about getting them to put 2 bright LED pods under the front fairing to shine over the front wheel area, and a red pod shining over the back wheel.

That should make it easy for cars to tell which direction I'm riding from all angles. If I do get the pod lights, I think I'll just have them hook it up to my main headlight switch -- I would only really need them on at night. The white light strands (if they get them) would lightly be used as running lights like my back ones.

I put a video on their site of me riding the bike (with lights off, and on). Just don't laugh too hard if I look silly -- I'm over 6'5" so I was just glad to find an eBike that fit me *lol*