HaiBike NDuro – a very happy owner from Devon, England
My HaiBike XDURO Nduro Pro arrived in May this year from the excellent e-bikeshop in Farnham Surrey. Perfectly prepared on the first ride I snapped the chain due to heavy gear changing uphill! My fault entirely but lesson learned. There is a lot of power going through that chain.
The bike has since covered over 550 miles without mishap except for breakage of the speed controller. Bad luck with a stick meant the wire was ripped out of the speed sensor on the rear swinging arm and it was then a matter of slowly limping home as without the sensor working you get almost no power from the battery. Solution – replace controller and tape wiring very close to the swinging arm to prevent snagging again.
The suspension is top quality Fox at both ends and gives fabulous comfort and control over any surface. The rear Mavic Roam tyre does not have the best grip – at any pressure it seems to break away easily. It will be replaced with a Fat Albert for the winter. The Avid Trail brakes are outstanding and easy to maintain but I found the Crank Brother seat post clunky with a very poor lever design and action therefore replaced with a LEV seat post which seems to be HaiBikes choice for much of their range in 2015.
Riding wise the bike is a hoot with double digit speeds up every hill (dongle fitted) and excellent handling with the extra weight of the bike not being noticeable at speed. The brakes allow late breaking into bends and the motor gives fast exits. Battery will easily do a 4 hour ride in our area of Devon which is pretty hilly (over 400 metres at its highest) and re-charging takes about 40 minutes if you bring the charger with you in the van and want to go out for another blast. Make sure that the battery is fully clicked in when replacing as the lock can appear to be in the locked position but the battery is still lose – you don’t want the battery flying off on the move !
Saddle very comfortable. I did convert to SRAM GripShift but again this is just personal taste and also change from a tube to tubeless fitment just because punctures are a pain.
Finish of the frame is excellent although Heli-taping of stickers is advised as some are vulnerable to cable rub.
Conclusion: All round a phenomenal bike of excellent quality that gives hours of grinning fun and is so good that you can imagine keeping and enjoying it for many years.
A real game changer in the electric bike market as it looks brilliant and not like a geeky electric bike.
Text and photos: Norman Birtles
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