I was cruising around the net and found a closeout deal on the Worksman Bicycle site on some Estelle/Heinzmann electric assist bicycles. The bikes are going for ~$460 down from a 2 grand retail. Worksman bought the assets of another company at an auction and amongst the things they purchased was two truck loads of these bikes. I figured it was no more risky than Craig's List or EBay, so I figured what the hell and bought one for my father. With shipping it was just north of $600

Let's start with the bad. The bike has been crated up for several years, and comes with no warranty. I haven't tried to figure out what model year it is yet, but it qualifies as "New Old Stock". The rear reflector was broken (not the tail light, so no big deal), and the bulb in the head light did not work (a screw in flashlight style, under $1 at the hardware store & works fine now).
Now that the bad is over with all the rest is good.

It arrived at my house in a box befitting a flat screen refrigerator. I opened the box to find the bicycle completely assembled. All I had to do was raise the handlebars, pump up the tires, and charge the battery. This bike is built like a brick **** house. The frame is an aluminum step-through, reinforced throughout, and has a 3 speed SRAM internal hub with a coaster brake; perfect for my Pop.
It came with everything, a true European commuter. Fenders, strut stabilized basket (for heavy loads), bell, lights, bottle generator, chain guard, frame lock, kick-stand, and a frame pump were all installed.

The battery charged well, and Pop got about 20 miles before it was flat. Heinzmann has recommended we ride the battery dead the first few charges. There is a movement sensor on the pedal, so unless they are moving the motor will not kick in. You can fool it to an extent. When you get it up to speed one can hold the throttle open and the motor runs at top speed even if you are slowly moving the pedals. It still helps getting up hills and going over thick grass is no problem what so ever.

This E-Bike has a front hub Heinzmann motor, powered by a battery under the rear rack. The family's other E-Bike is a Giant Lite. Its motor is inline to the chain and the two have very different ride characteristics. {The Giant is in a state of disarray at the moment, I taking it through an overhaul. I'll do a side by side comparison when I'm done with the Giant's surgery.}
As to how this one rides, the motor does not have the torque of a motor inline to the chain, but is faster in top speed, about 20 mph.

I've only had the chance to ride it around for an hour this afternoon, it's Pop's and I'm not going to hog his new bike. I'll cover how it rides and performs in more detail after I finish the Giant, but so far it seems to be a hell of a deal on a nice bike.

Now Pics:


Chain Guard


Frame Lock & Generator


Battery


Pedal Sensor


Front hub motor


Note the European standard of the front brake in the right hand.


3 speed hub w/coaster brake


Kickstand mounted on the rear wheel


Rear view

The only mod I did was put a real comfort saddle on it for my father. The gel saddle is the one that comes with the bike.


The Brooks 135 side view




Thanks,
--A

I am impressed with it.

Sounds like Pops is giving the bike a real workout.

It is well-contructed. It reminds me of the bicycles made by Biria with the step through.

For an eighty year old he's tough. Prefers the air to the ground though.

Allen, that bike is a real beauty!

Same here, the Biria bikes came to mind when I saw it. I can't tell a difference between it and This Biria, except the Heinzmann kit and name brand. My bet is Estelle bikes are made by Biria and re-badged once they are fitted with Heinzmann kits.

Thanks Donna.

Just thought I'd hijack this thread with my experiences with this bike. I saw your review here and headed over to Worksman in Ozone Park. Checked out the bike, nice folks, and bought one of these for my mother. Total came to $497, which is worth it if you just want to take off the Heinzmann hub, controller and battery, which is a 36v Ni-Cad. Not sure of the total reliability of the battery, which has been dormant for seven years, according to the sticker. The extreme cold may be causing it to discharge quickly.

My mother really liked it, and it inspired her to ride a bike again, which she hasn't for 25 yrs. In fact, we went back the next day and picked up another one!

Front hub is a Heinzmann 400W 36V for anyone who's wondering. Total bike weighs--hold on--66lbs!!! I nearly killed myself carrying it up the subway stairs.

Anyway, if you're trying to get an older person into riding, this may be a good way to start. Check out

https://www.estelle.de to see the more modern incarnations of this bike and what they sell for. Also, I'm not sure how many they really have and how fast they're selling, since they kept saying "we only have a few left!"

BTW they also seemed to have a turquoise color in addition to the dark purple. Didn't get to see it.

I'd noticed that in the pic. Pops can now join the official bikeforums.net "Dial it up to 400 watts" set!

I totally agree and it's so nice to hear that you and AllenG have family that are really enjoying it. I know some people scoff at this whole pedal-assist concept, but I think about people who are older, or people that have chronic health conditions where perhaps sometimes they have the strength to pedal all on their own and sometimes they don't, and well, this solves more than one dilemma for such folks. Not to mention that it's just such a pretty bike.

Are pictures of your mom and/or her bike a possibility, pharnabazos?

Pop's battery is now getting around 15ish miles before it goes flat, but it serves him well. I think the low milage may be due to it's age; this is Georgia and we don't have your cold by any stretch. On the Giant Twist 25-28 miles a charge is more its norm.