Electric bikes?

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  • boliston
    boliston Posts: 3,012 Forumite
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    How do they limit an ebike to 15.5mph?

    Is this the limit without any pedal assist as 15.5mph is not particularly fast on a bike with no e-assist - I often do 25-30 with tailwind or downhill.
  • kathrynha
    kathrynha Posts: 2,469 Forumite
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    My husband has the GTECH electric bike. It is his second electric bike and he says they have definitely improved over the years. He uses it to commute 9 miles each way, 5 days a week on a journey with a couple of big hills, and he says it is so easy.


    He is 6ft 4, and hasn't complained at all about it being too small and banging his knees.
    It is heavier than his mountain bike, but not too heavy that it will be difficult to lift on to a train, as he gets it up the steps in to our shed without problems.
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  • Keep_pedalling
    Keep_pedalling Posts: 16,585 Forumite
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    A 40min walk is a very short cycle ride, so unless you are have health problems that make it risky, do it on a standard bike. Far cheaper and better for your fitness.
  • Keep_pedalling
    Keep_pedalling Posts: 16,585 Forumite
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    boliston wrote: »
    How do they limit an ebike to 15.5mph?

    Is this the limit without any pedal assist as 15.5mph is not particularly fast on a bike with no e-assist - I often do 25-30 with tailwind or downhill.
    The only one I have ridden was provided to get me home after taking my car in for a service, and it was no problem getting it up to 15mph very quickly, but beyond that you get no power assist, and it was suddenly like trying to ride on sand, and lots of effort just to it up to 16.
  • Nasqueron
    Nasqueron Posts: 8,780 Forumite
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    boliston wrote: »
    How do they limit an ebike to 15.5mph?

    Is this the limit without any pedal assist as 15.5mph is not particularly fast on a bike with no e-assist - I often do 25-30 with tailwind or downhill.

    Same way they limit cars. The engine might have more power available but is controlled to stop it producing more, going down a hill or being able to go faster on the flat is separate - the bike isn't producing that speed, the control is stopping the bike providing more than that speed for someone who can't reach it manually
  • chucknorris
    chucknorris Posts: 10,786 Forumite
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    Keep_pedalling wrote: »
    A 40min walk is a very short cycle ride, so unless you are have health problems that make it risky, do it on a standard bike. Far cheaper and better for your fitness.

    That's exactly what I was thinking.
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  • Strider590
    Strider590 Posts: 11,874 Forumite
    Electric bikes are a magnet for thieves, where I used to work we kept getting a gang of "travelling folk" blatantly walking over with battery powered angle grinders and crowbars to attempt to steal a colleagues ebike, the Police wouldn't do anything, so every few days we basically had to get half the company outside to scare them off.
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  • codemonkey
    codemonkey Posts: 6,534 Forumite
    edited 15 March 2017 at 12:48PM
    Keep_pedalling wrote: »
    A 40min walk is a very short cycle ride, so unless you are have health problems that make it risky, do it on a standard bike. Far cheaper and better for your fitness.

    I actually do have a disability and I get tired more easily than I used to. The ride would be OK if it wasn't largely a steep hill all the way back. I haven't been on a bike for a long time and I feel like it would be less embarrassing to have the motor assist than get off and push for half the journey. From a look around, it seems you can choose the level of motor assistance so presumably that would decline over time.

    Also, I like gadgets.

    That being said, I haven't decided on whether to go for electric or a standard bike yet. Just considering it as an option for the moment. There have been a lot of posts on this thread making excellent points and giving me things to think about.
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  • Richard53
    Richard53 Posts: 3,173 Forumite
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    boliston wrote: »
    How do they limit an ebike to 15.5mph?
    They don't, simple answer. They limit the power available so that the assistance cuts out at a road speed of 15.5 mph. After that, you're on your own. There is no actual limit to the bike's speed (other than the ones that apply to all bikes).
    boliston wrote: »
    Is this the limit without any pedal assist as 15.5mph is not particularly fast on a bike with no e-assist - I often do 25-30 with tailwind or downhill.
    On my usual commute, I am bobbing along at 14-15 mph on the flat. On a downhill on my way home I regularly get to 40 mph. On the uphills (depending on gradient, obviously) I manage about 8 mph, where on an unassisted bike I would be doing about 5 mph. The upshot is - up to 15 mph you have a giant hand on your back, giving you a shove. Above 15 mph you are just riding a heavy bike. This means that on a flat route there isn't much advantage in an ebike, but the more hills you have, the more the bike earns its living. In my area (fairly hilly) my average speed on the ebike is about 30% faster than unassisted. The gain is all on the slow sections.
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  • zaax
    zaax Posts: 1,910 Forumite
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    40min walk = 15 min cycle. for such a short trip get a normal one. In 6 short weeks you will wonder what you thinking about, as you will get the muscles & you will have saved £500
    Do you want your money back, and a bit more, search for 'money claim online' - They don't like it up 'em Captain Mainwaring
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