Electric bike advice

thelawnet

forgotmyname wrote: »

12mph is slower than you may think. Reasonably fit you can exceed 30mph on a flat smooth road, Even faster downhill.

But not for any significant period of time.

I had a look at the results for the 'Evans' ride-it fun sportive event, and for 30 miles, pretty much flat, out of 140 finishers, the top 5 were:

24.7, 23.6, 19.7, 18, 17.8mph (average speed). The middle rider was 12.3, the 75th percentile 13.6mph.

That would be on flat roads with little to no traffic delays.

For the 60 mile course (which is going to attract the more serious riders and probably no kids) the fastest rider did it in 19.1mph, the middle rider was 14.1mph, and the 75th percentile in 15.5mph

For the 90 miler, 4 riders went around over 20mph, the 50th percentile was 15.7mph, and the 75th percentile did 17mph.

Suffice to say, if you are averaging over 15mph more than a couple of miles you are pretty fast...

Fully powerd require a licence, tax and insurance i think. If i could have bought a fully powered bike that could do 30+ mph
with a 30mile range i would have bought one rather than a petrol scooter.

Can't you buy such a thing as an 'electric moped'?

TruckerMike

A friend of mine who bought an electric assisted pedal cycle from Halfords told me the battery life was terrible and eventually replaced it for a conventional mountain bike. This was just his oppinion but thought I would share it. I ride a mountain bike for leisure but am quite interested in the idea of these electric bikes.

emmell

You can buy electric scooters that look like the vespa's and Lambretta's but I think they have to have pedals to qualify for zero tax and insurance.
Having seen the electric scooters, I wouldn't like to think I had to pedal one for any distance as they look quite heavy. I think the pedals are a token gesture to comply with the law.
ML.

emmell

TruckerMike wrote: »

A friend of mine who bought an electric assisted pedal cycle from Halfords told me the battery life was terrible and eventually replaced it for a conventional mountain bike. This was just his oppinion but thought I would share it. I ride a mountain bike for leisure but am quite interested in the idea of these electric bikes.

Hope he re-charged it to manufacturers specification.
I'm on my second year with my Lynx electric (and I bought it 2nd hand). It has stood all winter without use. I haven't used my City Light yet this year so time will tell.
ML.

thescouselander

I see a few electric people on electric bikes on the way to work. They look quite good on the hills but on the flat I cant see the point as I can keep up with the electric bikes on my road bike without breaking sweat. They do seem to accelerate quickly though.

emmell

thescouselander wrote: »

I see a few electric people on electric bikes on the way to work. They look quite good on the hills but on the flat I cant see the point as I can keep up with the electric bikes on my road bike without breaking sweat. They do seem to accelerate quickly though.

If the world were truly flat I wouldn't need electric to ride, but I still prefer it for setting off. And they do accelerate quickly, you should see my hubby's face when I go flying past him.
ML.

willin

Hazel2705 wrote: »

I'm thinking of getting one. Any advice??

I will need to do about 8 miles a day with no big hills and will be mainly cycle paths. I've been to Halfords and they only had pedal assisted in stock and I want a one that looks like a mountain bike with a twisty handle so I can put my feet up and zoom along when I'm feeling lazy .


Thanks

While I am on a roll the Cyclamatic quoted earlier will do all of the above even though it is a bit underpowered (24 volt 10 amp battery). It has a twist grip if you don't want to pedal on the flat and will tackle hills up to about 1 in 10 without a huge amount of effort from the rider. If you are a member of a cashback site you can get about 10% back on the price or sometimes the site has a 10 or 15% discount weekend (e.g. last Easter).

It is also legal as the the European standard hasn't yet been adopted and even when it is bikes with twist grips will still be legal. See the pedelecs site for further information on this.