Is it worth buying an electric bike?

jade1981

Hi guys I'm wondering if anyone owns an electric bike or uses one to cycle to work? I really want to start cycling to work instead of driving for multiple reasons, the main ones are to save money and become healthier, but I'm wondering if anyone thinks electric bikes are worth it? the route to my workplace is quite hilly and I've heard a lot about electric bikes being good for that type of thing. I've been looking at an A2B bike for a while Id like to hear advice from anyone a bit more experienced in that area.
Thanks!

armyknife

jade1981 wrote: »

Hi guys I'm wondering if anyone owns an electric bike or uses one to cycle to work? I really want to start cycling to work instead of driving for multiple reasons, the main ones are to save money and become healthier, but I'm wondering if anyone thinks electric bikes are worth it? the route to my workplace is quite hilly and I've heard a lot about electric bikes being good for that type of thing. I've been looking at an A2B bike for a while Id like to hear advice from anyone a bit more experienced in that area.
Thanks!

Looks like rather a heavy beast at nearly 30kgs, must be better ones out there.

Kiran

When I started cycling to work my route was really hard, as time went on it got easier. The terrain didn't change, my fitness levels did. I dont know if they would have got better as quick as they did if I had pedal assist to get me going. There are days I would love it but usually when very tired, once I've recovered I decide id rather save the money.

Nasqueron

Do better getting a normal road bike (slick skinny tyres) with easy gearing e.g. a 50/34 "compact" front and 11-28 or 11-32 on the back which will get you up any hill

If you do want an ebike a quick google suggested you can get the Cytronex system put into a normal bike meaning bikes as light as 12.9kg

http://www.cytronex.com

Or something like the GreenEdge CS2 from e-bikes direct at 19kg and under the limit for the C2W scheme at £749.99

I'd take a lighter normal bike though and you'll be up hills fine soon enough and be grateful you're not pushing an extra 8+kg

SailorSam

If you check there have been quite a few previous threads about e-bikes.
Read the Pedelec Forums for advice before you go out and buy one. The one i want is from 50cycles but just under £2k and i don't know whether i can justify paying that.
http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/

This is the one i want.
http://www.50cycles.com/electric-bikes/city-e-bikes.html

Johnmcl7

Depending on what area you're in I'd have a look and see if there's anywhere that hires e-bikes as I think being able to get a shot of one would probably answer your questions better than reading the information online.

Personally I think e-bikes are awesome and well worth considering for what you're wanting to do, I don't think it's worth skimping on them and you have to be careful when buying second hand as a poorly performing battery is usually expensive to replace. I've been going out riding with my mum who's been hiring an e-bike and it works well for both of us as I get a pretty good workout as does my Mum (since she's still pedalling and her bike fitness isn't great) and I can choose any route since I don't have to worry about hills.

Unless the route is particularly short, I wouldn't agree on the road bike advice at least not straight away - I think an e-bike is a great way to get started and build fitness up if the commute is longer then people can progress to a lightweight road bike. I've been riding alongside the e-bike on my road bike and set a fair few personal bests on segments trying to keep up as 15mph doesn't sound like much but it can do that up hills, into headwinds etc. As I'm primarily a mountain biker, hills are usually the easiest part of group road rides for me but on my first hill climb against the e-bike even though I pushed hard, the e-bike went sailing off with ease up the hill.

John

jade1981

Johnmcl7 wrote: »

Depending on what area you're in I'd have a look and see if there's anywhere that hires e-bikes as I think being able to get a shot of one would probably answer your questions better than reading the information online.

Personally I think e-bikes are awesome and well worth considering for what you're wanting to do, I don't think it's worth skimping on them and you have to be careful when buying second hand as a poorly performing battery is usually expensive to replace. I've been going out riding with my mum who's been hiring an e-bike and it works well for both of us as I get a pretty good workout as does my Mum (since she's still pedalling and her bike fitness isn't great) and I can choose any route since I don't have to worry about hills.

Unless the route is particularly short, I wouldn't agree on the road bike advice at least not straight away - I think an e-bike is a great way to get started and build fitness up if the commute is longer then people can progress to a lightweight road bike. I've been riding alongside the e-bike on my road bike and set a fair few personal bests on segments trying to keep up as 15mph doesn't sound like much but it can do that up hills, into headwinds etc. As I'm primarily a mountain biker, hills are usually the easiest part of group road rides for me but on my first hill climb against the e-bike even though I pushed hard, the e-bike went sailing off with ease up the hill.

John

Hi john, thanks for your advice.
The route I'd be taking would be roughly 30 mins with clear traffic for a beginner like me, but I am hoping to eventually use the bike for leisure as well as my commute and to cycle to friends houses instead of just hopping in the car. That's great to hear that they are as good as they say for hills, may I ask what e bike you and your mum have been using? the site which stocks the bike i was looking at also has a range of ex demo bikes, would you say these are better than second hand while still saving money? or is it worth going for it and paying full price. I'll definitely see if there's anywhere near me that lets e bikes to hire and try out a few rides. But I do think I'm going to go for it and buy one for work. I tried to post this link in my first post to the bike I;'m considering getting but as a new user the link didn't work.

jade1981

SailorSam wrote: »

If you check there have been quite a few previous threads about e-bikes.
Read the Pedelec Forums for advice before you go out and buy one. The one i want is from 50cycles but just under £2k and i don't know whether i can justify paying that.


This is the one i want.


Thanks! I wanted to link to the bike i was considering but as a new user the spam filter wouldn't let me put the link in. have you looked at any A2B bikes or know of anyone that has one? I've found little reviews other than there facebook site which are all positive but I'd like to know from a few different sources.:money: P.s that's a beautiful looking bike!

Johnmcl7

jade1981 wrote: »

Hi john, thanks for your advice.
The route I'd be taking would be roughly 30 mins with clear traffic for a beginner like me, but I am hoping to eventually use the bike for leisure as well as my commute and to cycle to friends houses instead of just hopping in the car. That's great to hear that they are as good as they say for hills, may I ask what e bike you and your mum have been using? the site which stocks the bike i was looking at also has a range of ex demo bikes, would you say these are better than second hand while still saving money? or is it worth going for it and paying full price. I'll definitely see if there's anywhere near me that lets e bikes to hire and try out a few rides. But I do think I'm going to go for it and buy one for work. I tried to post this link in my first post to the bike I;'m considering getting but as a new user the link didn't work.

I can't remember the exact model, it was a Giant hybrid which I think was similar to this one:

https://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/product-images-large/giant-prime-e-2-lds-electric-bike-80985.jpg

It had a little bit of shock absorption on the fork, hub gears and the electric system drove the bike at the crank so it seemed very simple to use - you could change the level of power assist on the control but other than you just rode the bike like normal, it just felt like going downhill all the time.

The only slight issue with hills is that it did deplete the battery a good bit quicker as you'd expect, on a ride with three decent hill climbs the battery was done at around 30 miles.

I don't know about buying second hand as I did look into one that was available here for my Mum and asked on the pedelec forum whether there was any way I could tell how much life the battery had but was told, not really. I priced up a new battery on the bike which was around £600 and would have almost entirely wiped out the savings from buying new so I left it. That was from a private individual, if it's from a bike shop or similar they might be able to give you a better idea on batterylife.

I started off cycling purely to avoid using my car for short trips and avoid wearing the DPF/DMF/turbo etc. plus I thought it would be better for me. Since then I've ended up doing a lot more cycling but I still like the convenience of it, if I want to pop into town for something I can go straight into the centre, no traffic and don't have to pay for parking then can easily pop home again.

John

Richard53

I bought an ebike in late 2014 and used it to commute for most of last year. I commuted a lot in my younger days, but my present commute is 13 miles, all of it hilly. With my age and a lack of fitness, I couldn't have considered doing it on a normal bike (even though I had two in the shed). The ebike was a godsend. I got a good workout every day, although not as strenuous as if I had been on a normal bike, gained a lot of fitness and lost a decent amount of weight.


I think they are brilliant devices, although I view them as a utility vehicle, getting you to work or the shops when you would otherwise take the car. For a pleasure ride, I would take a push bike every time. Don't let anyone tell you they an ebike is cheating. It might give you a boost up the hills, but if you are pushing hard on the level and doing over 15 mph, you are over the assistance limit anyway and doing all the work.


Mine is a Wisper 905 Classic, cost me about £1700 two years ago, and is still like new. I really rate it.

[Deleted User]

I bought a small e folding bike,for my other half to try.It was appalling to pedal if it ran out of juice, which it soon did because it used old type lead/acid batteries. I only had to pedal it two miles but its stuck into my head just how heavy and cumbersome the thing was and it made cycling a misery.
Recently I ve splashed out £600 on a virtually new second hand Planet X carbon framed racing bike weighing in at only 8 kgs which is an absolute delight to propel along at ease and averaging say 12 miles an hour for a commute of 5 miles is a doddle. It just flies along but these things are a tad uncomfortable with their narrow 23 mill rock hard tyres and stiff carbon frame and it would transmit every little bump and ripple in the road surface to my buttocks . Maybe a padded saddle would help rather than the razor blade I sit on which came with the bike. I usually do 15 miles with no probs but I think I would need the special padded shorts for rides of 20 miles and upwards.