Guy at Halfords trying to put me off buying single speed ebike.

SneakySpectator

I took a geared ebike for a test ride a few weeks ago and it was a good experience, pretty much what I expected. However I went back there to see if I could test ride a single speed ebike to compare the differences and unfortunately Halfords didn't have any single speed ebikes in their test line up.

But the employee there basically said don't get a single speed ebike, it'll be just like riding a bmx and you'll regret it. He asked me why I wanted a single speed and I told him the bike I'm looking at uses a belt drive instead of chain so more reliable long term and no grease or chain problems, plus I ride flat mostly anyway with a few basic hills. 

He still told me to just avoid single speed and go for a geared ebike instead. 

But when I watch videos on youtube of the exact single speed bike I want, they're all giving it great reviews and testing it on hills they're having no problems. The girl even made it up swain's lane in London which is a 1km hill that averages 8% gradient but approaches a 20% gradient near the top. She made it up without too much of a problem. 

Was this Halfords guy just a hater of single speeds or something?  

carly

I can't comment on this guys reasoning,   but I'd go to a proper bike shop and ask their opinion.   Halfords is one of the last places I'd buy a bike from based on my experience of their knowledge, service skills and after sales service.

Nasqueron

The average Halfords bike/ebike customer knows nothing about bikes and just wants a ride that will do their journey without issue. A single speed bike won't be suitable for the majority of riders who either won't have the ability to get up a hill on a single gear even with e-assist, will run out of gear and start spinning etc. He likely assumed you would come back and complain the bike wasn't suitable.

Single speed is a niche market even among normal bikes let alone e-bikes so, they have their place and I have considered one myself (normal) but it's unlikely to be a market big enough for them to justify stocking or training on. 

SneakySpectator

Nasqueron said:

The average Halfords bike/ebike customer knows nothing about bikes and just wants a ride that will do their journey without issue. A single speed bike won't be suitable for the majority of riders who either won't have the ability to get up a hill on a single gear even with e-assist, will run out of gear and start spinning etc. He likely assumed you would come back and complain the bike wasn't suitable.

Single speed is a niche market even among normal bikes let alone e-bikes so, they have their place and I have considered one myself (normal) but it's unlikely to be a market big enough for them to justify stocking or training on. 

That's fine, but I'm mostly asking for peoples personal opinions. How can an average rider make it up a 1km 8% gradient hill with a 20% gradient top on a single speed ebike if single speed is basically like riding a bmx? 

Literally every review I'm reading has nothing bad to say about single speed. My commute to work is only 3 miles and is pretty flat the entire way with just 2 or 3 average normal hills.

Herzlos

What's the bike you're looking at?

Single speed are very niche for people who either use it for training, extreme lightness/simplicity or where it's really flat. They don't give you much versatility at all. 

A battery will kind of compensate for that by giving you more power, but you're still going to have to change your cycling cadence with speed (unless it's an illegal thumb-throttle) and that could get tedious. People moved to gears for a reason. 

You can get belt drives with gears on manual bikes, so I assume you can get e-bikes with belts and gears. But in general I don't chains are that much work to deal with anyway. 

SneakySpectator

Herzlos said:

What's the bike you're looking at?

Single speed are very niche for people who either use it for training, extreme lightness/simplicity or where it's really flat. They don't give you much versatility at all. 

A battery will kind of compensate for that by giving you more power, but you're still going to have to change your cycling cadence with speed (unless it's an illegal thumb-throttle) and that could get tedious. People moved to gears for a reason. 

You can get belt drives with gears on manual bikes, so I assume you can get e-bikes with belts and gears. But in general I don't chains are that much work to deal with anyway. 

The single speed is the ADO Air 20 https://adoebike.co.uk/products/ado-air-20?variant=47903120392512 for £999

But they also do a pro version which comes with 2 speed auto shifting bafang motor for £1,399. I'm open to buying the 2 speed version as well depending on what people have to say about single speed https://adoebike.co.uk/products/ado-air-20-pro-ultra-folding-electric-bike

SiliconChip

I had an AIr 20 Pro for a few months until it was stolen, it was fine on hills even though I have pretty bad arthritis in both knees (well, I've now had one replaced but I've not cycled since then). I didn't try the single speed so I can't compare it. There's a new 3 speed version coming soon, maybe in August.

LeafGreen

I would guess that the single gear it comes with is a very low/small/easy gear, so cadence would quickly increase with speed - perhaps it is optimised for going up hill but you would be spinning a lot on the flats?

QrizB

LeafGreen said:

I would guess that the single gear it comes with is a very low/small/easy gear, so cadence would quickly increase with speed - perhaps it is optimised for going up hill but you would be spinning a lot on the flats?

The website is terrible - too much lifestyle puff, not enough technical info - but judging by this picture it looks like roughly a 3:1 gear ratio (like 48:16 sprockets):

At 90rpm cadence, that would be 270rpm on your 20 x 1.9 tyre, about 25kph / 16mph. Which I think is the max legal speed of an EAPC?

But you'll be spinning your pedals like a TdF-er at that speed.

SneakySpectator

QrizB said:

LeafGreen said:

I would guess that the single gear it comes with is a very low/small/easy gear, so cadence would quickly increase with speed - perhaps it is optimised for going up hill but you would be spinning a lot on the flats?

The website is terrible - too much lifestyle puff, not enough technical info - but judging by this picture it looks like roughly a 3:1 gear ratio (like 48:16 sprockets):

At 90rpm cadence, that would be 270rpm on your 20 x 1.9 tyre, about 25kph / 16mph. Which I think is the max legal speed of an EAPC?

But you'll be spinning your pedals like a TdF-er at that speed.

So basically what you're saying is at max speed my legs will be moving really fast? I actually found that to be a problem with the geared halfords bike I was using. In max gear at max speed my legs were going round really fast and it actually felt uncomfortable. 

Ideally when going at max speed I want my legs to be rotating at a comfortable relaxed paced, not going round like the clappers 

SneakySpectator

QrizB said:

LeafGreen said:

I would guess that the single gear it comes with is a very low/small/easy gear, so cadence would quickly increase with speed - perhaps it is optimised for going up hill but you would be spinning a lot on the flats?

The website is terrible - too much lifestyle puff, not enough technical info - but judging by this picture it looks like roughly a 3:1 gear ratio (like 48:16 sprockets):

At 90rpm cadence, that would be 270rpm on your 20 x 1.9 tyre, about 25kph / 16mph. Which I think is the max legal speed of an EAPC?

But you'll be spinning your pedals like a TdF-er at that speed.

https://youtu.be/QSWKFZ5y9iI?t=528 if you watch about 20 seconds of this clip, he is using the pro version that has 2 speeds and he said at max speed his legs are not spinning like crazy. 

I think I'll go with the 2 speed version to be honest I think it'll be better riding experience in general. And I will use it for leisure as well not just riding to and from work.