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

SiliconChip

bouicca21 said:

I think OP should find an independent bike shop that stocks this kind of bike and get advice and a test ride there.  

ADO stockists are few and far between, I don't know where the OP lives but if it's anywhere near Leighton Buzzard I had a test ride on one at Allen's e-bikes.

https://allensebikes.co.uk/products/ado-air-20-pro-250w-e-bike

SneakySpectator

SiliconChip said:

bouicca21 said:

I think OP should find an independent bike shop that stocks this kind of bike and get advice and a test ride there.  

ADO stockists are few and far between, I don't know where the OP lives but if it's anywhere near Leighton Buzzard I had a test ride on one at Allen's e-bikes.

https://allensebikes.co.uk/products/ado-air-20-pro-250w-e-bike

What did you make of the bike?

Herzlos

SneakySpectator said:

bouicca21 said:

I think OP should find an independent bike shop that stocks this kind of bike and get advice and a test ride there.  But tbh I really don’t understand why anyone would need or want an e-bike for 3 mile ride, especially if it is pretty flat.

Because I sweat very very easily. I'd happily ride 20 miles without a problem with a normal bike, if I didn't sweat.

And because I sweat so easily it puts me off taking the bike to other places for leisure, with an ebike I would take it more places.

That's not an unreasonable view; a few of the serious cyclists I know have bought cheap e-bikes for transport when they don't want to have to get changed or whatever. 

Though sweat is largely a function of how hard you're working, so (in general) you should be able to sweat less by cycling slowly, though obviously it's worse in humid weather. I can get to my work in 6 flat miles without being particularly sweaty, and I'm a chunky bloke. 

Have you tried a test run of your commute on a random borrowed bike to see how you get on?


Another spanner I'll introduce; is there a good reason for the bike being folding? I find the smaller wheels and limited gearing make for a rougher, more difficult ride than a rigid hybrid with full size wheels. 
I usually use the folding bike because I drive to a train station and cycle the last section, and it fits in the boot without having to muck about with folding seats down. But it's very much a compromised ride. 

SneakySpectator

Herzlos said:

SneakySpectator said:

bouicca21 said:

I think OP should find an independent bike shop that stocks this kind of bike and get advice and a test ride there.  But tbh I really don’t understand why anyone would need or want an e-bike for 3 mile ride, especially if it is pretty flat.

Because I sweat very very easily. I'd happily ride 20 miles without a problem with a normal bike, if I didn't sweat.

And because I sweat so easily it puts me off taking the bike to other places for leisure, with an ebike I would take it more places.

That's not an unreasonable view; a few of the serious cyclists I know have bought cheap e-bikes for transport when they don't want to have to get changed or whatever. 

Though sweat is largely a function of how hard you're working, so (in general) you should be able to sweat less by cycling slowly, though obviously it's worse in humid weather. I can get to my work in 6 flat miles without being particularly sweaty, and I'm a chunky bloke. 

Have you tried a test run of your commute on a random borrowed bike to see how you get on?


Another spanner I'll introduce; is there a good reason for the bike being folding? I find the smaller wheels and limited gearing make for a rougher, more difficult ride than a rigid hybrid with full size wheels. 
I usually use the folding bike because I drive to a train station and cycle the last section, and it fits in the boot without having to muck about with folding seats down. But it's very much a compromised ride. 

Folding isn't that important but it would help me carry it up and down the stairs as I live up 3 flights of stairs with no lift. 

I used to ride the route on a regular bike and the flats are fine, but the steady incline that exists for 30% of the route, plus the short but steep hills really sap my energy and I arrive hot a sweaty, especially when it's warm and raining because my water proofs prevent air escaping so I get really sweaty. 

Herzlos

All of the following tend to make a bike heavier: e-bike, folding and suspension. 

The Air 20 Pro is 20kg, which is pretty significant after a few flights of stairs. 

For comparison, the Boardman URB 8.9, a commuter bike with an 8-speed belt drive is 10.9kg, as well as being £525 cheaper:

https://www.boardmanbikes.com/gb_en/products/2344-urb-8.9-2021.html

Though that doesn't address the hill/sweat bit. Some good cycling clothing may help there, but it'd also mean having to get changed at work, but a motor is certainly going to take most of the effort out.

SneakySpectator

Herzlos said:

All of the following tend to make a bike heavier: e-bike, folding and suspension. 

The Air 20 Pro is 20kg, which is pretty significant after a few flights of stairs. 

For comparison, the Boardman URB 8.9, a commuter bike with an 8-speed belt drive is 10.9kg, as well as being £525 cheaper:

https://www.boardmanbikes.com/gb_en/products/2344-urb-8.9-2021.html

Though that doesn't address the hill/sweat bit. Some good cycling clothing may help there, but it'd also mean having to get changed at work, but a motor is certainly going to take most of the effort out.

This is the second time you've tried to push a regular bike on me when I've made it clear I want an ebike. I think it's probably best if I just block you. Have a nice day. 

bouicca21

I was given a folding e-bike that weighs somewhere in the range of 24 kg, so heavier than the air 20 pro.  I discovered three things. 1. The folding mechanism was crap - it doesn’t stay together nicely once folded, so it was difficult to manoeuvre. 2. It was too heavy to carry, especially up or down a flight of stairs. 3. It was good on the flat, but the weight counteracted the advantage when tackling anything other than a minor slope.

SiliconChip

SneakySpectator said:

SiliconChip said:

bouicca21 said:

I think OP should find an independent bike shop that stocks this kind of bike and get advice and a test ride there.  

ADO stockists are few and far between, I don't know where the OP lives but if it's anywhere near Leighton Buzzard I had a test ride on one at Allen's e-bikes.

https://allensebikes.co.uk/products/ado-air-20-pro-250w-e-bike

What did you make of the bike?

I didn't really have it long enough before it was stolen to make full use of it, it was good to ride (the 20" wheels made it more stable than folding bikes with smaller wheels), the folding mechanism was reasonably easy to use but it doesn't come with anything to hold it together once folded, and it is pretty heavy, I wouldn't want to be carrying it up 3 flights of stairs. One reason for choosing a folding bike was to easily put it inside the car because of the huge cost of secure external transport options but I never actually had a chance to take it anywhere by car so I don't know how easy it would have been. I'm still waiting for my insurer to pay out although I'm hoping that's getting closer after I spoke to them last week.

Herzlos

SneakySpectator said:

Herzlos said:

All of the following tend to make a bike heavier: e-bike, folding and suspension. 

The Air 20 Pro is 20kg, which is pretty significant after a few flights of stairs. 

For comparison, the Boardman URB 8.9, a commuter bike with an 8-speed belt drive is 10.9kg, as well as being £525 cheaper:

https://www.boardmanbikes.com/gb_en/products/2344-urb-8.9-2021.html

Though that doesn't address the hill/sweat bit. Some good cycling clothing may help there, but it'd also mean having to get changed at work, but a motor is certainly going to take most of the effort out.

This is the second time you've tried to push a regular bike on me when I've made it clear I want an ebike. I think it's probably best if I just block you. Have a nice day. 

I'm just giving you some perspective, but if you want to ignore that feel free. 

bouicca21 said:

I was given a folding e-bike that weighs somewhere in the range of 24 kg, so heavier than the air 20 pro.  I discovered three things. 1. The folding mechanism was crap - it doesn’t stay together nicely once folded, so it was difficult to manoeuvre. 2. It was too heavy to carry, especially up or down a flight of stairs. 3. It was good on the flat, but the weight counteracted the advantage when tackling anything other than a minor slope.

That's largely my experience as well. They seem like a good idea but in practice there are too many compromises, usually in terms of component quality and weight. A folding, e-bike with front suspension has the 3 worst factors for that so it's going to be a lumbering nightmare. 

SneakySpectator

Update to this thread. 

I decided to buy a geared folding ebike, Estarli is the brand name. They're a British brand all built in the UK and I've seen a fair few of them around where I live. 

I went with the E20.7 Pro (7 gears) and first impressions is it's amazing, such a joy to ride. I did a 15 mile test run yesterday and hardly ever needed to use power levels 4 or 5 with 1, 2 and 3 where just fine for 95% of the ride.

I was a bit sceptical because it has a cadence sensor instead of a torque sensor but actually having now tried the cadence sensor I prefer it over torque. 

The only criticism I have of this bike is the cables that come out of the frame up towards the hand bars, it would be nice if they were hidden in the handle bar stem and only came out at the very top but it's fine. The folding mechanism is super simple and quick so it's easy to carry up 3 flights of stairs. 

Really happy with this purchase!