Advice most appreciated

[trex]

...
Buying on the net is tempting, but I believe, best avoided.

Rosie, that's a subject on its own, and it should be properly debated on this forum.
My personal view is the answer depends on how much you need the services of your local bike shop. For most people, e-bikes are just normal bikes with a motor and a battery added to. If they are used to look after their own push bikes, then buying on the internet makes total sense.

 

[Rosie]

Rosie, that's a subject on its own, and it should be properly debated on this forum.
My personal view is the answer depends on how much you need the services of your local bike shop. For most people, e-bikes are just normal bikes with a motor and a battery added to. If they are used to look after their own push bikes, then buying on the internet makes total sense.

Ebikes, as I've found out over the years of ownership, come in all shapes and sizes and when having test rides those I thought would be good were unsuitable and vice versa. There is no doubt that online there is a wider selection available, but so far I've bought three from shops and this has stood me in good stead as I have seen and test rode exactly what I'm paying a large sum of money for, and have somewhere to go back to should a problem arise. As you say, the debate continues.

R

 

[trex]

Rosie, would you put your experience on this thread? Which ebikes did you buy and why you changed them over time?

 

[Kathy Morgan]

Hi Rosie i think Trexs idea would be really useful, for those of us like me who would love to hear people's history with the bikes.

I am OK to drive to Bolton, but am limited as to when I can go because of my work hours are about the same as their opening hours!! Each bike shop is about an hour's drive each way from me unfortunately as I really live in the sticks. Sometimes I am tempted to order online (as i do all my shopping!) and throw caution to the wind but i will see - i am narrowing my search criteria and at the minute it is between Woosh Juicy and Kudos

K

 

[Artstu]

From another thread on the forum a 16" version of this is in budget, put some mudguards and perhaps even a rear rack and you'd have a nice bike.

http://www.bestbikeproducts.com/m6b42s129p6393/CUBE-CROSS-HYBRID-PRO-2016/RS_GB/27417

 

[Deleted member 4366]

You can buy a bike from Ebikesdirect. They set the bike up properly and then send it to you in a big box. You keep the box. If anything goes wrong with the bike, you put it back in the box, and they come and collect it and bring it back when it's fixed. They've been operating like that for years and sold thousands of bikes. AFAICR, we've never had anyone say anything about having problems with any of their bikes in the last 5 years.

 

[trex]

- i am narrowing my search criteria and at the minute it is between Woosh Juicy and Kudos

K

woosh have sold out their stock of Santana2, next arrival mid November.

 

[trex]

Just seen on the Woosh second hand web page, this Santana CD looks like a steal at £350. Location: Hampshire. You only need a unsprung seat post to suit your height.

http://wooshbikes.co.uk/?secondhand

 

[Rosie]

Rosie, would you put your experience on this thread? Which ebikes did you buy and why you changed them over time?

Having ridden 'normal bikes for years, I found I could no longer manage due to a longstanding injury, so decided to buy my first ebike, an Urban Mover with 24 ins wheels-can't remember model no. I got it from Bolton Electric bike centre and it allowed me to cycle again so I loved it. I had gone there to look at Powercycle and they had the UM in which suited me a lot better. After a few years the battery wasn't so good so a change was due. I wanted something that looked less like an Ebike and had full size wheels, eventually deciding on a Giant Twist lite over a Raleigh something and a Batribike. A local bike shop ordered it for me without obligation and it felt good on a test ride. After three years good service it was still going well with only the slightest reduction in the battery capacity.

An opportunity arose to change it and I had a buyer lined up for the Giant, so this time I wanted something that would give me more power on hills and my budget just stretched to a Bosch system, the Captus mentioned above. I had looked at a Cube, and a Giant, also the Wisper torque, but choose the Captus because of the Bosch motor, and the torque sensor, which is considerably better starting off and on hills than the sensor on my Giant. Happy with it so far.

R

 

[trex]

Rosie, what becomes of the old UM and old Twist?

 

[Rosie]

Rosie, what becomes of the old UM and old Twist?

Sold them both, one online and the other to a friend who is beginning with ebikes but didn't want to splash too much cash on a new one until she was sure it was for her.

Apart from usual maintenance, I was lucky with both bikes and had no electrical problems. Hope the Raleigh is as good!

R

 

[trex]

thank you for sharing your experience. I see that you went for a better bike at each step. There is no reason to think that the electrics on the Motus is any more likely to let you down than before. The main reason for electrics to fail is water ingress. E-bikes need sheltering, kept dry and a little bit of grease on the rolling parts now and then.

 

[Trevormonty]

Hi
I am a newbie and would love some advice! I am looking for a bike to commute a rather hilly area, 12 miles a day, step through, I am on 5'4 and 85 kilos approx (but it is going down
I am happy to pay up to 1300 or so, and the lighter the better, though I am realistic.

Any advice.? So far I am looking at the Volt Kensington, Juicy Classic A2B Ferber and Galvani

any ideas?!!

Try before you buy. I doubt you would buy a £1000 dress without try it on, ebike is no different.

There are 2 sensing systems, cadence and torque, you need to try them both. Both climb hills without a problem but feel is totally different. NB all middrives eg Bosch, Shimano use torque plus a lot of hub drives. Some of hub bikes let you switch between systems.

If steep hills are part of your daily ride, hydraulic brakes are a must, most a disc but their is very good rim brake version also. If you get chance try a good MTB or eMTB on steep descent, not to buy but see what good brakes are like.

Ideally buy from local shop, but right bike comes first. The things that most likely to go wrong are normal bike parts. But if you have problem ebike side of things then local support makes resolving issue a lot easier.

 

[D8ve]

Trevor unfortunately the BBS mid drive only uses cadence, no torque option which is my preference. I love the bionic legs and natural feel?

 

[trex]

Try before you buy. I doubt you would buy a £1000 dress without try it on, ebike is no different.

not quite same though is it? £1,000 e-bike is more like £20 pair of trousers from Tesco.

 

[Trevormonty]

Trevor unfortunately the BBS mid drive only uses cadence, no torque option which is my preference. I love the bionic legs and natural feel?

I meant commercial mid drive bikes, BBS mid drive tends to be on kits.

 

[trex]

everyone gets bionic legs even on Tesco's Hoppers until their battery goes flat.
As for natural feel, I would say that TS gives a more natural feel only for a short while, until your legs begin to get tired.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

I still don't get this thing about wanting a electric bike to be like a normal bike. Normally, the reason you want an electric bike is because a normal bike is inadequate for what you want. You get tired on a normal bike when you go uphill or into a strong wind. Why would anybody want an electric bike to be like that? Surely, a bike where you can adjust the assistance to exactly what you want would be better.

 

[trex]

TS is not better. If anything, it's restrictive. I think cadence sensor is better for most people. You can pedal as much as you like, that's a big plus, especially if you tire easily (then you should also have a full throttle).

 

[JuicyBike]

There's no "better", just different.

A torque sensor is designed to be suitable for a particular rider in the same way that a top specced racing bike is designed for an athlete.

Or a Mercedes is aimed at someone with different requirements to a driver happy with a Skoda.

Some like a degree of muscle burn, whilst others do not necessarily seek that.

Some like the sensitivity and responsiveness of a torque sensor over even the better cadence systems.

I happen to have a sister in law who works at Paul Smith and I pay less than £20 for embarrassingly smart jeans.

'Tis a complicated world, full of burdomsome choices...
Best to try all.