Advice on which e-bike to buy

[kam99]

Hello,

I am looking for advice on the best e-bike to buy please.

I am 65 years old and recently retired. I am 5’9”, overweight (about 100kg) and unfit. My motives are to get fitter and just get out of the house for fresh air, exercise and interest.
I have limited experience on a manual Halfords crossfire hybrid last year.

The e-bike would primarily be used on the Wirral coastal path and local cycle paths. However, I would need to use it on-road to get off-road if that makes sense! It would also be useful to get me to the shops etc, but I have a car, so that is not the primary use for the bike. My maximum budget would be about £1500. I understand availability is a problem at the moment, and am prepared to wait for the right model.

I am currently looking at a mountain bike rather than a hybrid, as flexibility and stability is more important to me than pure speed.

My initial choice was the Halfords Carrera Vulcan. It is within budget. I understand there are cut-out issues with that model? Balanced against that is the peace of mind that there is a Halfords near bye for servicing and repairs.

I have also looked at Woosh Big Bear plus. I like the fact that it comes with all the accessories. I am a bit concerned about balance issues with the motor on the front wheel and the battery situated on the rear rack. Servicing and repairs are also a potential issue, as is a one-year guarantee as opposed to the 2 years Halfords offer.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,

Keith

 

[vfr400]

You will almost certainly need to use the Halfords warranty in two years of regular use. Any problems with the Big Bear will show up straight away, after which there isn't much that can go wrong.

Rear motors are better than front ones. There are lots of good bikes in your price range that should give you years of service without problems. The NVM Moscow is 48v, so more powerful than most, but limited to legal speed unless you pay extra for the de-restrictable version. The Oxygen S-cross MTB is a mighty fine bike. There are other bikes from Woosh and others.

 

[Amoto65]

If you must go to Halfords avoid the Crossfire/Vulcan models, the only decent bike in the Carrera range is the Crossfuse.

 

[sjpt]

Woosh Rio might be suitable: https://wooshbikes.co.uk/?rio-mtb
It was showing as in stock, but I notice it isn't any longer, and not on the list of expected arrivals either.

I'd suggest a step-though. You might not benefit too much now, but in the life of the bike you may well appreciate the easier mounting. They are sometimes a bit heavier, but quite capable of some off-road. I regularly take our Raleigh Motus Step through on (relatively mild) bridleways.

You might only get one year warranty from Woosh, but you will get much better service than from Halfords (unless you are very lucky with your local branch) and a bike with standard parts that are much more easily swapped if anything serious does go wrong (same for Wisper, Oxygen, Juicy). As others have said there have been a lot of reliability issues with their Suntour powered models (search this forum for Crossfire) which sadly don't seem to have been fully addressed in the latest models, and even if they do fix under warrantly waiting for the proprietary parts can take some time.

 

[kam99]

Many thanks for all your replies and good advice.

The NCM Moscow is looking very good value for money and ticks all my boxes. It is in stock as well!

 

[Nealh]

Many thanks for all your replies and good advice.

The NCM Moscow is looking very good value for money and ticks all my boxes. It is in stock as well!

Spares are hard to come buy I believe as it uses the DAS-kit electronics and it seems you can't but direct from DAS-kit for love nor money.

 

[vfr400]

Spares are hard to come buy I believe as it uses the DAS-kit electronics and it seems you can't but direct from DAS-kit for love nor money.

They have UK agents - Leon Cycles

Leon Cycle UK Best Electric Bikes | Ebikes For Sale

EBikes for Sale! Leon Cycle, NCM Brand with best electric mountain bicycles, trekking bikes, folding bikes, step thru bikes and city bikes online, batteries and accessories.

leoncycle.co.uk

All the parts are standard Chinese. It's just that they probably reverse some of the connectors. You can always buy the parts on Aliexpress, cut the connectors off and join the wires. The whole set of parts is only £80 from Elifebike. The motor and battery are standard.

 

[Warwick]

My only advice would be to steer you away from a mountain bike. The ride geometry will have you leaning more forward than you might be comfortable with and you'll need to hold your head up more, putting strain on neck and shoulder muscles that won't have had that strain put upon them for a while. Go for something with a more upright riding position.

 

[GSV3MiaC]

They have UK agents - Leon Cycles

Leon Cycle UK Best Electric Bikes | Ebikes For Sale

EBikes for Sale! Leon Cycle, NCM Brand with best electric mountain bicycles, trekking bikes, folding bikes, step thru bikes and city bikes online, batteries and accessories.

leoncycle.co.uk

All the parts are standard Chinese. It's just that they probably reverse some of the connectors. You can always buy the parts on Aliexpress, cut the connectors off and join the wires. The whole set of parts is only £80 from Elifebike. The motor and battery are standard.

But do Leon Cycles UK actually exist or are they just a bolt-on front for the German company? Everything seems to point you back at the German site, and that seems to be where they ship from?

 

[Woosh]

make sure you buy from a UK company - after brexit, sending whole bike or parts back to Germany is not going to be as easy as it is at the moment. It's like sending back to China.