Am I looking for something that doesn’t exist?

[Anita]

After hiring a Pedago bike a couple of years ago I decided to buy my own Ebike and initially I purchased a secondhand Freego to see how I got on. I’m a retired 5’6” female with some biking experience and live in a very hilly area with many junctions requiring hill starts. The Freego throttle was essential to getting going safely on hills. Would a walk assist throttle be sufficient to do the same, a twist throttle ideally rather than button?

At first I wanted a folding bike so that I could easily get it in the car to use on cycle trails. However I’m not sure I want to compromise comfort and I’m hoping that a full-size bike with the front wheel removed might go in behind the front seats of my Honda Jazz which has ‘magic’ tip up back seats.

I need a step through touring style bike and I would like a bike with hub gears and not a derailleur for ease of maintenance and less likelihood of damage when manhandling in and out of the car. However I don’t want a front hub motor because of the hills so a crank motor would be preferable. A higher capacity battery is also wanted so that longer distances are no problem even after a degree of degradation.

Please help, does such a bike exist?

 

[soundwave]

not going to be cheap tho!

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[boyabouttown]

Some of the raleigh motus bikes have hub gears.

 

[georgehenry]

In their summer sale and supposed to have an 8 speed hub gear option.

https://www.e-bikeshop.co.uk/Electric-Bikes-UK-Dealer/Hybrid-Town-Trekking-eBikes/Raleigh-Motus-Grand-Tour-Low-Step?sort=p.price&order=ASC

Though it is not metioned and may not be an option on the sale bike. It is on this 2020 bike not in the sale.

https://www.e-bikeshop.co.uk/Electric-Bikes-UK-Dealer/Hybrid-Town-Trekking-eBikes/Raleigh-Motus-Tour-Low-Step-eBike?sort=p.price&order=ASC

 

[Anita]

View attachment 30784
not going to be cheap tho!

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Thanks, I’ll take a look. The Throttle for hill starts is a must have and many specifications don’t make it clear what is available.

 

[Anita]

In their summer sale and supposed to have an 8 speed hub gear option.

https://www.e-bikeshop.co.uk/Electric-Bikes-UK-Dealer/Hybrid-Town-Trekking-eBikes/Raleigh-Motus-Grand-Tour-Low-Step?sort=p.price&order=ASC

Though it is not metioned and may not be an option on the sale bike. It is on this 2020 bike not in the sale.

https://www.e-bikeshop.co.uk/Electric-Bikes-UK-Dealer/Hybrid-Town-Trekking-eBikes/Raleigh-Motus-Tour-Low-Step-eBike?sort=p.price&order=ASC

I like the look of these but I’ll try to see these in the flesh as the blurb doesn’t mention a throttle for hill starts. I have been to the bike show twice to try out the bikes there but couldn’t find one that has a suitable throttle that works on the ramp to get going. I tried them all!

 

[Anita]

Some of the raleigh motus bikes have hub gears.

Thanks. I must try a regular bike in my car first without the front wheel to see if it is doable otherwise back to the drawing board!

 

[soundwave]

Thanks, I’ll take a look. The Throttle for hill starts is a must have and many specifications don’t make it clear what is available.

a hill start should no be a problem if you are in the lowest gear and in turbo mode.

 

[Crossroads]

Anita,

You will probably find that a full size E Bike will not go in a Jazz with the cinema seats up. This was a surprise to me as I used to regularly flip the seats up and chuck a folded Brompton in behind the seats. The problem is the handlebars will be too wide, and if turned the fork/mudguards are a problem. However, I've only tried it with bikes with mudguards, maybe without might work, but I doubt it.

However, you can get a full size E Bike minus front wheel, in a Jazz with the seats fully down, first removing the battery, and laying it down . Best done with two people feeding the back end in first. This will need the passenger chair back tilted forwards or the chair slid right forward if the passenger chair is to be in use. It is awkward , even with two people and I wouldn't consider it a practical solution for frequent use.

There is a tough compact 20 inch wheel bike with a foldable stem and a seat post which goes right down into the frame, crank drive, belt driven, rear hub gears - Reisse & Muller Tinker.

Expensive, but made to fit car boots easily. also good review here - Tinker-Vario at 22:00 you can see the handlebars being folded down and rotated flat against the frame for transport - a good possibility of the getting it in the Jazz with the seats flipped.

 

[Woosh]

the woosh Petite?
it has quick release front wheel, smaller frame, shorter wheel base, removeable battery and 24" wheels, and is a bit lighter too.
http://wooshbikes.co.uk/?petite

 

[Anita]

the woosh Petite?
it has quick release front wheel, smaller frame, shorter wheel base, removeable battery and 24" wheels, and is a bit lighter too.
http://wooshbikes.co.uk/?petite

Ooh, looks good but still has derailleur and as I have a 32” inside leg and like a sit up position probably not tall enough. Must actually measure up the car to check. Does this have a twist throttle and quick release handlebar stem so I could rotate and shorten it in transit?

 

[Anita]

Anita,

You will probably find that a full size E Bike will not go in a Jazz with the cinema seats up. This was a surprise to me as I used to regularly flip the seats up and chuck a folded Brompton in behind the seats. The problem is the handlebars will be too wide, and if turned the fork/mudguards are a problem. However, I've only tried it with bikes with mudguards, maybe without might work, but I doubt it.

However, you can get a full size E Bike minus front wheel, in a Jazz with the seats fully down, first removing the battery, and laying it down . Best done with two people feeding the back end in first. This will need the passenger chair back tilted forwards or the chair slid right forward if the passenger chair is to be in use. It is awkward , even with two people and I wouldn't consider it a practical solution for frequent use.

There is a tough compact 20 inch wheel bike with a foldable stem and a seat post which goes right down into the frame, crank drive, belt driven, rear hub gears - Reisse & Muller Tinker.

Expensive, but made to fit car boots easily. also good review here - Tinker-Vario at 22:00 you can see the handlebars being folded down and rotated flat against the frame for transport - a good possibility of the getting it in the Jazz with the seats flipped.

Just what I’d like but just seen the price! Wow! Until last year my husband and I had never spent over £1000 on any one car in 50 years of driving. I might have a look though and do the measurements as I have found, to my surprise, a local stockist who hires them out before purchase.

 

[Anita]

a hill start should no be a problem if you are in the lowest gear and in turbo mode.

I must be pretty rubbish cyclist but try as I might and following the same advice as you gave I just can’t get started on a hill without a little push from a throttle before establishing pedalling. I can’t be alone!

 

[sjpt]

We have an older Motus with hub gears. Very good, but quite awkward to fit in a car.

You may not need a throttle for hill starts. Bikes with torque sensors (most crank drive ebikes) have less need of a throttle as the motor kicks in immediately. Rotary sensors (most hub drive ebikes) don't usually kick the motor in until around 1/2 turn of the pedals.

 

[Woosh]

Ooh, looks good but still has derailleur and as I have a 32” inside leg and like a sit up position probably not tall enough. Must actually measure up the car to check. Does this have a twist throttle and quick release handlebar stem so I could rotate and shorten it in transit?

The stem is as you can see, a quill type, it's secured by a wedge nut.
You need a 6mm allen key to loosen the wedge nut and rotate the handlebars.
How tall are you? The Petite is perfect for 5ft2-6ft riders.

Does this have a twist throttle?

It has a plug in thumb throttle on the right. You can see the hole in the middle of the stem where the 6mm allen key is inserted to loosen the wedge nut.

 

[Artstu]

Would a walk assist throttle be sufficient to do the same,

Nope

Please help, does such a bike exist?

Nope. don't buy a cheap crank-drive with hub gears the motor is too crude to allow easy gearchanges.
Either learn how to set off like hundreds of thousands of cyclists do or buy either a rear hub motor with derailleur gears or a front hub motor and hub gears.

 

[RobF]

Do you fancy riding an illegal bike?

It's a little known fact that the Bosch Speed motor has a start-up throttle.

The walk assist command accelerates the bike under full power to about 8km/h.

Strictly speaking not legal for road use because the assistance - with pedalling - carries on to 45km/h.

Riese and Muller offer a handful of bikes with this motor, usually branded HS - high speed.

Available in the UK from 50 Cycles, or one of the handful of Riese and Muller dealers might order one for you.

There's a few HS bikes on this page, including a Tinker HS.

Humping a big wheel ebike in and out of a hatchback is not easy.

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[RossG]

The real answer if you want to lug a bike around in a car is to get a folder. My partner has just got herself a new Honda Jazz which I believe is slightly longer than the earlier versions so I'm guessing my e-folder will go in without too much trouble.

 

[JuicyBike]

After hiring a Pedago bike a couple of years ago I decided to buy my own Ebike and initially I purchased a secondhand Freego to see how I got on. I’m a retired 5’6” female with some biking experience and live in a very hilly area with many junctions requiring hill starts. The Freego throttle was essential to getting going safely on hills. Would a walk assist throttle be sufficient to do the same, a twist throttle ideally rather than button?

At first I wanted a folding bike so that I could easily get it in the car to use on cycle trails. However I’m not sure I want to compromise comfort and I’m hoping that a full-size bike with the front wheel removed might go in behind the front seats of my Honda Jazz which has ‘magic’ tip up back seats.

I need a step through touring style bike and I would like a bike with hub gears and not a derailleur for ease of maintenance and less likelihood of damage when manhandling in and out of the car. However I don’t want a front hub motor because of the hills so a crank motor would be preferable. A higher capacity battery is also wanted so that longer distances are no problem even after a degree of degradation.

Please help, does such a bike exist?

We have two that I think might interest you Anita.
First, a 24" wheeled step through with nexus gears, called Facelia: https://www.juicybike.co.uk/electric-bikes/facelia-nexus3
And the second is a similar sized bike called Poco: https://www.juicybike.co.uk/electric-bikes/poco-click
Both have start assist buttons and Poco also has a start assist throttle which can be used up to 15 mph so long as the pedals are turned. Poco has derailleur gears.
Hope this helps.

 

[vfr400]

Do you fancy riding an illegal bike?

It's a little known fact that the Bosch Speed motor has a start-up throttle.

The walk assist command accelerates the bike under full power to about 8km/h.

Strictly speaking not legal for road use because the assistance - with pedalling - carries on to 45km/h.

Riese and Muller offer a handful of bikes with this motor, usually branded HS - high speed.

Available in the UK from 50 Cycles, or one of the handful of Riese and Muller dealers might order one for you.

There's a few HS bikes on this page, including a Tinker HS.

Humping a big wheel ebike in and out of a hatchback is not easy.

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All Bosch motors do that if you have access to the software.