Another what bike or kit thread yippee!!

[dayglowfroggy]

Hi I have spent around 5 hours on this site reading reviews as well as lots of time trawling the tinternet for ebikes and kits .
At the present time I do not know exactly what my budget is as it depends on a few outside influences (got a house up for sale) (wife is not at all convinced and we have just moved into a new house so loads to buy )
I am 6ft3" and most bikes don't look big enough frankly .
I am a very experianced 35 year old cyclist though my fitness is not up to a 20 mile round trip comute comfortably .
From my experiance I know what I like and dislike in a bike for many years I used to run a ally framed mountain bike and an old raleigh steel framed racer but eventually the mountain bike seating position just became to painfull for my back and rists and the racer was too single minded and of no use on anything but flat road .
I now have a dawes sonaron that has covered about 1500 miles in the last four years this was bought to be my bike for life but it is only used for pleasure ridding a few times a week in good weather or to go fishing only thing wrong with it is shroder valves always hated them .
I do love it but after a house move I have found that my lifestyle means that nearly all journeys are under 20 miles and it would be great to do that on a bike .
If I could get finance then I would be able to look at the higher end bikes though most of my top bikes are only sold by one seller and it doesn't look like they do finance (alien Aurora)(TONARO enduro)so it could mean I would be restricted to what I can get at that end of the market .
My local shop is the electric transport shop in cambridge I have not been there yet but they seem to be more expensive than anyone else ,I think I will have to go and see them in order to see some electric bikes and find out what they are like and if they would suit me.
If finance is not an option then i will have to look at the cheaper end of the market or possibly a kit from sunlover ,I have been looking at the synergy mistral/newton types as well as the windsor types .
But the main thing that seems to be missing when looking at these bikes is what sort of battery life to expect what size ridder will they take and what is the long term cost ie battery replacment .
I have to admit I have fallen in love with the AtoB metro but cant find any info on battery life and the tyres look like puncture magnets also i would need long finance terms to come close to owning one .
There seems to be loads of great bikes in the £1000 - £1500 price range but it seems hard to find out if bikes are crank drive as far as can tell the only cheap ones are the tonaro's .
I have been looking at the second hand market but looking at the prices of batterys it would have to be very cheap or a very good deal.
Been on the electric bike experts forum and done all that but though I would make a large post on this site to see if anybody has any ideas ?
Main things are size ,not having mountain bike style low flat handle bars, battery life /replacment cost ,general performance and what my budget will be .
One thing I grasp from reading this site is that there is no one cheap bike to go for and one expensive one to go for the back up from dealers is also important ie wispa look good in that respect.
One thing I am sure about is that I am ready to become elctric even if it invoves selling lots of stuff on ebay to raise funds ,something that needs doing anyway to clear the clutter.
Any ideas welcome.

 

[NRG]

The choice is bewildering, the best advice is to go and try out as many as you can even if it means taking a day off and travelling to one of the larger dealers. One thing common between all reasonable quality bikes at any price point is battery replacement will be needed at or somewhere around the 2 or possibly the 2.5 year mark. Try to build that into your budget plans as replacement costs can come as a bit of a shock if you're not prepared.



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[Deleted member 4366]

There's a very close relationship between the battery size and range, Just multiply the volts times the amp-hours and the higher the number, the further you'll go. Other things can make a bit of difference, but, if you want a big range, get a big battery. The most significant factor for range is how hard you want to pedal, so all claims about range with pedal-assist are meaningless. As you are used to pedalling a bike, a 10aH battery should be sufficient for your 20 mile round trip. I do my 30 mile commuting easily with a 9aH battery and I'm nowhere near as young and fit as you are.

 

[morphix]

You sound like a someone who knows what kind of bike you like to ride and are quite particular.. finding an electric bike that meets your requirements may be difficult, but not impossible if you're prepared to look at the top end and use the financing option.. I can't recommend any particular bikes but I'm sure there are others here who will and you can talk to one of the dealers near you or online, and get some advice on suitable bikes..

As a suggestion, why don't you look at the conversion kit option on a new bike. That way you can hand pick a bike that meets your exact requirements and rides well, then put a kit onto it that also meets your requirements.. it may or may not work out cheaper, but you would need to be prepared to put in a bit of work of course unless you paid someone to do it.

Alternatively you could just do what you suggested and get a budget electric bike for around £550-£1000 to get you from A to B as a second bike.. but such bikes are not normally well made or comfortable to ride without electric assistance.

All I can tell you is that battery life should not be top of your list of considerations as most batteries will be sufficient for normal usage between charges unless you're planning on going very long distances..assuming you're wanting to use pedal assist rather than just throttle. Pedal assist will help the battery last much longer than throttle. I have done 18-20 miles on a 5Ah battery with pedal assist and most bikes now come with 10 to 14Ah batteries so plenty of mileage there. Battery cost is probably more important and you're right to think future replacement cost and factor that into your purchase cost. This is where kit route often has benefits, you can buy cheaper batteries readily.

Also, where are you going to leave your bike, will it be safe? Do you need to be able to remove the battery? Something to consider..

 

[dayglowfroggy]

Thanks for the info I have emailed a few of the suppliers to see if they do finance options .
Having a good hard look at the Cytronex bikes makes me wander if that could be more up my street as these are deffinatley designed with rider imput above all else .
I would not be put off by having to fit a kit but after reading some excellent posts on the subject it does sound like it can be considerably better to do it to some bikes than others ,anybody know of a dawes sonaron conversion?

 

[EddieK]

Hi Dayglowfroggy,
I know this reply is a bit dated.
We have converted many Dawes bikes and can do so with your Sonaron.

 

[NRG]

If you are trade then identify yourself as such please.



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