Best bike for hills?

[chelle]

Hello, I am looking to purchase an electric bike at the moment. We are hoping to cycle the western isles next month and as there will be some hills involved I will need some help. I only have one lung so hills are a real challenge. I'm looking for a bike to take the strain off, with a decent mileage. I have been looking at the following:

http://www.voltbikes.co.uk/pulse-hybrid-electric-bike.php
http://www.e-bikesdirect.co.uk/Item/Electric_Bikes/Step_Over_Frames/Freego_Eagle_Cross_Bar_Bike-16ah_battery.aspx
http://www.e-bikesdirect.co.uk/Item/Brands/Raleigh_Electric_Bikes/Raleigh_Velo_Trail_26_Crossbar_Electric_Bike.aspx
http://www.e-bikesdirect.co.uk/Item/Brands/PowaByke/PowaByke_MK3_X6_6_Speed_2014_Electric_Bike.aspx

Can anyone tell me which of these would be most suitable, or suggest better alternatives?

Thanks so much

Michelle

 

[flecc]

They are all very similar in motor power and hill climbing Michelle.

What you really need is a more capable motor, and of your choice of makers, the Volt Pulse X fits with that. It has the very powerful BPM motor that easily outclasses the others you listed on hills, a good bike but at a rather higher price.

However, you can get that power with the full equipment specification you've chosen from others at lower prices:

The eZee models from Cyclezee are good quality and have their own powerful motor easily equal to the BPM.

From Kudos Cycles the Rapide and Sonata models also use the BPM motor.

And Woosh have the Big Bear, Big Bear LS and Sunbear bikes all using the BPM motor.

So plenty of choice for well-equipped, capable hill climbing, crossbar or step-through e-bikes at reasonable prices.
.

 

[RobF]

It's natural to focus on the bike first, but your bigger consideration should be the battery - or batteries.

Using the power for a 'decent mileage' in the Western Isles will slurp battery capacity very quickly.

Can you put a rough figure on the mileage?

 

[trex]

the woosh Krieger is quite good on hills, crank drive, 20A controller, 15AH battery and not expensive either.
http://wooshbikes.co.uk/?krieger

 

[Kudoscycles]

Michelle..I am afraid you are going to have to give us a bit more info.
When you say decent mileage....do you mean 10 miles,30 miles,50 miles
As others have said those bikes with BPM or Panasonic hub drive are good hill climbers. Do you want mudguards,lights,rack etc?
Do you want a step thru or crossbar bike?
Will you be sticking to hard roads or some off-road?
Will you need to lift the bike onto or into a van,car or motor home,often handling an e-bike can be more effort than riding it,weight is a consideration.
What is your budget?
The answer to such questions will focus more on the type of bike,the e-bike market almost has too much choice.
KudosDave

 

[flecc]

Do you want mudguards,lights,rack etc?

All of Michelle's posted choices were fully equipped with these Dave, hence my quoting your Rapide and Sonata models.
.

 

[chelle]

Thank you so much guys. Apologies for not including enough information, my knowledge of e bikes is very limited. I only recently had my lung removed so I'm used to cycling a normal bike but just can't handle inclines anymore.

When I say decent mileage, I don't actually mean that far in a day. As we'll have our son in the trailer and the dog running with us we'll probably only do 20 miles in a day at most. Less than that most days, however I might not get a chance to charge every night. I will make sure we stay somewhere I can charge before taking on the hills of Harris. On the flat I will mostly be going along on my own and only using the power on undulating terrain or hills.

Do you want mudguards,lights,rack etc? Preferably but not essential
Do you want a step thru or crossbar bike? Crossbar
Will you be sticking to hard roads or some off-road? Mostly road, maybe some track.
Will you need to lift the bike onto or into a van? Yes but not often and my husband will take care of it.
What is your budget? The VOLT bike is pretty much the top of my budget.

Also something that's easy enough to get my hands on, delivered or picked up locally. Built.

Thanks again

Michelle

 

[Cyclezee]

Hi Michele, any of our eZee bikes would fulfill your needs, you can see the range here http://www.cyclezee.com/ezee-e-bikes--pedelecs.html.

As for Harris, it's my idea of paradise....when the sun is shinning

 

[RobF]

. On the flat I will mostly be going along on my own and only using the power on undulating terrain or hills.

Any ebike is a dead loss to pedal without power, 20kg+ and resistance from the motor - whatever the makers says - sees to that.

You will find you will be using the motor all the time, just more up hills and into a headwind.

A Cycleezee bike with a 15ah battery should easily do around 20 miles, even in adverse convictions.

But you will still need to charge every evening.

 

[Kudoscycles]

Michelle....almost all the Kudos range would fulfil your requirements,the mountain bike series is easily updated with the plus pack to include mudguards,lights and kickstand.
The Kudos Eiger is on special offer at the moment at £799.00 delivered.
Your 20 mile range should be easily achievable with any e-bike,minimum battery 10 Ah.
You should check the weight of these bikes,over the last few years the average weight has fallen from 27 kilos to 22 kilos,it makes the bike much easier to lift.
Our Rapide is one of the nicest bikes to ride without power,light,30 gears,hydraulic brakes,the BPM motor has strong power for the steep bits.
Try as many bikes as you can.
KudosDave

 

[RobF]

Dave,

I know you have bikes to sell, but 10ah is too close a call for someone with one lung wanting to do around 20 miles in the Western Isles.

Especially as 'not charging every night' is also desirable.

Michelle needs a 15ah or bigger battery.

 

[chelle]

Thank again,

So as far as the motor is concerned, its a good idea to go for a BPM? Would something less not help as much on the hills?

I could change it so we had accommodation every night to charge, if i'll need to. I just wasn't sure and really appreciate everyones help as i'm totally new to this.

I think the motor is more important to me then, as 20miles is a maximum and i suspect we'll mostly be doing much less. It's not actually that big a cycle. I don't like to run the dog much more than 20. It's really just something to get me over the hills without too much effort i'm looking for.

I had been looking at the Rapide, and also the tornado which is slightly cheaper. Out of those two and the volt which would suit me best?

http://www.voltbikes.co.uk/pulse-hybrid-electric-bike.php
http://www.kudoscycles.com/product_info.php?cPath=1&products_id=326
http://www.kudoscycles.com/product_info.php?cPath=1&products_id=346

Or can anyone suggest a better model?

 

[flecc]

There is a marked difference in hill climbing ability between the lower powered Volt model you just listed and the BPM motored bikes, as I mentioned previously.

Since you have that lung restriction the BPM might be the safer choice for hill climbing. However, the 10 Ah battery is somewhat marginal for certainty of 20 miles per charge in challenging terrain. All models from eZee have a range of battery capacity options, few makers offer that.

And the Woosh Big Bear with the BPM motor has a 15Ah battery.
.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Any ebike is a dead loss to pedal without power, 20kg+ and resistance from the motor - whatever the makers says - sees to that.

Hmmmm! I can't say that I found that. I often ride my electric bikes without power and so does my neighbour when he comes with me. Only yesterday, we both did a 20 mile trip from Newport to Stafford and back along the greenway without using any power at all. He was using an Oxydrive kit and I was on my Xiongda 2-speed. We only used the power to do the 20 miles from Telford to the greenway and back again, where we were riding on the road, so needed more speed, plus we had the final 2 mile climb up to where we live. Also, we passed two people on the greenway on electric bikes. We were only doing 10 to 12 mph, and we easily overtook them, so their power must have been switched off too. Half an hour later, we saw them again, but they were going much faster, clearly with power this time.

 

[Kudoscycles]

Dave,

I know you have bikes to sell, but 10ah is too close a call for someone with one lung wanting to do around 20 miles in the Western Isles.

Especially as 'not charging every night' is also desirable.

Michelle needs a 15ah or bigger battery.

Rob,on this one we are not going to agree...you know that I use the Secret bike up some very steep terrain,it only has an 8Ah battery and I have always achieved more than 20 miles on a charge.
With a10 Ah battery on average rider input,average terrain 30 miles is a comfortable range.
What kills these batteries is a full speed throttle and no rider input...I tried the Secret without pedalling and just used the throttle,it ran out of juice at 12 miles. Even modest pedalling puts a lot of energy into the bike. I do agree that if you want to use these bikes as a moped,with no pedalling then maybe 20Ah battery is probably needed,but that is not the principle upon which pedelecs were intended.
KudosDave

 

[flecc]

With a10 Ah battery on average rider input,average terrain 30 miles is a comfortable range.

Not with a BPM motor though, and Michelle has said she only has one lung and finds the hills a real challenge as a result.

On that basis a BPM or eZee would need 15 Ah to be certain of 20 miles in challenging territory.
.

 

[trex]

...
So as far as the motor is concerned, its a good idea to go for a BPM? Would something less not help as much on the hills?

I could change it so we had accommodation every night to charge, if i'll need to. I just wasn't sure and really appreciate everyones help as i'm totally new to this.

The choice of motor depends very much on how you think of gears. If you don't like to bother with them, then hub motors like the BPM give you a more relaxed ride and is definitely the way to go. Conversely, if you like to optimize your ride, then crank drive offers you much more while retaining the feel of an unpowered bike. In either case, a bigger battery is always useful. It gives you more power on hills, bigger range and you don't have to charge up every day.
I found that the best bikes to ride without power are crank drives with downtube bottle battery and road tyres (not knobblies). The weight of the bike is not that important. The Boris bike weighs a ton and I use it fairly often without problem.

 

[Kudoscycles]

Michelle,we are all somewhat remiss in not asking how tall you are?
Considering your medical situation there are 3 points that you should consider..
1. The old SWX type motors do not have the hill climbing grunt of the more recent BPM type motors.
2. You should favour a speed sensor (sometimes referred to as a rotational sensor) over a torque sensor. The torque sensor requires you to put pressure on the pedals to get power from the motor,whereas the speed sensor will deliver the power you have selected irrespective of the pressure you are exerting on the pedals.
In other words,with a speed sensor if you are tired you can select a low gear,put max PAS setting and get home with the minimum of personal effort.
3. I think you should consider hydraulic brakes,if you do a lot of steep downhill descents,your fingers ache with constant squeezing of the brake lever,the mechanical advantage of a good hydraulic brake system considerably lowers the braking effort.
It was because of the foregoing that we put a speed sensor on the Kudos Arriba,effectively making the Arriba into a Tornado with hydraulic brakes.
To be fair to my competitors,Oxygen and Cyclezee make similar bikes to the Kudos Arriba,I suppose in the end it's whatever you like the look of,we all make good bikes.
If you do a search for Arriba and Tornado on this forum you will find some reviews.
KudosDave.
ps....some stupid male pheasant,that we have named Percy,is in my garden trying to peck at his reflection in my car,Mrs Percy is looking at him with incredulity. He is however the more attractive of the pair,shows off a lot,hehe

 

[RobF]

The Volt has a weaker motor, and a seat post battery, which makes for a long and unwieldy bike, so I think you should discount that.

The Kudos Rapide has 700c - big - wheels and a near level cross bar.

It will stand fairly high, depending on your height it may be hard for you to get, er, your leg over.

The Kudos Tornado has 26" wheels and a sloping cross bar, so is more suitable for a shorter person.

It also has the more powerful motor.

I'm still not convinced it has a big enough battery, particularly as you say you 'can't handle' inclines.

But it might work if you can put in a bit more effort than I think you can, and you never want to exceed 20 miles, and will more likely be doing closer to 15 miles.

The Oxygen MTB might suit, but only the more powerful 13ah version.

There should be enough poke in the motor, and the 'extra' 3ah over the Kudos battery will give you significantly more range.

The Oxygen has more complex 3X6 level settings, but once mastered it will enable you to optimise battery use.

Price is at the top end of your budget, but the owner of Oxygen is usually amenable to knocking a couple of hundred off.

http://www.oxygenbicycles.com/e-bikes/e-mate-mtb-13ah

 

[chelle]

I'm 5'6. I'm 28 and fit apart from the missing lung. I still want to put effort in when cycling and can't see me not peddling at all. I get very out of breath just walking up hills never mind cycling. I miss my lung!!

I don't really understand motors. I heard that crank drives were better for hill climbing? Anyway, I don't understand the difference between a 250W BPM - CST Bafang Motor and Bafang BPM Alloy 36v 250W Rear.. but you say the latter is more powerful? I thought flecc was saying the Volt had the most powerful motor, but if it has a weaker motor I'll discount it for sure.

The oxygen looks like a very nice bike but is a little more expensive. You say you can sometimes get money off but it doesn't seem like you can buy them from the website?

I will definitely be doing closer to 15 miles most days. And it's only harris that is hilly, the rest of the way and where I generally cycle at home is pretty flat. On the occasions where I do meet a hill I generally have to walk my bike and struggle even with this.

http://www.cyclezee.com/ezee-torq-mk3.html This seems decent too but quite heavy!

Thank you all so much for your patience with my very limited understanding.

Does any bike come out on top then?