March 28, 20206 yr Hello, Completely new here! My commute to work has just become a 2 minute walk from my house, however my sons nursery is a 3 minute drive in the other direction. I’ve noticed there is a solid bike path from my village to the nursery and to my work. We’ve just sold a car as we don’t need two. So I’d like to get an E-bike to tow my 2 year old to nursery and myself to work. In all honesty I don’t really want to spend more then £1200 on the bike itself. A few models I looked at specifically said ‘not recommended for towing a trailer). So please help. What would be best for my budget. The route I need to take is pretty much flat, but I do live in Cornwall so there are plenty of bike trails to take advantage of at the weekends.
March 28, 20206 yr You don't need an ebike for the flat commute even with trailer. Do you expect to do the trails pulling trailer as well? That could justify an ebike. There are different ways of attaching trailers; some attached near the rear hub might interfere with rear hub motors. The one we towed 2 children on many years ago attached to the seat post. Much less choice then, we had to adapt a 'standard' luggage trailer. I think the rear hub attachment is probably better. £1200 puts you very much in to Woosh territory; very good value for money and excellent customer service. https://wooshbikes.co.uk/ If you contact them and describe what you want in more details I'm sure they'll suggest the most appropriate model.
March 28, 20206 yr Take a look at the Woosh Santana3. I can fit a trailer hitch for you before it leaves us. The Santana3 has a programmable throttle, I can program it for soft start for you to make it easy to pull away at traffic lights. https://wooshbikes.co.uk/?santana3 Trailer hitch: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Baby-Bike-Bicycle-Steel-Replacement-Rear-Trailer-Hitch-Axle-Mount-InStep/293078833442
March 28, 20206 yr I spent many a month with my kids in a Chariot trailer and my first e-bike back in 2011. It was a front hub drive bought pre-made from Cytronex so a small hub motor and a small bottle battery. Kept the rear end clear for mounting the hitch and me, the kids and that bike probably did a couple of thousand km through Epping Forest, France and Germany. You don't need lots of power, just enough to take the weight of the trailer on the hills and reduce the drag; Unless you are Danny Macaskill Danny Macaskill: Danny Daycare - YouTube
March 28, 20206 yr Oh and I highly recommend the Chariots; I know that they have been bought by Thule but the big wheels, the fact you can convert them to a pushchair etc means that they hold their value well, much like Islabikes....
March 28, 20206 yr Unless you are Danny Macaskill Danny Macaskill: Danny Daycare - YouTube I look forward to youtube of his exploits pulling a child trailer.
March 28, 20206 yr Author You don't need an ebike for the flat commute even with trailer. Do you expect to do the trails pulling trailer as well? That could justify an ebike. There are different ways of attaching trailers; some attached near the rear hub might interfere with rear hub motors. The one we towed 2 children on many years ago attached to the seat post. Much less choice then, we had to adapt a 'standard' luggage trailer. I think the rear hub attachment is probably better. £1200 puts you very much in to Woosh territory; very good value for money and excellent customer service. https://wooshbikes.co.uk/ If you contact them and describe what you want in more details I'm sure they'll suggest the most appropriate model. The trails, oh yes absolutely! There are soooo many routes around my village! It will be great to take my son out with me. My partner works from home at weekends so would be great to get out with my little one ! Thank you very much for the Woosh recommendation xxx Take a look at the Woosh Santana3. I can fit a trailer hitch for you before it leaves us. The Santana3 has a programmable throttle, I can program it for soft start for you to make it easy to pull away at traffic lights. https://wooshbikes.co.uk/?santana3 Trailer hitch: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Baby-Bike-Bicycle-Steel-Replacement-Rear-Trailer-Hitch-Axle-Mount-InStep/293078833442 hi, thank you for getting in touch. I’m currently around 13 stone, by the time I factor my son 2 stone and then a trailer, would it be better for me to go for something like the Big Bear?
March 28, 20206 yr you can of course use the Big Bear LS, the Santana3 is perfectly good for pulling 20st up a steep hill, Big Bear can pull 25st.
March 29, 20206 yr Author you can of course use the Big Bear LS, the Santana3 is perfectly good for pulling 20st up a steep hill, Big Bear can pull 25st. sorry another question as we are sure we’re going for one of your bikes. Other than a trailer, is there also the possibility of mounting a seat on the back of the bike for some alternative journeys, were we decide not to use the trailer, my partner is curious?
March 29, 20206 yr you can install a child seat on both Big Bear LS and Santana3. Let me know which model child seat you want to buy, I'll check for you. Hamax are popular. If you have already got a bike with child seat, consider a Bafang BBS01B conversion kit. It's a bit cheaper but also you know for sure exactly how it's going to work.
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