Bike for a 70 year old.

[davannh]

Hi
I am trying to choose an electric bike for my husband for his 70th birthday. He is very active and currently has a Claud Butler mountain bike. He uses the bike to accompany me on 8mph mobility scooter. This scooter fits in the back of my car, we tow a caravan and his bike has to travel on the roof of the car. We cycle/mobility scooter around reservoirs, down unused railway tracks (Monsal Trail) and along canal paths. Our main problem is getting the bike on the roof as we have an SUV so the roof is quite high. Because of slight knee issues we think he would benefit from an electric bike, the problem is which one? The requirement for a mountain bike is questionable as the worst surfaces we encounter are gravel or possibly slightly muddy canal paths. Basically my scooter has to cope with fairly normal surfaces. So, a lightweight bike, no more than £1000-£1200. We probably only cover a few hundred miles a year. Can anyone help. I am very drawn to a gtech City. Thank you in advance for any help.

 

[Woosh]

electric bikes are twice as heavy as ordinary bikes, they weigh around 20kgs.
It is very difficult to lift an electric bike to a roof rack.
Look for a bike carrier for your car first.

 

[Nealh]

A folding bike ?

 

[Andy McNish]

Almost all e-bikes are quite heavy - in the 16-23kg range - so not ideal to lift up onto SUV roof-racks.

It looks like the Claude Butler MTB is about 13.5kg so that is a considerable difference.

Can't you carry it on the back of your caravan (or even inside it if wrapped in a blanket etc.)?

If it's just to keep up with an 8mph mobility scooter (and he isn't going to go roaming alone) I doubt he would need much power or range on it - what's the effective range of the scooter?

So the Gtech City is light for an ebike (16kg) and it's in your price range (£1000 new or about £600-700 second hand) - so that does seem a sensible choice.

The Gtech City bike isn't much discussed on this forum, as e-cyclists here usually put in thousands of km a year, and if you want to do that you tend to end up buying at least bikes like this one in the £1400+ range (or going to someone like Woosh or building it yourself) but I haven't heard anything bad about it - it's limited range and basic kit may put a lot of us bike snobs off - but it does actually sound ideal for your needs - light, reliable, simple to use, cheap.

 

[Jimo]

Dav, one worthwhile consideration could be a 20” wheel folding e-bike because it could fit in your SUV alongside your mobility scooter. I’m in a similar position not being able to walk far but having my Lexus SUV in which I can fit my Batribake Quartz folding bike alongside a small mobility scooter, my Quartz was bought as a one-owner like new bike but that was my choice.

Jim

 

[gray198]

if you are near the Peak District worth a look at Juicy Bikes in Buxton, Nice range and they do a good folder which may be suitable. My wife had one and I was able to ride it comfortably.

 

[davannh]

Thank you for your helpful replies. My mobility scooter has a range of 20 miles. I am drawn to the idea of a folding e bike so I am off to research those.

 

[Crossroads]

I am drawn to the idea of a folding e bike so I am off to research those.

Good decision.

compact-plus-folding-electric-bike

 

[Slartibartfast]

Good decision.

compact-plus-folding-electric-bike

Plus one - Woosh have some really good folding bikes that fold surprisingly small, and one that has full suspension that folds in half but looks like a standard bike, albeit a bit funky. Very neat.

http://wooshbikes.co.uk/

 

[davannh]

Hi
I had not considered the advantages of a folding bike. I have now taken a leap in the dark and ordered a Kudos Secret. Seemed to tick most boxes and with 20” wheels should cope with the sort of surfaces I can travel on with my mobility scooter. I just hope when he receives it he can see why I have made the choice I have. Thank you for your input

 

[Slartibartfast]

Hi
I had not considered the advantages of a folding bike. I have now taken a leap in the dark and ordered a Kudos Secret. Seemed to tick most boxes and with 20” wheels should cope with the sort of surfaces I can travel on with my mobility scooter. I just hope when he receives it he can see why I have made the choice I have. Thank you for your input

I visited the branch near Whitstable when I was looking for my bike, that Secret is a nice bike & folds down nice and small. Good choice.

 

[Woosh]

Good decision.

compact-plus-folding-electric-bike

folding bikes don't take much less space and just as heavy.
If you can cross the river Thames, I am in Southend, you can try out something like this is much lighter and easier to lift, about 14kgs all in if you remove the lights and luggage rack:

it has an in-frame (but removeable) tube battery 36V 8AH. The bike is so light that I reckon I can get 40 miles out of a full charge around Southend.

 

[Jimo]

But I doubt that it would fit inside an SUV along side a small mobility scooter...

Jim

 

[Woosh]

But I doubt that it would fit inside an SUV along side a small mobility scooter...

Jim

@14kgs, it's light enough to go on the roof rack where his current bike goes. Not many e-bikes are that lightweight.

 

[JuicyBike]

if you are near the Peak District worth a look at Juicy Bikes in Buxton, Nice range and they do a good folder which may be suitable. My wife had one and I was able to ride it comfortably.

Our Buxton shop is now closed. We are now in bigger shops in New Mills and Ashboune with much better facilities.
But I do keep very fond memories of where we started out.
You can find our current shops and stockists at this link.

 

[Audio2]

Is that a new model from Woosh? It cannot find it on their website.

 

[Jimo]

bike weight 14Kg (30 lbs?) on SUV roof rack? Placed there by 70 y/o ?UNLIKELY, I couldnt do it.

Jim

 

[Andy McNish]

bike weight 14Kg (30 lbs?) on SUV roof rack? Placed there by 70 y/o ?UNLIKELY, I couldnt do it.

Jim

To be fair, OP states that her husband currently uses the roof rack for a bike which appears to be 13.5kg. But yes - not a comfortable lift at all...

 

[Woosh]

a couple of years ago, a customer put his e-bike on the roof rack, all by himself and it wasn't my new bike, just one of my step through bikes. He was in his seventies.
He fabricated a rig with aluminium angle. He attached the bike to the rig and pushed the rig up to the roof rack then lashed the rig to the roof rack.
He uses nothing more than the law of the lever. One of the roof bars served as a fulcrum.
I did ask for his permission to take a few pictures but can't remember what I did with the pictures.

 

[sjpt]

There are (used to be???) rigs like that commercially available for tandems; I remember a friend had one.