Consider Before You Buy Your First E-Bike

[AOSTIRMOTOR EBIKE]

Hi, guys. Could the price be the deciding factor? Choose an e-bike with a high-quality lithium-ion battery, which determines whether the motor works. The choice of electric bicycle motor is also particularly important, middle motor or rear motor? If it is you, which point do you think is the first condition of your choice？

{Admin note: Please see my previous PM about the advertising rules on Pedelecs}

 

[Ocsid]

What I am buying an e-bike for, then everything better falls into place after that.

 

[jimriley]

I went for a mid-motor, more capable on bridleways and tracks in the hilly Pennines around me, using the gears.

 

[sjpt]

Assuming the bike is fit for purpose and within budget ...
Reliability, longevity, ease of repair if something does go wrong.

 

[AndyBike]

Quality is always expensive, be it a ebike, non ebike, watch, or kitchen coffee machine.
That said no point in throwing money away in manufacturers profit margins
For example for £5K you can buy a HT commuter/shopper type with bottom to mid range components, which has a quality mid drive motor and hi capacity battery.
If you research the componentry on the bike and take a rough sum up of its retail costs, offset against the known cost of a frame(suss or otherwise) the cost of the =battery and motor and do some sums, you can see that some bikes it appears that the profit margin is higher or lower.

Mid motor.
There are multiple reviews, testing and other forums pertaining to show which motor performs against the competition in weight,scope of use, etc etc.
But its also the choice of bike manufacturer, which gives some unwritten info, such as its going to be quality battery, quality parts and the choice of parts.

No point in looking to buying a bike capable of offroad play if the level of kit isnt of a certain quality.

After the motor/battery/bike brand comes for example if its a suss bike, then the important factor is the suss bits, and these need to be of significant quality with plenty of reviews attaining to that quality.
Drivetrain, brakes,suspension units etc
Donkeys ago as a teen buying the first bike, the mechanic told me to invest in the parts of the bike that move. So headset, hubs, bottom bracket should be of such quality to work flawlessly for a long period of time.

So this is the criteria i use to choose whats right for me,and acknowledge that theres likely to be some parts I will have to take of lower quality to get the important bits of higher quality.

 

[Fat Rat]

Hi, guys. Could the price be the deciding factor? Choose an e-bike with a high-quality lithium-ion battery, which determines whether the motor works. The choice of electric bicycle motor is also particularly important, middle motor or rear motor? If it is you, which point do you think is the first condition of your choice？

EMTB mid motor only if your serious about your hobby
And what i mean by that is Trail centres , bike parks etc
If your into canal tow paths etc then any will do mid or rear
Batteries thats part and parcel i personally only buy branded well know components
My choice is a FS bike at least 160mm up and built for enduro needs to be a strong build as i spend lots of time at Bike parks and trails so jumps are common place
Dont forget wheel size too ......

But apart from all this i dont really get the thread to be honest .

 

[Gringo]

i dont really get the thread to be honest

It’s not just me then and it’s not just this post that seams pointless.
I figured the poster was just a trader trying to get his name out there in the pedelec community

 

[AndyBike]

It’s not just me then

+1
I didnt want to say anything though. New member and thought it might be a bit cheeky. And I've form for being a bit cheeky *

* That said, this is just pure silliness.

EMTB mid motor only if your serious about your hobby
And what i mean by that is Trail centers , bike parks etc
If your into canal tow paths etc then any will do mid or rear

 

[Fat Rat]

+1
I didnt want to say anything though. New member and thought it might be a bit cheeky. And I've form for being a bit cheeky *

* That said, this is just pure silliness.

Why ?

 

[AndyBike]

Why ?

"EMTB mid motor only if your serious about your hobby "


The 'hobby' of riding a mtb, so if you were serious for starters then there wouldnt be a motor. Motor is seen by many to be a get out clause if you will, the easy option and in no way any sort of work out or route to fitness.

But thats not what I'm saying is a load of nonsense. The position of the motor in no way dictates the usage of any ebike. Mtb or otherwise.

If you disagree then explain why you feel position matters.

 

[Fat Rat]

"EMTB mid motor only if your serious about your hobby "


If you disagree then explain why you feel position matters.

The position matters because ...
For one you dont want a rear hub drive if your on aggressive trails and bike parks as the weight of the rear wheel is massive especially when jumping and moving the bike around in the air
Its much better to have the weight in the centre and low down on the bike
Also rear hub drives are hard on wheels and spokes as it is with out factoring in drop offs and table top landings and super rough trails
You also have the feel of the bike which is much more natural with a mid drive than any hub drive i have ever rode
This is why i said "Serious about your hobby" which i should have probably re worded as Aggressive with your riding style
Hope this makes my comments clearer
And dont forget this is only my opinion Yours maybe different and thats fine too .


And your comment " If you were serious there wouldnt be a motor "
Really I treat it like my up lift especially at bike parks
You also see Pro downhill riders using an uplift Just in a different form
So what make an EMTB a non serious thing ?
Also you might want to take that up with the Ews-E as they seem to think there sport is serious .

 

[Nealh]

For all exploring off road and general riding a rear hub will be fine in and is ideal , the mid drive has the advantage in aggressive off road use. If one is into jumping or fast downhill or rough riding then a hub is not the ideal motor.
One has to pick the drive type to suit the riding style, I have hubs which I use on the S & N downs for exploring riding on all types of trails and they work fine. I am past the boy racer /hell for leather riding so up to 20 mph hubs are fine off road.

 

[Nealh]

Another myth that needs putting right is that spoke on hub motor wheels don't break if the hub is a good built one, any bad built hub will break spokes even for just road use.

 

[AndyBike]

The position matters because ...
For one you dont want a rear hub drive if your on aggressive trails and bike parks as the weight of the rear wheel is massive especially when jumping and moving the bike around in the air
Its much better to have the weight in the centre and low down on the bike
Also rear hub drives are hard on wheels and spokes as it is with out factoring in drop offs and table top landings and super rough trails
You also have the feel of the bike which is much more natural with a mid drive than any hub drive i have ever rode
This is why i said "Serious about your hobby" which i should have probably re worded as Aggressive with your riding style
Hope this makes my comments clearer
And dont forget this is only my opinion Yours maybe different and thats fine too .


And your comment " If you were serious there wouldnt be a motor "
Really I treat it like my up lift especially at bike parks
You also see Pro downhill riders using an uplift Just in a different form
So what make an EMTB a non serious thing ?
Also you might want to take that up with the Ews-E as they seem to think there sport is serious .

While I accept your position on whether the placement of a motor should dictate as to which style of riding an ebike owner may adopt, its actual placing in my humble opinion is better served if the motor is mid placed rather than rear placed

I would clarify that your comment wasnt about the balance of a mid drive in the view of offroad jumping etc but quite a blanket opinion that style denotes motor placement rather than the actual aspects of use in relation to your statement. Obviously a rear motor will weigh heavy on the back end causing the bike in air to want to land rear first in such a manner to destabilize the dynamics of the landing and mid would obviously be better positioned, but the placement of a mid drive in normal use ie as you suggest on roads or tow path/canal etc would in no way hinder its usage.

Moreover, the positioning of a mid drive in road etc use would be a better option given the drive effect would have a tendency to make the bike want to lift at the front were all the weight at the back with a hub motor.

Were this not the case the only other two wheeled powered vehicle, namely the motorbike would have a motor driven wheel and this is not the case and the motor is placed in the middle, to better balance the weight of the machine. Motorbikes as you will agree are for the majority of the time, designed to be use in a road setting, and while this is not always the case in relation to specialist usage, it is for all intention purposes not an argument that can be used to describe its general use.


Thanks for your time, I'm here all week

 

[argoose]

Cheap , light, strong
pick two

 

[Zlatan]

Cheap , light, strong
pick two

Haibike all day long.