Ebike for steep roads in Brighton and to fit student budget! Advice would be welcome :)

[zinko]

Hey all,

I'm a student based in Brighton, and so far I've been using buses to get around, but I miss the freedom and speed of cycling. I've been apprehensive about cycling here because I currently live up a steep hill (14% at its maximum point), and I might well be moving to a part of town with even steeper gradients (22% at maximum). I know that the steepest roads in the city are about 25%, and it would be nice to feel able to go anywhere in the city.

I don't know much about bikes (nor do I really have the time and energy to get into them more), and I'm not a major fitness enthusiast. I just want to get at least a bit of exercise and have more freedom, rather than feeling reluctant to go out because I live at the top of a steep hill (with buses or walking it always takes ages to go anywhere and get back home). Ideally I'd like a bike that would give me back my freedom and let me get some exercise. I've previously been comfortable cycling non-electric bikes at more ordinary gradients (like maybe up to 6% for 2-3 minutes (slowly and at low gear) would probably be my maximum before I would get off and walk).

I weigh around 65 kg, and I might carry up to 25 kg of stuff on a bike, I suppose? Groceries in a big rucksack plus a couple of locks.

Am I right in thinking that I am looking for a bike with a "mid-drive motor"? Or could a cheaper hub motor work for me?

What would work for me in terms of batteries? I know that in the UK ebikes are limited to 250 W, but I'm not sure if that means the maximum power they can offer... Would a motor labelled 250 W be able to provide more power than that when needed? Would that be legal? Or would I be looking for something like a motor labelled 1000 W?

What kind of sensors would work for me - cadence, torque, throttle? I would ideally like to just ride the bike as if it were a regular bike when I'm on the flat or on gentle slopes, so I can get some exercise, and only use electrical assistance on steep hills, so I no longer dread those hills.

Do I need to be concerned about the types of brake? - does it need to be hydraulic disk brakes, or would V-brakes be absolutely fine? I'm a bit apprehensive about going downhill on a steep slope on a heavy bike.

I'm prepared to consider a new e-bike, but I'm hoping to get enough of a sense of what I'm looking for that I could buy a second-hand one, because my student budget is extremely unforgiving. (Previously I've always bought second-hand non-electric bikes for £60-100, and been absolutely happy with those.)

I have more questions, but I think that's enough for now - thank you!

 

[cyclebuddy]

Questions, questions! I'm sure others will chime in, but if I still lived in Brighton, was working within a budget, and had been quite happy with decent second-hand non-electric bikes, I'd go have a chat with Brighton E-bikes and see what they can do for you. They're familiar with your terrain (I remember the hills well!), are sometimes here on the forum, and being Brighton based, can keep your bike running if/when it needs updating and/or repairs... a very important consideration with electric bikes.

 

[Nealh]

Certainly not 1kw DD hubs for Brighton's hills, a high powered 250w hub will deal with some of the steeper hills or a mid drive kit. Darren is the local kiddy who knows the terrain well so Brighton ebikes is the place to go.

 

[vfr400]

There would be nowhere to put 25kg of groceries - 12kg maybe. With your light weight, just about any ebike should cope with those hills, though the smaller the wheels the better. When you say,"to fit a student budget", what does that mean? When I was a student, some were driving around in deluxe cars while others couldn't afford to replace their worn out shoes. Brightonebikes ready made bike costs £1000.

The cheapest reasonable electric bikes are around £650, which you can get from TV shopping channels, Amazon, Ebay, etc, though you must always figure out who's going to fix and maintain it. If you can't do that yourself, your options are more limited. Ebikesdirect have the best range of cheap electric bikes and they give pretty good after sales support and they have a returns service for repairs.

 

[guerney]

Gumtree can sometimes be better than ebay for secondhand items of all kinds going cheap, although if you're not careful, you could find yourself with a fixer upper? There's not much buyer protection on Gumtree if they insist on cash - I worry about getting mugged, or inadvertently buying stolen goods. Searching periodically can occasionally yield a good result:

Electric bike in Brighton, East Sussex | Bikes, Bicycles & Cycles for Sale | Gumtree

Find great local deals on Electric bike for sale in Brighton, East Sussex ✅ Shop hassle-free with Gumtree, your local buying & selling community.

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