Entry level bike?

hgoodliff

Just Joined
Sep 26, 2022
2
0
Hi! New to the electric bike community but have been looking at investing in one for commuting/errand running within about a 40 mile radius (not a current requirement but would be good to have decent range for longevity). Live in quite a steep area of cornwall, hence considering an electric bike, so would need something that could handle hills with some luggage (groceries) and 65kg me! Looking for something that would give an upright position, with a step through frame. I'm a 5"3 female and on a student's budget so looking for something in the range of £1000-1200. Very specific ask but wondered if there were any recommendations.

Much appreciated!
 

Bonzo Banana

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 29, 2019
802
462
Sorry, Top Gear are in Penryn not Penzance!

A lot of our product is proprietary, however we have a firm policy of keeping parts for 7 year’s minimum, we still hold most of the parts for most of the bikes we have ever produced. Being a smaller manufacturer we can and tend to look after customers longer. There are exceptions though.

All the best, David
Most of them don't look that proprietary but I guess it depends on how you define proprietary and there are levels of proprietary, some very easy to bypass like non-standard connectors all the way up to very difficult encrypted digital handshaking where you pretty much can't do it.
 
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Sarge1892

Finding my (electric) wheels
Feb 5, 2023
19
8
What about the general electrical nature of your ebikes if you don't mind me asking. Is there much proprietary about them, as the years pass will there be issues replacing batteries, controllers or the hub motor itself with third party options? I realise if the battery pack is designed for the frame itself, re-celling may be the only option or fitting the battery elsewhere on the bike. Is there any reason after lets say 4 years of reasonable to high use with battery end of life or hub issues you couldn't fix it with more generic parts? Is there any proprietary handshaking between any of the components like controller to battery or controller to display etc?

batteries most the time are easy to replace they fall into several catagoes and are fairly standardized 1 battery from 1 type should fit another from the same type even the behind the seat batteries are all the same battery with only minor non consequential differences (2 vs 3 pin)

controllers are a different story but still no hassle the chances of you finding your replacement controller again might be challenging as they contain little to no details on them but good news it hardly matters when you buy a new controller you usually get all the accessory parts along side it so you can just do a full controller replacement which will include pedal sensor throttle if you have one controller screen and maybe even lights there trivial to replace if you can buy a xbox and install it into your living room tv setup you have more than enough technical knowhow to swap controllers and people here can help you find a suitable replacement if need be but don't expect to be replacing controller for a while

as for proprietary stuff

batteries are beyond dumb when it comes to talking to the controller they just send voltage and the controller figures out charge level based on that

over charge and over discharge are handled by the battery itself the controller has no say in the matter

over amp is handled by the controller and the battery separately the 2 do not talk

as for the controller its going to want to talk to its screen in its own special way but a replacement controller will include its own screen and probably any other accessories that also talk its language


for batteries mostly standardized tbh if you buy something where they hide the battery in the frame or moulded in somehow possibly you might have issues but if the battery is either rack mounted behind the seat mounted or looks like it got bolted to the frame as a afterthought its gonna be a standard battery you can get anywhere

recalling the battery is a option.... id rather you just bought a new one as cost wise that isn't going to be cheaper and your inviting trouble to the door if its not perfect which negates any benefits to recelling