First time e-bike chooser needing some guidance.

[Markxc40]

Hello.
I'm a reasonably fit retired 70+year old male now looking to keep myself ticking over in the fitness stakes.
I've started to google looking for advice but I know nothing about the myriad of e-bike manufacturers out there.
Previously worked in the electrical/electronic engineering industries for some major companies.

I've decided to list what I see as what I want from & to do with the bike.
1/ £2000 to £2500 to spend but less is more in my pensioner world.
2/ My back ground above gives me some insight into some of the motor manufacturers with the Bosch gen4 getting some good praise just now. Should just look for any bike with this motor in it?
3/ I will be limiting my use on general roads mainly seeking to ride on grass track, or other designated off road areas. I don't intend to do MOUNTAIN biking though.
4/ There is a lot of yes/no questions like should I get chain and gears or carbon drive belt. Frame type step through or cross bar as they all seem to be tagged unisex my preference is for the sloping crossbar type.
5/ what would this list look like from someone who had purchased several of these e-bikes.

Any way if someone can give me some guidance on what, where, when, why that would be good.

Best

Mark

 

[soundwave]

my bike goes off road as well

 

[Jonah]

Do you have a non-electric bike currently and / or are you a regular bike rider? How heavy are you, how hilly is it, how much effort do you want / can you put in? Do you have a view on suspension (for some it’s a must have, personally I would just look for wider tyres for comfort)? There are broadly 2 approaches to e-bikes: light weight and moderate boost or heavier and major assistance. If you want to go with mainstream well known brands I would encourage a look at the Boardman Hybrid in the first category and perhaps Cube offer best value currently In the second. Limited choice if you want hub gears and / or carbon belt drive but there are some about. As they are rare, they tend to demand a premium price.

Note that Bosch motors come in several power variants and with 3 different sized batteries. This has a major influence on the cost. CX motor and 625AH battery is most powerful / biggest range / highest price.

First category examples:

HYB 8.9e Womens Electric Hybrid Bike

www.boardmanbikes.com

Cannondale Bikes, Electric Bikes, Helmets & Protection | Evans Cycles

www.evanscycles.com

Second category example (Top of range)

CUBE PRODUKT ARCHIV | 2020

CUBE PRODUKT ARCHIV

www.cube.eu

 

[Markxc40]

Wow Jonah that's a lot of questions I hadn't even thought of, thanks.
I'm just about to have my Breakfast so I'll come back to answering them fully shortly.
To start with I haven't ridden a bike regularly say to attain and sustain my fitness for some 20+ years and no I don't presently have any sort of bike.

I'll be back to answer more fully the other questions later.

Thanks

 

[sjpt]

The Bosch motors are very good, as are some of the other proprietary brands. Be aware that they are locked in, any repairs will have to go back to the dealer, who will probably have to send them back to Germany. This can be very expensive if out of warranty, and slow as well. Also any extra/replacement batteries come very expensive for the capacity, even allowing for the high quality cells they use.

You can get a very capable bike for quite a bit less from the likes of Woosh, Juicy and Wisper. It will probably use high quality standard Chinese parts (eg Bafang) that are more easily repaired (or in extremis replaced).

Both Bosch and the decent quality Chinese systems are pretty reliable, so with luck the issue won't arise till you need a new battery in five years time or so.

You say you are 70+. I'd certainly recommend a step-through. Even if you don't feel you need it now, you may well really appreciate it in a couple of years, and I hope the bike and your biking years continue way way beyond that.

 

[Markxc40]

………….. ok to take up where I left off with Jonah errr just first say some good advice also from sjpt, thanks.
Jonah picking up where I left off:> weight about 15 1/4 stone *** local land has mild hills *** effort to be average amount *** think I would like some front end suspension *** wider tyres for comfort - not thought about that I've clearly got a lot to learn here *** 2 approaches to e-bikes, instinctively I lean towards heavier and more assist power *** I have been looking at Cube plus some other main stream ones but as you say price is up there for these *** I had marked the Bosch gen 4 motor with the 625 battery tube as a must have but I may find when I reappraise my nice to haves v my must haves I can down grade to gen 3 etc. *** looking at the 2 e-bikes you have selected I've not reviewed the Cannondale but I had marked the Cube cross hybrid as very interesting. I'll do a compare chart for them and see how it goes as the cube price is right up there on costs so I may be able to lower costs by less battery etc.

That was a great info aware listing that was both helpful while stimulating at the same time, thanks sjpt.

Regards

 

[Wicky]

Also I'd throw an Oxygen bike into the mix >

eBike | Revolutionize Your Ride with our Oxygen Electric Bikes

eBike | Experience the thrill of Oxygen Electric Bikes! Innovative design, unparalleled performance. Visit us to explore our range today.

www.oxygenbicycles.com

Highly recommend you test ride a variety of different models before splashing out.

 

[Markxc40]

Hello after doing some research I've got 2 choices in mind both in stock at my local bike shop :>
1/ CUBE Acid Hybrid one 500 allroad 2020 29 at GBP £1999.
2/ CUBE Touring Hybrid Pro 500 2020 at GBP £2199.
My leaning is towards the CUBE Acid mainly because its cheaper, both seem to have the 2020 65Nm Bosch Gen 3 motor which I think will be enough umph for me.
If I go Gen 4 it kicks the price up considerably nor can I see what it is I am getting for the extra GBP £200 in costs between the 2 bikes?

Anyone got any comments about these 2 bikes or even widen it to a competitors' one for similar money?

Thanks
Mark

 

[nicholasj]

I'm in the same boat. Day one of my research journey! Good luck

 

[Andy McNish]

OK. I have a Cube Touring 500. And I use it for gentle touring and commuting. It has a Gen3 Active Line Plus 50Nm motor which is zero resist. This means that there is no motor drag with the motor off (whether because you are above the 15.5 mph cut off or because you are just gently pootling along without assistance).

Of the 2000 miles I did last year, about half was unassisted, although my usage pattern may be atypical of course.

I understand that the Gen3 Bosch Performance motors are not zero resist whilst the Gen4 ones are. So if it's a case of just adding 10% or so to get the Gen 4 motor I would recommend doing so.

 

[Markxc40]

Hello Nicholasj.
Just in case you haven't spotted them there are some very useful guides at the very bottom of any page in the forums. If you are reading this page drag the bar cursor on the right hand side of the page down until a grey block appears with some guide titles on it. They are all worth a read through.
You can reach them from any page you are on.

Good luck.

 

[budsy]

I have read all them posts and I also am a newbie and searching for a first e bike

im also in 2 minds if I can get my present bike < not ebike fitted up but at what cost

one thing putting me off is weight of my bike in pic is heavy and so with a battery fitted, would push weight up even more so and it has gears in
the hub which I also prefer.

Back to the main poster here this is a good hindsight into your needs
and are probs very alike my own wants for a bike and learning from others like myself as u go in search is all good

I think as Wicky said try as many as you can of the different e bikes out
then this shall give you a good idea of what you want , and when u do
settle on one, then would be good to see a pic/s of the bike , but your choice
ill do likewise when I do end up with one, meanwhile best of searching.

its them hilly parts that im feeling it nowadays , why im now taking time
but beginning my search and a little knowledge of ebikes Im learning from this very forum as I type .

best of luck and hope u find the bike you want , although some good ones u seem to have thought about mentioned . All the best in your search .

 

[Woosh]

Shops are always more expensive than online outlets for obvious reasons: they have to pay for premises and staff. But if you can't maintain the mechanical bike yourself, then head for the nearest bike shop.
@budsy: On the other hand, if you can whip the bottom bracket out of your bike, then it's worth looking into converting your heavy bike. After it has a motor, bike weight is no longer a problem.

 

[budsy]

Shops are always more expensive than online outlets for obvious reasons: they have to pay for premises and staff. But if you can't maintain the mechanical bike yourself, then head for the nearest bike shop.
@budsy: On the other hand, if you can whip the bottom bracket out of your bike, then it's worth looking into converting your heavy bike. After it has a motor, bike weight is no longer a problem.

Cheers much appreciated ..Sorry regards what a sais other day re-internet online stores ( Wasn't any bike dealer/s at all ) but i have been done for before after sending my bank details , this way back when I never received the item I sent for. But I understand also 9 out of 10 x times most stores etc are fine and genuine and bike dealers like Woosh shall be one of the Genuine firms out there .

Just that people on here are saying I got this bike from such a company or that company and fair enough , but it would be nice to see their pics of their bikes when bought from a company as then them thoughts would disappear and then be more so at ease in sending away for a bike online ..it is something i would do what ever way I do go is pic/s of bike up and where purchased . But thanks very much for you saying about possible conversion of bike I have much appreciated .

 

[Woosh]

even when you buy online, your consumer rights are respected and protected.
If you have a problem, the online seller or shop will have to assist you sorting it out, inside and outside the warranty period.
If you can replace the part yourself, then it's usually quite quick, an online seller will send you the new part to fit. If you can't fit it yourself, we arrange for a local shop to fit. We do sell to any bike shop that wants bikes from us on an informal basis. If you buy from a shop which gets your bike from us, you would still call us for support but the shop will do the fitting. The discount we offer to the shop is much less than what they'd get from the normal distribution chain, thus the shop will have charge you a little more than we would sell directly to you but still less than bikes sold through normal distribution channels.

 

[sjpt]

Bottom bracket is where the cranks connect (where the tubes meet at the bottom between the wheels. You need a special tool to remove it. You'd need to think about this if you wanted to do a crank/mid motor drive conversion. You can leave it as it is if you do a front wheel conversion.

 

[budsy]

Hi sjpt, Cheers for coming onto this appreciated ..

What the difference with a crank/mid motor and a front wheel conversion ?

 

[sjpt]

Crank/mid motor sits at the cranks; the motor drives through the chain and takes advantage of the gears so better for hill climbing. One downside is that it wears the chain a bit quicker. A front hub motor just drives the front wheel. There are disadvantages of the front hub; it doesn't take advantage of the gears and can slip on steep gravelly hills, but I'd think it would still be the best option for you. You can't do a rear hub conversion without losing your hub gears.

If you go for a conversion kit you'll almost certainly have to buy online, but as others have said no problems if you keep to the respectable sellers (Woosh, Yose and several others)

 

[budsy]

Crank/mid motor sits at the cranks; the motor drives through the chain and takes advantage of the gears so better for hill climbing. One downside is that it wears the chain a bit quicker. A front hub motor just drives the front wheel. There are disadvantages of the front hub; it doesn't take advantage of the gears and can slip on steep gravelly hills, but I'd think it would still be the best option for you. You can't do a rear hub conversion without losing your hub gears.

If you go for a conversion kit you'll almost certainly have to buy online, but as others have said no problems if you keep to the respectable sellers (Woosh, Yose and several others)

Thanks much but ill just buy a new ebike ill also put pics up
possibly sell the Raleigh Freedom 600 ? ill see , but thanks for your info apprciated.

 

[Markxc40]

I got another question on choosing which bike. I like the Cube Acid Hybrid one 500 series but they [Cube] have released a 2020 version.
This has the option of the bigger and better battery tube and also the Gen4 2020 motor however I'm struggling to find it online, can anybody point me in the right direction please. This configuration will kick the price up but using the gen4 motor with the lower battery I will be able to control the costing.

I've been on the Cube webby but I've not been able to locate it to read the spec.

 

[AJI]

The Bosch motors are very good, as are some of the other proprietary brands. Be aware that they are locked in, any repairs will have to go back to the dealer, who will probably have to send them back to Germany. This can be very expensive if out of warranty, and slow as well. Also any extra/replacement batteries come very expensive for the capacity, even allowing for the high quality cells they use.

Interesting what you say about repairs. I nobbled a mobile e-bike mechanic working from a van in the street for his views. He strongly advised getting a Bosch motor as it is always possible to get spares, even for the smallest screw - and, he said, they are very reliable.