Hello. This is my first post after lurking here for ages and absorbing views, reviews and opinions. I'm in the market for an e-bike, having a rather typical profile of being late fifties, somewhat unfit but wanting a mixture of exercise and easier negotiation of excellent cycling paths around my area when it gets windy or hilly.
There is a lot of good advice here and this website is a brilliant haven for those educating themselves about the ins and outs of the e-bike world.
What strikes me immediately after a lot of detailed research is that the variations in prices of many e-bikes borders on the bizarre, but I see there are mixed opinions about so-called quality products against the perceived cheap and cheerful alternatives, together with a little indignance expressed towards what seem to me to be rather good bikes under £800, and countering objections to machines that are well over £2000 but seem not to deliver a superior quality that the price difference would imply.
Unless one is looking for cutting edge, ultra light carbon fibre machines, workaday bikes are rather like modern wines. They have improved beyond recognition since perhaps ten years ago and it's hard to find a completely duff product. For example I recently purchased a Halfords sale bike for my girlfriend as a starter bike. It is perfectly serviceable, reasonably light, has 18 gears and is not going to fall to bits. It cost me £99!!
Looking at the vast majority of even expensive e-bikes, most of them are not manufactured in the sense that word implies, but are "assembled" from pretty standard components available to anyone provided they open an account with an asian supplier. It seems to me that typical running gear is, with noble exceptions, similar on many bikes, and that there are just two items which define whether a given e-bike is any good....the quality and power of the battery and the efficiency of the motor. Provided the frame is decent, nearly everything else seems to be purchasable for relatively peanuts, or at least quite cheaply.
I am very intrigued therefore, that many self appointed "premium" makes which are clearly sourcing their components from virtually the same chinese or taiwanese suppliers as everyone else, have the cheek to market their machines at up to three or four times the price of a more modest bike. Perhaps economies of scale, or their lack, are a factor.
Anyway, I'm rambling.
I have a really nice, four year old Dahon Jetstream folder, and I'd like to add a motor. But it has front fork spacing of only 73 mm as against the standard 100 mm gap, and I can't find a hub motor that fits it. I'm not prepared to risk pulling the aluminium forks apart, so my question is: does anyone know of a hub motor which fits these narrow forks?
Secondly, if I can't find the solution to the above, I will sell the Dahon and buy a ready-made folder with a decent motor, or perhaps a non folder. The variation in prices for this kind of bike are truly mind-boggling, and to my mind demonstrate that the cliche "you get what you pay for" doesn't always apply to e-bikes. Why should I buy an electric folder quoted at £1,200-£1,500 or more when CLEARLY there are much cheaper makes having palpably similar build quality, batteries and motors, or at least very close specifications.
I'm after TORQUE, not just speed, and it surprises me how little detail on torque is given by typical blurb on ebike websites. There is no point in me achieving 15.5 mph on a hub motor if the bike dies with the slightest breeze or incline. To that end I cannot see that an expensive bike weighing 26-28 kg can possibly be justified when at has a 24 volt, 6-8 AH battery and low spec motor.
There are several suppliers of virtually identical hub retrofits which are truly bizarre in price difference, ranging from £390 to an eye watering £1200 for IDENTICAL components. Someone, somewhere, is taking the mick!
Looking at the reviews and having test ridden a few makes, bikes such as the Aliens knock many other very expensive bikes to a cocked hat for price and power. I'm sure someone will chime in and tell me that such and such a make at £3000 is so much better, but frankly it would take more persuasion than that.
There are two makes in particular, prominently discussed here, which have pretty ordinary specs but are marketed at £1,400 and above, yet have very modest batteries which clearly are going to run out of steam very quickly. Perhaps these makes have fantastic qualities which I am blind to.
Would anyone like to suggest a folder, reasonably priced, that has a decent frame, decent brakes and a reasonable amount of torque, which doesn't cost five times more than one would expect? Please note I have NO prejudice about bikes made in China or Timbukto or anywhere else! I have seen Chinese machines with full suspension and perfectly good batteries (AND good customer feedback) for less than £600 and at the other extreme a rather handsome machine whose £2000 price tag is receive by somewhat mixed reviews and comments.
Help me navigate through the mire!!
There is a lot of good advice here and this website is a brilliant haven for those educating themselves about the ins and outs of the e-bike world.
What strikes me immediately after a lot of detailed research is that the variations in prices of many e-bikes borders on the bizarre, but I see there are mixed opinions about so-called quality products against the perceived cheap and cheerful alternatives, together with a little indignance expressed towards what seem to me to be rather good bikes under £800, and countering objections to machines that are well over £2000 but seem not to deliver a superior quality that the price difference would imply.
Unless one is looking for cutting edge, ultra light carbon fibre machines, workaday bikes are rather like modern wines. They have improved beyond recognition since perhaps ten years ago and it's hard to find a completely duff product. For example I recently purchased a Halfords sale bike for my girlfriend as a starter bike. It is perfectly serviceable, reasonably light, has 18 gears and is not going to fall to bits. It cost me £99!!
Looking at the vast majority of even expensive e-bikes, most of them are not manufactured in the sense that word implies, but are "assembled" from pretty standard components available to anyone provided they open an account with an asian supplier. It seems to me that typical running gear is, with noble exceptions, similar on many bikes, and that there are just two items which define whether a given e-bike is any good....the quality and power of the battery and the efficiency of the motor. Provided the frame is decent, nearly everything else seems to be purchasable for relatively peanuts, or at least quite cheaply.
I am very intrigued therefore, that many self appointed "premium" makes which are clearly sourcing their components from virtually the same chinese or taiwanese suppliers as everyone else, have the cheek to market their machines at up to three or four times the price of a more modest bike. Perhaps economies of scale, or their lack, are a factor.
Anyway, I'm rambling.
I have a really nice, four year old Dahon Jetstream folder, and I'd like to add a motor. But it has front fork spacing of only 73 mm as against the standard 100 mm gap, and I can't find a hub motor that fits it. I'm not prepared to risk pulling the aluminium forks apart, so my question is: does anyone know of a hub motor which fits these narrow forks?
Secondly, if I can't find the solution to the above, I will sell the Dahon and buy a ready-made folder with a decent motor, or perhaps a non folder. The variation in prices for this kind of bike are truly mind-boggling, and to my mind demonstrate that the cliche "you get what you pay for" doesn't always apply to e-bikes. Why should I buy an electric folder quoted at £1,200-£1,500 or more when CLEARLY there are much cheaper makes having palpably similar build quality, batteries and motors, or at least very close specifications.
I'm after TORQUE, not just speed, and it surprises me how little detail on torque is given by typical blurb on ebike websites. There is no point in me achieving 15.5 mph on a hub motor if the bike dies with the slightest breeze or incline. To that end I cannot see that an expensive bike weighing 26-28 kg can possibly be justified when at has a 24 volt, 6-8 AH battery and low spec motor.
There are several suppliers of virtually identical hub retrofits which are truly bizarre in price difference, ranging from £390 to an eye watering £1200 for IDENTICAL components. Someone, somewhere, is taking the mick!
Looking at the reviews and having test ridden a few makes, bikes such as the Aliens knock many other very expensive bikes to a cocked hat for price and power. I'm sure someone will chime in and tell me that such and such a make at £3000 is so much better, but frankly it would take more persuasion than that.
There are two makes in particular, prominently discussed here, which have pretty ordinary specs but are marketed at £1,400 and above, yet have very modest batteries which clearly are going to run out of steam very quickly. Perhaps these makes have fantastic qualities which I am blind to.
Would anyone like to suggest a folder, reasonably priced, that has a decent frame, decent brakes and a reasonable amount of torque, which doesn't cost five times more than one would expect? Please note I have NO prejudice about bikes made in China or Timbukto or anywhere else! I have seen Chinese machines with full suspension and perfectly good batteries (AND good customer feedback) for less than £600 and at the other extreme a rather handsome machine whose £2000 price tag is receive by somewhat mixed reviews and comments.
Help me navigate through the mire!!
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