Hi from Wales

[Black Dog]

Name is Richard, here to learn and get advice. I cycled a lot in my teens and 20s, but have done less as I have got older, and I am now 60 and decidedly unfit. My main passion is motorcycles, but I have a lot of love for pushbikes and would love to get back into it. An ebike might be just the thing. My wife is less experienced, but absolutely loves her bikes (we used to take them to France on holiday, dump the car and just ride). Sadly, she has had some serious health issues in the last few years, the bikes have stayed in the shed, and probably won't be riding her pushbike very much from now on. However, she reckons that an ebike might be a possibility for her. Lots to find out, so here we are. Looking forward to picking everyone's brains.

 

[Jonah]

Welcome Richard. It sounds like ebikes could be just the thing you're looking for. If you're not too far from Bristol, that's a really good place to try out a variety of bikes. 3 different ebike shops covering about a dozen brands. It's best to try riding some bikes early on in the research so you can get a better idea of what works for you. You should get plenty of advice and opinion on here but there is no substitute for first hand experience.

 

[Black Dog]

Thanks Jonah. I am not too far from Brissle (2 hours on M4) so I may well give them a ring and devote a day to it. I think the closest dealership to me is Cyclemart in Cilcennin, about 30 mins away, who deal in Volt bikes. We got talking to a couple at a campsite at Kielder a few weeks ago who had matching Volt Metros, and couldn't praise them enough. I even had a go on one, although not enough to form a firm impression. They looked great, but having researched a bit, they seem very pricy for what they are, and I am not sure we need folding bikes. We always just put the pushbikes in the caravan when we travelled. I am 100 kg and might decide to commute on it if things work out, so a folder may not be the best choice for me. In fact, I have an elderly MTB and I am wondering whether a power kit for that might be feasible. Still at the 'outline planning' stage, I guess. Great forum!

 

[wissy]

Croeso

I bought myself a crank motor pedelec which means apparantly it cycles more like a bicycle and goes up hill easier as i had lots of gears .. And yes I do need all the gears despite many people saying you do not need them on a pedelec... I bought a KTM macina dual hs over a year ago and despite some issues with the Bosch motor (getting a new one) recently it has been amazing and I have cycled daily from Anglesey to Snowdonia for work. it has twistey gear change thing which is brill for arthritic fingers. I am also female and have dodgy knees and a bit like your wife used to cycle enthusiastically in younger days.... (i am not yet 50). And I suppose I am still in denial as i still have about three 'normal' bikes of mine in the shed and even bedroom!

The pedelec got me back on a bike which is great. I never did test any bikes but asked loads of questions here and got some great suggestions (except for repeated buy a tonaro replies ). I did get to try an AVE with a few gears and was not a Bosch and i hated it. So crank it is my end. i bought my bike from electrifyingcycles off here and their support despite me being other end of another country (england ) have been fantastic. they even let me post it to them for a service!

I originally wanted a haibike so am now treating myself soon to a 2015 trekking model from e-bikeshop.

Pob lwc gyda'r ymchwiliadau a'r ymholiadau.

 

[Black Dog]

S'mae a diolch yn fawr, Wisi (which just about exhausts my Welsh, as I am from Yorkshire - lived here 24 years and have picked up only a little of yr hen iaith!).

I used to live on Anglesey, so I know you have a heck of a commute there. Brilliant that you can do it on a bike. You sound to have had good service from electifyingcycles - I'll make a note of that. I think we are going to brave a visit to Bristol soon and have a sit and a play with as many as possible. My wife is sensibly delaying things a little here - if it had been up to me, I would have had the credit card out for the Woosh Big Bear by now

I do love my MTB, though, and I am seriously considering a chain drive motor for it - except that it seems once you have bought the kit and the battery, you could almost have had a brand new bike

Anyway, onwards and upwards. Diolch i chi eto, a dymuniadau gorau.

 

[Kudoscycles]

Richard,I ride the little Kudos Secret bike up hills I would struggle to walk up. We sell many of these bikes to motor home users who find the light 18 kg weight useful to lift on the rear rack or partially fold and put inside.
The dual height seat post makes this bike comfortable for anyone from 5 ft to 6 ft.
I am 6 ft and weigh 17 stone.
I suppose like all 20 " wheeled bikes I don't go for very long bike rides,normally my maximum is about 10 miles but that is more about my comfort than the bike,the battery range is about 25 miles.
I have a new dealer in Weston super Mare and also Telford,both stock the Kudos Tornado.
Hope that helps.
KudosDave

 

[Black Dog]

Thanks, Dave - another brand to add to my list. Interesting because physically we are almost identical My commute is 26 miles round trip, so I will be looking for something with a big battery - if I do decide to do that, which is still; under debate. The last 2 miles to work is on a road which I'm not keen on for safety reasons, even on the motorbike, so I am very much in two minds about it. But from a health point of view, some decent exercise every day is what I need badly. Will have a look at the website later, thanks.

 

[Black Dog]

Done it! We visited a dealership on Saturday for a 'look' and came away with two ebikes - a Raleigh Motus LS for my wife and a Wisper 905 Classic for me. We've had a couple of trial runs and the bikes seem great, although the buying process wasn't perfect (not saying more, still being sorted). Anna was content with a sighting lap up to the village and back, which left her tired but happy (no crashes, no embarrassment) and I went a bit further and demolished two of the three hills out of here that were mentally preventing us from riding at all on the push-bikes.

Will post more in the appropriate forum.

 

[Jonah]

They are both good bikes. It would be interesting to know if you tried lots of different bikes and what it was that made you pick these two? The most important thing is that you enjoy riding them and make the most of any good weather we have this summer.

 

[Black Dog]

To be honest, these were the first bikes we had tried. The dealer we used was over 50 miles away, and the next closest are about 60 miles and then 100+, so trialling a lot of bikes was going to take a lot of time and fuel. The penalty for living in a rural area! We both tried the Motus and loved it, but the dealer only had one in stock, with a gents model due in October. I wasn't prepared to wait that long, but if he had had a gents and low-step Motus in the shop on that day we would have blown our budget and bought both. However, I tried a couple of others (the Volt Pulse being the other one I had my eye on from my research) and the Wisper seemed the most comfortable and robust (I am over 100 kg). In the metal, the Pulse looked a bit flimsy and nowhere near as good as on the Volt website. So we got the 905 Classic for me and the Motus LS for my wife.

So I haven't followed the group wisdom of 'try as many as you can', but I'm pretty happy that we have got something suitable - and, more to the point, we have them in the garage right now, and not on order for several months down the line. Time will tell if we have made the right decisions, but I am happy with what we have done so far. The Motus, especially, is a superb bit of kit and the build quality fully justifies the £2k price.

The only downside so far has been a big question over the standard of preparation of the Wisper, as the bike would seem not have had a proper PDI before we bought it. But I have contacted the seller, and I won't say anything here until I have had a response from him. He spent a lot of time helping us choose, and making adjustments to suit my wife's medical issues, so I don't want to be unfair to him.

 

[jackhandy]

As long as you're happy with the bikes, that's everything really.
Don't be tempted to try-out any others & you'll remain happy

 

[Jonah]

As long as you're happy with the bikes, that's everything really.
Don't be tempted to try-out any others & you'll remain happy

You have two good bikes so no need to worry.

 

[Black Dog]

Thanks, jackhandy and Jonah. I will try not to ride any others and become unhappy

Issue with the dealer is now fully resolved, I am pleased to say.