Hi - I have joined this forum because I really need help

[jayjay]

Hi

I used to cycle a fair amount when I was younger.
I am now late 50's and not as fit. I am Horse riding fit rather than cycling fit. I also live on top of the North Downs.
Every ride I go on means that I have a very long hill on my way home.
I am also recovering fitness after Chemo, radiotherapy and surgery a couple of years ago.

I have tried a few bikes and love the fact that I can cycle all the way up the downs with them

I would like to make a decision this week and would like help - these are a few I am interesting - along with my "novice" observations...

prefer nearer £1000 but possibly could stretch to £1600
no less than 50 miles range please.
Oxygen S-CROSS ST Electric Bike
I really enjoyed riding this but felt a little overwhelmed by the number of power options and gears
are these all necessary?
are they all usefull
is it just more to go wrong?

Carrera Crossfire-E Womens Electric Hybrid
this is fine on the hills near home but I felt sea sick when I got off - not too sure about the "surging" feel
strange - when the assist modes are "off" the bike does not freewheel - odd to be slowing down when trying to freewheel down hill
Carrera Crossfuse Womens Electric Hybrid Bike -
this felt more natural to ride, better balance.
no odd surges
got up the hills ok
strange - when the assist modes are "off" the bike does not freewheel - odd to be slowing down when trying to freewheel down hill

not sure why the warranty is shorter on this than the crossfire

wondered about but not tried the Raleigh bikes

prefer not to have battery above the back wheels as balance does not feel so good.
prefer hybrid - will do some riding on road and some off road - gentle trails not mountains!!
I hope I have given you an idea of what I am looking for.
Please can you help me...

 

[Woosh]

Hello Jayjay,

Please take a look at the Woosh Santana3. It has large motor and battery, can do 50 miles on a full charge, is fairly lightweight among e-bikes and perfectly suited to ride big hills, especially if you can't predict when you have enough of pedaling, you can ride on throttle if you so wish.
http://wooshbikes.co.uk/?santana3

Best wishes,

Tony

 

[jayjay]

thank you Tony - will take a look

 

[jayjay]

Tony.do they all have smaller wheels? I notice they advertise the throttle...I thought that electric bikes were not allowed to have a throttle?

 

[Eagle]

jayjay,

Electric bikes can have throttles:

Harmonisation with EU law has had an important effect on electric bikes with ‘twist and go’ throttles that can take the bike to full speed without any pedalling at all.
From January 1 2016, the only throttles legal within the UK’s EAPC legislation are those that assist the rider without pedalling up to a maximum speed of 6 km/h (3.7 mph) – i.e. starting assistance only.

If the rider is rolling – but not pedalling – faster than 6km/h, the throttle cuts off. If the cyclist pedals at the same time then the throttle can still assist up to the general limit of 15.5mph.

http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/electric-bike-guides/uk-electric-bike-law/

http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/news/dft-updates-e-bike-law-2/

 

[jayjay]

jayjay,

Electric bikes can have throttles:

Harmonisation with EU law has had an important effect on electric bikes with ‘twist and go’ throttles that can take the bike to full speed without any pedalling at all.
From January 1 2016, the only throttles legal within the UK’s EAPC legislation are those that assist the rider without pedalling up to a maximum speed of 6 km/h (3.7 mph) – i.e. starting assistance only.

If the rider is rolling – but not pedalling – faster than 6km/h, the throttle cuts off. If the cyclist pedals at the same time then the throttle can still assist up to the general limit of 15.5mph.

http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/electric-bike-guides/uk-electric-bike-law/

http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/news/dft-updates-e-bike-law-2/

thank you - very helpful.
There is a lot to learn

 

[Woosh]

do they all have smaller wheels?

how tall are you? the 26" wheels on the Santana3 suit average height, 5ft3 to 6ft. If you are smaller than 5ft3, then the Petite with 24" wheels is better. If you are more than 6ft, I can replace the saddle post with a longer one (450mm).
If you are between 5ft6 and 6ft, I can fit a suspension seat post for extra comfort.

.I thought that electric bikes were not allowed to have a throttle?

As Eagle has already pointed out, the new law since January 2016 forbid twist and go throttle. You should pedal before switching on the full throttle.

 

[Fat Rat]

Hi welcome
Hope you find your perfect bike soon

 

[Gringo]

Carrera Crossfuse Womens Electric Hybrid Bike -
this felt more natural to ride, better balance.
no odd surges
got up the hills ok
strange - when the assist modes are "off" the bike does not freewheel - odd to be slowing down when trying to freewheel down hill

I'd have to question your comment that the crossfuse dose not freewheel, it has the same motor as in my cube acid one and with the power off my cube rides like a non assist bike, Just a little heavier Actually on any given hill it rolls faster than my non assisted bike

 

[fredtop]

I'd have to question your comment that the crossfuse dose not freewheel, it has the same motor as in my cube acid one and with the power off my cube rides like a non assist bike, Just a little heavier Actually on any given hill it rolls faster than my non assisted bike

My Crossfire also freewheels fine, have been up to 38mph going down some hills.

 

[RobF]

You appear to have got on best with the Oxygen, which is a strong hint.

It does have more power levels (nine?) than you need, but plenty of owners on here can advise on practical use.

You will probably find you only regularly use two or three levels.

You also may not need all the gears.

Likely outcome there is you leave the bike in the middle ring at the front and change mostly using the rear cogs.

The bigger battery will give close to 50 miles, but it may not on high power setting or if you do lots of climbing.

 

[Eagle]

jayjay,

As RobF says, “You appear to have got on best with the Oxygen, which is a strong hint.”

I have an Oxygen S-Cross MTB which is similar to the ST model and I am extremely pleased with it.

http://www.oxygenbicycles.com/e-bikes/s-cross-st

http://www.oxygenbicycles.com/e-bikes/s-cross-mtb

There are 3 Power modes: Power, Normal and Eco. Just leave it on the Normal setting which is the default.

There are 6 levels of power assistance (1 is the lowest and 6 is the highest). Select whichever is appropriate for the amount of extra “push” you need at any given time. As your fitness increases you will be able to reduce the amount of assistance required on a given section of road.
The greater the assistance, the shorter the range.

I strongly recommend that you choose the 13ah battery for the increased range over the 10.4ah one.

On the ST there are 7 x 3 = 21 gears in total, but most of the time you will only use a few of the main 7 in conjunction with the largest front chainring. You will find that the gears are very useful indeed.

The derailleur rear gear changing mechanism is very reliable. Just lubricate it (along with the rear sprockets and chain) on a regular basis as recommended by Oxygen.

http://www.oxygenbicycles.com/admin/resources/bike-downloads/user-manual-s-cross.pdf

Oxygen bikes are very reliable and have first class customer support.

 

[jayjay]

I'd have to question your comment that the crossfuse dose not freewheel, it has the same motor as in my cube acid one and with the power off my cube rides like a non assist bike, Just a little heavier Actually on any given hill it rolls faster than my non assisted bike

thats interesting - i was slowing all the time going down hill

 

[jayjay]

You appear to have got on best with the Oxygen, which is a strong hint.

It does have more power levels (nine?) than you need, but plenty of owners on here can advise on practical use.

You will probably fine you only regularly use two or three levels.

You also may not need all the gears.

Likely outcome there is you leave the bike in the middle ring at the front and change mostly using the rear cogs.

The bigger battery will give close to 50 miles, but it may not on high power setting or if you do lots of climbing.

thank you

 

[jayjay]

jayjay,

As RobF says, “You appear to have got on best with the Oxygen, which is a strong hint.”

I have an Oxygen S-Cross MTB which is similar to the ST model and I am extremely pleased with it.

http://www.oxygenbicycles.com/e-bikes/s-cross-st

http://www.oxygenbicycles.com/e-bikes/s-cross-mtb

There are 3 Power modes: Power, Normal and Eco. Just leave it on the Normal setting which is the default.

There are 6 levels of power assistance (1 is the lowest and 6 is the highest). Select whichever is appropriate for the amount of extra “push” you need at any given time. As your fitness increases you will be able to reduce the amount of assistance required on a given section of road.
The greater the assistance, the shorter the range.

I strongly recommend that you choose the 13ah battery for the increased range over the 10.4ah one.

On the ST there are 7 x 3 = 21 gears in total, but most of the time you will only use a few of the main 7 in conjunction with the largest front chainring. You will find that the gears are very useful indeed.

The derailleur rear gear changing mechanism is very reliable. Just lubricate it (along with the rear sprockets and chain) on a regular basis as recommended by Oxygen.

http://www.oxygenbicycles.com/admin/resources/bike-downloads/user-manual-s-cross.pdf

Oxygen bikes are very reliable and have first class customer support.

 

[Gringo]

thats interesting - i was slowing all the time going down hill

Yes that's puzzling, a motor on a crank drive bike can't have any braking effect as the rear wheel will be the same as on a unpowered bike and the hub will freewheel.
As the Crossfuse is a halfords bike it is quit possible it was badly assembled and you experienced binding brakes or something similar that a decent bike shop would have spotted.

 

[Big Al your Pal]

motor

 

[jayjay]

Hi

I used to cycle a fair amount when I was younger.
I am now late 50's and not as fit. I am Horse riding fit rather than cycling fit. I also live on top of the North Downs.
Every ride I go on means that I have a very long hill on my way home.
I am also recovering fitness after Chemo, radiotherapy and surgery a couple of years ago.

I have tried a few bikes and love the fact that I can cycle all the way up the downs with them

I would like to make a decision this week and would like help - these are a few I am interesting - along with my "novice" observations...

prefer nearer £1000 but possibly could stretch to £1600
no less than 50 miles range please.
Oxygen S-CROSS ST Electric Bike
I really enjoyed riding this but felt a little overwhelmed by the number of power options and gears
are these all necessary?
are they all usefull
is it just more to go wrong?

Carrera Crossfire-E Womens Electric Hybrid
this is fine on the hills near home but I felt sea sick when I got off - not too sure about the "surging" feel
strange - when the assist modes are "off" the bike does not freewheel - odd to be slowing down when trying to freewheel down hill
Carrera Crossfuse Womens Electric Hybrid Bike -
this felt more natural to ride, better balance.
no odd surges
got up the hills ok
strange - when the assist modes are "off" the bike does not freewheel - odd to be slowing down when trying to freewheel down hill

not sure why the warranty is shorter on this than the crossfire

wondered about but not tried the Raleigh bikes

prefer not to have battery above the back wheels as balance does not feel so good.
prefer hybrid - will do some riding on road and some off road - gentle trails not mountains!!
I hope I have given you an idea of what I am looking for.
Please can you help me...

Hi - also now looking at various Motus options...