Hi Mike Wilson, living in the South of France with too many hills and a baby!

[Michael Wilson]

Hi there all,

Well I've been looking into this electric bike think and although I almost went for a french Moustache.. after a lot of research discovered that a Kalkhoff would be a better bet!

I will be needing to communte about 50 miles minimum each day with a 1 year old on the bike and some luggage.

Despite a lot of researching around.. I can't seem to see the difference between the Pro Connect Impulse 8G and the 10G..(apart from the obvious number of gears!) Is there a real difference in wear of cogs with the 10G or was that just hearsay?

Furthermore, not really trusting these french salesmen I would prefer to get my bike in the UK where my family live (parents, brothers sisters etc)

Any advice! Petrol is getting more and more expensive over here and I'm looking to sell my Honda 800VFR to get a really good pedelec!

 

[RobF]

I think 50 miles a day - every day - is too much on an ebike.

Saddle time alone will be four hours or more.

Then there's weather and traffic to contend with.

At the very least you need to try an ebike yourself before deciding.

Good news there is the Kalkhoff seller in the UK, 50 Cycles, do have bikes on demo.

 

[Kudoscycles]

Michael.....50 miles every day is a long way,even on an e-bike,one of my customers. ....mfj197,also Mike.... who is also a forum member,commuted 22 miles each way,each day,he borrowed a Kudos Typhoon to see the viability of such a commute.
I think if you search the forum you can find his report on his commute,i think it will be a useful read to anyone planning a long commute.
KudosDave

 

[mfj197]

As Dave mentions above I have a reasonable commute too. The thread for the comparison of a pedelec versus my road bike for this commute is here. I wasn't sure it would work for me as much of my commute is fairly flat cruising, potentially above the 15.5mph cutoff speed built into many of the pedelec bikes. Col from KTM tried a similar test and his route was significantly more hilly, which played to the advantages of a pedelec i.e. electric assist uphill (unhindered by 15.5mph cutoff), gravity assist downhill. If your commute is indeed hilly then a pedelec could well suit you. But yes, you'd have to be prepared to put the time in the saddle, and they are not as comfortable as your VFR!

Michael

 

[KirstinS]

Just a thought from someone with 2 young kids

4 hours a day seems a hell if a lot of saddle time for a 1 year old.

Not sure about health implications of doing this daily. It's a lots of jolting and juddering on young , bendy skeleton

Certainly at one year old 4 hours probably involves changing nappies and feeding

How will you protect them from weather ? Use a chariot ?

50 miles, with child and winter = car for me !

Just my tuppence though

 

[mfj197]

Very good points KirstinS. I guess some could be mitigated by pulling a child trailer, but even so it is a huge time for a child to be travelling day in day out.

Michael

 

[Michael Wilson]

Thanks for all your replies.. in fact its more like 50km top maximum.
With only 13km total in the day with my daughter who will be 1 year old by then.

My route is 10km to work and 10km back but quite often I tend to do this twice as I pop back for lunch!

It is quite hilly here.. with a few trips into town in my breaks I'm sure that the kms will mount up to around 50km.... and yes I spend most of my day moving around as I also teach English all around town!

 

[mfj197]

Michael, that looks considerably more doable. An electric bike makes a lot more sense for you and your 1-year-old at these sorts of distances. Your daughter would only be on the bike for maybe 35 or 40 minutes in the day (so I guess 20 minutes there, 20 minutes back).

Michael