Unfortunately it is true. My DIY ebike had a dinner plate Chinese DD rear hub and a 52V 20Ah battery with LG cells and throttle only; proper Deliveroo spec. The controller was rated at 35A, you can do the maths. It did still have working pedals but wasn't at all legal to use on the road. It was fun and cheap and capable of 35mph but the threat of the police crackdowns and an unclear response from the Chinese seller whether the battery BMS had temperature control forced my hand. I have too much to lose now.
So I sold it for cash and handed that cash to a young lad for his beaten up 50cc moped. It's the best thing I did, it needed a few general maintenance items but after that, it was ready to go. My current insurers were happy to tag on the moped fully comp with commuting for pro rata £37 a year. That's probably less than some pay to insure their bicycle. It's a four stroke so does 100+ mpg and tax is £25 which seems a lot given the size of the engine but isn't the end of the world.
This post is just a note to those with high power ebikes that really do consider a moped. It wasn't nearly as expensive as I thought it would be and now I can sling a helmet on and potter around at 30mph without worrying about every Insignia estate in the mirror, I just have to use the small bit of road next to the cycle paths instead. It's also massively comfortable with its soft wide seat. Yes, a tiny bit more regular maintenance but the ebike wasn't free of that either. Especially as a high power DIY, I had many problems melting connectors (contributed to the fire risk) and wearing brakes and suspension with heavy use. However, I am grateful for the knowledge gained while building the thing as we enter the era of PLEVs, it's just not ready for my use case yet.
That's one more illegal ebike off the street.
So I sold it for cash and handed that cash to a young lad for his beaten up 50cc moped. It's the best thing I did, it needed a few general maintenance items but after that, it was ready to go. My current insurers were happy to tag on the moped fully comp with commuting for pro rata £37 a year. That's probably less than some pay to insure their bicycle. It's a four stroke so does 100+ mpg and tax is £25 which seems a lot given the size of the engine but isn't the end of the world.
This post is just a note to those with high power ebikes that really do consider a moped. It wasn't nearly as expensive as I thought it would be and now I can sling a helmet on and potter around at 30mph without worrying about every Insignia estate in the mirror, I just have to use the small bit of road next to the cycle paths instead. It's also massively comfortable with its soft wide seat. Yes, a tiny bit more regular maintenance but the ebike wasn't free of that either. Especially as a high power DIY, I had many problems melting connectors (contributed to the fire risk) and wearing brakes and suspension with heavy use. However, I am grateful for the knowledge gained while building the thing as we enter the era of PLEVs, it's just not ready for my use case yet.
That's one more illegal ebike off the street.
