Is a 28 mile round commute too far?

[Geebee]

Electrically, the Tasman Classic is excellent.
But for 28 miles a day I would buy a model with suspension fork to save my wrists and back.
Not too keen on the colour though.

Trex bear in mind its a Dutch style position almost no weight on the hands, my Esprit has front suspension but the front wheel is so lightly loaded I do wonder if it really does any thing other than dive under brakes.
Strangely I quite like the colour, at least it would increases visibility.

 

[trex]

it's the road surface irregularities and pot holes that I am thinking about. We are talking about a sizeable investment which only makes sense if KB rides 28 miles a day, not 8 miles a day.
If KB gives up after 3 months, the resale value is half what she pays for because of the mileage, that will work out £10 depreciation a day.
The Tasman would be for keep (at least 2 years). In her position, I would buy a cheapo bike to ride to the tram station and the occasional long rides until I can be sure that I can ride consistently 28 miles. It's not only the fatigue, it's the time spent commuting. If KB decides for 28 miles commute then, sell the cheapo bike on ebay and get something like this HS8G.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Bosch, Panasonic and Kalkhoff crank-drives are great if you're already a cyclist. They make you pedal much harder than what you have to with an Ezee bike. They don't have throttles either, so you can't take a rest when you're tired.

I hope Kellybear doesn't take this the wrong way, but if the criteria are heavy out of condition rider, step-through frame, minimum 14 miles, then you're pretty well limited to an Ezee bike. Other bikes might be prettier or more expensive or have other desirable characteristics. They might suit other people, but they're not for you.

 

[RobF]

It's always nice to make encouraging noises, but the short answer is a 28 mile commute is too far, especially for a new rider.

I've been ebiking a while and I still feel a 30 mile leisure ride.

Combining that with a day's work and all weathers would not work for me.

Leaving aside speed, most commutes are stop/start, so this could easily be 90 minutes plus each way.

More than three hours a day in the saddle is only doable if you are doing very little else.

 

[trex]

we've been round the house a couple of times.
How about the £799 Santana-CD for KB?

 

[flapajack]

It's always nice to make encouraging noises, but the short answer is a 28 mile commute is too far, especially for a new rider.

I've been ebiking a while and I still feel a 30 mile leisure ride.

Combining that with a day's work and all weathers would not work for me.

Leaving aside speed, most commutes are stop/start, so this could easily be 90 minutes plus each way.

More than three hours a day in the saddle is only doable if you are doing very little else.

+1 on all that.

I have started commuting on bike (non electric) and the journey is 18 miles each way. Believe me, it is not for the faint hearted and certainly not for the unfit. I am only doing it to get fitter and then only thinking about once or at most twice a week. 14 miles each way will take at least 60-80 mins and likely to be too heavy going for daily commute - especially on the journey home. I wouldn't do it to "commute", as it were.

 

[Artstu]

The route makes a huge difference to how manageable the commute is. without knowing what the route entails you can only second guess.
For sure even doing an easy route with very little elevation change will take some building up to, even for someone in the normal weight range.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

When I started ebiking, I could hardly pedal, but I was soon doing a 28mile commute on a relatively low powered bike. It's two 14 mile journeys rather than a 28 mile one. 14 miles on an Ezee bike would be nothing. You could throttle all the way.

 

[flapajack]

Sounds like maybe I should invest in a pedelec too

 

[KellyBear]

Thank you all for yoir messages, not offended by any comments and appreciate the feedback and suggestions.

I've been to Juicy Bike today and had a good try out of a few of the bikes there, including the Classic click. I was very impressed with the quality, feel and Bob was super knowledgeable.

Going to go try a few more hopefully tomorrow or next weekend to help make my decision.

Again - thank you all and sorry for going round in circles with my questions and options.

 

[Croxden]

It seemed to take me forever to get one, none really felt special to me until I got onto the Delite. If I had tried that first it would have saved so much time, I hope your perfect machine turns up soon.

 

[wehey]

When I started ebiking, I could hardly pedal, but I was soon doing a 28mile commute on a relatively low powered bike. It's two 14 mile journeys rather than a 28 mile one. 14 miles on an Ezee bike would be nothing. You could throttle all the way.

That's exactly the point I was trying to make in my earlier post.

I can go 12-13miles at 20+ mph without pedalling at all on my Ezee.

 

[Artstu]

I can go 12-13miles at 20+ mph without pedalling at all on my Ezee.

Throw in 1000 feet of climbing and I presume it would be about 4 miles ?

 

[Deleted member 4366]

There's a lot of battery options for the Ezee. I'll bet my bike against yours than an Ezee bike can do 14 miles including climbing 1000ft without pedalling and without having to recharge provided that the hills are not steeper than 10%. For steeper hills, it depends on the weight of the rider. It'll manage a 15% hill with a 75kg rider without pedalling provided the hill can be completed within 6.1 minutes.

 

[Artstu]

6.1 minutes ? what happens after that?

How about 42 miles with 4900 feet of climbing. I'd like to do a comparison one day. I'd be amazed to see a 400 w/h battery last to the 9 mile mark on that ride in a bike with no input from the rider.

Average speed 16.3 mph

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Ezee batteries are a lot more than 400wh! The Ezee Torq starts at 540wH with an optional 720wh. If you talk to John, I'm sure he can arrange a lot more than that.