looking for a starter e-bike - amazon (swifty) or Halfords range

[sunshinewelly]

I am a complete novice when it comes to e-bikes - I am looking for something that will go off road ie lanes and paths - i don't intend to do any real mountain biking as such

There are a couple of ebikes on amazon

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Swifty-Electric-Mountain-Black-Orange/dp/B086KKZYLH/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8&th=1

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09KH87GFY/ref=sspa_dk_hqp_detail_aax_0?psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUFXTDZWMFFJNjFGT1EmZW5jcnlwdGVkSWQ9QTAwNTY4OTIySVA1VllWTDhINDFHJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTA0MDQ3NDQ3VkU5STU1SVhCUzAmd2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9ocXBfc2hhcmVkJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

and halfords have a more expensive range

Carrera Subway E Mens Electric Hybrid Bike 2.0 - S, M, L Frames | Halfords UK

Shop the latest Carrera Subway E Mens Electric Hybrid Bike 2021 - 16", 18", 20" Frames at Halfords UK

www.halfords.com

is the halford version worth the extra £400 over the swifty

 

[sjpt]

The Amazon ones have both got similar capacity (small) batteries. You'll probably get less than 20 miles range on either of them unless you are quite light and keep to mainly level roads. The Halford's has a bigger battery, but still fairly small, expect under 30 miles ranges. That may be more than you need anyway?

The disc brakes on the Swifty and Subway should be more powerful than the V-brakes on the Hyper; but I suspect they are pretty poor quality, especially the Swifty ones.

The Suntour system on the Halford's has a history of being unreliable. It may have improved, but ...

They'll all have fairly basic control systems; they'll get you along but assistance won't be as seamless as on more expensive bikes.

It looks as if the gear range is a bit better on the Halford's, I'm not sure. Gear range is less important on an e-bike than a regular bike.

You'll quite likely get next to no support on the Amazon ones, support from Halford's depends a lot on luck of your local store.

Look at Woosh, eg https://wooshbikes.co.uk/?faro from £999 (with small battery). https://wooshbikes.co.uk/?camino may be above your budget at £1229. It is mail order only unless you are near Southend, but you'll get a better bike and much better support.

 

[guerney]

Amazon sellers can be ok, but one shouldn't assume or expect that if products are dispatched from the UK, that tech support will be based here too - the seller I bought my bbs01b conversion kit told me before purchase that they had "Many diagnostic facilities throughout Europe", yet when my controller stopped working (this was my fault - terrible soldering skills, much improved since ), I had to post it to where their "Diagnostic Facility" actually was, in China, and at my own cost. But they did send me a free brand new controller... three weeks later.

 

[sunshinewelly]

cheers everyone - that's very helpful