Need help picking an eBike for a heavy rider

[snorkel]

Hi everyone, thanks for reading.

I'm looking to buy my first ebike to use mainly for a short commute of a hilly 3 miles to & from work + short rides on the weekends.

I'm a very big guy so I'm looking for a bike with a weight capacity of 130kg+ and ideally a good amount of torque as the hills murder me on my normal bike. I'd prefer a bike with gears too.

My budget is around £2000 but I'm enquiring with my work about using a cycle to work scheme which would increase my budget to around £2800.

I've wrapped my head around what kind of specs I'm looking for (I think) but there are just so many to choose from with varying levels of info on the shops' websites that I'm not sure which to pick...

For example I've been looking at the Rad Runner plus https://radpowerbikes.co.uk/collections/electric-bikes/products/radrunner-plus-electric-utility-bike & a Hikobike Vibe https://pedalandchain.co.uk/products/hikobike-vibe-step-through-electric-bike-670wh?variant=42975669944543

Has anyone here been in a similar situation? What bike did you pick and what do you think of it? Or do you have any recommendations? Thanks!

 

[Bonzo Banana]

The radrunners are based on a simpler likely more robust hub motor design which also will reduce the wear rate on the drivetrain as the motor works independently of the drivetrain however it won't get you up hills as well as a mid-drive motor in contrast the bike with the mid-drive motor has 100Nm of torque so will get you up hills more easily but is a much more complicated design more likely to fail and your drivetrain will wear faster too so likely to have more expense over the years. However both bikes seem good options but with contrasting positives and negatives.

The thing is at 130kg or more you will be wearing the bike out faster and components are likely to fail, it's important to get a bike with easy to replace components and avoid anything proprietary.

I often think a front hub motor is better for a heavier rider. More of your weight is on the rear so you will likely have more punctures there and because there is no motor on the rear wheel you can have a better gear system and remove the wheel easily for dealing with punctures. However that viewpoint is based around making the bike more easy to deal with day to day but may not provide the maximum hill climbing ability.

I think the difference between hub motor and mid-drive motor is basically how much hill assistance you need. Hub motors still provide a lot of assistance for hills but you will likely have to work a little harder on the hills but nowhere near as hard as on an unassisted bike.

I do think a US brand used to the very heavy riders of the USA will have more experience building bikes for such people. On conventional bicycles the US brands often have higher weight limits than European brands typically. So radrunner may not be a bad choice.

 

[Nealh]

Speak to David at Wisper bikes.

 

[Wisper Bikes]

Thanks Neil,

Hi Snorkel!

Our Wayfarer bikes would fit the bill well. I would recommend the Wayfarer M9 https://wisperbikes.com/shop/e-bikes/crossbar-ebikes/wayfarer-m9-mid-drive-crossbar/

For £2,800 we would supply you a mid drive Wayfarer with 100Nm of torque, and you are 5 kilos under the max weight this is a very sturdy machine.

If you need any assistance please email me david@wisperbikes.com we will have a dealer near to you I am sure.

All the best, David

 

[Bonzo Banana]

The Wisper bike and hikobike ebikes look broadly similar if you go the mid-drive route. Despite the Wisper site claiming it has a freewheel I'm pretty sure its a cassette fitted with a freehub rear wheel and not an entry level freewheel drivetrain. The Hikobike has a XCT fork and the Wisper XCM so an upgrade over the Hikobike. Then you have a 9 speed drivetrain on the Wisper and 10 speed drivetrain on the Hikobike. Mid-drives wear out chains and drivetrain components faster and typically the more gears the faster the wear rate as the teeth and chain links are thinner so that may not be an advantage on a mid-drive ebike. Wheel sizes is different too I think one is 26" and the other 27.5". There are a lot more tyre choices with 26" typically and 27.5" tyres tend to be focused more on off-road mountain bike tyres. Mid-drive motors have dedicated frames and if it has an internal battery it is very proprietary. If the frame does fail in a few years, the battery fails or the motor fails you can expect big bills to sort it and it may simply be uneconomic to repair and of course drivetrain components will wear much, much faster than hub drive ebikes typically because you are putting up to 100Nm of torque through the chain in addition to your own rider power. If you are going to be clocking up not just 100s but maybe 1000s of miles over its lifespan this can be a lot more money.

 

[Wisper Bikes]

I agree with most of what you say.

Tyre choice is greater on 26” however the choices for 27.5s are growing quickly. Indeed 27.5 not only are available in great city and ballon tyres but of course there’s masses of choice from mild off road to very serious eMTB styles. For the Wayfarer we felt 27.5 was the obvious choice.

Wayfarers are available in either hub or mid drive. I felt that considering the OPs weight he may prefer the mid.

All the best, David

 

[Nealh]

I wondered what all the fuss was about with 650b/27.5 " but now know, my Kona Ute is shod with 650b WTB wheels/tyres and although only only 47c the bike rides so much nicer then my 26" mtb with 2.35" tyres and though I like my 700c's are night and day over them comfort wise.

WTB or specalised 2bliss are my go to tyres for 700c or 650b.

 

[snorkel]

Very helpful and insightful comments, thank you! I have some time to browse & research more so I'll bear these things in mind. The wisper seems to have a lot more dealers a lot closer than the Hikobike which so I'll definitely bookmark it.

 

[Bonzo Banana]

I wondered what all the fuss was about with 650b/27.5 " but now know, my Kona Ute is shod with 650b WTB wheels/tyres and although only only 47c the bike rides so much nicer then my 26" mtb with 2.35" tyres and though I like my 700c's are night and day over them comfort wise.

WTB or specalised 2bliss are my go to tyres for 770c or 650b.

Surely thicker tyres generally are more comfortable especially if inflated correctly for your weight to maximise the suspension effect. I find that if you have a 27.5" frame but fit 26" wheels with something like fat frank tyres the comfort is massively improved or you have a 29" frame but fit 27.5" wheels but with 27.5" plus tyres the comfort is improved. The thicker you can get the tyres the better however such heavier tyres have more rolling resistance but with an ebike that is less of an issue. As wheels get bigger you have to have more spokes to keep the same level of strength, i.e. a 30 spoke 26" wheel (yes I realise 30 spokes is not really a thing) would be similar in strength to a 32 spoke 27.5" wheel or a 36 spoke 29" wheel. That is a general rule of course there are many variables. I think I personally favour the thickest tyres I can get away with for an ebike, that gives more grip for safer stopping and more puncture protection as the load of the bike is shared over a wider surface area that reduces possible penetration into the tyre. I don't do actual fat bikes but sort of go for a mini-fat bike setup with the biggest tyres I can fit to a conventional frame. So for me a 36 spoke 26" wheel with double wall rim running a freehub hub is a super strong wheel that needs very little attention and I would typically replace the caged bearings with loose bearings. Sealed bearings while low maintenance typically use smaller bearings so low maintenance but typically not as strong for heavier riders. My perspective is definitely from a heavy rider viewpoint being heavy myself.

 

[Nealh]

The 650b one can simply also lessen the PSI for trail running, it negates the need for heavy suspension. 5 - 10 psi less makes a big difference.