New bike

Hi all, I sold my car yesterday and we are now a one car family. I'm going to buy an electric bike this weekend to help get me to work and back. I am tempted to buy a bike on ebay for a grand called an Alien aurora as it states it's excellent at climbing hills and this would suit me as I'm not what you would call slim, but it also states it's not road legal and I not sure what the penalty would be if the police stopped me, would they impound the bike and arrest me? or just give a ticket? in fact now I've just written about being arrested I've put myself off and better look for another bike all together!

It's very unlikely that you would be stopped, but you would be looking at an offence for no insurance and the rest of the grief which goes with using a mechanically propelled vehicle on a road without any documents whatsoever.

 

Before buying a bike, you really should try out a few. £1000 is a lot to spend if it falls into dususe because it's not what you are expecting.

Definately try before you buy!

Where are you Joe? There are many bike shops that will let you have a go, hopefully somewhere hilly...

We've been here before with this argument, and the general feeling seems to be that if you're riding sensibly, within the law, the odds are extremely slim that you'll get stopped, and even if you DO get stopped, even slimmer that they'll attempt to analyse your bike's capabilities.

 

If on the other hand you are under 17, drive like a lunatic (on pavements, through pedestrians, as FAST as you can), then the odds on being stopped and turned over shorten considerably.

 

There IS a risk if you even HAVE an off-road button, as the law talks about bikes that are 'capable' of higher speeds, rather than bikes being 'ridden' at higher speeds, but given the above, it is a very slight risk.

 

Allen.

I am tempted to buy a bike on ebay for a grand called an Alien aurora as it states it's excellent at climbing hills

I don't know what the Alien is like but even the weakest ebikes around claim that, don't believe the hype.

Fair point, mussels - and as you (bigjoe) say you're not exactly slim, then watch out for them hills. I'm the same weight, and my Wisper 905 gets up them, but only with a LOT of effort on the pedals, too. And north London isn't the hilliest part of the country.

 

In fact, one (to me) enormous hill up in Stanmore defeated me; I got to within 100 yards of the top, but had to walk the rest.

 

Point being: Wisper 905 with top rated battery, 2010 model, is up there with the BEST hill-climbing machines (Kalkhoffs probably being superior), and if mine can't manage it, then most bottom-price bikes will probably fail, too.

 

Take test rides, and be patient - don't rush in.

 

 

A.

I don't know what the Alien is like but even the weakest ebikes around claim that, don't believe the hype.

 

Just ask the Alien owners here The GSII with 250W climbs hills well so there's really no reason to doubt that at 350w and a 19Amp controller the Aurora wouldn't also...

 

Point being: Wisper 905 with top rated battery, 2010 model, is up there with the BEST hill-climbing machines (Kalkhoffs probably being superior), and if mine can't manage it, then most bottom-price bikes will probably fail, too.

 

A.

 

Just because you have a large battery doesn't mean your bike can climb hills well (I don't doubt yours can though) the controller and how its set up will determine how much power the motor will be allowed make, sure, a weak / poor battery will die quickly but its not the determining factor and nor is price I'm afraid, price is no indication of hill climbing ability.

Once the hills become steep the Aurora suffers like most other e bikes and even on high power you do have to input somewhat, BUT! and it is a big but! on the average hill the increase in climbing ability is very noticeable. Range per charge is obviously reduced because of the extra power but that`s what it`s all about.