newbie looking for a cheap e-bike for commuting. Any recommendation?
- Thread starter trex
- Start date
D
Deleted member 4366
Guest
Just because the 8Fun bike doesn't have an elongated frame to put the battery behind the seat post, it doesn't mean that it has been designed any less as an electric bike than the Juicy bike. It has the 8Fun name on it so presumably it has been designed or specified by 8Fun (Bafang), who are probably the biggest manufacturer of electric bike stuff in the world.
The motor has an extremely good reputation for reliability. It comes in versions with and without hall sensors. There's not much difference in performance, but I would say that the hall sensor ones are a little smoother and quieter and go better from a standstill. If you over-power the motor with a high amp controller, they get hot and can melt the hall sensor wiring, or, if you dunk them in water, the hall sensors short out and the motor won't run, So, hall sensor motors have more things to go wrong and in that sense are more unreliable, but like with many things, there's always advantages and disadvantages.
Firstly welcome to the forums.
Secondly, Juicy Bikes are not "Cheap". £789 is a lot of money.
You certainly need to try any bike before purchase. If you go to any of the shops that stock Juicy Bikes, and especially at Buxton, there will be decent hills and circuits nearby.
The main differences I spotted in the two bikes being compared are in the battery, weight and delivery charge.
The battery should have as many Amp Hours as possible (measured as AH), compare the KGs. TNT charge us £30 for UK Mainland delivery, so that's what we charge our customers, though where we can, we deliver from our own vehicles which take better care of our customers bikes!
You should look at the costs of spare parts and expect manufacturers to list them on their site. You should also try to find the most commonly available battery types - ours are well-proven and widely specified by other manufacturers.
Then it's down to style and your comfort, both of which only you can determine.
Good luck with your search and it will be a great pleasure to send you off on a trial ride of any Juicy Bike.
Secondly, Juicy Bikes are not "Cheap". £789 is a lot of money.
You certainly need to try any bike before purchase. If you go to any of the shops that stock Juicy Bikes, and especially at Buxton, there will be decent hills and circuits nearby.
The main differences I spotted in the two bikes being compared are in the battery, weight and delivery charge.
The battery should have as many Amp Hours as possible (measured as AH), compare the KGs. TNT charge us £30 for UK Mainland delivery, so that's what we charge our customers, though where we can, we deliver from our own vehicles which take better care of our customers bikes!
You should look at the costs of spare parts and expect manufacturers to list them on their site. You should also try to find the most commonly available battery types - ours are well-proven and widely specified by other manufacturers.
Then it's down to style and your comfort, both of which only you can determine.
Good luck with your search and it will be a great pleasure to send you off on a trial ride of any Juicy Bike.
d8veh, thank you for the explanantion. I still don't know why electric bikes need a Hall sensor but I take it that it's not an important issue. I looked at the zoomed image of the 8Fun bike - the components seem to be of lesser quality than those on the Juicy bike and besides, I am drawn to the Juicy bike on esthetics, an important factor for me. I was hoping for more suggestions though.
The connotations of "Cheap" make it an unsuitable word if used for an inexpensive, good value for money item.
Cheap items have been cheapened at source, are often sold by cheapjacks and bought by cheapskates.
Unpleasant associations which I can understand any supplier of good products objecting to.
D
Deleted member 4366
Guest
They're all good bikes for the money, so you're right to get the one that you think looks the best. Juicy are well known and I'm sure they'll look after you. That has to be worth something.
if you're interested, the controller uses the hall sensors to know the position and speed of the motor, so that it can fire its pulses of power at the optimum time (in simple terms). Hence the better starting and smoothness, They can also be used to control the speed of the bike, like mine, where I have cruise control. They're more necessary on bigger motors than what you're looking at. I think the Juicy bike has the hall sensor motor, but I'm not sure. You could ask them. I think I like the hall sensor motor better, but as I said before, there's not a lot in it.
Re: I will use the bike to commute 10 miles a day
What is your route like? No hills, some small hills, on road, off road, a mix of on and off road, etc ...
What is your route like? No hills, some small hills, on road, off road, a mix of on and off road, etc ...
D
Deleted member 4366
Guest
I've just uploaded a photo into my profile. It's a diamondback frame with Rock Shox forks, Bafang BPM motor, 500w controller that can draw 1400watts from the 44v lipo batteries at full throttle. It's really comfortable to ride, can pull me up any hill and gets me to work and back (30 miles) easily on one charge. Now that I've mastered the cruise control, I can do it on about 4 aH. I just use the throttle power for when there's busy roundabouts, or when unsuspecting Lycra boys decide to race me, which isn't very often. The whole bike cost about £450 to make and I'm really pleased with it. I might have to retire my trusty Sunlova now.
Last edited by a moderator:
D
Deleted member 4366
Guest
It's not as simple as that. The motor/controller needs a lot of amps that a normal Lifepo4 battery can't supply without compromising the life of the battery. You could use A123 cells, but they're relatively heavy and expensive. That's why I'm using lipos, which are relatively cheap and light. The proble is that because of the huge power that they give out, they are a little dangerous, Secondly, there's lots of wiring and soldering to make the batteries into a pack, and then you need to know how to charge and use them, which is not plug-and-play. You;d need to research "lipo safety" on google or wherever before attempting to use them. Having said all that, my friend has the same motor and a controller out of a 250w kit (13amp max) and he's running it from a normal 10 aH e-bike battery and it seems to work OK, but I don't know if it's harming his battery. Only time will tell. Naturally, he doesn't have the power that I have, but it#s much faster and more powerful than his old 250watt motor.
Flecc, I don't think any electric bikes are "easy to afford" and I have first hand knowledge of how hard it is to achieve an affordable price at a decent quality.
I think "cheap" is banded about a little too easily, without any qualification by more useful terms such as adequate, functional, useful, robust, durable, lightweight, or reference to quantifiable terms as equipment levels, performance statistics, etc..
To offer valuable advice, especially to New Members, avoiding such sweeping and fairly meaningless terms as "cheap" (or "imported" or "low / high-end", "stylish", "clone" etc. ) is really important.
I know that in this thread the subject was penned by the thread starter, and perhaps my criticism of their use of the term "cheap" was unfair. Apologies for that. I just hope they're not as touchy as me!
Cheers
Bob
'Cheap' might come with baggage, but it is still a perfectly good, simple, adjective of comparison.
What is the opposite of expensive? Well, you could use one of a dozen euphemisms, but to many people unswayed by the vagaries of fashion in words as in all things, 'cheap' is still a sound word, and spades are still spades.
Many of your customers and potential customers want cheap housing, cheap travel, cheap food, and so on. And when they look for a cheap electric bike, they're not looking for a sub-standard machine, but one like yours - sturdy, well-built with tried and tested components, and priced sensibly. (Do you want me to write your advertising copy?)
Allen
What is the opposite of expensive? Well, you could use one of a dozen euphemisms, but to many people unswayed by the vagaries of fashion in words as in all things, 'cheap' is still a sound word, and spades are still spades.
Many of your customers and potential customers want cheap housing, cheap travel, cheap food, and so on. And when they look for a cheap electric bike, they're not looking for a sub-standard machine, but one like yours - sturdy, well-built with tried and tested components, and priced sensibly. (Do you want me to write your advertising copy?)
Allen
Trex,how tall are you?,how much do you weigh?,what sort of riding style do you like?-MTB lean forward style or upright Dutch style? will you be going off road? how hilly is your area? Whilst I am respectful of buying a bike to a budget what is also important is buying the right bike for your usage-the cheapest bike loaded with spec is no good if it won't do your job and it sits in the shed!
Dave Elderfield
Kudos Cycles
Dave Elderfield
Kudos Cycles
It's not as simple as that where the word cheap is used, and it isn't "a perfectly good, simple, adjective of comparison" as said above.
That's for the simple reason that it has dual opposing meanings, both those below extracted from the OED:
2. Charging low prices, offering good value.
3. Poor in quality, of low value.
No word which means both good value and low value is a satisfactory adjective, on the contrary it's a very poor one, best avoided if understanding is the objective.
You know that little 'Like' thing on the bottom right of messages? I want one that says 'Don't like'; it would save time...
A.
D
Deleted member 4366
Guest
Flecc, That's true, but the meaning changes with the context. I don't believe that anyone for one moment thought that OP was looking for a poor quality or low value bike. I think that we all got the idea that he wanted something that was good value, low cost and adequate for his needs, so in that sense, I think that he used the correct word whatever meaning anyone else wants to make of it by taking it out of context.
Related Articles
-
MTF Enterprises announces acquisition of EMU Electric Bikes- Started by: Pedelecs
-
Wisper 806T folding bike wins Which? ‘Best Buy’- Started by: Pedelecs
-
Sustrans calls for protected cycle lanes- Started by: Pedelecs
-
Amazon launch their first UK e-cargo micromobility hub- Started by: Pedelecs
