Help! Newbie looking for my first hybrid ebike

[Bethanwj]

Hi everyone, I’m looking for my first hybrid ebike. I’m 5’4 (162cm), willing to consider anything reasonable up to about £1500, but I’d rather not have the battery on the pannier rack. Something light with a little pedal assist would be ideal, though I’m open to ideas. Is anyone selling something like that? Thanks for looking
Bethan

 

[shed]

Have a look at the Ampere Tourer S (looks great in the Teal colour) or if you want a full stepthrough the Ampere Deluxe. We've just bought the Tourer and Tourer S from the EcoBikeCo and had great service from Jarred. Seem to be good spec bikes for the money. Weigh around 22kg incl battery so not too heavy for Hybrid with front fork suspension, full mudguards and rear rack. The standard model has a 10.6 amp hour battery and costs around £1250. We went for the bigger 16ah ones to give us longer (or be lazy and use more assist lol) plus the LCD controller upgrade (cost £1450). Haven't given them a full run out yet due to weather and illness but I'm happy with my Tourer so far based on a quick 4 mile trip (at an average of 12mph...far quicker than I'd have done it on my manual bike).

 

[vfr400]

Where do you live, Bethan, or are you prepared to travel any distance, like 500 miles, to see one.

 

[richtea99]

> Something light with a little pedal assist would be ideal

- Woosh Faro. light, decent price, but no stock at the moment
- Boardman HYB8.9e Womens, but it's a bit more than £1500
- Orbea Vibe. Again a bit above your target price unfortunately
- (the Vibe predecessor was called the Gain F40 / F30)

The Boardman and Orbeas both look a bit racey in the pictures, but you can put the seat down and the bars up a bit if you want something 'normal'. Both are light for ebikes, and both give middling assistance.
The Faro is slightly heavier (but still lighter than the average ebike), at a better price.

Secondhand Boardmans and Orbeas occasionally appear at the £1200-1500 mark. If so, you ideally want a lightly used one that's, say, a year old, to minimise the chance of problems.

 

[Woosh]

You can convert something like this (or have it converted) and save a considerable sum:

Insync Carina 2020 Womens Bike - Womens Hybrid Bikes - Womens Bikes - Bikes

<p>Our Carina ladies hybrid is the perfect commuting bike. Tough enough for the city, it’s still an easy ride. Get fit and go green, your body will thank you and so will the planet too. The Carina is built around Insync’s durable steel low-step over hybri

winstanleysbikes.co.uk

The advantage of this frame is its large triangle, it's big enough to mount the battery (36cm L x 10cm H) inside.
The bike costs £250 new, the kit costs about £600.

 

[Bethanwj]

Have a look at the Ampere Tourer S (looks great in the Teal colour) or if you want a full stepthrough the Ampere Deluxe. We've just bought the Tourer and Tourer S from the EcoBikeCo and had great service from Jarred. Seem to be good spec bikes for the money. Weigh around 22kg incl battery so not too heavy for Hybrid with front fork suspension, full mudguards and rear rack. The standard model has a 10.6 amp hour battery and costs around £1250. We went for the bigger 16ah ones to give us longer (or be lazy and use more assist lol) plus the LCD controller upgrade (cost £1450). Haven't given them a full run out yet due to weather and illness but I'm happy with my Tourer so far based on a quick 4 mile trip (at an average of 12mph...far quicker than I'd have done it on my manual bike).

Thanks for that info, I hadn’t looked at the Eco Bike Com, their prices are certainly reasonable. Ampere deluxe is lighter and better equipped than I would have expected for the price, I’ll be interested to hear how you get on with yours. Thanks again.

 

[Bethanwj]

> Something light with a little pedal assist would be ideal

- Woosh Faro. light, decent price, but no stock at the moment
- Boardman HYB8.9e Womens, but it's a bit more than £1500
- Orbea Vibe. Again a bit above your target price unfortunately
- (the Vibe predecessor was called the Gain F40 / F30)

The Boardman and Orbeas both look a bit racey in the pictures, but you can put the seat down and the bars up a bit if you want something 'normal'. Both are light for ebikes, and both give middling assistance.
The Faro is slightly heavier (but still lighter than the average ebike), at a better price.

Secondhand Boardmans and Orbeas occasionally appear at the £1200-1500 mark. If so, you ideally want a lightly used one that's, say, a year old, to minimise the chance of problems.

Thanks Richtea99, I have had a look at the Orbea and the HYB and was considering pushing my budget. I had a sit on a HYB (there was one available in my local Halfords last week, though it’s probably gone by now!), and found the riding position racey as you say, but I hadn’t considered putting the handlebars up. I guess they could even be swapped for something. Wouldn’t life be easier if they could all be lined up side by side for a test ride!

 

[Bethanwj]

Where do you live, Bethan, or are you prepared to travel any distance, like 500 miles, to see one.

Hi, I’m in North West Wales, but I’d travel to Manchester or similar.

 

[Bethanwj]

You can convert something like this (or have it converted) and save a considerable sum:

Insync Carina 2020 Womens Bike - Womens Hybrid Bikes - Womens Bikes - Bikes

<p>Our Carina ladies hybrid is the perfect commuting bike. Tough enough for the city, it’s still an easy ride. Get fit and go green, your body will thank you and so will the planet too. The Carina is built around Insync’s durable steel low-step over hybri

winstanleysbikes.co.uk

The advantage of this frame is its large triangle, it's big enough to mount the battery (36cm L x 10cm H) inside.
The bike costs £250 new, the kit costs about £600.

I haven’t looked into conversions, it’s not something I would feel confident about doing myself, is there anyone you would recommend who does them? I’ve been commuting on my Kona Fire Mountain for the last five years but the massive hills are getting the better of me. Maybe it’s an option to have it converted?

 

[richtea99]

Wouldn’t life be easier if they could all be lined up side by side for a test ride!

Makes you wonder if there's a living to be made hiring out bikes to test!
Probably not, but in an ideal world...

 

[Bethanwj]

Thanks for that info, I hadn’t looked at the Eco Bike Com, their prices are certainly reasonable. Ampere deluxe is lighter and better equipped than I would have expected for the price, I’ll be interested to hear how you get on with yours. Thanks again.

Sorry, I meant the ampere tourer S

 

[Benjahmin]

Hi Bethan,
If you fancy a day out there's a place near Aberearon that stocks a fair number of bikes.
They are Cyclemart.co.uk, theyre at Cilcennin SA48 8RS.
There's a guy there who is far more knowledable than the twonks you're likely to come across at Halfrauds. That said they are not cheap. But hey! A day out, a chance to sit on a few bikes (I think they have some testers) and excellent fish and chips at Aberearon harbour - what's not to like?

 

[Bethanwj]

Hi Benjahmin , thanks for the tip, I hadn’t heard of that place. I’ll look them up and perhaps have a trip next weekend.

 

[Woosh]

I haven’t looked into conversions, it’s not something I would feel confident about doing myself, is there anyone you would recommend who does them? I’ve been commuting on my Kona Fire Mountain for the last five years but the massive hills are getting the better of me. Maybe it’s an option to have it converted?

Benjahmin?
The simplest solution is to convert your Kona Fire with something like the Aikema 85SX kit and Marathon Plus tyres.

 

[Benjahmin]

Not me mate, it's Bethan with the Kona.
But yes, I agree. Hub motor conversion is easy for anyone who has basic bike skills. And there's always plenty of help to be had here.

 

[Bethanwj]

So, I'm going to test a few bikes at the weekend and I've narrowed things down to a lightweight such as Vado SL / Orbea Vibe OR a light-ish weight with a little more offroad capacity such as the Marin Sausalito e2 / Kona Ecoco. Currently I'm favouring the Sausalito e2 because of its suspension - and its retro looks Looking forward to finding out on Saturday!

 

[Bethanwj]

Obvs my budget has gone up a bit from the original £1500 I mentioned

 

[sjpt]

So, I'm going to test a few bikes at the weekend

Enjoy the tests. Congratulations on finding places that will actually allow tests, especially if they let you go beyond the car park. Halfords is the only shop around here that allowed real tests a few years ago.

If they turn out well you might post the details of the shops ... researching that is more difficult than researching the different bikes.

 

[Woosh]

Obvs my budget has gone up a bit from the original £1500 I mentioned

if you don't mind waiting until the end of the month, Woosh Santana3 is worth a look and it won't break your budget.

The Santana 3 | Electric Bikes from Woosh

The Santana3, a new lightweight and powerful step through electric bike with 36V 15AH/17AH battery from Woosh.

wooshbikes.co.uk

 

[Ocsid]

The Santana though, has the pannier rack battery that was expressly stated was not preferred.

On that point, is there a solid reason the batteries can't actually beneficially be mounted as panniers, side mounted lowering the CoG that I believe is why technically the rack top mounting is not liked?
They could just be a cell thick, so not be too intrusive and double as side fenders.