Noob on a budget needs advice

[spudhed]

hi all, im new to all these elecric bikes, been a motorcyclist for years but have got sick of the constant problems and costs, so ive sold my cheapo run around and am looking at an electric bike.

sadly im on a bit of a budget so im here really to ask what is the best electric bike i could spend between £300 and £400 (max) on? ive looked at a few in this price range but cant seem to find any reviews, but if anyone has tried any of these please let me know what you think of them and im open to any other suggestions people may have:

Batribike Buzz: hxxp://www.batribike.com/p/Buzz/

izip xcell cruiser: hxxp://www.e-bikesdirect.co.uk/Item/Brands/IZIP/IZIP_X-Cell_Cruiser_Electric_Bike.aspx

izip trailz st: hxxp://www.e-bikesdirect.co.uk/Item/Brands/IZIP/IZIP_Trailz_ST_Electric_Bike.aspx

 

[flecc]

Above links have broken http, here's the active links for those bikes:

Batribike Buzz

Izip Xcell Cruiser

Izip Trailz ST

My choice might be the Cruiser except it's shown as discontinued, second choice the Trailz. I would rule out the awful Batribike which would be unpleasant to ride.

At this price level you will be very compromised and have heavy lead acid batteries, also the Izips use the old side mounted Currie motor which goes quite well but is noisy and short range.

If you could stretch to £99 extra on your budget you could get something infinitely better with a lithium battery and much better hub motor:

Cyclamatic Power Plus

Free delivery too, the others tend to charge about £25 for that, greatly reducing that price difference.
.

 

[spudhed]

sorry i deliberately put the broken http in, its force of habit, im used to posting on forums where live links are not allowed so we hxxp em. i only wish i could stretch the budget but in truth the £300 is what i have to spend, anymore than that comes out of my food and drink budget for the week

i have found a few places that are still stocking the xcell cruiser at about £330, my only gripes are that it looks heavy and is rated at a 15 mile range with pedaling (i was hoping for at least 10 on motor only)

ive been looking at second hand too but im dubious as i dont want to spend all my budget on something from ebay only to find the battery is no good or something

basically my journeys range up to about 10 miles round trip but im in a fairly hilly town (hence why i dont use a normal pushbike, i feel like a fool getting off and pushing it up hills) i do like the look of that cyclamatic though and a 45km range is very tempting, not to mention its 10kg lighter, just not sure where id find the extra. thanks for the advice

also ive seen a few secondhand powacycle salisbury's for sale at reasonable money, including one on these forums which may still be for sale are they worth considering on a "better than the xcell" scale

 

[BBB]

The cruise has no gears, which will make you use the motor more, and it has a low enough range as it is.
The Trails is OK, quite a reliable bike, but dont expect the batteries to last too long, being only 24 volts.

 

[spudhed]

well thats 2 struck off my list then, leaving only one of the originals, but after seeing the cyclamatic and a few others in that range im thinking im better off if i beg/borrow/steal the extra to reach a £500 budget

is there much diffence between the 24v battery in the cyclamatic and the 36v ones in things like the alien gents special II and the synergie mistral?

(oh god here we go again, ive not even ridden an elec bike yet and a few days ago i was dubious about spending £200 on one, now ive doubled it and who knows where itll end, in debt no doubt )

 

[flecc]

also ive seen a few secondhand powacycle salisbury's for sale at reasonable money, including one on these forums which may still be for sale are they worth considering on a "better than the xcell" scale

They can be, but the odd ones that had a problem exposed that the support from Powacycle left much to be desired. You also have to consider whether the battery needs replacement as you've said, and at £305 for the battery, plus carriage that's potentially serious.

Regarding expenditure, the two lead acid batteries in the Currie casing will probably need changing annually but that can cost less than £60 if you do it yourself, while lithium batteries last about two years and cost much more.
.

 

[flecc]

well thats 2 struck off my list then, leaving only one of the originals, but after seeing the cyclamatic and a few others in that range im thinking im better off if i beg/borrow/steal the extra to reach a £500 budget

is there much diffence between the 24v battery in the cyclamatic and the 36v ones in things like the alien gents special II and the synergie mistral?

Definitely very much worth the extra with each step, especially that first step up to the Cyclamatic, but not if it gets you into financial difficulties of course.

The difference between 24 and 36 volt bikes generally isn't serious unless you need a very powerful bike where the most powerful ones are 36 volt, and of course the 24 volt batteries can be cheaper to replace. I think the Cyclamatic battery is about £200, some 36 volt ones costing over £500.

Remember, that's probably going to be new battery about every two years.
.

 

[spudhed]

Thanks for all the advice guys, the budget wouldnt stretch in the end and im too impatient (and way too fed up of walking) to wait so i decided to take a chance on a nice condition 2nd hand powacycle salisbury lpx for the bargain price of £250 from the classified section on here.

if i like it then i can consider upgrading to something a bit more fancy down the line, in a way im quite surprised that im actually looking forward to getting it, normally anything even remotely like excercise makes me go green! roll on next week!