The low price point may end up being an achilles heel esp for the regular 20 mile commute, reliability may be an issue if you aren't maintenance savvy. The electric operating system is likely to be a very basic one .
Seeking Advice on Affordable Ebike for 20-Mile Daily Commute (£500-£600 = Budget)
- Thread starter JordanPerry
- Start date
I wouldn't say that. What do you think would fail and how? The electrical parts those bikes use have been around for ten years. The rest of the parts are all standard bike parts. A replacement battery would cost about £150 to £200. Compare that with the cost of a Bosch or shimano battery, or even a Halfords one. What about the £1300 for a KTM E-Cross battery if you can find one.
Quite often the more expensive parts are less durable because they're lightweight. The only parts I've had to replace on my bike in 10 years apart from chainsaws batteries are cables and chainwheels for my deluxe Shimano XT gears. I never had to replace gear parts on my previous commuter bikes with cheapo Tourney gears or worse.
I did a winter soak test on a cheap catalogue bike that I rescued from a tip and paid £5 for to test the theory that cheap bikes fail. It did 1000 miles in snow, sleet, rain and salt with no cleaning or maintenance. It could have done 5000 miles if I'd asked it to.
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When I think about cheap bikes, first thing which comes to my mind is rust. Rust on almost each component. I guess it is because most owners of cheap bikes don't care about them... or anything else for that matter. But also quality of components must contribute to general decay as well.
My Weber BBQ after 15 years still looks good while Tower smoker is all rusty after one year. I guess you get what you are paying for.
My Weber BBQ after 15 years still looks good while Tower smoker is all rusty after one year. I guess you get what you are paying for.
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I have been riding a cheap ebike over the years it's been exelent as long as you maintain it and keep it clean it will serve you well I saved loads compared to my friend who rides a expensive ebike.
Why bother buying rubbish you'd have to repair or upgrade, shortly after purchase? If I had a budget of £600, I'd take a punt on a Bafang 36V 250W BBS01B kit from PSW Power for £300.28, then get the best battery deal I could (without skimping by buying cheap Chinese celled [false economy]), and a decent secondhand bike from ebay, Gumtree or Faceache marketplace etc. Faceache in particular appears to be a buyer's market. You can get a lot more bang for your buck buying a secondhand bike. My bike's an old folding bike from 2006: 36V 250W BBS01B converted and it rides great, hauls heavy trailers up hills with ease, zooms along fast on flat roads.
But a KT hub motor kit will be cheaper - they reportedly last for many years, and are cheaper to repair.
www.pswpower.com
But a KT hub motor kit will be cheaper - they reportedly last for many years, and are cheaper to repair.
Bafang BBS01B 36V 250W Mid Drive Motor 8fun Bicycle Electric eBike Conversion Kit mid drive ebike kit new version
Bafang BBS01B 36V 250W Mid Drive Motor 8fun Bicycle Electric eBike Conversion Kit mid drive ebike kit new version
www.pswpower.com
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Decathlon batteries are reasonable at £279 for my 500E bike, but I might be looking to recell after the 2 year warranty period. Hopefully long after 2 years
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I like @Peter.Bridge 's suggestion of the Eleglide Citycrosser at £599. It's got all the extra bits @Woosh mentioned in post #20 for a commute (mudguards, stand, front light, 700c puncture-proof tyres, even a front rack), rapid-fire 7-speed Shimano gears (presumably Tourney, but nothing wrong with that), and a 10Ah battery that should manage a 20 mile commute... and it claims a proper torque sensor too. I think it looks pretty respectable, and that's an amazing discount/bargain. Not sure if that's a Dorado battery, but I saw replacement 36v/10Ah ones for £220ish somewhere. EDIT: Looking further into this, Eleglide have a UK/EU warehouse and offer a quite good range of essential spares for this bike here. A spare 36v 10Ah battery is £202.
Sure, we'd all prefer a £2000+ Cube or something better if we had the choice and budget, but we're not all that lucky. Maybe upgrade the brakes to hydraulic for £40, but the existing mechanical discs would do the job fine at least to start with.
There's a Van-dweller on Youtube running an Eleglide bike long term, and he loves it.
Sure, we'd all prefer a £2000+ Cube or something better if we had the choice and budget, but we're not all that lucky. Maybe upgrade the brakes to hydraulic for £40, but the existing mechanical discs would do the job fine at least to start with.
There's a Van-dweller on Youtube running an Eleglide bike long term, and he loves it.
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Yes, there's quite a lot of youtube reviews (where the reviewer has been given the bike) . Also found this review quite helpful https://en.gizchina.it/2022/12/recensione-eleglide-citycrosser-bici-elettrica-economica/ with some pros and cons
The one area that would be a concern is customer service, but maybe buy from a bike shop that has a good reputation for customer service that does price match - maybe https://theelectricrevolution.co.uk/products/eleglide-citycrosser
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Torque sensor might sound like a good idea, but it makes any repairs a lot more complicated and expensive. Also, cheap Chinese torque sensors don't give a ride like a Bosch. Some are just used as a switch like a normal pedal sensor. Also, the battery is not as ubiquitous as the hailong type, and it has smaller capacity and is more expensive to replace. That bike looks great and will be good while it's working.
Mudguards and a rack cost around £20 together, and they can be easily fitted to any bike, so shouldn't be a deciding factor for a bike unless there are two very similar bikes at the same price, and one has them and the other doesn't.
I agree with the comments on torque sensor and battery. The advert claims an absurd 75km range (without even using the 'up to' getout (***)), but it should be good for 20 miles. As above, you will be limited for choice of replacement when the time comes.
Mudguards aren't always that easy to fit if clearance is tight so it is helpful to have them prefitted. The choice of a front rack seems a bit odd for that bike.
Not as important on an ebike as a regular one, but I'd still want a wider range of gears.
I find a kickstand near the back (like that bike) gives better stability than one at the bottom bracket.
Having a regular non-suspension seatpost is a plus at that price range.
You'll probably need very regular checking on the spokes if you are riding that regularly, the wheels will almost certainly to be a weak point.
(***) edit, I see that further down the page a second reference to 75km is much clearer about the 'up to'.
Mudguards aren't always that easy to fit if clearance is tight so it is helpful to have them prefitted. The choice of a front rack seems a bit odd for that bike.
Not as important on an ebike as a regular one, but I'd still want a wider range of gears.
I find a kickstand near the back (like that bike) gives better stability than one at the bottom bracket.
Having a regular non-suspension seatpost is a plus at that price range.
You'll probably need very regular checking on the spokes if you are riding that regularly, the wheels will almost certainly to be a weak point.
(***) edit, I see that further down the page a second reference to 75km is much clearer about the 'up to'.
When the OP's total budget is £600, all those extra bits soon add up. The important thing IMHO is that the oft-difficult-bits-to-replace like battery, display, charger, torque sensor etc are available to buy direct from the makers website for very reasonable money (curiously the controller isn't listed, but given everything else is I'm sure it would be if you asked). Yes, your replacement battery options are more limited as the battery is integrated, but many here pay through the nose for "on-trend" features like that... remembering of course that this whole bike is cheaper than just a Bosch battery.
Amazon reviews for this model are almost exclusively favorable - the small minority giving "critical" ratings not even leaving a comment as to why.
It seems such a great package at that price, I'm almost inclined to buy one just for a laugh... but I'm already at n+2 e-bikes.
We'll getting a new bottom bracket torque sensor (BBTS) system next week that I hope will fix that issue and give us a USP for building cheap bikes next year. The whole system minus the battery and motor wheel sells for £100 to speed up adoption. Simple plug and play waterproof wiring makes for easy installation. The most difficult job is to whip out the old BB.
How often do you charge? are you close to getting the 'expected' 500 charge cycles?? (does anyone get 500 or a 1000 charge cycles?? or is that just what they all say??)Decathlon batteries are reasonable at £279 for my 500E bike, but I might be looking to recell after the 2 year warranty period. Hopefully long after 2 years
Granted a well placed "most" should have sat in my post, Not all 'intergral' batteries are a bad deal it seems, would you grant me a many, or a most even?
That sounds really interesting - will you be selling that so we could install on exisiting kit builds ?
Can't wait - not had anything to tinker with on my bikes for weeks !
Why do I get the impression everyone's talking amongst themselves and the OP`s left the room!
Usually after it is below 50% on the display. Haven't really checked the range but does seem only a little less than the 90Km they claim at modest assistance (ie 1 and 2 settings). Because of the torque sensor I think I do put a little more effort into cycling than I would with a cadence sensor but that's what I wanted.
PS It is in fact the 11.6Ah battery which is quoted at £299.99
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