What bike for a tall but light person?

[sjc]

Hey there all,

I'm looking to get an electric bike to commute on, a 30 mile round trip along a very flat cycle path. My budget is probably anything up to £1300 though if I can, I'd like to spend around a thousand.

I'm 6'4" with a 37" inside leg, and it seems the majority of bikes are too small for me. My current bike has a 21" frame and I probably really need something more like a 23".

In addition, I'm only 70kg and will be riding on the flat so I don't need anything too powerful. I'm mainly looking to be able to cruise at a constant speed against a headwind.

I've seen the woosh big bear which looks like a great deal, but I'm a bit put off by it being advertised as 26kg, like a "motorbike" and for very heavy people. Does the weight of the bike really matter?

Decathlon's elops 900 also looks good but I can't see a replacement battery for sale in their website so I may become stuck if I need to replace it or upgrade in the future.

Does anyone have any other ideas? I'm not aware of too many other bikes with large frames.

I could go down the route of buying a large bike and getting a conversion kit but it seems like this would be just as expensive and a bit of work.

I've not ridden an e bike before so I don't have any thoughts on a hub or crank motor.

I might at some point want to derestrict it for some off road cycling. It seems like this is easier to do on hub motors bikes such as the woosh big bear (via the LCD settings) rather than altering the pedal sensor on a crank motor model, can anyone with experience let me know if that's the case?

 

[anotherkiwi]

Welcome,

You might want to look on the German and Dutch sites because they often have big frames in stock. Otherwise the kit option is the best way to go for your needs I think. You can make a very good rear hub bike for a thousand and an excellent one for 1300. The motor will be the same but you will have a larger choice of battery for that money.

A crank motor kit is just as easy to de-restrict as a hub motor one.

 

[subhuman]

Cube do 23" frames, I'm sure I saw the Cube Acid Hybrid One 400 2018 on tredz/rutland/pauls cycles when I was looking. Though they are above your budget.

 

[flecc]

I've seen the woosh big bear which looks like a great deal, but I'm a bit put off by it being advertised as 26kg, like a "motorbike" and for very heavy people. Does the weight of the bike really matter?

Its suitability for heavy people is because it has one of the most powerful Bafang motors for getting them uphill. How or when you use the power is up to you though.
.

 

[sjc]

Cube do 23" frames, I'm sure I saw the Cube Acid Hybrid One 400 2018 on tredz/rutland/pauls cycles when I was looking. Though they are above your budget.

Thanks for that, I'll check them out

 

[sjc]

Its suitability for heavy people is because it has one of the most powerful Bafang motors for getting them uphill. How or when you use the power is up to you though.
.

Ah I see - surely they're still restricted by the 250w limits though? Or is it just really strong in a low speed high power sense?

 

[flecc]

Ah I see - surely they're still restricted by the 250w limits though? Or is it just really strong in a low speed high power sense?

The 250 watt limit is meaningless, just a legal nicety and puzzling to all newcomers to the e-bike scene. The way in which it is measured doesn't preclude much higher power when needed. The test determines that it can output 250 watts continuously, but ignores that one can output very much more for long periods.

Average legal e-bikes have around 400 watts available and more powerul ones have up to around 600 watts. The BPM motor in the Big Bear is one of the most powerful and high torque for hill climbing.
.

 

[sjc]

The 250 watt limit is meaningless, just a legal nicety and puzzling to all newcomers to the e-bike scene. The way in which it is measured doesn't preclude much higher power when needed. The test determines that it can output 250 watts continuously, but ignores that one can output very much more for long periods.

Average legal e-bikes have around 400 watts available and more powerul ones have up to around 600 watts. The BPM motor in the Big Bear is one of the most powerful and high torque for hill climbing.
.

Interesting - I think I'll book a test ride on the woosh then and see if it's big enough. Thanks for the power info!

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Kudos Mistral might be a good one. The bigger wheels compensate a bit for the frame size.

https://www.kudoscycles.com/product_info.php?cPath=1&products_id=359

Woosh have other bikes that are more suited to trails than the Big Bear. The Big Bear is really for people that are big sideways, not upwards.

 

[Wisper Bikes]

Hi SJC,

You may be interested in a couple of Riese and Muller bikes ex demo, bikes I have in stock.

Both at over half of today's retail price, and have big frames, the Roadster is 58CM and the Avenue 56CM. The bikes are superb and hardly ever used both come with a year's warranty.

https://www.r-m.de/en-gb/e-bike/roadster/ in red our price £1,250

Avenue is very similar to the new culture. https://www.r-m.de/en-gb/e-bike/culture/culture-nuvinci/#18C03_050306 our price £1,750

All the best, David