Whats the difference.

[blueboy]

I am sure that there are more knowledgeable people out there than I am regarding electric bikes so would like to ask this question.

I have recently bought a Pro-Rider electric bike, I am very pleased with it. Its great fun, longest I have been is around 15 miles without pedaling just using the throttle only with just the occasional peddle on the hilly areas to help it along..

My question is that my Pro-Rider is probably classed as an entry level electric bike, the cost was around 6 to 700 pounds new. What does an electric bike do extra that would maybe cost 2 or 3 times that amount ?

Does the higher cost make it go faster (NO) that would be illegal for the road.

Does the higher cost make it go further on its given battery. (would not think so) my cheap bike & a more expensive model would probably go the same distance on the same AH battery as both use a 250w motor.

Is it a case of diminishing returns similar to Hi-Fi, you get a great sound from a £500 system but not 4 times better on a £2000 system.

I like my bike a lot but have thought that maybe a mountain/offroad bike would be useful as love going down the river walks & along the lake paths that are in my area, of course I have to ride on the road to get there so no big motors at all as want to stay legal.

I like the look of the Oxygen off road bike but if its no better in anyway than my Pro-Rider what would be the point of buying one.

 

[Woosh]

I like the look of the Oxygen off road bike but if its no better in anyway than my Pro-Rider what would be the point of buying one.

the Oxygen does not go faster but it has better acceleration.
It also has better components: motor, controller, battery, LCD, brakes, suspension fork, crankset, derailleur, pedals, grips, handlebars, frame, tyres, rims etc

 

[LeighPing]

You can get a good off road bike from traders on this very forum for not much more than you paid for your bike, and certainly not 3 times that amount.

Off road bikes. Well, they're good off road innit. Here's two cheap bikes.

 

[soundwave]

Is it a case of diminishing returns similar to Hi-Fi, you get a great sound from a £500 system but not 4 times better on a £2000 system.

id not buy anything from currys and wtf is a hi fi

 

[LeighPing]

the Oxygen does not go faster but it has better acceleration.
It also has better components: motor, controller, battery, LCD, brakes, suspension fork, crankset, derailleur, pedals, grips, handlebars, frame, tyres, rims etc

I thought that it could be tweaked up a bit?

 

[soundwave]

I thought that it could be tweaked up a bit?

a 2017 fox fork costs as much as the hole bike tho

 

[philliptjohnson]

Components will be a big thing... I've recently bought my first ebike and what I found while looking into what to get (especially when you look at the bikes that the big regular companies like giant, specialized, cube etc are starting to turn out and the Carrera model as well) is that you are generally looking at the price of a non electric bike plus around 800 quid. So for example I got a 1200 quid Carrera crossfire e, which is a 450 quid crossfire plus around 800 quid of electric kit on it. So if you get a 2000 quid e bike you are looking at a 1200 quid bike with electric kit on it. Another factor is size of battery... So more expensive bikes tend to have more ah batteries.

 

[soundwave]

Components will be a big thing... I've recently bought my first ebike and what I found while looking into what to get (especially when you look at the bikes that the big regular companies like giant, specialized, cube etc are starting to turn out and the Carrera model as well) is that you are generally looking at the price of a non electric bike plus around 800 quid. So for example I got a 1200 quid Carrera crossfire e, which is a 450 quid crossfire plus around 800 quid of electric kit on it. So if you get a 2000 quid e bike you are looking at a 1200 quid bike with electric kit on it. Another factor is size of battery... So more expensive bikes tend to have more ah batteries.

a bosch motor and 500w batt to buy is £1350 with out all the cables ect so if you want a bike with all mid range parts ur looking at 4k plus up to around 10k for full carbon bike and hi end parts.

tho they might be hi end parts but they can still fail but then every part has 2 year warranty.

and when you see the 5 year warranty on a frame this only covers the front triangle on a fs bike aint that a batch ;(

 

[blueboy]

a bosch motor and 500w batt to buy is £1350 with out all the cables ect so if you want a bike with all mid range parts ur looking at 4k plus up to around 10k for full carbon bike and hi end parts.

tho they might be hi end parts but they can still fail but then every part has 2 year warranty.

and when you see the 5 year warranty on a frame this only covers the front triangle on a fs bike aint that a batch ;(

But what does it do that my cheap bike does not. 10K for a bike mmm I would rather buy myself a nice car or motorbike. Sounds an awful lot to go around at 15mph for 60 or 70 miles before the battery goes.

 

[soundwave]

But what does it do that my cheap bike does not. 10K for a bike mmm I would rather buy myself a nice car or motorbike. Sounds an awful lot to go around at 15mph for 60 or 70 miles before the battery goes.

if my bike went 15 mph id throw it in the canal my bike goes 30mph with a bit of effort

range is about 25 miles tho if i hammer it down the road cant have it all so got 2 batts

 

[Deleted member 4366]

My question is that my Pro-Rider is probably classed as an entry level electric bike, the cost was around 6 to 700 pounds new. What does an electric bike do extra that would maybe cost 2 or 3 times that amount ?

The main thing where your bike loses out on a more expensive bike is the braking and the tyres. You could upgrade both of those on your bike for not too much. There's no financial justification for anything else, but there are some things where you could gain something by spending more. Things like sine-wave controllers, current control controllers with multiple PAS levels, air suspension, more/better gear ratios, hydraulic brakes and lighter components all improve the ride, but you can't really put a measure on how much the improvement is, though you would definitely notice the improvement with any of those.

 

[philliptjohnson]

I think we are all saying things like components/battery/frame material etc will be better but we might not have said how they will be better which is the main point of the op's question.

As somebody who pre-electric had a stable of bikes in a range of costs my experience of the difference in that range are things like:

More expensive gears have a smoother change, with issues at the cheaper end like not being able to change down once cycling uphill and having to get in the lowest great before hitting an incline. Cheap gears need re indexing more. I've also found on some cheaper bikes that gears can't be indexed to cover the whole range without the chain falling off.

As already mentioned the weight of everything tends to be lighter the more expensive you go which, on an electric bike, could extend the range of the bike and also make it easier to pedal without assist and when not in full assist. (Given the weight of batteries etc though these small weight advantages might not appear as noticable as on a non electric bike).

More expensive bikes tend to be more aerodynamic (including frame and components) which would have similar effect as lower weight.

Brakes on cheaper bikes tend to not be as good at stopping you, or will fail in certain conditions such as when wet or covered in mud.

Cheaper tires are more likely to suffer from punctures (price isn't always the deciding factor here, for instance tires specifically geared towards something like cyclocross can be expensive but on a commuter bike running on tarmac and gravel they can puncture a lot)

General wear and tear on everything (brake pads, tires, spokes in wheels, cables etc) I'd worse on cheaper bikes.

I've also found with cheaper bikes it feels like with every ride I have to adjust something when I get back (brakes, gears, seat, stem etc) whereas more expensive bikes tend to hold their configuration better and just need small tweaks at an annual service.

I would guess with the electric side of things you can generally expect longer lasting and less issues the more expensive the electrical components are although I'm new to e bikes so somebody work more knowledge in this area might be able to go into more detail.

 

[Trevormonty]

a bosch motor and 500w batt to buy is £1350 with out all the cables ect so if you want a bike with all mid range parts ur looking at 4k plus up to around 10k for full carbon bike and hi end parts.

tho they might be hi end parts but they can still fail but then every part has 2 year warranty.

and when you see the 5 year warranty on a frame this only covers the front triangle on a fs bike aint that a batch ;(

£4k plus is FS eMTB. Bosch and Shimano mid drive city/commuter bikes are typically in £1700-2500 range. Lower end tend to be smaller battery eg 300-400Wh with derailleur gears. Higher end get hub gears belt drives, more powerful drive and 500wh batteries.

 

[topographer]

Motors vary greatly in their torque, even amongst all that are rated 250W. But living in Bedford you probably don't have steep hills so don't have to worry about that. High torque shouldn't in theory make a lot of difference to price but I think cheap bikes tend to have bog standard pootling about motors.

 

[richardg6paj]

You see when I look at my almost new Yamaha XJ6 Diversion, a 600cc motorcycle which can do 0-60 in 3.5 seconds and 125mph for as long as I keep putting petrol in and it cost me £3500 and then I look at an E-Bike which costs £4k, never does 0-60, I have to help it to do 15mph, has a tiny electric motor on it, I can pick it up with one hand, I get to thinking somebody is trying to rip somebody off. This why I picked a cheaper e-bike. But please don't tell me that a £4000 E-Bike has more technology and is better built than my XJ6 because it just isn't true. I'm new here by the way and just getting into E-Bikes.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

You see when I look at my almost new Yamaha XJ6 Diversion, a 600cc motorcycle which can do 0-60 in 3.5 seconds and 125mph for as long as I keep putting petrol in and it cost me £3500 and then I look at an E-Bike which costs £4k, never does 0-60, I have to help it to do 15mph, has a tiny electric motor on it, I can pick it up with one hand, I get to thinking somebody is trying to rip somebody off. This why I picked a cheaper e-bike. But please don't tell me that a £4000 E-Bike has more technology and is better built than my XJ6 because it just isn't true. I'm new here by the way and just getting into E-Bikes.

I must at admit that I feel the same. I don't think the argument about scales of production holds water either. I bet Bosch are making more CX motors than Yamaha are making XJ 6 motors. Most of the other parts on the bike are standard parts that are sold all over the world, while as most of the parts on the Yamaha are specific to that bike.

 

[blueboy]

Good reply & exactly my thoughts, someone is making a lot of money for sure. Looking at some of the more expensive bikes that cost double or more what I paid for my Pro Rider I can't help thinking that most of the parts look very much the same as on my humble/cheap bike.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

I think that the problem with e-bikes is that there's too many people in the chain all taking a cut.. When i was in China, you could buy nice electric scooters for less than £200.

 

[JuicyBike]

If you're happy with your bike then just relax and enjoy it.

 

[richardg6paj]

I think that the problem with e-bikes is that there's too many people in the chain all taking a cut.. When i was in China, you could buy nice electric scooters for less than £200.

For example two KTM bikes here, Both new around £4000