Which bike is right for me?

[JuicyBike]

I have a question about batteries. You can get a 13AH or a 15AH. I see the 15AH will get you further. I am interested in whether the 15AH also gives you extra pedal assist for the steep hills? That is, does it only increase the number om miles, or does it also give you some extra oomph?

Steve, for your trips of 6 miles you really don't need a big battery.
Batteries that last the longest are the ones that are used the most. It is likely a larger battery that is hardly ever depleted will not last as many years as a smaller battery that is regularly given a good workout. I recommend you go for the smaller battery option.
Both will maintain around 38-40 volts for that length of journey even on Sheffield hills.

 

[trex]

woosh use 1.5C as maximum loading factor for their bikes. An 18A controller will need at least 12AH battery to avoid stressing the cells. Other bikes may have less powerful controllers, 10AH will be fine for 15A controllers.

 

[Kudoscycles]

Steve,I am still uncertain as to the type of bike you want....do you want a big wheeled bike or small wheels?
The Kudos Secret would do your job fine,your distance is not great and it has good pulling power up hills,the Kudos Tornado is a good hill climber with its powerful BPM motor,if you can wait a week the new Kudos range is in our warehouse,it includes a different concept of bike named Sprint,but I think it would suit your purposes well.
These bikes are all within your budget.
The magazine Watt bike,part of Twist and Go magazine,had a review on the Tornado last month. The upcoming issue has a comparison between the Kudos K16 and the Kudos Secret.
You do need to go try a selection of bikes,that's not easy in your location.
KudosDave

 

[trex]

he's got CFS, to me, you have to over provide on motor power on full throttle, just in case he needs it. That should limit the choice to bikes with 17A+ controllers like the Ezee Sprint.

 

[Tomtomato]

Batteries that last the longest are the ones that are used the most.

Not sure that's correct. According to what I have read, those batteries are best kept when the charge level is between 30% and 70%. Keeping the battery fully charged or discharged below 30% would actually damage it.

Having a large capacity battery makes it much easier to keep it between the suitable charged range.

 

[JuicyBike]

Not sure that's correct. According to what I have read, those batteries are best kept when the charge level is between 30% and 70%. Keeping the battery fully charged or discharged below 30% would actually damage it.

Having a large capacity battery makes it much easier to keep it between the suitable charged range.

You're quite right. I recommend keeping the battery in the top 50% of its charge. But that's easy to do when the journeys are only 3 miles each way - so no need for a large battery in this case.

 

[Sheffield Steve]

Hi all. Thanks for all of the hints, tips and advice. The most useful of which was to get out there and try to ride some bikes for myself. I learned many things from my riding of the bikes that were contrary to my thoughts initially.

For those interested, I opted for a bike that was bang on my anticipated budget of £1400. It was a Volt Pulse. I am really happy with the power that it provides and have been able handle all of the hills of Sheffield on it.

If anyone is reading this who also has a fatigue related condition, I highly recommend an electric bike. It has enabled me to get about with ease, andhas allowed me to get that bit of exercise that I wasn't getting when driving the car.

One follow up question for you experts. In the Volt instructions, it advises charging the battery after every ride. This seems contrary to some comments on here. Is that poor advice from the Volt team, or is it because they are using different battery technology?

 

[RobF]

Batteries work best and last longer in terms of years if they are used from full or nearly full.

So unless you have ridden the bike for literally only a couple of miles, recharging after each ride is a good idea.

If you are doing lots of short rides, it would be less faff to recharge when the meter drops below half capacity.

No need to worry about it too much, it will do the battery no harm if you run it nearly flat now and again.

 

[JuicyBike]

Hi all. Thanks for all of the hints, tips and advice. The most useful of which was to get out there and try to ride some bikes for myself. I learned many things from my riding of the bikes that were contrary to my thoughts initially.

For those interested, I opted for a bike that was bang on my anticipated budget of £1400. It was a Volt Pulse. I am really happy with the power that it provides and have been able handle all of the hills of Sheffield on it.

If anyone is reading this who also has a fatigue related condition, I highly recommend an electric bike. It has enabled me to get about with ease, andhas allowed me to get that bit of exercise that I wasn't getting when driving the car.

One follow up question for you experts. In the Volt instructions, it advises charging the battery after every ride. This seems contrary to some comments on here. Is that poor advice from the Volt team, or is it because they are using different battery technology?

Pleased you found your bike Steve.
"Charging after every ride" is the simple rule of thumb to ensure the battery is good for three years. To extend that time some say keeping the battery in the top 50% of its charge is better, avoiding charging to 100% as much as possible.
For instance, on modern laptops you can set the BIOS to only ever charge to 90%, to improve battery longevity.
Enjoy your bike!

 

[Tomtomato]

Recommendation for that type of battery is ideally to keep the charge level between 30% and 80%. Therefore, discharging completely, or charging completely after each use is NOT recommended.

 

[Nigel01]

Buy a Kalkhoff with impulse 2 you won't go wrong. Worth the extra.

 

[D8ve]

Nigel01 has all the characteristics of a troll or sock puppet.
There is no unconditional recommendations of kalhoff any longer after the ongoing impulse motor saga.
They were highly recommended before that.