Which bike to choose??

[JuicyBike]

Jaycat
Have a look at freego e-bikes : FreeGo E-Bikes
They have lots of dealers near you. Their spec is very similar to ours, including gearing and motors, and so I am certain you'll be impressed. They are a little pricey and I wish we had an outlet near you for comparison, but we don't, yet!

They are not members of BEBA, but any retailer, including ourselves, will offer a full refund for a returned bike during the first 2 weeks. So, after you've found the right bike you've still got time to properly test it on your own routes, on good and bad days.

Good luck!

 

[flecc]

Hi,

to be honest the budget was half the price of that bike at the very most!! However I'm not sure how realistic that was now in retrospect.

A twist and go would be ideal by the way. Guess we need to look around more shops if possible to get an idea of what's on the market.

J.

I rather thought that might be the case, and a little over a year ago that was realistic still. However, todays exchange rates due to the economic crisis have pushed prices up so much that there's little choice in the lower price regions. More powerful 36/37 volt bikes are almost completely absent there, most being 24/26 volt like your original choices. A few of those perform reasonably though. Although as Allen says, many have throttles, only a few take off from standstill, many require pedalling off the mark and many require pedalling all the time, the throttle only operating while pedalling, so check that out before any purchase.

The other snag is that most of what is suitable for you is online only, for the simple reason that a bike shop retailer margin is impossible at low enough prices. All you can do there is rely on owners experiences to guide you, and if you are lucky enough to have an owner near you, the possibility of trying a model out. There are e-bikers in Portsmouth and lots of them in nearby Southampton so you may be lucky yet in that way.
.

 

[jaycat]

Thanks for the links. " 2 wheel electric" was one we visited yesterday, appaling service to say the least, left us looking for ages and made no contact at all, and then proceeded to pack bikes away as we were still looking!!

I will check some of the ohers out over the next few weekends. I definately agree about needing a throttle bike, knees were fairly bad last night.

Interesting about the distance of the pedals, I can tolerate 15 mins most days on an exercise bike, just on manual, no level at all; as soon as I try to increase I can go for 3 mins max. I will measure the differing distances of pedals on the exercise bike and my normal bike to guage the difference.

Can I add at this point that if anyone from my area, or Southampton is willing to let me try their bike, I would be extremely grateful, and could arrange a time for my partner and myself to travel to you.

I also see that the price range for what I need is going to be high, however some companies do finance, which would be essential.

I will make some calls tomorrow and ask if anyone can tell me the gradient of the bridges I will need to cross, to give you some idea too.

I didn't realize there would be so much to consider when I started this venture!

Jackie.

 

[flecc]

I will make some calls tomorrow and ask if anyone can tell me the gradient of the bridges I will need to cross, to give you some idea too.

From what you've said I doubt those bridges are much more than about 7% which is not a problem Jackie.

You or your partner may have the simple items required to measure your slopes for yourself, and just measuring one will often enable you to judge by sight for others. Have a look at this post of mine which tells you how to do it:

Measuring hill gradients

N.B. To make the tool more compact, make the bar 50 cm and measure in half centimetres.
.

 

[JuicyBike]

You may also like to consider using the Cycle to Work purchase scheme. There's lots of info on how to buy a bike, tax-free, by installments from your salary. Good summary here

An excellent way to save hundreds of pounds and pay by installments!

 

[jaycat]

Hi,

we will try your method out re gradient. Cycle to work we are looking in to thanks, only hitch is my partner is looking to change her job very soon, so we'd have to pay the full amount soon, but we are looking into that today.

Also found some of your earlier links of ebike dealers, there are a couple of others that I had'nt found before around the area to check out too.

J

 

[eddieo]

The Freego has a large battery and a very good range according to others on here. just because you had one bad experience at the retailers, and considering you cant peddle much, it would be silly IMO to dismiss this bike.......

 

[Velospeed]

Hi Jackie,

We have a couple of ex-demo bikes with throttles that we are willing to sell at a reduced rate. We're in Berkshire, so it's a trip up the A34 or a journey to Goring and Streatley station but if you're interested just give us a call and we'll tell you what we have.

John
Velospeed

Velospeed
01635 579304

 

[Old Timer]

There ARE ways of helping your knees when pedalling, Jaycat.

Kneesavers Clip Less Bicycle Pedal Extenders Crankarm Extensions

I use these. They extend the pedals outwards by 30mm, which means you can pedal with your foot at an angle (unlike ordinary bikes, where you are forced into a straight foot position, good for pedalling, bad for dodgy knees).

Not sure whether you can get them in the UK (that's a US site), but I bought them from that place, and their postage to London wasn't too bad.

And on the bike front, you DEFINITELY need a bike which will get you moving on THROTTLE only, even if you can then pedal it. Very few bikes (except Kalkhoffs) come without a twist throttle.

Allen.

Allen

I have worked for years on my knees and it strikes all of us in the trade that as we get on a bit our knees play up. I`m taking Glucosamine & Chondroitin combined and things look a bit better. My son-in-law has been taking it for a year and has transformed his knees( he is only 40 years old BTW)
Anyway, I`m always ready to take advice and might try those extensions to get the pedals out a bit. Did you read about the new angle being good for knees or did you stumble across the benefits?

A bit of reading on the subject Knee saver pedal extenders [Archive] - Bike Forums

 

[Old Timer]

Just to add something to what has already been said.

As most members know I had a heart attack about 3 months ago and was told by the surgeon to get back on the bike. So I got back on and got a bit worried when having to push on hills so I stuck a front wheel hub on my powertrek that already has a rear hub and just use the second hub on throttle to give a lift on hills plus a really good pull away from junctions. So that`s one way to get more power and some might say that it isn`t legal but after a close shave to be honest thats the least of my problems and I will enjoy getting out on my bike till I drop(when ever that might be)

Then there is my Aurora, 350watt hill climbing Barfang motor that does everything it says on the can.

Dave

 

[jaycat]

Eddieo, I will always consider any brand that fits my needs, as long as I receive the service from the retailer, which is an important point of purchase too. If he can't be bothered to take time and have my custom, I certainly won't be giving it to him on a plate.

Veleospeed, I will have to ask my partner if we can make a trip to see you, she's just finishing off her dissertation at the mo, so time is limited, do you open Sundays?

Old Timer, I wish Glucosamine & Chondroitin had helped mine am trying omega 3 at the moment; I'm in my forties as well as your son in law. I'm glad though it has done something for you, you could always pop omega 3 too

Thanks all,

J

 

[allen-uk]

Anyway, I`m always ready to take advice and might try those extensions to get the pedals out a bit. Did you read about the new angle being good for knees or did you stumble across the benefits?

A bit of reading on the subject Knee saver pedal extenders [Archive] - Bike Forums

I had a brief look at the bikeforum archive stuff. Blimey, talk about testosterone, eh? I'm sometimes glad I'm old and past most of that stuff!

Anyway, no, I hadn't read about them - like one of the contributors to that bikeforum debate, I have a PLASTIC leg, which only points one way. Well, not entirely true, if I take an Allen key to it, I can vary the direction the foot points, but if it's right for cycling, it's a bugger to walk in.

Hence the kneesavers. I can position my plastic foot at its own (unnatural) angle, and my heel misses the frame. Without them, my heel would bang into the frame at each stroke.

As it happens, my so-called GOOD leg also suffers from knee problems (being fat for decades hasn't helped), and being able to position my flesh-and-bone foot at whatever angle it NATURALLY falls helps alleviate the knee-strain. On a normal bike, you're forced to keep your foot fairly straight, which can be a real strain on slightly older or damaged knees.

Another device which helps me as an amputee, and which might help jaycat, is the Gravitydropper, but it is so sodding expensive that I hesitated to mention it! (I found the expense a sacrifice worth making, but I didn't want to scare jaycat off at this early stage of his investigations...)


Allen.

 

[jaycat]

Scare away Allen!! Off to investigate. (It's her btw )

Jackie

 

[jaycat]

:-0 *passes out *

 

[Velospeed]

Hi Jaycat,

We can open at any time, just give us a call if you can make it up here. If you want to discuss the bikes first then give me or Nick a call on 01635 579304 as there are a couple of different options depending on your preferences.

Regards,
John

Velospeed

 

[onmebike]

There ARE ways of helping your knees when pedalling, Jaycat.

Kneesavers Clip Less Bicycle Pedal Extenders Crankarm Extensions



There are much cheaper ways of getting the same effect here.



Amazon.co.uk: Used and New: Sunlite Pedal Extenders - 9/16" Pedal, 9/16" Crank, 27.5mm

and here,


http://www.niagaracycle.com/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=pedal+extenders&osCsid=572bbed8cca4b529b617402094a97b48&x=15&y=10

 

[GeoffM]

Jackie
If tere's anything you want to know about the juicy urban 20" folder just ask - Its almost exactly the same as the free go 20" folder, deadpowerful and i bought 2 last weekend! I am 11 and a half stone and mine pulls me along without pedalling. I've had a juicy sport for 18months and its never let me down. If anything the quality of this folder is even better. Service from them is great and i managed a little discount for 2 (only £25 but got a couple of baskets thrown in as well). I am delighted with them!!

 

[TeTs.BiZ]

Hi Jaycat - you might want to consider a Wisper or a Smarta bike. These will both give you plenty of power from a standing start. The Wisper has a 19A controller and the Smarta has a 10A (upgradable to 15A). This gives you an idea of the power available. If you don't have any big, long hills then the Smarta will do the job otherwise it's going to be the Wisper.

You could also consider the Ultramotor A2B Metro, or a Heinzmann conversion, even more power, but these are quite a lot more expensive.

We have a shop where you can try these and others in Oxford, or I would suggest contacting any other pedelecs members nearby to try and arrange a test ride.

 

[eddieo]

I saw the AtoB in a shop yesterday and it failed my "lifting of the ground test" miserably...not a bike at all IMO really a sort of hybrid.

 

[allen-uk]

There are much cheaper ways of getting the same effect here.


Amazon.co.uk: Used and New: Sunlite Pedal Extenders - 9/16" Pedal, 9/16" Crank, 27.5mm

and here,

http://www.niagaracycle.com/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=pedal+extenders&osCsid=572bbed8cca4b529b617402094a97b48&x=15&y=10

Blimey, OMBike. Most definitely, and certainly the Amazon ones. Amazing. Next time I want to buy anything out of the ordinary, I am going to come here and ask YOU first!

Oh, can you find me a Gravitydropper (27.2) for less than about £250?

Ta.


Allen.