It's a shame nobody seems to be selling and accepting CTW vouchers for professionally pre-converted bikes (AFAIK), for those wise people who value long term repairability at home as well as performance, reliability etc.
Which ebike to choose?!
- Thread starter mtjnr
- Start date
we can and do often accept CTW vouchers to convert your bike with guarantee it but usually the customer has already got a decent donor bike.
Why don't you sell them a decent donor bike aswell? You could charge extra for upgrading various components to suit their max budget.
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It would be about £120 cheaper to build the whole ebike compared to bike + kit + fitting labour. To make your scheme worthwhile, I would need to buy bankrupt stock bikes, I would then run out of space to keep them. The best use of space is crank drive kits then hub kits then bikes.
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Looking at the Woosh storefront, I'm wondering if you can get planning permission for a roof raise and an extra floor. Someone I know did that to rented premises, plus a basement extension, and the landlord immediately increased the rent to suit the increased floorspace. The resulting row got quite awkward, because both the tenant and landord are my customers.
https://goo.gl/maps/Cg3uk3SsLnQVvkuK7
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If you buy mid drive then yes, out if warranty they could be expensive trellis's as they are closed systems however a generic hub bike is a different thing and far more reliable over the long term.
Bikes that you like more.
I like this one:
Marin Larkspur 2 2022 - Out of Stock | Tredz Bikes
Marin Larkspur 2 2022 - Hybrid Sports Bike. Out of Stock. All Hybrid bikes are delivered free to the UK mainland, 365 day returns & Price Match.
www.tredz.co.uk
I wonder if it is possible to mount battery between down tubes.
Check https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/ One can find few bargains there.
Although i ride on a kit conversion (i had a bike) I would just buy a ebike and be done, All kit installs have issues some minor like wrong colour zip ties others less so. why invite a headache..
Also a great bike costing 1000's may not necessarily make an even passable e-bike,
Someone recently described a monster ebike build based on a top notch mountain bike fitted with a top notch mid motor 1000w iirc and 2 months after finishing it he had sold it and bought off the shelf..
i would aim at hub motor bikes with rear rack mounted batteries myself, then if a problem develops after warranties have expired its the motor, or the battery or an element of the control system that needs a fix or replacing.. all do-able imho
And if you follow honest positive reviews you should get a lot of ebike for your budget
Also a great bike costing 1000's may not necessarily make an even passable e-bike,
Someone recently described a monster ebike build based on a top notch mountain bike fitted with a top notch mid motor 1000w iirc and 2 months after finishing it he had sold it and bought off the shelf..
i would aim at hub motor bikes with rear rack mounted batteries myself, then if a problem develops after warranties have expired its the motor, or the battery or an element of the control system that needs a fix or replacing.. all do-able imho
And if you follow honest positive reviews you should get a lot of ebike for your budget
the OP is in a bit of a sub optimal situation because he already has his voucher. The retailer has to pay commission on the voucher. Different scheme providers charge different commission rate. The cheapest commission is Green Commute Initiative. Some scheme providers impose also additional conditions on the retailers such as what they can supply and whether the retailer can give to the customer any cashback etc. In short, his £1500 voucher can only be used optimally to buy from the scheme providers own stores. Outside the providers own stores. his choice of retailers is restricted to those approved by his scheme provider. If you want to buy on CTW for example at Woosh, please email support@wooshbikes.co.uk before applying for the voucher.
Out of the 3, the Cannondale Quick 4 has best specifications, then the Boardman HYB 8.6.
Your choice of bike limits the range of kits to lightweight kits like the XF08C rear hub kit or TSDZ2B crank drive kit.
https://wooshbikes.co.uk/?hubkits#xf08ckit
Happy to be corrected, I know nothing of the scheme its limitations and restrictions.
I shall get my proverbial coat.. .
It seemed to me that the sirrus and the cannondale had very similar specs (both tektro disc, microshift etc) but I liked the fact the sirrus had the slightly chunkier tyres. Wonder if the cannondale would take 42s?
from the photos, possibly 700 x 42c without the mudguards but may be not with the mudguards. Bike comes with 700 x 35c tyres.
Yeah that was my thinking. Mudguards will be a must.
How do think the
The other bike on my list was the Marin DSX.
Marin DSX 2025 | Marin Bikes | Biketart UK
The DSX is the mountain biker’s gravel bike with familiar flat handlebar, reliable 1x drivetrains, large tire clearance, and dropper post routing for better off road control, and on road descending stability. The DSX is a perfect choice for a mixture of commuting and adventure riding, both on...
www.biketart.com
Not sure how the specs compare to the cannindale and the specialized. They seem good but I don't know whether microshift is any good etc?
microSHIFT Advent drivetrain review
The microSHIFT ethos is to offer affordable alternatives to big-brand kit, and its 9-speed Advent drivetrain definitely achieves that goal. While it lacks the bells and whistles of pricier rivals, it offers very reliable 1x shifting at a very agreeable price – if without much finesse. Shimano...
Isn't the voucher just a loan? Don't they take the money back from your salary? If that's the case, you might want to think again about your logic that's telling you the more you spend the more you save.
I didn't say that at all. I'm saying I already have the voucher. The voucher is for a set amount. I can't change that now. Once you have the voucher for the set amount you can't change it. I didn't make the decision to go with a new donor bike because I thought it would save me money. I just couldn't find any 2nd hand ones that were right for me at the time. So I applied for a voucher that would cover either a new ebike or a new donor and kit. And that's where I'm at now. Deciding which to go with.
So its decent but flawed as expected for the price range.microSHIFT Advent drivetrain review
The microSHIFT ethos is to offer affordable alternatives to big-brand kit, and its 9-speed Advent drivetrain definitely achieves that goal. While it lacks the bells and whistles of pricier rivals, it offers very reliable 1x shifting at a very agreeable price – if without much finesse. Shimano...off.road.cc
Thanks for sharing. So they sound fine for the price point. What I don't know is how they and the other parts used compare with those used in the sirrus x 3.0. Its just total lack of knowledge and experience on my part but makes it difficult to what the better bike is. Maybe there isn't enough difference to matter?microSHIFT Advent drivetrain review
The microSHIFT ethos is to offer affordable alternatives to big-brand kit, and its 9-speed Advent drivetrain definitely achieves that goal. While it lacks the bells and whistles of pricier rivals, it offers very reliable 1x shifting at a very agreeable price – if without much finesse. Shimano...
There isn't much difference between those 3 to worry about. When riding on electric, you would never need the small chainring. Single chainring leaves you with more space on the handlebars.
What makes a good donor bike ? Not sure it is quite the same criteria as choosing an analog bike ? More emphasis on how rugged the components are rather than lightness, particularly the chain / gears in a mid drive that is going to have to cope with several times the power a human could generate ? Hydraulic brakes. Also gears, don't really use the lower gears on an electric bike
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