Would I be dumb to buy an leccy bike?

[Mal69]

Hi,

Thanks for offering a different perspective.

What you're saying is exactly what I'm worried about (no benefit) but to answer your question...

I'm dripping with sweat and gasping for dear life in both directions. More so on the way home as I'm 6 miles inland and it's a slight incline the whole way after I leave the coastline. I use the commute as a bit of a workout but headwinds just kill me. I don't tend to make it without a 10 minute breather and a Snickers somewhere along the route if it's breezy.

Saving a bit of money doesn't really bother me. I haven't bought a bike in 20 years so I'm due myself a treat. And without sounding morbid, at 48 I don't expect to buy another so I want to get it right.

Well the good news is you sweat a lot less on an E-Bike, headwinds might run the battery down faster, I don't know yet as I have not had my bike long enough but an e-bike really makes you sweat less, having said that you can put as much or as little effort in as you like, well with my hub drive you can, I think the Haibike is crank drive, with hub drive just pedalling on a straight means I can do 22.6mph, not sure about the crank drives.

It's hard to say how long the battery will last, it will depend on power setting, you might not need full power so it could last the journey there and home.

 

[Tugwell Gibson]

I think you will love it. I'm 17 stone on an oxygen hub drive and I'm no cyclist. But I've done 20 miles poncing about here and there and never took the battery to half way. I wouldn't be surprised if you couldn't do your commute on a single charge . But you could always take the charger with you to start with.

Had mine 6 months and look for an excuse to ride it every day. Even out in the winter in the mud. Living by the coast and enjoying cycling anyway , plus commuting, you have perfect reasons.
Try and test out a few.

 

[rich_r]

Don't forget that you can alter the amount of assistance the motor's giving you. So when you encounter a headwind or hill, turn it up a bit to counteract it then turn it back down when you don't need it any more or want a bit more exercise. By doing that the battery will last longer too. I did just under 40 miles on Sunday morning and there was still a bit left in my 10Ah battery - that's with a 250W front hub motor kit on a cheap old mountain bike, total cost was under £500 including the bike.

For commuting some people prefer high assistance on the way to work (arriving non-sweaty), then low or no assistance on the way home (to get exercise).

 

[chris_n]

I'm thinking a dongle may be the way to go but a little worried about range if I fit one. I try to get to work pretty sharpish normally (the roads are empty at 05:30 but tend to dawdle home as there's lots of traffic in the evening. Do you think the Haibike would cope with that on 1 charge?

I have an unrestricted hardseven, I can get over 60Km with 2000m of climbing on one battery. It depends how much power you use, stick it in eco, get an extra 100-150 watts and you will go a long way. Be aware that Haibikes are generally heavy things, I'm not sure I would use one for that journey.
I think I would go for d8veh's favourite q128 kit on your existing bike with slicks (I used to have a second set of wheels to swap between commuting and weekend riding)

 

[Danidl]

Hi,

Thanks for offering a different perspective.

What you're saying is exactly what I'm worried about (no benefit) but to answer your question...

I'm dripping with sweat and gasping for dear life in both directions. More so on the way home as I'm 6 miles inland and it's a slight incline the whole way after I leave the coastline. I use the commute as a bit of a workout but headwinds just kill me. I don't tend to make it without a 10 minute breather and a Snickers somewhere along the route if it's breezy.

Saving a bit of money doesn't really bother me. I haven't bought a bike in 20 years so I'm due myself a treat. And without sounding morbid, at 48 I don't expect to buy another so I want to get it right.

.. not morbid, just unrealistic.. at 48 you could anticipate another 20 plus years and if you don't expect ebikes to get better and more desirable then! !!!
What you might like to think about is the style of cycling you want to do. I don't know the shape of your current bike but it's name suggests MTB. For road commuting there are other shapes, and these might be more comfortable. In particular the Dutch style has endured for a reason,
When I got my current bike I wanted to explore was it feasible to cycle at 25km HR for an hour , in full commuting gear eg anorak, etc not Lycra, and it is with turbo assist on,. Hard work but not knee destroying or uncontrollable sweating and it is...

 

[soundwave]

turbo 25-30 miles with a 500w batt just depends how fast you go used 2 bars in 10 miles turbo all the way.

 

[soundwave]

that took out a 400w batt but using all modes as needed eco to turbo.

 

[Peter Thornton]

There's no extra drag when you're free-wheeling, but you suffer an efficiency loss with Bosch motors because you have to go through the motor's reduction system rather than driving the chain directly. Take your chain off and turn the pedals by hand! Try and spin the pedals, like you can on a normal bike.

I think the latest ones (announced but not available yet) have ditched the reduction system and have a normal size chainring, and of course the Haibike may have a Yamaha motor.

 

[topographer]

How hard are the trails you'll be playing on?

 

[Trevormonty]

Don't limit yourself to just Haibike for eMTB, there are Cube, Scott, KTM, Trek, Specialized, Bull to name a few. For middrives it is Bosch, Brose, Shimano or Yamaha. All will flatten hills but power delivery, noise and controls vary slightly between them.

 

[hobbes748]

How hard are the trails you'll be playing on?

Very easy. Just for a muck-about really. I would be taking my nearly 5 year old daughter along with me as she likes to be mucking about on her bike too.

 

[hobbes748]

Don't limit yourself to just Haibike for eMTB, there are Cube, Scott, KTM, Trek, Specialized, Bull to name a few. For middrives it is Bosch, Brose, Shimano or Yamaha. All will flatten hills but power delivery, noise and controls vary slightly between them.

I'm not. Cube hpa400 is on my short-list, as is Trek. I wasn't that taken with KTM - they appeared to be 'a bike' KTM have just stuck their name on (but maybe I'm wrong and apologies in advance to all the KTM owners I've just offended). I'd LOVE a Specialized Levo hard tail! I took one out for hour or so at a Specialized event my local bike shop organised and that's what got me onto leccy bikes. But.... the price tag prevents me from considering it further.

 

[Trevormonty]

I'm not. Cube hpa400 is on my short-list, as is Trek. I wasn't that taken with KTM - they appeared to be 'a bike' KTM have just stuck their name on (but maybe I'm wrong and apologies in advance to all the KTM owners I've just offended). I'd LOVE a Specialized Levo hard tail! I took one out for hour or so at a Specialized event my local bike shop organised and that's what got me onto leccy bikes. But.... the price tag prevents me from considering it further.

Specialized and Haibike are definitely overpriced. As example £4000 for FS eMTB and no dropper seat post.
Merida tend to be good value for money, not sure of UK presence.
UK ebike company Whisper are about to release a range of Shimano powered eMTBs.

Does pay to buy from local shop for after sales support.

 

[Tim Fry]

I bought a Haibike for commuting as I wasn't allowed to drive for a couple of years due to medical reasons.
I got it derestricted from badass and could average 26mph on the flat. Amusing overtaking road bikes. Got to work far quicker than I could ever in the car
As people said it does drain the battery quick. My old 2012 Haibike on 300w battery gave me around 16 miles on turbo mode derestricted
Emtb gives you best of both worlds. Did 1800 miles on it in the end before selling to a friend.
Now got a 2017 full sus model, not got it derestricted as I don't commute as much and do more off than on road so slower speeds anyways. 500w battery makes big diff too.
Bare in mind the legals too.
Tim


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[georgehenry]

I ride a de-restricted Hard seven and use it to commute to work and back. I ride a 16 mile mainly off road route to work and only use eco or actually turn the power assist off where the gradient allows. I am 100 kg+ and carry two full ortleib paniers on a rear rack. I like the physical work out I get going to work. Used in this way I never use more than 30% of my battery and as little as 25%. I charge my battery at work so that it is fully charged for my return trip home.

My journey home is 10 miles on a hilly B road. I use the bike slightly differently. Again I mostly use eco and off for the downhills, however I use the standard level of assistance for three hills and the top of another long hill to help me over the top of it. This helps me climb quite steep hills at 15 miles an hour.

On the flatter or even gentle up hill sections in eco I put plenty of effort in myself but with the eco power still helping I maintain 20 miles an hour and on only very gentle downhill gradients up to 25 miles an hour.

Used like this I am covering the 10 miles home in less than 30 minutes and I have no less than 60% of the battery left in winter and 65% in summer.

I have covered 6730 miles since I started in March 2015 and my original battery is working pretty much the same way as it did when I began.

After de-restricting my bike I changed the gearing to provide the best spread for my needs and have found a 12/36 rear cassette combined with a 42 tooth chain ring works best for me. This allows me to pedal up to 25 miles an hour or just over and still climb the steepest technical sections of my off road route. Where the road is flat I look to maintain 20 to 22 mph.

I also have an older Oxygen Emate City rear hub bike with a throttle that I still love. The haibike frame is in a different league of quality and the yamaha crank drive puts the weight in the right place for proper mountain biking and the torque measured assistance is intuative and great fun and will allow you to tackle difficult off road tracks and climbs with ease. However my old Oxygen will still take me to work on the road in a very relaxed fashion when required and the drive components have lasted for years as the hub motor takes the strain away rather than adding to it.

I am sure that a modern Oxygen rear hub drive would be a more relaxed and probably a quicker on road commuter bike that would require less effort from the rider as well as less maintenance and replacement of the chain cassette and chain ring and could still tackle some off road tracks. You pays your money and takes your choice.

I now do not use higher than eco assistance in my top gear (9) or gear (8) for that matter on my Haibike to prolong the life of my rear cassette. However I am still covering the ground fast enough for me. My cassette, chain and chain ring have covered 1520 miles so far used in this way without wearing out with plenty of off road in a sandy area, and the 10 mile road journey home is still taking less than 30 minutes.

My motor developed play in the crank bearing after two years and was replaced by the shop I bought it from (Ebike Farnham) free of charge.

Choices Choices. A test ride would be a good idea so that you can understand the different feel of a crank drive compared with a hub drive. Personally I like them both. If you are not bothered too much about off road riding then a hub drive has a lot going for it for commuting.

 

[hobbes748]

The time for procrastinating is over. I've taken the plunge and ordered the Haibike sduro Cross, with a badass.

Should be here this week and I'm soooooooooooooooo exited!!!

I'll post up a few 'old and new' pictures when it arrives and let you know how I'm finding it. Thanks again to all of you for your views and suggestions.

 

[topographer]

The time for procrastinating is over. I've taken the plunge and ordered the Haibike sduro Cross, with a badass.

Should be here this week and I'm soooooooooooooooo exited!!!

I'll post up a few 'old and new' pictures when it arrives and let you know how I'm finding it. Thanks again to all of you for your views and suggestions.

You mean old and new pics of your bank balance?

 

[hobbes748]

You mean old and new pics of your bank balance?

Yeah, that's something I don't want to look at for a while.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

+1000
-1000
The difference is just a small vertical line. Does it matter? It looks pretty harmless to me.

 

[hobbes748]

+1000
-1000
The difference is just a small vertical line. Does it matter? It looks pretty harmless to me.

Hey, I wish my Mrs had the same attitude as you.

'What? How much? You're *****n' kidding me!' was the response I received when I broke the news.