Has anyone got any experience with eBikes in general they would care to pass on?
For starters I was toying with the idea of getting one for my wife, and possibly if that works out, perhaps me. However we will have different requirements due to our dramatically different sizes! (me being 14" taller). Use would just be recreational - not commuting, and definitely not lycralout level of "enthusiasm"!
So requirements initially would be small enough for teeny wife (saddle height probably needs to be no more than 30" from the ground), and preferably not too heavy (although that may matter less with the power assistance). Comfortable, upright (ish) riding position. Mostly on road riding, perhaps some trails / bridal paths etc, but not serious mountain biking.
No personal experience (yet) but I believe the ones with the motor mounted by the bottom bracket (as opposed to in-wheel motors) provide superior torque for hill climbing. Whether that is important to you or not I don?t know.
I have one and would thoroughly recommend it if you're starting to find hills and headwinds taxing. It can turn what might other- wise be a tiring ride into a relaxed outing. You'll not want to go back to an unassisted bike.
A low central motor and a battery attached to the down tube are best. A motor at the hub of the front wheel tends to give the bike directionally a mind of its own; on the rear hub it complicates removal for servicing and tyre changes. A battery on the rear carrier makes the bike top-heavy and unstable.
Derailleur gears are popular, but I have found them unnecessary on a recreational bike. My eight-speed Shimano integrated rear hub is more than enough, and has taken me over 28,000 trouble
-free miles. I've no experience with automatic gears, but a neighbour had to keep taking his back to the dealer.
Wider almost trail bike tyres are fitted on the latest e-bikes. I think they are more suitable for a heavy bike - and all e-bikes are heavy.
You should have no trouble finding sizes to fit both you and your wife.
The Dutch makers Gazelle, Giant and Koga are particularly good. If I were buying one now this is what I'd get:
Don't know about "starting" - I think it's more a case of not starting at all if the route is likely to involve a serious hill :-)
There are two routes away from our place - both run down hill - the steeper route does it in a couple of hundred meters, and the longer one in say 800m. I don't mind the long one so much, although swmbo is normally in need of a gentle push for the last bit of it!
Do rear hub motors on geared bikes provide assistance through the gearing or after it?
I can see that power injected at the pedals on bottom bracket motors will translate into a variable torque "multiplied" by the gear selected. A front hub motor can obviously only assist by a certain amount that will not change with elected gear.
Nice bike, but looks like the only UK dealer is north of leeds...
That's true. Also those with torque sensors on the pedals rather than simple revolution sensors make it a bit more seamless. With rev sensors you do half a rev and nothing happens and then it notices and gives you some power. If you are a bit unsteady that can be disconcerting.
Very broadly, there are two types of e-bikes. The first category is what I call 'system' e-bikes. The motor, battery, controls, maybe other parts, are made by a single company like Bosch or Panasonic. A frame builder simply makes a frame to the appropriate dimensions and drops in the 'system'. The system works nicely together, but the downside is it's expensive and you are stuck with whatever parts Bosch offers you.
The other category is what I'd call the 'bazaar' approach. The biggest e-bike market is China, and there they have developed an ecosystem of parts from all different manufacturers that work together. There's very simple communications between them - for example a throttle lever is a potentiometer, and a controller provides GND and 5V and expects to receive a voltage between 0 and 5V. Meanwhile in the Bosch system the communication is proprietary - I have no idea but expect it's CANbus or something.
Because the parts are compatible, a vendor can build a bike from whatever parts they want as the interfaces are simple - a bit like on a regular bike you can pick from any wheels as they have standardised fork fittings. It also means you can upgrade parts - want a fancier controller? Just swap it out. New battery? It's just regular 36V lithium-ion, you could even make your own. There are also upgrade kits where you can retrofit an existing bike to be an e-bike, which is something Bosch and friends don't do much of.
The China e-bikes are often less refined than the 'system' bikes, but they're often vastly cheaper. I bought a new China e-bike for £500. It's not the best bike ever but pretty good for that price. Meanwhile the equivalent bike with a Bosch system would be maybe £2000. It's probably a better bike, but maybe not £1500 better.
It's a little bit 'Apple' v 'Android'. If you go to a bike dealer, they will try to push you towards a fancy Bosch bike because there's a lot more profit on £2000 than £500. Those that cater to the cheaper end of the market may import China ebikes - these are often own-brand or sold mail order.
Something to be aware of that bike shops won't tell you...
I've not tried them a lot, but TBH I think any motor has enough torque to handle low speeds. It's a pedelec so you have to pedal to begin with before the motor assists, which means you have to be able to spin the pedals yourself when going up hill, and means the motor doesn't need to get you moving from a standing start.
Once you're going, don't forget the motor will tail off assistance and won't assist at all above 15mph. Having it geared may help with really long and steep hills, but that's only really a problem if you reach the power or speed limit of the motor. (the '250W' legal limit is a bit of a fiction - motors are often capable of a lot more instantaneous power)
(we don't do hills in Cambridgeshire, so I've only really tried mine on the odd railway bridge...)
They start at about 15kg - the weight of the rider will still dominate.
It is, and seven times what I paid for my first car new. But the quality is excellent and, unlike a Chinese e-bike, it won't soon have you feeling that you need another one.
There are many variants, but pretty much any ebike will put a wide smile on your face, and you won't want to go back to unassisted after trying one.
Personally, I converted my existing bike by fitting a front hub motor and a rear carrier-mounted battery. This variant is about the lowest-end, and has some detractors, but I love it!
Hmm. As the land owner responsible for a very busy bridleway I wonder if their use is strictly legal.
Bikes were permitted in the 1968 act but somewhere powered use is excluded. This is already stretched by the users of motorised wheelchairs under access legislation...
Had you thought of converting your existing "analogue" (sorry, that seems to be the "cool" term) bikes? I haven't taken the plunge yet but there seems to be a wide range of conversion kits available. From what I've read it would be better to fit a motor to the crank rather than replace the hubs.
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