2 Mile Commute - Electric Bike/Scooter?

AndyCr15

AndyCr15

AndyCr15

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Barnet, London
I've toyed with this thought for a while now. My commute is only 2 miles (although I do have a reasonable incline in both directions) and both my car and motorbike are not really suitable for such short journeys so I have wondered if I should get something electric. Walking is probably not a good idea, I had knee surgery a few years back and a 2 mile walk probably wouldn't start the day well.

I had been thinking it would be a bicycle of some sorts, but I just saw a small ad of a Micro Falcon X3 for example. I guess I might look a little silly on such a thing and I can't see it stating a weight limit anywhere (I'm around 130kg which is usually above the limit for most things) and... on one site it says -

In the UK electric scooters are currently illegal to use on public roads/pavements. Appropriate protective equipment (helmet) should be worn at all times.
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The thing I like with the bike idea, I could cycle a bit, to get some exercise, but not so much that I would start a shift sweating! (Which would be my main issue with just cycling the 2 miles)

So, just wondering if anyone else commutes on anything similar, or an electric bike and can offer suggestions or advice :)

Thanks.
 
Why not just get a normal bicycle?
Even for the most unfit people, 2 miles is a manageable distance and wouldn't take longer than 20 mins if you take it easy. Just ride slow and you wont get sweaty and soon you'll be able to do it in no time without putting in much effort at all.
 
touch said:
Why not just get a normal bicycle?
Even for the most unfit people, 2 miles is a manageable distance and wouldn't take longer than 20 mins.
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he said he had knee surgery which the cycling action, may aggravate.
 
I considered this last summer as I sold my car and didn’t replace it for several months. In the end I just walked to and from work as it was only 1.5 miles each way. You can get scooters for half the price of the one you linked if you do go down that route though.

A normal push bike would probably make more sense and could be done fairly cheaply while forcing you to do a bit of exercise?
 
Just get a normal bike and don't cycle too quickly if you want to avoid sweating loads, you could cycle at a pace that isn't exerting yourself any more than simply walking - you don't have to do the cycling equivalent to running to work.

Has your doctor advised you that walking a few miles each day would be a bad thing for your knee? Not trying to be funny but if a few years after surgery I was in a position where a 30 minute walk to work was an issue then I'd probably want to get it looked at again.
 
I also have a two mile commute which I do on an electric bike. I don't have any problems that would prevent me doing it on a normal bike, but it's largely uphill on the way there, which would mean I would turn up at work sweaty if I didn't have an e-bike. I still pedal hard but having the motor makes it much, much easier.

If your employer has a cycle to work scheme, you can use that for an e-bike as long as it's under £1000.
 
PiKe said:
he said he had knee surgery which the cycling action, may aggravate.
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He said he had knee surgery so walking wouldn't be a good solution.
If cycling action would aggravate it, then an electric bike wouldn't be an appropriate solution either.
 
Cycling is fine on my knee, the gradient would make me sweat, even if I was trying to take it easy.

Redrum said:
I also have a two mile commute which I do on an electric bike. I don't have any problems that would prevent me doing it on a normal bike, but it's largely uphill on the way there, which would mean I would turn up at work sweaty if I didn't have an e-bike. I still pedal hard but having the motor makes it much, much easier.

If your employer has a cycle to work scheme, you can use that for an e-bike as long as it's under £1000.
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Which one did you get? I think my employer still has a cycle to work scheme, I know we used to, it's how I bought my current bicycle.

To be clear, it's not that I'm against exercise, I go the gym 3 times a week. I just don't want to start work sticky and sweaty :(

Thanks for all the input guys.
 
AndyCr15 said:
Which one did you get?
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That's the problem, finding a decent, reliable one without paying a fortune. I'm on my second bike now, which is a Cyclotricity Revolver:

https://www.cyclotricity.com/uk/electric-bikes/mens-electric-bikes/revolver-hybrid-9ah.html

It's pretty cheap at only £650, although I paid extra for a bigger battery version with an LCD display and a throttle. It's serving me well now but I'm not sure I'd recommend it because Cyclotricty are a nightmare to deal with. They are unbelievably disorganised and the front wheel of the bike they sent almost collapsed because they didn't built it right and when I emailed them to tell them, they didn't even reply. I was told by a bike mechanic that checked it that the brakes and gears are reasonable quality components though. They do have a dealer network so buying through that instead of direct might be a better experience.

Halfords rebuilt the wheel properly for me (for a ridiculously low £10) and I replaced the junk kickstand and lights that came with it and it's now a decent bike that I've been using daily for about 6 months. My local Halfords is brilliant actually, so if I ever need to buy another electric bike, I'd probably consider their own brand ones because their repair service is really good but if you have an electrical problem, they will only repair it if it's one of their own brand bikes.

The bike I had before that was a Greenedge CS2, which is the own-brand Chinese import that E Bikes Direct sell but that had faulty brakes and E Bikes Direct are also terrible to deal with. I wouldn't buy anything from them. I ordered a spare part from them and they said they'd sent it but hadn't, then said they'd sent it again and hadn't, then finally sent it but sent it to the wrong address and when I finally received it, weeks after ordering on a next day service, they'd sent the wrong part.

The other bike I considered was the Ancheer, which is on Amazon and seems to have good reviews.

Whatever you go for, I think you should make sure it has a 250W motor (the road legal maximum) because at 130KG, anything less might struggle.
 
Just saying the cycle to work schemes are usually garbage. You can get better deals shopping around and avoiding the handcuffed purchasing rules of the scheme
 
Hendon is listed, which isn't all that far from me. I notice they allow 30 minute test rides on any eBike. Maybe I should just drop in to my local Halfords, there's one between me and work.
 
413x said:
Just saying the cycle to work schemes are usually garbage. You can get better deals shopping around and avoiding the handcuffed purchasing rules of the scheme
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I agree with this to a certain extent, but when I read up on the matter (because my company wasn't part of a scheme), it seemed like there was no need for the company to join a managed system from one of the scheme companies. The company's accountant agreed so I just bought it on a company card and they just deducted the cost from my salary over 12 months. At the end, there's specific tax rules about what the employee should pay to take ownership of the bike, but I didn't pay anything so the bike technically remained the property of the company and eventually they'll write it off once it's past the point where they have to charge the employee to take ownership.

But obviously that was only possible because it's a very small company. In most cases, you're stuck with whatever scheme is operated, although calling them garbage is probably a bit over the top.
 
I have 2x eBikes, both Trek's which I bought second hand off Gumtree then fitted Cyclotricity electrics which have been very reliable over the last 5 years.
I originally had a Cyclotricity Stealth which fell apart mechanically and very soon learned that it's best to buy a proper decent bike and put the electrics on it.
I'll also never have a bike on the Cycle To Work scheme again, it was 4 years before it was mine and my total savings was about £120 on an £850 bike so that's why I ended up buying second hand.
 
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