Buying an e-bike

Outcast said:
A what ?
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This: http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/electric-bikes/oxygen-diva--electric-bike-15ah

But I ended up with a converted hybrid.

I have to echo what other e-bike owners are saying, it made a huge difference on what is quite a hilly journey. I averaged around 11 mph, so there is room for improvement, and by the time I got back I did feel like I had done a moderate workout, but that's probably down to the fact I haven't been active for a few months.

It took 22 minutes, which is no doubt much quicker than what it would have been unassisted. The journey normally takes 45 minutes by bus, plus waiting time. I think I'm converted, I have the bike on hire until the start of March so I can really give it a good test before deciding to part with my hard earned.

I think it will just take the effort out of the journey enough for it not to be a chore, I'm not cycling for the exercise I'm doing it for the convenience so the ebike makes a huge difference for that, it was a lot of fun as well I might add, really enjoyed the feeling of zipping around with minimal amount of effort!
 
Crizzy said:
I think it will just take the effort out of the journey enough for it not to be a chore, I'm not cycling for the exercise I'm doing it for the convenience so the ebike makes a huge difference for that, it was a lot of fun as well I might add, really enjoyed the feeling of zipping around with minimal amount of effort!
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That's the key issue in my humble opinion.

When we were kids we didn't care if we got wet or muddy, whatever. We just wanted to go out on our bikes and have fun and of course, we had endless stamina.

e-bikes bring the fun back to us oldies without the knackerisation and of course you can probably charge it for nowt at work so you save a shedload of money too.

I've probably already posted this here somewhere but this is mine after an "upgrade" !

https://youtu.be/6BcCh_whU_Q?t=19m2s
 
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SexyGreyFox said:
For those with more interest this is the main forums for e-Bike users - http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/
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Yeah I've used this site a bit, really useful information.

Just a quick update: I've now had the bike for a whole week now and I've used it... once. Unfortunately I've been pretty unwell since Sunday so I haven't been in work all week. It's really frustrating, I rarely get ill and the timing really sucks!
 
I cycle with my family on holiday and odd weekends and whilst my missus wanted to enjoy a ride with me and my daughter the amount of whining we would experience on a ride ruined it for us, I bought her a Haibike SDuro, and expensive purchase at something like £1.4k for these odd cycle rides but now when I suggest a cycle ride she doesn't go out of her way to find something else to do, and the only moaning is from us telling her to wait, they are great, reduced much grief :)

I use her bike myself for the odd work ride, nice when riding into the wind to have some assistance.
 
Has anyone tried out or seen the Carrera Crosscity Electric Bike at Halfords which is currently on sale for £650?

http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/electric-bikes/carrera-crosscity-electric-bike

I've been struggling with a knee injury and figured it would hopefully allow me to get back into cycling without exerting myself on the 5 mile hike uphill when I'm going home.

I've never tried a folding bike but it would be handy for storing at work. Plus it seems like a combined electric/folding bike would be the ultimate commuting tool for getting around? I've been put off getting an electric bike previously mainly because of the cost but I'd be happy to spend around £500-ish since that would pay itself off in a year of saved bus fares. Not to mention the bus service around where I live is atrocious so it would save me a lot of time commuting.

Any thoughts or other suggestions?
 
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Any bike...literally.

I only have V brakes on my 1500 watt e-bike. Yup I'd have preferred disc and am looking to change the front forks to ones that have disc brake mountings.

The motors come as a kit.. Motor, throttle & e-brake levers, LCD screen & Controller. You just need to suss out where to put the controller and battery locations.
And what style of battery you want. (Flask, Rackmount, Triangle bag)
 
Outcast said:
Any bike...literally.

I only have V brakes on my 1500 watt e-bike. Yup I'd have preferred disc and am looking to change the front forks to ones that have disc brake mountings.

The motors come as a kit.. Motor, throttle & e-brake levers, LCD screen & Controller. You just need to suss out where to put the controller and battery locations.
And what style of battery you want. (Flask, Rackmount, Triangle bag)
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He was on about the kit I linked to, pretty sure the battery is one type and it mounts on the handlebar.
 
You obviously don't like in Bristol. I used to commute 20 miles round trip. It took 45 mins. If I drove it also took 45 mins. If anything driving felt like it took longer because I wasn't active. Now I work mostly from home so avoid the commute most days, but I have tried cycling in once from where I live now - 35 miles away. Its was a bit hilly and took 3 hours each way.

touch said:
When they say "any bike", do they actually mean "any bike without disc brakes, through axles or unusual hub spacings"?
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Thats what I was thinking, which would count me out. My old commuter is a hard tail MTB with racer rims and disc brakes I built 10 years ago.
 
I like the idea but there's a suspicious amount of these crowdfunded e-bike conversion kits 'in development'! Do any ever actually see the light of day with official releases?

I have a couple of spare bikes in the shed so I'd be tempted to try one if they were legit.
 
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The other problem I have is the 25 miles claim on the cheaper battery and 50 miles on the dearer one.
I've been using 2x 36v 9ah batteries and I'd be very lucky to get 16 miles out of them.
There is a calculation which is 36v x 9ah = 324 watts and then it takes an average of 20 watts to do a mile.
The size of the smaller battery is 36v 5ah which equals 9 miles!
It could probably do 25 miles if you had it on the lowest pedal assist but that's defeating the object.
 
Just bought a Specialized expert and a BBSHD 1740w max power output + 52v 15AH battery to put my own together.

Gave up boozing a while ago and need a new hobby apart from messing around with watercooling etc.

Not been on a bike in around 20 years and i'm new to all this so reading up on guides etc at the minute, should be fun though!. :)
 
khemist said:
Just bought a Specialized expert and a BBSHD 1740w max power output + 52v 15AH battery to put my own together.
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Good grief according to the stats that will do 36mph on the throttle :)

I was all set to buy a new front motor for one of my bikes until an helpful Pedelecs Forum guy gave me some advice.
My motor started to make a screeching noise, then it would go slow and then stop > repeat over and over for 2 days until it finally stopped.
I was told to lift the bike up, freewheel the front wheel and it should just go round until it finally stops - turn it backwards and it shouldn't go more that two turns and it did this so there's nothing wrong with my motor.
In the end it was loose cables :)
 
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