Anyone got one?
I used to cycle all the time in Birmingham. To work, to the rehearsal studio after work, into Birmingham, etc.
Bristol is too hilly and I haven’t cycled since moving down here. My bike is only a single speed and although I love it, given my age I’m possibly unlikely to cycle it again.
Does an e-bike have a free cycle like a normal bike?
What is a good entry level one? How much do you really need to spend?
cant advise on models or anything but if you do get one make sure you have somewhere safe to keep it. A u lock on the street will not stop it getting stolen.
Friend of mine left his locked up for 30 minutes yesterday - superglue in his £100 lock. He’d got back in time so he was able to just about open the very sticky lock that hadn’t dried yet
They would have come back that night with an angle grinder
Adoption of them over the past year has been phenomenal
I went to Hossegor in France a couple of years back and it seemed like everybody rode these super cool electric cruiser style bikes. Didn’t appear to have the problem with bike theft that they have in the UK either.
Rented one a few weeks ago. Would wanna get one but I live in a very flat country so it feels unnecessary. might get one anyway
I’m not particularly knowledgeable in the subject but noticed this in the shop window the other day (got a couple of my colleagues talking as well).
Seems a decent price for an ebike (compared to what they normally have in their window, anyway) and they seem to do a good business in their own brand e-scooters (despite them being a bit of a legal grey area), so they must be doing something right.
They’ve got a shop in Bristol and apparently do test rides, so might be worth popping in and having a chat.
I have one and it’s wonderful. I firmly believe that they will make a massive difference to the way people travel, but infrastructure does need to catch up, particularly for safe parking.
Things you need to think about:
Where do you want to cycle? City only, or out into the countryside? On roads / cycle paths, or off-road.
How far do you want to go on it? Linked to the above. The further you plan to go, the bigger battery you need. This increases cost and weight.
I went for one that can go on and off-road and has a pretty big battery. It’s very expensive, multiple thousands of pounds, but can go pretty much anywhere and is amazing. I think £1000 would be the very minimum. I can recommend a few popular things if you know what you’re looking for.
City.
Roads.
Commute (not far).
Ideally the more it looks like a normal bike the better and maybe the ability to pedal normally also.
This has got decent reviews. If you can spend more, you can get something that is lighter and closer to a normal bike. Best bet is to get down to a specialist ebike shop and test ride some.
Don’t get carried away and crash into the curb and break your wrist during the test ride! (Voice of experience)
All ebikes will have the option to pedal normally. Whether that is a viable option or not will depend upon the weight of the bike and how hilly it is. My bike weighs 25kg, and the extra weight is very noticeable going up hill if I have the engine assist turned off.
Most ebikes will allow you to select how much assist you want - none, low, medium, high, that kind of thing.
Thanks for this, not had a chance to look properly yet. At work and it’s so busy, will have a proper look about 4am.
This looks great entry level. I can’t work out if the base (cheaper of them two) model has gears? Does the motor negate the need for gears?
I’m kind of used to not changing gears as I cycled single speed when I last cycled.
Might try / buy this / something like this.
I imagine in a few years time the technology will move fast and the motors be much smaller / lighter and something like this is ideal for starting.
I’m assuming you can’t ride it with the board attached like that? Or am I misunderstanding. Is the idea you just use the engine?
Yeah - I’ve seen loads of bikes and scooters in that part of France with surf attachments. I think the motor combined with the fat wheels mean that they can go through sandy dunes that often spill onto the roads without any trouble
I meant more that I can’t see how you can use the pedals at all with that attachment. Just wondering if you definitely don’t pedal and only use the motor in this configuration?
Ah, it just holds the board far enough out that you can still use the pedals
Cheaper model only has one gear, more expensive has none. To a certain extent the motor can compensate for the lack of gears, but gears are still useful in the same way they are on a normal bike. But yeah, if it’s designed as a single speed, I’d expect the motor to be able to compensate and get you up hills.
The Pure Flux One above also looks good for entry level, by the way. Let us know how you get on when you try it. For me, it was a pretty incredible experience of feeling the motor assist for the first time. It’s like your legs have magically become more powerful.
yeah i’m into them
