Adventure Bike Rider Forum

Hi all

I am interested in an electric bike (cycle), it would be for commuting and road use only. I have had a Demo day on the BMW ebike that's a 250 Watt motor pedal assisted with a range of about 60 miles with a 400wh battery. It is governed so that at 15 miles an hour the cycle assist turns off. But at £1,700 it's a lot of money. I live in a very hilly part of Devon. I want to cycle to work 8 miles each way. There is a 2.5 mile high hill in the way! and that is a long slog.

I've been having a look at the conversion kits, these are quite a bit cheaper and higher wattage so more powerful.


Anybody else got an e bike (cycle) either one that's been converted or a manufactured one I'll be really interested to see how you got on and any recommendations thanks Nick

I was thinking you meant an electric motorbike for a moment there as they seem to be picking up in popularity now the Chinese are making budget versions.Isnt an electric pushbike kinda defeating the object of riding a bike to get excersize though?

Hi, after lots of reading till my head hurts and talking to Baffoons :whistle: ..as ive a perfectly good mountain bike im going down the rear hub conversion route with a split power output..250/500w and a large battery...around £500...

its for pleasure use only...the trouble with anything driven by a battery is that they only last so long and the battery is the big part of the cost...E-bikes are getting real popular so have a big chain :woohoo: ....i may go lithium battery as they are far lighter and last longer but more expensive costs...

how far you going to be going each day?...cycling in uk on roads is like getting into bed with the Devil :laugh: ...dangerous in my view....

mine is for uk greenlanes and euro stuff on the camper....if i ride slower when i fall off it will hurt less lol....well thats what i told the wife

I've got a few conventional cycles and a Hiabike fully suspended assisted mountain bike.
The Hiabike is one of their lesser models but it's still £2500
I live in a relatively hilly part of England with lots of trails and tracks that you can't access on a motorbike and the Hiabike is great for gooning about off road.
I can recommend the Haibike....may be not as a starter Ebike, it's a bit steeply priced and you'd be better off getting a cheaper one to see if you'd actually use it.
The quality of the components make riding it a pleasure. I find that it's the bike I use the most.....including motorbikes!
Four levels of assistance from ECO+ ECO, Standard and High.
In ECO+ you're not getting much assistance, so I use this when I want a work-out, the bike feels like a well set-up slim wheeled hybrid standard push bike.
Like all legal Ebikes in all levels of assistance the power is cut at just over 15mph, so after that it's all your effort, so often on the straights you'd actually be quicker on top end riding a standard lighter conventional cycle.
I like the choice you get with an Ebike....switch the assistance to minimum and the assistance is basically just enough to negate the extra weight of the bike to make you equal to a standard bike, then if you want you can ramp up the assistance to speed up your progress, especially acceleration and hill climbing.
If you live in a relatively flat area and you don't want to stray off Tarmac you may be better buying a good slim wheeled "Normal" bike.

Andi_Archer wrote:I was thinking you meant an electric motorbike for a moment there as they seem to be picking up in popularity now the Chinese are making budget versions.Isnt an electric pushbike kinda defeating the object of riding a bike to get excersize though?

Yep you have a point, in my case I want to cycle to work 8 miles each way. There is a 2.5 mile hill in the way and that is a long slog. In the long run, I hope I will do more exercise as a result of using the ebike also I would get a pedal assist not a twist and go so you have to work to make it go.

Tramp wrote:Hi, after lots of reading till my head hurts and talking to Baffoons :whistle: ..as ive a perfectly good mountain bike im going down the rear hub conversion route with a split power output..250/500w and a large battery...around £500...

Hi Tramp thanks for the reply, have you decided which conversion you are going to have? and any chance of a link

I asked this same question a few weeks ago and had similar answers. If you want a Bike with a high spec, buy german and expect to pay over 2 grand. Apparently for bigger hills a crank type motor is best, but this will push the price up.
I've still not bought as I'm struggling between spec and price. I can't afford 2 grand plus, in fact even around £800-£900 is going to be a struggle, but one of these might suit me http://wooshbikes.co.uk/cart/
Good luck with your search.

Call me tight or synical but most electric stuff comes from china even the Bosch crank stuff...now the china guys are just interested in money....the uk shops that sell all over the show buy from china...ive deleiverd by contain some...hence the dig a bit deeper and find the seller in china and deal direct or at least find the true price...

We are talking recreational use not nutter on the trails...more help a old git up them hills lol...

Also the technology changes rapidly as do the batteries, so im thinking of q good kit with the ability to use gel and lithium batterys...afterall they are just a power source...

I do like to pedal...so not a lazy pensioner going down the chippynor corner shop type...

I have recently gone down the E bike route. I bought a Cube Hybrid with Bosch motor. It wasn't cheap at £ 2.5k, but having used it for the last couple on months, I think it is worth every penny.
I too live in an area with a lot of hills, when I was using my conventional bike, I found myself avoiding routes with difficult hills, now I don't care which direction I go, I know I have got some help if I need it!!
I mainly ride in eco mode, which is the least assistance from the motor, there other modes to use if the going gets tuff!
What it has done for me, it's let me get out without feeling daunted by the prospect of hills, I have gone from 0 miles per week to 100 miles per week, and enjoying every minute of it. I know the die hard cyclist say it's cheating, but if it gets you out there cycling what the hell.

As with everything in life you get what you pay for and the best is claimed to be crank drive with either a Bosch or a Yamaha motor.

I've got a mountain bike with a Bosch motor and it does everything I need it to and also does anything up to 80 miles on a charge depending on which mode it's in. Turbo is the daddy one but going uphill on a loose surface or on wet grass/mud sees it wheel spinning like crazy so it's better if I use a lower power setting. Mine is mainly used on bridleways or dedicated cycle tracks as a means of going on motorised pub crawls legally and it's great fun.