Electric bicycles - who buys them?

[monthou]

ddom said:

Edit to add, I can’t see any point in an ebike for the road. You can build up a 7-8kg bike spending around 2K. It’ll have an older group set etc but it’ll be still be more bike than you’ll ever need. For me, climbing on the road is just a war of attrition. The mtb is different as it can be very technical. The ebike then opens up trails which you’d not bother with, on the road it’s definitely more basic.

I'm not going to spend 2K on a bike to leave locked outside work in the rain / snow.
I don't want a war of attrition when I'm riding to or from work. Or at least I don't want it every day.

Edited by monthou on Thursday 22 April 11:18

[OssAndy]

It will change mtb rides for me from 90% miserable 10% fun to >95% fun. The ups are then enjoyable, still a good cv workout but without the boring, slow, leg burning slog. I'll also hit the really fun dh bits 3 or 4 times more than on a non assisted ride. It's been an eye opening game changer for me.

[ddom]

monthou said:

I'm not going to spend 2K on a bike to leave locked outside work in the rain / snow.
I don't want a war of attrition when I'm riding to or from work.

We don’t all live atop Mount Everest.

The point was made it’s necessary to spend £6-7K to build a 7kg road bike. That’s what was being referred to.

[ChocolateFrog]

DailyHack said:

nickfrog said:

Absolutely. Doing 10 loops instead of 3 or 4 is just brilliant. And I assumed it wouldn't be as much fun DH. I was wrong.

Emtbs are quite literally taking over. Sometimes I feel that it's already 50/50.

I hope so, as it will make "analogue" bikes alot cheaper

It won't, they'll just stop being sold, which some bike shops have already done.

If anything they'll get more expensive due to lower volume.

[monthou]

ddom said:

We don’t all live atop Mount Everest.

The point was made it’s necessary to spend £6-7K to build a 7kg road bike. That’s what was being referred to.

That's not what you wrote. Maybe it's what you were thinking.
Is the Mount Everest comment supposed to be a put-down?

[ddom]

monthou said:

That's not what you wrote. Maybe it's what you were thinking.
Is the Mount Everest comment supposed to be a put-down?

No, why would it be? You’d ride in the snow, but not ride up a hill? My old commute had around 90m elevation gain over 10 miles, it could be ridden without killing yourself and drowning in sweat.

Old S-Works stuff, sub £2K < 7 kg. So more money to waste on emtb.

[monthou]

ddom said:

No, why would it be? You’d ride in the snow, but not ride up a hill? My old commute had around 90m elevation gain over 10 miles, it could be ridden without killing yourself and drowning in sweat.

Old S-Works stuff, sub £2K < 7 kg. So more money to waste on emtb.

Where did I say I wouldn't ride up a hill?
If you can't see the point of an ebike on the road then you can't see the point.

[nickfrog]

take-good-care-of-the-forest-dewey said:

Reliability isn't good enough yet though.

That's probably true if you have had problems. But conversely if you haven't, then it's a more difficult position to have.

Early adopters do take the brunt of issues but motors like the E8000 I have was launched a few years ago and seems to be reliable. If not, the 2 year warranty may be of help at your local Shimano approved shop.

[ddom]

nickfrog said:

That's probably true if you have had problems. But conversely if you haven't, then it's a more difficult position to have.

Early adopters do take the brunt of issues but motors like the E8000 I have was launched a few years ago and seems to be reliable. If not, the 2 year warranty may be of help at your local Shimano approved shop.

Have Bosch had similar issues?

[nickfrog]

ddom said:

Have Bosch had similar issues?

Sorry I have no idea, perhaps check emtb forum, can't remember the url but it will come up in Google

[techguyone]

I'm a bit out of touch clearly, now I know what a suspension post is as they've been around for a very long time, but what is a dropper post ?

Seat post with QR for fast adjust?

[nickfrog]

techguyone said:

I'm a bit out of touch clearly, now I know what a suspension post is as they've been around for a very long time, but what is a dropper post ?

Seat post with QR for fast adjust?

No it is a seat post with integrated hydraulics that can lower the saddle at the press of a lever (which often replaces the front mech lever) with a drop of up to around 200mm for some. A game changer on a mountain bike.

[vwsurfbum]

Who mentioned reliability???
My Heckler has thrown an error code of the speed sensor after I changed the unrelated brake pads?? Mental.
It's a royal pain in the backside.
If you want to see it, here's my part 1 from last night, hopefully, Part 2 tonight if the sensor has arrived.
]
https://youtu.be/EXTX2Lo6Jos

[nickfrog]

What a pain indeed, most of which is down to the internal routing when routing it outside the back of the chainstay is OK, which is what I have on the Decoy. It doesn't look as smart although you hardly notice.

The shop should have sorted it for you though.

[take-good-care-of-the-forest-dewey]

ddom said:

I said that for the emtb, definitely you approach different trails to use the motor and challenge yourself. But on the road, I can't see it. I like mtb for going fast, jumps (not that I am any good) and generally pissing about. The emtb would definitely let me do more of that.

I think the last two points are relevant on road too.

I live in the NY Moors National park. My loops are full of some monstrous hills. Many in the 100 greatest climbs book.

I've got to be pretty fit to enjoy it. If I'm not, it's miserable. A road ebike - I wouldn't want one either as mtb is my drug of choice - would absolutely make the difference on the marginal days.

An emtb is more fun though. Fighting up a previously impossible climb with the front wheel lifting constantly is a whole new type of biking.

[vwsurfbum]

Yeah, the trouble is they're an hour and a half away and work 10-4 and I work 7-5.
The only reason I'm doing it myself is because i'm off to Wales this weekend and needed it fixed for then or I'd have to use the analogue! :lol:

[ddom]

take-good-care-of-the-forest-dewey said:

An emtb is more fun though. Fighting up a previously impossible climb with the front wheel lifting constantly is a whole new type of biking.

A mixture of fear and amusement as the bike somehow digs in and drags itself up daft things

[Trophy Husband]

ddom said:

Have Bosch had similar issues?

Not for me.
My Bosch CX Performance Line has been faultless for over 2 years. I think I've lost 2m on Turbo at full charge but that's the battery, not the motor.
I bought my Bergamont full suspension right on the cusp of them becoming popular.
I suspect that demand has perhaps led to a fall in standards with all e-bikes?

[take-good-care-of-the-forest-dewey]

So chatted to 3 more lads on emtbs last night at my local trails.

One has been faultless. One was throwing fault lights regularly so was going in for repairs. One was on its second motor.

And mine is finally 'fixed" according to the bike shop. Fingers crossed this lasts.

It must be somewhere around 30-50% failure rate for battery and / or motor which is just mental from profit perspective.

[bmwmike]

gangzoom said:

DailyHack said:

I hope so, as it will make "analogue" bikes alot cheaper

I wouldn't bet on that. The strange thing is after spending a week commuting to work on my eBike, when I jump on my analogue road bike at the weekend I really appreciate the lack of weight, the increased responsiveness, and bizarrely the burn in the legs when you are trying to smash it up a big hill - out of saddle climbing just isn't 'fun' on my eBike, but its one of the best bits of the road bike, as you know there will be a 30mph+ decent at the end of the effort.

The analogue road bike is a totally different experience to my eBike, they complement each other than compete with each other.

Am still trying to decide what bike to get next, honestly speaking am fine with spending £5k on either another eBike or analogue road bike. If I could get a sub 7kg analogue road bike that would probably be my first choice, but current bike price mean my budget isn't high enough for that!!

The ideal situation ofcourse is to get one of each, but pigs will fly before I get the OK for that.

Edited by gangzoom on Thursday 22 April 05:50

Same reason I won't be getting an ebike at all until i need some sort of assistance due to ill health or whatever. I do trail riding 4-5 times a week and for me, the uphill burn is one of the best bits. Absolutely blowing by the time you get to the top, look back - I did that, its an achievement especially on fat tyres.