Electric bicycles - who buys them?

[Court_S]

nickfrog said:

^^^^^^^^ that looks the business. Good move. Glad you enjoyed it and quite smart to have found the sweet spot between range and weight. My Decoy was around 24kg so yours is basically half way between that and a typical short travel CF trail bike.

I have those exact forks in 160 on my HT and they are excellent. The "cheap" Fox damper in them is in a different league to the entry level RS forks damper.

Thanks. It’s not that much heavier than the aluminium Mega 275 that it’s replaced. The rear suspension is is miles better though and I’m normally allergic to air suspension having run coil for a while now.

The forks have impressed me. They’re supposedly the same as Z1’s but feel much, much nicer than the Z1’s prior to getting a coil conversion.

I think the range will be fine for me. I did 16.6 miles and just finished under 2,000 ft of climbing and used 41% of the battery.

[bobbo89]

Yeah that does look really nice and I know exactly what you're saying about weight. I've a Vitus E-Sommet and it's a heavy bd, massive battery and powerful AF but the weight is an issue in the way it rides. What you've got looks to hit the sweet spot.

[gangzoom]

Commutes like today makes me glad I still own a 20kg+ eBike with mudguards/racks etc. Some times you just need the right bike for the job, n+1 is very much alive even with eBikes .

[RizzoTheRat]

Dropped my bike in to the shop for a service and they've lent me a Shimano powered Gazelle city bike. I have to say I can see why people like them it's an ideal commuter. 140km range on eco and I cycled to work this morning on Eco and was cruising at 25kph pretty much all the way for less effort than it takes to do 20kph on my normal bike.

Although the rear hub gears seem a little knackered on a bike with 4700km on the clock, Do they tend to be harder on gears than manual bikes due to a bit more power being put through it, or is just that it's a loan bike and people don't look after it. I haven't checked if it's the same hub as my manual Gazelle but I'm hoping mine lasts longer.

[defblade]

RizzoTheRat said:

Although the rear hub gears seem a little knackered on a bike with 4700km on the clock, Do they tend to be harder on gears than manual bikes due to a bit more power being put through it, or is just that it's a loan bike and people don't look after it. I haven't checked if it's the same hub as my manual Gazelle but I'm hoping mine lasts longer.

If it's hub gears, then it's presumably a mid-mounted motor, so yes, that will be harder on the drive chain as it's putting more power through it most/all the time than just your legs would be.

[Rich135]

Court_S said:

Well, having been very sceptical of E-bikes I’ve finally taken the plunge and bought one.

We had a days riding at Forest of Dean a few weeks ago and it was apparent how many more runs the guys on E-bikes were getting in compared to us self shuttling.

The one thing that always out me off was the weight; having ridden a friends Whyte a few times the one thing that I hated and couldn’t get away from was the weight. Whilst the motor provided an awful lot of assistance, the weight couldn’t be hidden especially on jumps and drops.

What did really pique my interest was the lower powered, lower weight bikes. These seemed to offer what I was looking for; enough power and assistance to take the sting out if climbs without the penalty and feeling a bit more like a traditional bike.

Courtesy of some discounts, I took the plunge and bought a Specialized Kenevo SL with £4K off the list price.



Having managed to get some time on it Saturday afternoon, I’m very impressed, the weight is sensible at circa 19kgs so it feels like my previous Nukeproof Mega but with some extra boost. Despite being full of cold and feeling a bit under the weather, I managed to get more runs in this I would usually in this area that I ride regularly. I’ll get left behind by a full power bike, but for me this is the sweet spot for me.

That is lovely Court. Can I ask where you got it to get that much discount?

[stanlow45]

Another new set of pads... Ebikes eh must be the extra weight

[RizzoTheRat]

defblade said:

If it's hub gears, then it's presumably a mid-mounted motor, so yes, that will be harder on the drive chain as it's putting more power through it most/all the time than just your legs would be.

I didn't think it would be that much extra stress on an upright city bike, but I rode back to the bike shop on max power mode last night, and was surprised at just how quick it accelerated so I guess it does aget a bit more abuse. It appears they're both Shimano Nexus but slightly different versions, so I'm hoping mine last longer!
Cycling home from the shop on my manual bike felt weird after a few days on an e-bike though

[PushedDover]

stanlow45 said:

Another new set of pads... Ebikes eh must be the extra weight

another chain for me.


Which then exposed the wear on the Cassette, so thats now changed too

[Court_S]

Rich135 said:

That is lovely Court. Can I ask where you got it to get that much discount?

Thanks.

I bought it from Tredz; the orange ones were £3,999 and the black ones were £4,699 when I first seriously thought about buying one. The orange ones sold out and they had one black one left in S4 which dropped to £3,999. My wife has a blue light discount card which dropped the final price to £3,719.

[Rich135]

Court_S said:

Thanks.

I bought it from Tredz; the orange ones were £3,999 and the black ones were £4,699 when I first seriously thought about buying one. The orange ones sold out and they had one black one left in S4 which dropped to £3,999. My wife has a blue light discount card which dropped the final price to £3,719.

Thanks Court, that is a complete bargain! I prefer your colour

[Chicken Chaser]

Yeah that is a bargain for a Kenevo. Maybe we are going to see the start of much cheaper e bikes now that the silly prices they were going for RRP seem to be dropping? My E Sommet must be pretty much worthless right now!

[Court_S]

Rich135 said:

Thanks Court, that is a complete bargain! I prefer your colour

I was dead set in the orange until I saw one in the flesh.

In pictures it’s a lovely, bright orange but in the flesh it’s really washed out and looks like it’s faded.

[Court_S]

Chicken Chaser said:

Yeah that is a bargain for a Kenevo. Maybe we are going to see the start of much cheaper e bikes now that the silly prices they were going for RRP seem to be dropping? My E Sommet must be pretty much worthless right now!

Hopefully.

The 2024 model is £1.3k cheaper at rrp and has 38’s rather than 36’s.

Talking to the guys in my local shop, there seems to be quite a lot of margin in e-bikes. The distributors are offering deals that they can pass on.

[bmwmike]

What sort of miles have people got on their ebike motors? Just ticked past 1800 miles on mine, going great.

[bobbo89]

Only 600 of those are mine which I've done in the last 7 months since I got it. I have 3 other non E-bikes that I also ride and the E only gets used for solo rides as no-one I ride with also has an E.

Edited by bobbo89 on Saturday 18th November 20:03

[PushedDover]

bmwmike said:

What sort of miles have people got on their ebike motors? Just ticked past 1800 miles on mine, going great.

2,500

On my first

About 1,800 on my second

Then the third started playing up at 2,000



YMMV !

[bmwmike]

PushedDover said:

2,500

On my first

About 1,800 on my second

Then the third started playing up at 2,000



YMMV !

So you're on your third ebike and all 3 motors ended up with failures ? Did you sell the bikes as-is spares or repair or fix them and sell?

[PushedDover]

bmwmike said:

So you're on your third ebike and all 3 motors ended up with failures ? Did you sell the bikes as-is spares or repair or fix them and sell?

No

My first and only ebike, Cube Hardtail with Bosch CX Performance motor(s)
That have failed and fortunately been warranty replacements

[bmwmike]

PushedDover said:

No

My first and only ebike, Cube Hardtail with Bosch CX Performance motor(s)
That have failed and fortunately been warranty replacements

Ah 3 motors. Interesting. Mines a Shimano e7000 and I've got another year warranty so I'm using it and abusing it in all weathers. 2 year warranty on Shimano. Presume it's the same on the Bosch motors ?