EBikes - any good?

[phatmanace]

Hi folks,

I was reading this month's 'stuff' and the short review of electric bikes.

It looked quite interesting, as a keen but somewhat unfit cyclist it looked quite a cool proposition. I liked the idea of going on a long ride, and being able to get a little bit of a 'helping hand' up any steep hills that I might encounter.

I realise that they are nor going to break any speed records, and that one has to carry around the extra weight all the time. As well, but I'm curious to hear of anyone has any experience with these?

For those that have't read the article, it mainly focused on the mid to high end of the market, with a few models around the £1500 mark - and the one that looked most appealing to me was the cannon dale conversion ( with the battery disguised as a water bottle )
Cheers

-ace

[sidaorb]

Collected one last week, been out on it every day since, can't believe how much it is making me enjoy riding again, helping with the 'hills'.

[phatmanace]

Mind if I ask which one you went for?

[Mr Gear]

This company in Winchester make the Cannondale bikes: http://www.cytronex.com/

They seem almost too good to be true! Price, weight and performance are spot-on. But I have not ridden one.

I have ridden a few commuter e-bikes, and the Urban Mover was good but felt a bit cheap. Worked nicely though, and they come in at under a grand. I also took a ride on some of the ones stocked by these guys: http://www.50cycles.com/

Much better quality, but triple the price and no better performance, so not sure if it is worth it.

[RichyBoy]

Anyone tried the one with the 60 mile range ed beggrly junior rides?

[sidaorb]

phatmanace said:

Mind if I ask which one you went for?

Smarta Bikes GT, slightly heavier duty than others I saw, I'm a little over some of the maximum weights.