Electric bicycles - who buys them?

[anonymous-user]

vindaloo79 said:

Uphill/flat/moderate downhill

Bosch cx is 18/25/33 with some effort In emtb

Sorry to barge in here.. But this is quite interesting as I'm looking at converting my bike to electric or simply buying an off the shelf e-bike.

Are those speeds in MPH and with a 250w motor? I want to stick to 250w for legal reasons, but I really would like just a few more MPH than 15.5

Do we think is 18-20mph from a derestricted 250w bike is quite easily achieved on the road with road tyres?

I'm asking as some people seem to complain that derestricted 250w bikes only seem to crawl up slight hills at 11-12mph and cant manage to get past around 16mph on the flat.

For additional info, I'm 73kg (11.5 Stone) so not a partiularly heavy person.

[chopper602]

shady lee said:

I have the acid currently, brilliant hard tail. Enjoy

Likewise - loving it

[chopper602]

After a particularly hilly ride from Masham (N. Yorks) on Saturday, MrsTheWife has had enough of her standard road bike, as I was breezing up the hills on my Cube. We made an appointment at the North Yorkshire Electric bike shop in Knaresborough, on the way home. She walked out with a KTM Action 271. It's an XS size, but fits her perfectly. Latest Bosch CX Line motor (with the 85nm upgrade) with a 500w/h battery pack. So not only was it more expensive than mine, it's got a better motor and battery!



Just fitted the included mudguards, bottle cage and saddlebag, just need to ride it now, which is perfect as we're off to the Lakes on Thursday!

[PushedDover]

Lord Marylebone said:

I'm asking as some people seem to complain that derestricted 250w bikes only seem to crawl up slight hills at 11-12mph and cant manage to get past around 16mph on the flat.

For additional info, I'm 73kg (11.5 Stone) so not a partiularly heavy person.

I'd disagree. Or they are doing it wrong imho. Mine is a stock CUBE, Bosch 2020 motor.
I am no athlete - or should I say didn't ride much previously. Last week and this week, I am doing about 15-20 miles each morning, each night as trying to shift some timber whilst 'keto' but still a hefty 13 stone.

I find the art on the eMTB is to find the sweet spot of gears / mode combo to keep the the motion at 15.5mph.
It's easily done IMHO, and the gears are the key to cadence and with that the motor matches you and voila.

Averaging 17mph on the flat is about right.


Obviously this is all relative to the eMTB / Tyres / Weight.

No idea about road going / gravel e-bikes

[Darth Paul]

Lord Marylebone said:

vindaloo79 said:

Uphill/flat/moderate downhill

Bosch cx is 18/25/33 with some effort In emtb

Sorry to barge in here.. But this is quite interesting as I'm looking at converting my bike to electric or simply buying an off the shelf e-bike.

Are those speeds in MPH and with a 250w motor? I want to stick to 250w for legal reasons, but I really would like just a few more MPH than 15.5

Do we think is 18-20mph from a derestricted 250w bike is quite easily achieved on the road with road tyres?

I'm asking as some people seem to complain that derestricted 250w bikes only seem to crawl up slight hills at 11-12mph and cant manage to get past around 16mph on the flat.

For additional info, I'm 73kg (11.5 Stone) so not a partiularly heavy person.

When it comes to converting, particularly a hub motor it’s more down to the rpm of the motor more than anything and it’s relation to your wheel size. Most motors are about 201rpm so should be roughly 16mph ish. Now if it’s rated 201rpm at 36v and you run it on a 48v battery, you can get an 33% boost, so then you’re looking at 20+ mph! Most 250w will run well above 250w given the extra amps and volts, but don’t over do it or you’ll be pushing it home!

[anonymous-user]

Darth Paul said:

When it comes to converting, particularly a hub motor it’s more down to the rpm of the motor more than anything and it’s relation to your wheel size. Most motors are about 201rpm so should be roughly 16mph ish. Now if it’s rated 201rpm at 36v and you run it on a 48v battery, you can get an 33% boost, so then you’re looking at 20+ mph! Most 250w will run well above 250w given the extra amps and volts, but don’t over do it or you’ll be pushing it home!

Very interesting. Thanks.

So it looks like a basic 250w 36v hub motor plus a decent 48v battery will see me get around 20mph, which is more than enough I think.

[Dog Star]

There’s a review just out on EMBN on YouTube of the £2699 eMTB. I have to say that looks a total bargain and hopefully we will see more decent kit in at that price point. I’m sure a lot of brands have been selling stuff that’s no better for 4K or so.

[dalenorth]

Zoon said:

Blink982 said:

Someone came past me on a very fancy e-MTB the other day (Black with gold or bronze decals but didn't catch brand) at well over 15mph so the limiters must be easily disabled.......I hadn't ever considered an e-bike until then.......

Edited by Blink982 on Wednesday 8th July 14:59

I did my Levo with a free bluetooth app. Took about five minutes

Which app is it please?

[vindaloo79]

Dog Star said:

There’s a review just out on EMBN on YouTube of the £2699 eMTB. I have to say that looks a total bargain and hopefully we will see more decent kit in at that price point. I’m sure a lot of brands have been selling stuff that’s no better for 4K or so.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3iJlfGAxps

[PushedDover]

vindaloo79 said:

Dog Star said:

There’s a review just out on EMBN on YouTube of the £2699 eMTB. I have to say that looks a total bargain and hopefully we will see more decent kit in at that price point. I’m sure a lot of brands have been selling stuff that’s no better for 4K or so.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3iJlfGAxps

just watched it and it certainly does seem to fit the bill and make me wonder whether I should have dropped another £500 over my Cube Reaction


I have a Riverside 920 hybrid, and very happy with that too.

[Zoon]

dalenorth said:

Zoon said:

Blink982 said:

Someone came past me on a very fancy e-MTB the other day (Black with gold or bronze decals but didn't catch brand) at well over 15mph so the limiters must be easily disabled.......I hadn't ever considered an e-bike until then.......

Edited by Blink982 on Wednesday 8th July 14:59

I did my Levo with a free bluetooth app. Took about five minutes

Which app is it please?

https://www.pedelecforum.de/forum/index.php?threads/specialized-levo-25-km-h-begrenzung.39902/

It's in German but google translate will look after you.

[MaxFromage]

Lord Marylebone said:

Sorry to barge in here.. But this is quite interesting as I'm looking at converting my bike to electric or simply buying an off the shelf e-bike.

Are those speeds in MPH and with a 250w motor? I want to stick to 250w for legal reasons, but I really would like just a few more MPH than 15.5

Do we think is 18-20mph from a derestricted 250w bike is quite easily achieved on the road with road tyres?

I'm asking as some people seem to complain that derestricted 250w bikes only seem to crawl up slight hills at 11-12mph and cant manage to get past around 16mph on the flat.

For additional info, I'm 73kg (11.5 Stone) so not a partiularly heavy person.

My Haibike Sduro Cross spec:

https://www.electricbikesales.co.uk/2364/products/...

18-20mph is very easy for mine. Most of my riding was on Smart Sam tyres, but I've just changed to Big Bens.

I take on a pretty steep hill at around 16-18mph if I try, flat up to 25mph with some effort and downhill 34mph.

I'm 82kg and don't cycle a lot, but my legs have always been strong. For reference, I took my old road bike out last week for the first time in 4 years and averaged 16mph on urban roads over an hour. Hard work though.

The first proper ride on the Big Bens and I averaged 20mph fairly easily and much of that was on ECO.

[anonymous-user]

MaxFromage said:

My Haibike Sduro Cross spec:

https://www.electricbikesales.co.uk/2364/products/...

18-20mph is very easy for mine. Most of my riding was on Smart Sam tyres, but I've just changed to Big Bens.

I take on a pretty steep hill at around 16-18mph if I try, flat up to 25mph with some effort and downhill 34mph.

I'm 82kg and don't cycle a lot, but my legs have always been strong. For reference, I took my old road bike out last week for the first time in 4 years and averaged 16mph on urban roads over an hour. Hard work though.

The first proper ride on the Big Bens and I averaged 20mph fairly easily and much of that was on ECO.

Interesting that you mention tyres. My cheap old Carrera Subway had it's original 'hybrid' tyres on, and I swapped them for some Scwalbe City Jet tyres, and the difference in rolling resistance and speed was noticeable. The bike rode faster and easier. It was well worth the new tyres.

[nickfrog]

Dog Star said:

There’s a review just out on EMBN on YouTube of the £2699 eMTB. I have to say that looks a total bargain and hopefully we will see more decent kit in at that price point. I’m sure a lot of brands have been selling stuff that’s no better for 4K or so.

It's brilliant value if you can live with the geometry. It's not if you can't.

[Sycamore]

Has anyone had much luck with a conversion kit?

I live in a very hilly area, and it simply makes my commute to the office a chore so I find I cycle less and less.

I'm not really up to spending the money for an actual electric bike, but was looking into converting my road bike.

Something as simple as an assisted front wheel looks like it'd make the world of difference for me.

Either that, or I buy a used electric mountain bike that I can use purely as a tool for commuting.

[Janluke]

Sycamore said:

Has anyone had much luck with a conversion kit?

I live in a very hilly area, and it simply makes my commute to the office a chore so I find I cycle less and less.

I'm not really up to spending the money for an actual electric bike, but was looking into converting my road bike.

Something as simple as an assisted front wheel looks like it'd make the world of difference for me.

Either that, or I buy a used electric mountain bike that I can use purely as a tool for commuting.

I've done a couple of conversions in the past before ebikes became more readily available. Front hub motors with the battery on a rack. This was before the law change and you where allowed a throttle. I found "tickling the throttle " to take the edge of pedalling the best way as the assist tended to be all or nothing. They worked very well and the kit was easy to fit, range not great by modern standards but good for 2 hours

[LeighW]

Easternlight said:

This thread is bad news, I've been following for a while and now I've got this coming!
i need to find out what all the fuss is about.
Unseen, never even touched an E bike!

We're away in the lake district in our camper. We'd been having great fun bombing about on our new Cube Acid 400s, right up until an hour ago when the chain snapped on my wife's bike. It had lasted 51 miles. Not great. Hopefully I can get it fixed tomorrow, I don't have a chain tool.

[johnnymiller]

PushedDover said:

vindaloo79 said:

Dog Star said:

There’s a review just out on EMBN on YouTube of the £2699 eMTB. I have to say that looks a total bargain and hopefully we will see more decent kit in at that price point. I’m sure a lot of brands have been selling stuff that’s no better for 4K or so.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3iJlfGAxps

just watched it and it certainly does seem to fit the bill and make me wonder whether I should have dropped another £500 over my Cube Reaction


I have a Riverside 920 hybrid, and very happy with that too.

Well after reading this thread and a few other forums, watching the review made me take the plunge and Just ordered one of these Decathlon stilus at 23:01 lastnight when the site refreshes. Due on the 29th apparently.

Want to get back into biking and seemed like a good buy for the money. Was thinking of getting a gravel bike on recommendations of cycling friends but didn’t seem like much going on in that space for electric versions this side of a cannondale topstone neo which was 4.5k upwards which seemed massive overkill for someone just returning to riding. (All the gear, no idea territory!)

This decathlon Seems good value, I’m no riding expert, haven’t pointed a bike down a muddy hill since 2003 so any average performing components are likely to outperform an out of shape 42 yr old anyway at this point.

Looking forward to it, glad your pleased with yours vindaloo! Any tips for a new owner? The guy on the vid changes the bars for wider ones I noticed.

[Dog Star]

LeighW said:

We're away in the lake district in our camper. We'd been having great fun bombing about on our new Cube Acid 400s, right up until an hour ago when the chain snapped on my wife's bike. It had lasted 51 miles. Not great. Hopefully I can get it fixed tomorrow, I don't have a chain tool.

That's unfortunate - I haven't had - and nor has Mrs DS any chain issues, in fact the only time there have been chain issues on group rides have been normal bikes snapping them.

That said I do carry a splitter and pack of power links in my rucksack, so that will be fending off the chain fairies.

[rider73]

GO OUTDOORS have a 23% off thier e-bike MTB , its not a great spec, but its under £1000 now.....

https://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/15933073/calibre-kine...