Electric bicycles - who buys them?

Electric bicycles - who buys them?

Author
Discussion

shurm

327 posts

247 months

Wednesday 2nd June 2021
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Newton472 said:
Batteries are expensive. My rough rule of thumb for ebikes was £1k for the bike and ~@1k for the battery as a minimum.

That way you at least get a 1k bike. Anything cheaper in my view would be compromised in terms of components but happy to be proven wrong.

Went for a £2,200 Haibike hardseven 2.5 in the end and it's been brilliant.
Thats exactly what I've just bought and loving it, had a couple of Cubes before with Bosch Motors but this Yamaha Motor seems to be just as good smile

Dog Star

16,079 posts

167 months

Wednesday 2nd June 2021
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shurm said:
Thats exactly what I've just bought and loving it, had a couple of Cubes before with Bosch Motors but this Yamaha Motor seems to be just as good smile
The Yamahas are something I'll be avoiding from now on. I'm on a Haibike FB group and the issues that Yamaha powered bikes are having are shocking IMO. Mine fullnine has come up with errors and has been off for repair under warranty for two months, still the fault isn't diagnosed - this is under warranty. The chap at the shop isn't a fan of them at all and I'll be following his advice and sticking it up for sale the second it's fixed. They do however, have a really good feeling motor.

Newton472

165 posts

41 months

Wednesday 2nd June 2021
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Dog Star said:
The Yamahas are something I'll be avoiding from now on. I'm on a Haibike FB group and the issues that Yamaha powered bikes are having are shocking IMO. Mine fullnine has come up with errors and has been off for repair under warranty for two months, still the fault isn't diagnosed - this is under warranty. The chap at the shop isn't a fan of them at all and I'll be following his advice and sticking it up for sale the second it's fixed. They do however, have a really good feeling motor.
Sorry to hear, very surprising. What is the fault ?

Most of the groups I follow seem to have more issues with the Bosch ones rather than Yamaha but I guess there are always exceptions.

helix402

7,832 posts

181 months

Wednesday 2nd June 2021
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I met an old roadie the other day, he was in his 70s. He was on a normal road but said he had an electric bike to keep up on club rides.

Dog Star

16,079 posts

167 months

Wednesday 2nd June 2021
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Newton472 said:
Sorry to hear, very surprising. What is the fault ?

Most of the groups I follow seem to have more issues with the Bosch ones rather than Yamaha but I guess there are always exceptions.
It’s an error 71 which everyone says is a loose battery (it isn’t) and an error 73 which is some kind of comms thing. It seems to have descended into a parts swapping exercise, each time an attempt fails its wait a couple of weeks for next part, wrong part arrives and Waite again. Rinse and repeat.

The problem with the Yamaha bikes is not reliability per se but when they do go wrong tge diagnostics are crap, support is bad, parts availability is dire. .

RipTrip1

2,013 posts

107 months

Thursday 3rd June 2021
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Have they come down in price since I last had one?
Paid £1050 a few years ago for a 250w with a battery big enough to do 35ish miles before it ran out. Used it for a bit then flogged it for 700

Dog Star

16,079 posts

167 months

Thursday 3rd June 2021
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RipTrip1 said:
Have they come down in price since I last had one?
Paid £1050 a few years ago for a 250w with a battery big enough to do 35ish miles before it ran out. Used it for a bit then flogged it for 700
Er no.

However it largely irrelevant - you can have as much money as you like, they’re simply unobtainable.

Janluke

2,551 posts

157 months

Thursday 3rd June 2021
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I can get approx 3 hours out of 1 battery, I have two batteries for longer rides and one of my regular routes is around 4 hours so involves a battery swap part way. I generally swap the battery when the first one gets to 20% but am I better sharing the load and changing the battery at around 2 hours.

What's best for the long term health of the battery?

ddom

6,657 posts

47 months

Thursday 3rd June 2021
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Two more weeks. Had another outing last weekend on the borrowed bike. I was hanging, felt rough and out of sorts after a tough week away. I’d not bothered normally but once out I let the motor do some hard work. Gradually I woke up and was soon having a blast. Averaged z2 ride overall which would have been impossible otherwise, and ended up having a load of fun on the downhill. I’m faster on the e160 than the t130 already, it’s super stable, only downside is weight when dragging it over trees blocking the way. Looks like it’s a v2, not sure anything of note has changed and tbh I’d only bin the tyres as a personal preference. Oh, and the way it pulls through mud is hilarious, genuinely would have been off on the std bike. Proved another benefit (to me) that they’re useful if you’re recovering, the level of control in the assistance is great and you can still get to the places you want and not have to wimp out with a dull ride.

RipTrip1

2,013 posts

107 months

Thursday 3rd June 2021
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Dog Star said:
Er no.

However it largely irrelevant - you can have as much money as you like, they’re simply unobtainable.
Yer wouldnt own one again rather have one of those scooter things

Barchettaman

6,280 posts

131 months

Friday 4th June 2021
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Janluke said:
What's best for the long term health of the battery?
Charge when you like but just avoid charging a really cold battery.

gangzoom

6,251 posts

214 months

Tuesday 8th June 2021
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Got my commuter eBike back from repairs, I've really missed it interms of commuting to work on it rather than driving.

Today with the sun out, me needing to hop between different size in the city, I thought I just sit back on max boost to save getting sweaty and hot.

Also got a new HR monitor recently so couldn't resist having a geek session with getting data.

Strava thought I was putting out 180watts for the mid day trip from A to B, even managed a PB on a big climb.





The reality I was sat a low HR zone, despite the power predictions saying I was hitting Zone 7!!



Fantastic car alternatives these things smile.




Dog Star

16,079 posts

167 months

Tuesday 29th June 2021
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Dog Star said:
Newton472 said:
Sorry to hear, very surprising. What is the fault ?

Most of the groups I follow seem to have more issues with the Bosch ones rather than Yamaha but I guess there are always exceptions.
It’s an error 71 which everyone says is a loose battery (it isn’t) and an error 73 which is some kind of comms thing. It seems to have descended into a parts swapping exercise, each time an attempt fails its wait a couple of weeks for next part, wrong part arrives and Waite again. Rinse and repeat.

The problem with the Yamaha bikes is not reliability per se but when they do go wrong tge diagnostics are crap, support is bad, parts availability is dire. .
This thread has gone a bit quiet.

Update on the above - Haibike STILL broken, so three months in and nothing. Warranty has now expired. If I'd not bought another and had that to ride then I'd be livid.

The original plan was to sell the OHs Cube and for her to have the Haibike, which is a decent bike (or was til the electrical issue occurred). Anyway, we decided to just get another bike, originally a Cube Reaction Hybrid Race 625 in a lovely pinky/purple "berry" colour which no bike shop has ever seen, UK or any contacted in Germany. So I upped the budget a bit and lo and behold, Canyon had their Grand Canyon :On available - so this thing should be arriving next week. A lot of the stuff on it is the same as my Spectral :On - same Shimano EP8 and 630Wh battery.



In the meantime I've put her current Cube Acid One on FB Marketplace and it's proving hard work - just loads of people called "Jaxxon" or "Wayne" or "Darren" who "only have £800" or want to know about derestricting it, or who just press the "Is this still available" button - I specifically state in the advert not to send me those (I won't answer). Actually take the time to personalise your enquiry. Oh and "no silly offers" doesn't work.

I hate selling stuff mad And I have all this to go through again when the Haibike comes back. Shoot me now!

Chicken Chaser

7,744 posts

223 months

Tuesday 29th June 2021
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I had a smash out on mine in Hamsterley yesterday. It was nice not to have to wash the bike when I got in as it was fairly dry. Really enjoying riding it though, fast everywhere!

GSE

2,339 posts

238 months

Wednesday 30th June 2021
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Has anyone actually taken delivery of a new e-bike lately? I sold my Orbea Gain last autumn, I mainly used it on a gravel route to work, but when the winter set in and it got too muddy, I switched to the road bike on a road route, and have been on that ever since. I ordered the 2021 model from a popular online retailer in January, but still haven't received it. Infact, it's been so long, that i don't think I need one anymore!

ddom

6,657 posts

47 months

Wednesday 30th June 2021
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My e-160 is here smile

Dog Star

16,079 posts

167 months

Wednesday 30th June 2021
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GSE said:
Has anyone actually taken delivery of a new e-bike lately?
I ordered a new Canyon for Mrs DS a couple of weeks ago - I fell very lucky in that that build set was coming through. It was in Koblenz en route this afternoon.

There’s very little else out there. I was hoping this would mean strong demand for her old one, but zip. I think I’ll end up offloading it to a bike shop or Cash Converters for a few hundred and cutting my losses.

Barchettaman

6,280 posts

131 months

Thursday 1st July 2021
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Maybe try a bike specific sales corner on a forum, rather than Facebook Marketplace which as we know is full of bottom feeding scum.

Cubes are decent bikes, don’t let it go for peanuts.

RizzoTheRat

25,082 posts

191 months

Thursday 1st July 2021
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A guy passed me on one of these this morning



Looks an interesting idea, clearly intended to look a bit motorbikeish...but the rider was about 6'5" and the bike was clearly intended for riders about 5 feet tall. As far as I could tell the seat height doesn't adjust and his knees were coming way higher than his hips, plus the cranks seemed really short. Didn't look that comfortable to ride.

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

5,069 posts

54 months

Thursday 1st July 2021
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RizzoTheRat said:
A guy passed me on one of these this morning



Looks an interesting idea, clearly intended to look a bit motorbikeish...but the rider was about 6'5" and the bike was clearly intended for riders about 5 feet tall. As far as I could tell the seat height doesn't adjust and his knees were coming way higher than his hips, plus the cranks seemed really short. Didn't look that comfortable to ride.
Last seen being pedalled by a para at Arnhem.