Electric bicycles - who buys them?

[spyder dryver]

mdavids said:

Very close to taking the plunge on a full-sus ebike, I can't quite justify the expense but if the right deal comes along I'll be going for it.
Halfords have the voodoo Zobop E with £800 off taking it to £2800. Would anyone like to comment on the value/spec ratio? It seems decent but I'm more in tune with the non-E stuff.

Hi there. Two of my chums have had Zobop Es for about a year. One bike has had two replacement rear axles and the other a replacement motor. Other than that they are a capable machine for the price. They do suffer from the well known and well discussed Bosch motor "draggy" pedal feel once the motor cutoff speed is reached. The spec is above "entry level" but not by much.
At this time of year I would be waiting for the 2020 model bikes coming out in September. The shops will then be discounting 2019 models. There are even 2018 models to be had if you don't want the latest bike. Ex-demo bikes are worth a look too. There is also a new Bosch motor coming out soon. Bikes using the "old motor" could well be discounted.
Most of the more recent bikes have a far more "integrated" and stealthy look to them, my own Specialized Turbo Levo included. The Zobop looks dated by comparison.

[uncinqsix]

I've noticed a lot more e-bikes on my commute lately. Quite a few of them seem to be ridden by people who have very little previous cycling experience, and perhaps would never have considered commuting on a normal bike. The thing is that the combination of high speed and a complete lack of safe riding knowledge means that some of them are downright scary.

I wonder if people are crashing at a higher rate on them...

[Cupramax]

There are idiots on all type of bikes. I was out on a ride this afternoon on the e bike and had a bunch of mountain bikers in all the gear, non electric variety, just ride straight out in front of me from a side road, I had two choices, either hit one of them or pull out into the path of a car that was just trying to overtake me. I actually ended up managing something in between the two but received a load of abuse when I asked WTF they thought they were playing at. Long and short is there are dheads everywhere, they don’t need an electric motor to be one.

[uncinqsix]

It's not that they're idiots or dheads. Just inexperienced and on a bike that goes a lot faster more easily than it would otherwise. With a normal bike, if you're new, you're typically slow as you haven't built up bike fitness, so the lack of skill is mitigated somewhat. E bikes remove the "slow" element of the learning phase.

They'll build up experience over time and get better. Hopefully.

[bongtom]

Who hasn’t ever ridden a bicycle?
If you’re talking about road riding then yes that might be strange but didn’t we all ride on the road as kids?

I don’t think anyone needs to get experience before riding a bicycle!

[troc]

bongtom said:

Who hasn’t ever ridden a bicycle?
If you’re talking about road riding then yes that might be strange but didn’t we all ride on the road as kids?

I don’t think anyone needs to get experience before riding a bicycle!

You might mock - and coming from Holland, I always assumed everyone over the age of 3 could ride a bike (and swim by the age of 7) - but when I want to Bristol uni at 18, I met plenty of people who hadn’t never ever ridden a bike or learned to swim!

[Barchettaman]

uncinqsix said:

I've noticed a lot more e-bikes on my commute lately. Quite a few of them seem to be ridden by people who have very little previous cycling experience, and perhaps would never have considered commuting on a normal bike. The thing is that the combination of high speed and a complete lack of safe riding knowledge means that some of them are downright scary.

I wonder if people are crashing at a higher rate on them...

E-bikes (or rather, people being unable to ride them properly) are responsible for a rise in the number of deaths and injuries amongst the retired population in Holland, apparently.

[troc]

Wouldn’t be surprised. Old ladies on ebikes are the bane of my commute

[Gtom]

Barchettaman said:

uncinqsix said:

I've noticed a lot more e-bikes on my commute lately. Quite a few of them seem to be ridden by people who have very little previous cycling experience, and perhaps would never have considered commuting on a normal bike. The thing is that the combination of high speed and a complete lack of safe riding knowledge means that some of them are downright scary.

I wonder if people are crashing at a higher rate on them...

That would help out with the pension deficits over here...

E-bikes (or rather, people being unable to ride them properly) are responsible for a rise in the number of deaths and injuries amongst the retired population in Holland, apparently.

[Fundoreen]

While enthused by the whole electric bike thing I have backed off myself for the moment as I dont really have a use for it except the trips to trail parks which are not that many when I add them up.
This at least gives me a chance to understand the differences in drivetrains and not fall into the trap of assuming they are all the same.
I have also seen a few things coming in at good prices now which upon checking the detail have smaller battery capacity.
My main worry is newbies with no sense careering into pedestrians at 15mph so my message to them is if you cant ride a normal bike dont assume
you can ride an electric one.

[loudlashadjuster]

Borrowed some eMTBs when we were in the Austrian Alps last week, amazing things. Allowed all of the family - me, the Mrs, 13 & 10 - to whizz up from 1200m to a mountain gasthaus at 2000m for beer and apple strudel. No chance we'd be doing that without assistance!

They were a mix of Panasonic (Flyer Uproc 2 for us & 13) and a Bosch KTM (10) but all performed well.

[Lazermilk]

loudlashadjuster said:

Borrowed some eMTBs when we were in the Austrian Alps last week, amazing things. Allowed all of the family - me, the Mrs, 13 & 10 - to whizz up from 1200m to a mountain gasthaus at 2000m for beer and apple strudel. No chance we'd be doing that without assistance!

They were a mix of Panasonic (Flyer Uproc 2 for us & 13) and a Bosch KTM (10) but all performed well.

Could you post up details of where that was if you have it?
Live in austria and would like to try something like that to see what they are like before buying one.

[loudlashadjuster]

Lazermilk said:

Could you post up details of where that was if you have it?
Live in austria and would like to try something like that to see what they are like before buying one.

Kals am Großglockner

https://www.sport-gratz.com/

[Lazermilk]

loudlashadjuster said:

Lazermilk said:

Could you post up details of where that was if you have it?
Live in austria and would like to try something like that to see what they are like before buying one.

Kals am Großglockner

https://www.sport-gratz.com/

Thanks, shame their website is rubbish

How much did it cost if you don't me asking?

Did you drive up Großglockner pass? Supposed to be a nice road up to the top, it's known as bikers heaven. I've been meaning to go for ages but so far not found the time...

[loudlashadjuster]

Lazermilk said:

Thanks, shame their website is rubbish

How much did it cost if you don't me asking?

Did you drive up Großglockner pass? Supposed to be a nice road up to the top, it's known as bikers heaven. I've been meaning to go for ages but so far not found the time...

Hardtail was €40 for the day, full-sus another five I think.

Is that the touristy route they promote? No, didn’t go over that as it’s the other side of Großglockner itself so it was a good few hours drive. Wanted to do it on the way home but it would’ve added too much time on to the journey considering kids etc.

[Lazermilk]

loudlashadjuster said:

Lazermilk said:

Thanks, shame their website is rubbish

How much did it cost if you don't mind me asking?

Did you drive up Großglockner pass? Supposed to be a nice road up to the top, it's known as bikers heaven. I've been meaning to go for ages but so far not found the time...

Hardtail was €40 for the day, full-sus another five I think.

Is that the touristy route they promote? No, didn’t go over that as it’s the other side of Großglockner itself so it was a good few hours drive. Wanted to do it on the way home but it would’ve added too much time on to the journey considering kids etc.

Thanks, that's not bad prices then, worth it to try one out before spending extra buying one anyway.

Yeah that will be the one, it can get pretty busy too apparently and they also charge you 36.50 just to drive up it! Does look good though and some nice views, highest mountain in Austria too.

https://www.grossglockner.at/gg/en/index

[loudlashadjuster]

Lazermilk said:

Thanks, that's not bad prices then, worth it to try one out before spending extra buying one anyway.

Yeah that will be the one, it can get pretty busy too apparently and they also charge you 36.50 just to drive up it! Does look good though and some nice views, highest mountain in Austria too.

https://www.grossglockner.at/gg/en/index

Yeah, a bit steep (lol), but I suppose even the fairly mundane Mittersill-Matrei pass on the West side is €11.50.

[Phil.]

Which of these (ignoring the colour) has the best spec for the money? Feel free to suggest alternatives:

https://www.cube.eu/2019/e-bikes/mountainbike/hard...

https://www.bergamont.com/global/en/product/bergam...

https://www.haibike.com/gb/en/ebikes/emountainbike...

And is there much advantage for buying the 8.0 over the 5.0?

https://www.haibike.com/gb/en/ebikes/emountainbike...

[Barchettaman]

The Yamaha e motor has zero drag beyond the assistance cutout.

That is the fundamental difference between the two drive systems.

The Bosch system is well draggy above 26kmh.

[Trophy Husband]

Barchettaman said:

The Yamaha e motor has zero drag beyond the assistance cutout.

That is the fundamental difference between the two drive systems.

The Bosch system is well draggy above 26kmh.

This is very true. I have a 2017 Bergamont full suspension Trailster and it is ace. The Bergamont has a top sprocket above the motor. My pals with other types have had multiple chain drops on our rides. I've not had one. The drag really isn't an issue because it is only a downhill, freewheeling problem. The motor, according to my supplier, is bullet proof well beyond its guarantee. The eMTB mode is fantastic and even if you buy an older model such as mine is a free patch.
My model was heavily discounted due to the new 18 model arriving. IIRC list was 3600 and I paid almost a grand less. If you price the individual components which are high quality, the frame cost me about 200 quid!
I'd suggest looking for a lightly used second hander. Given that they are high cost items there are loads of people with pots of cash who just want the latest, thus the second hand market is fairly low lying fruit.
You wont regret it. They are fantastic bits of kit.