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just returned from a day riding/drinking trip to the Peak.
6 of us. youngest 59 oldest 69.
the other 5 all ride ebikes only now.
they agreed to ride non ebikes this week as i dont have a ebike.
concensus is that A. it is the last non ebike trip. B. i now need a ebike.
we have been doing this yearly trip for 25 years. Alps, Pyrenees, Scotland........ everywhere. always with as much offroad as possible. but we all agreed it was just a slog.
did some nice riding, some on lanes, some offroad. 3 of them even rode Cavedale to end a day.
they all agreed it would have been a blast of a trip on the ebikes.
so i want a ebike. possibly a hardtail. with a bike battery. suitable for a ride fit big bloke.
any ideas greatly appreciated.
Unless you are really set on a HT, don't
Ebikes are better suited as FS'ers and it doesn't really matter how much bob you have pedalling you'll barely notice it.
What's your budget?
no budget really.
Buy locally so pick whatever fits your budget from your LBS.
The spec on electric hardtails tends to be a bit shit (i.e. aimed more towards the casual rider). Not sure there's a big enough market for them for bike companies to make higher end models.
If you're personally happy on a normal bike and it's just a yearly trip when you need an eeb then I'd consider hiring one for that yearly trip.
I've got an ebike. It's pissing me off. It's sat in the cellar broken since February and I CBA fixing it again. It's also pissed me off when it's shat itself on trips away.
It's fun when it works in certain scenarios: time crunched lunch ride, riding when you're knackered, exploring somewhere you don't know, or riding with other eebers.
In any other scenario, particularly if you have the time, and if you are fit enough, a normal bike wins, for me at least.
For me I'll admit my eeb experiment has been an expensive PITA overall and not really worth it.
Just my opinion.
Edit: not so much the initial outlay expense that's the problem, more the expense of fixing it again and again and also the time expense of all the faffing/lost riding too
The early days of mtbing were like that, I remember every wet ride stripping and regreasing the bottom bracket and headset.
As components improved bikes got more reliable, in a year or two e-bikes will last longer.(probably?)
@ton - where are you based?
If you’re anywhere near Newport you’re welcome to borrow my Rise for a day or two to see what you think of pedal assistance.
should have read a 6 day riding trip.
Deffo get a full susser, apart from the extra bearings the usual reasons for getting one over a full suss are negated by the motor. My only experience is of Specialized Levos and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend one. For other brands there have been some cracking deals at Paul's Cycles recently.
Following some new medical issues I find myself in the same boat as you. Having already owned and sold one ebike to go back to the clockwork machine, there are some things i have learnt. Buy a bike with a bosch motor. 750 or 800 wh battery. 140 -150mm travel is a sweet spot for comfort without being wallowy.
My main bit of advice I give potential EBike buyers is buy from a shop, as local as you can get . Unless you are extremely lucky they will go wrong
Buy one with the same motor power as the people you’ll ride with. I’m in the full fat brigade as I like the ups to be quick and the downs to be fun.
Get a full power big battery bike from a good local shop. And a sturdy build, fork and brakes especially.
I’m slightly scared to say that apart from a slipping drive belt after just over two years (replaced under warranty in less than 48 hours) my LBS supplied Levo has been great for almost 7 years and 8000 miles. Hopefully I haven’t cursed myself!
Just bought a GT E Pantera Dash for £1200 from RM Cycles in Kent.. Excellent little bike with much change for some accessories!They no longer have that in an XLarge but they do have a nice Lapierre E Overvolt in XL.Bosch motor to.
My main bit of advice I give potential EBike buyers is buy from a shop, as local as you can get . Unless you are extremely lucky they will go wrong
I would definitely follow this advice, I did buy from a local shop but they stopped selling Whyte bikes not long after I'd bought it so that wasn't ideal. Fortunately I've had no issues at all (had it around 2 years and 4 months) with the motor/battery but the axs mech was replaced on warranty as it wouldn't go past 10th gear. I'd also avoid anything with a Shimano motor personally, read many times about battery/motor issues taking forever to be resolved and a mate has had endless problems with his Orbea Rise since he bought it, including a 7 month wait for a replacement battery after it failed last year.
What type of terrain are you going to be riding ?
Advice from a guy who runs an e-bike service shop is to wait 6 months or so.
The Amflow has blown the market apart and the other companies are scrabbling to catch up.
If you can't wait, buy an Amflow.
I have an Orbea Rise. Brilliant fun but it creaked like anything for the first few months. Thankfully John at the E-Bike Clinic, Stirling sorted me out and told me to never attempt any e-bike maintenance myself. Which seconds the "buy from a dealer" posts above.
E Bike tales vary widely , to counter @pothead my Orbea Rise ( Shimano EP8) started making the usual grumbling noise like a conventional bottom bracket wear after 3 years ( out of warranty) I wanted to make sure it wouldn't let me down having had 4 Bosch Gen2 motors in 3 years on my previous bike .
So found a Shimano service centre near me Sterlands Cycles Bristol. They took the motor off sent it to Madison after running diagnostics, Madison said the grumbling was normal wear they weren't concerned about but they " Took a closer look at the motor and something gave them cause for concern" whatever that means 🤔
The upshot being they sent me a new motor FOC including a 2 year warranty, all told I had the bike back within 2 weeks, can't argue with that .
On the subject of HT E Bikes , my wife has a Liv HT she lives it mainly because of the colour 🙄 it's fine for what she uses it for but to echo others on here I wouldn't use it seriously off road , it's a big old lump that I could imagine would give you quite a beating.
Buy locally/ish, same power motor/battery as mates is a good suggestion, if you’re travelling will a non removeable battery be ok ?
If you’re bothered about the post warranty period have a look at https://www.ebikemotorcentre.com and read up on what repairs etc can be done, it may interest you that some motors are much more rebuildable than others.
if you ride cheeky and have to lift or carry then try lifting etc the bike you will buy, it’s not just about the weight (it deffo matters esp at my age) but I find it’s also about hand hold places etc etc.
by all means consider a sl e-bike, they imho are nicer/more fun ride a lot/most of the time (* Ime not if you’re knackered and not if it’s continuously hilly or very steep and probably not if your mates are all full power) make sure you get a decent test ride, they are a different experience (*based on levo vs trek exe and levo sl)
Only personal experience and motivations for me.
1. As others have said, buy from a good shop with a reputation for supporting customers as your bike will go wrong.
2. Even low power bikes can give you more power than you "need", but try to select one that matches who you will be riding with.
3. For me, an ebike needs to be light enough to be able to lift over a fence or push fairly easily up a hill. That restricted me to "SL" ebikes.
4. Do go full suss. As many have said, the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages, even more so than non ebikes.
5. Be prepared for your bike to be out of date as soon as you buy it.
6. Don't go top spec on whatever you buy. That usually isn't a massive performance boost, more a weight saving. Go base spec and then see if your friendly bike shop will exchange for bits that you really want to upgrade (wheels for me) and then potentially pay to upgrade suspension internals when you get to annual service time (I've not felt the need to).
7. Try and get a bargain end of year model. There are even bigger discounts out there for ebikes than non ebikes.
8. Don't get distracted by fancy displays or functionality, but do make sure the motor you buy can be adjusted in assistance level at least by an app.
9. Pretty much ignore any news you hear online about motor reliability. If you pick a good shop, they will support you and the warranty will restart any time they replace something.
I’d get upto the Dales MTB centre in Reeth and rent one. I did this in the summer. I had a brilliant day on the bike and learnt loads about what i may or may not want. I rented an FS but they had hardtails too
If i buy an ebike then I’ll probably want a removable battery. This is so i have accommodation options when touring. If you tour on a bike with a fixed battery the bike has to be kept near a socket. Does anyone have any experience of this? Am i being ruling out too many bikes
100% get a FS version, it's going to be heavy so might as well get the fun of full bounce.
Just if riding solo pick a route that has openable gates, you don't want to be lifting a full fat ebike over shoulder height on your own too many times
Hiring one first is a good shout. I took a big motor 170/160 big motor Whyte to glentress last year and basically ran it on the lowest setting most of the time and only on turbo to see how it felt. I realised I'd prefer the lighter versions pretty quickly so it was a good exercise.
It took a few runs to get used to the added weight when braking before corners, I can see why they have 200mm+ rotors now. There's a lot more inertia involved than I was expecting.
My 2 penneth:
Motor: Brose or bosch. Serviceable. Shimano less so if at all
Battery: 700w minimum. Removable is a bonus if possible and look at waterproofing.
Forks: 36 minimum. 38 better as you + bike + kit = heavy
Hubs: Ratchet freehub if possible
Display: not bar mounted, more robust/crashproof. Will killing a display kill the bike?
Everything else, your discretion....
As above, spend a bit of time hiring a full fat / half fat and go from there...
Saracen eebs on mega sale at the mo. Great bikes too.
buy from a shop, as local as you can get
I used to give this advice, and bought my other half’s ebike from a local bike shop. Great service from them, but they’ve since gone bust. And they’re not alone, other shops I considered buying from have also closed. So, as well as the LBS advice, check that the manufacturer (both bike and motor) and good at offering help and service through other outlets (like the Shimano/Madison example above).
Afaik, the batteries deteriorate over time.
so that bargain from 2021 may not have much longevity.
Many manufacturers are still selling e-bikes with tyres that are too narrow for their weight.
20+ kilos on 700*42 tyres is downright scary.
find the widest tyres possible, even if it’s only for the road.
youre going to max out at 15mph, so drag and aerodynamics aren’t going to figure.
if you ever experience numb hands, I’d ask the seller if there’s any scope to lift the handlebars.
With a raised cockpit, I could simply add new gear and brake ‘cables’ to my decathlon expl 520, to match. However, I seem to be limited by the short length of electrical cable that connects the controls to the motor. If I can find some way to extend that…
one of the great things about e-bikes is that you don’t need as much fluid intake on rides. Rejoice👍👍👍
And the kids!
"If i buy an ebike then I’ll probably want a removable battery. This is so i have accommodation options when touring. If you tour on a bike with a fixed battery the bike has to be kept near a socket. Does anyone have any experience of this? Am i being ruling out too many bikes"
I'm not saying to not buy a bike with a removable battery but.....in my extensive experience, the connection between the battery and the motor is the number 1 fail point on E-bikes. And bikes with batteries that slide onto a hard mounted terminal are particularly bad, as any slight movement results in wear on the terminal and the bike randomly disconnecting. Bikes with the terminal hard mounted into the top of the down tube via a 'tray' can certainly burn in hell.
Batteries that are connected to the motor via a plugged cable fare much better, because the 'system' can move without causing wear. There are a couple of bolts involved, but something like the Trek / TQ solution is like this. The cable connects via a locking mechanism, unlike a carppy magnet, or thoughts and prayers like some others I can think of....
Anyway, there's my low key rant about E-bike designers forgetting that bikes are kinetic devices and don't just sit in a design office.....
been having a good look over the last couple of days.
we are going for a test ride on a couple of Cube ebikes.
the wife will be looking at a Cube Kathmandu hybrid ex 800. this is for touring and day rides.
i will be test riding something from the Stereo ONE44 range.
Saw quite a few touring on Cubes on my last continent dash via Hull. Most of the places I stayed at we geared up for ebike overnight charging (Netherlands and Germany) - even quite a few of the geeky museums I went to also had their own ebike charge stations.
we have just had 10 days in Holland. Cube bikes were the majority of what we saw.
Quite a lot of replies so apologies for repeating something someone else has said if I have.
My main note would be to stay away from any form of speed hacking on an in warranty motor (if you felt tempted), I see so many people doing this and from personal experience how quickly a service centre investigating an unrelated fault dismissed any help due to just the suspicion of speed tampering with the motor. Motor was adjusted to a different region limit by official shimano software before being returned to uk spec when I bought it.
That said this incident led me to the excellent repair centre - ebike centre (not the new forest outfit) who were fantastic and very reasonably priced.
second hand is a buyers dream at the moment and will potentially get you a fantastic bike for good money, many have transferable warranties.
been having a good look over the last couple of days.
we are going for a test ride on a couple of Cube ebikes.
the wife will be looking at a Cube Kathmandu hybrid ex 800. this is for touring and day rides.
i will be test riding something from the Stereo ONE44 range.
Popped in to recommend Cube ebikes
bought my wife a Cube Touring Pro 500 step thru at the start of 2019 which has the Bosch motor - build quality was / is still excellent. Still going strong, all original and a brilliant purchase.
when it eventually breaks I’ll buy another for her.
if you are looking at cube and are of a gererous size look into the frame classification/category and max weights - some of their frames are not rated for very high loads.
My eeb is now over 5 yrs old and mine (and my mates - he has the posh carbon version) have both had one replacement motor (shimano) which is pretty decent compared to teh bosh/brose ones my mates have. My current shimano motor has a warrenty and cost me £350 for the replacement. The shimano hate is real but they can be decent. i`m not kind to my bike (jumps, slop, crashes, wales etc).
My advice would be (and the advice from teh local eeb hire place) go get one with as few load bearing pivots as you can and buy one with batteries you can replace easily and a motor you can get warrentied easily (any shimano steps dealer can warrenty - not just the place of purchase). dont hack the electrics until you are out of warrenty.
I've said this a few times - its like when people buy campervans. They get all excited by the 'camper' aspect and checking out the beds, the sinks, the furniture, how the cooker works and how big the shower is. But forget the 'van' aspect and gloss over the fact that not in a million years shopuld a sane person spend £15k on that 20 year old 12 owner Talbot Express or Fiat Ducato with its 85horsepower euro 4 diesel engine and a 5 speed mannual gearbox and then drive it to the other side of Europe, just becuase it has some MDF in the back.
Dont forget the 'bike' aspect of an E-bike - Its far more important that you end up with a good bike, not just whether you have 60Nm of Torque instead of 55.
The Amflow, as an example based on my test ride, is a great example of a class leading 'e' motor and battery tech attached to a thoroughly average and uninspiring generic trail bike.
This is all very interesting and informative as I know nothing about e-bikes.
I've also been thinking about going e. At the moment I ride a rigid On-One Whippet, and ideally I'd like something similar but electric - I suppose you might describe what I'm thinking about as a 'flat bar gravel e-bike'.
Has anyone got any experience of anything like that?
There are loads of electric hybrid bikes available, including from Cube.
The Amflow, as an example based on my test ride, is a great example of a class leading 'e' motor and battery tech attached to a thoroughly average and uninspiring generic trail bike.
I'd have to agree with this regarding the Amflow, I reckon it was done as a way of convincing other manufacturers to license the motor/battery/ tech for their own designs. I was recently told by a shop that sells them that they can be 'derestricted' with a VPN on your phone, tell it you're in North America and it will assist up to 28mph instead of 16, I'd guess that will work on any other Avinox equipped ebike as well
The 2024 Cube carbon e-bike I was weighing up didn’t have a brace across the seat stays. The guy in Leisure Lakes had that model and said there was some noticeable flex when ridden hard. I’d also say that think about putting it in a car etc. Some models have the limiter which mean you can’t turn the bars past say 80 degrees
My son and I rented Cubes over in Whinlatter at the start of this year and thoroughly enjoyed it - so much so it made me want to buy one. However I ended up with a cheapy Raymon FS from Paul's, just couldn't get past the value. Good spec, good (Yamaha) motor and a good battery, all for about a grand cheaper than the cheapest Cube. I've had it since March and fingers crossed it's still going strong. Echo what other folk say, it's not for lifting over gates if you can avoid it but apart from that I'm loving it and haven't looked at my old hardtail since.
I managed to gave a look at a cube 177 in a shop today and compare it to a whyte Kado. It's very apparent where Cube have saved weight on the linkages. Good or bad I'm not sure.
i was just gonna post a update.
mrs ton has decided she dont want a ebike just yet. she feels fine riding her spa tourer and is not in a hurry to get anywhere.
so it looks like our trip down the ebike route is on hold.
i have to say after having a good proper think about it. i kind of agree with her.
Respect to Ton and his wife....
Rage, rage etc
Yay!
Just hire one when you need to be out with the other motorbikers.
Trek have just announced a new gravel e-bike, with around 55 miles of range.
Trek have just announced a new gravel e-bike, with around 55 miles of range.
im not up on gravel e-bikes, but I’d the range always that rubbish on e gravel bikes?
I reckon I’d easily get that kind of range on my emtb if I was doing a boring gravel ride
Ton - I’d go and ride an ebike for a day before dismissing again depends on the type of riding you do but they are brilliant in the right circumstances
At the moment, Giant bikes seem to have the best quality batteries?
I would have plumped for one, but decathlon will (fingers crossed!), trade in my current ebike when the time comes.
i did like the look of decathlons 920, with the 27.5*2.8 tyres.
With a longer fork and more of a Santa Cruz Chameleon aesthetic, and they’d have a winner.