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I'm having to use Ubers a lot to get to my son's place. He only lives about 6 miles away but there are a few short sharp hills that really put me off riding there frankly. Mentally and physically, that's where I am at I'm afraid.
No interest in buying a kit to convert a bike btw.
A cheap (reliable ish?) ebike would save me a fortune in taxis and allow me to do small weekly shops with a rucksack and perhaps panniers on. No longer own a car you see and the local buses simply suck I'm afraid.
I notice it's single speed but I'm not in the Peaks... I'm down in Kent. There are hills but with a bit of out the saddle honking and some help the motor I don't see it being too bad?
Oh, I'm not against getting a small wheeled commuter type bike either. Just has to be under £500.
Please don't turn this into an anti or pro ebike thread guys. An ebike (the right one) could really help me see more of my lad and grandsons at the moment and get my arse on a bike too. Win. Win.
I'll still have my beloved Jeffsy for off road duties etc. that's my pride and joy and it's not going anywhere! 😁
Well, I decided to get it on 3 interest 3 payments. 30 days return policy too of course.
I've only ever had good experiences with Merlin in the past.
I'll let you know how I get on with it. It's my first (perhaps only!) ebike.
For the cost its actually a nice looking ebike... imo.😉
I'll go tubeless or just pump come Slime into the existing tubes and change the pedals for some plastic Neutrons or wherever they are called these days. Brakes will be adequate, I'll be plodding along. I've got a saddle to put on so my prosthetic penis doesn't get snapped but that's about all the changes I'll do. The mud guards are staying on.
I've worked out that just 24 return visits to my lads place, at uber prices, the bike will have paid for itself.👍 My lad would willingly give me lifts but his hours are all over the place and I really don't like asking him for lifts anyway. He has 2 young kids and a long drive each day to his station. He's a copper, his days are long enough as it is without being my chauffeur!lol
Question: It has 4 odd looking mounting holes at the front of the head tube? Mounts for a carrier/ basket perhaps?
It's cheap! But I'm questioning the single speed aspect - i think it would be fairly low geared so you'd probably not exceed the 15.5mph cut off by much.
The motor isn't named on the description so I'd assume for the money it's a no named Chinese generic hub rather than a Bafang. Long term support once outside warranty could mean a replacement hub/wheel rather than being able to repair it.
If you could stretch your budget a bit this Trek conduit is a good bike - I have an identical one. Shimano e6000 battery and motor, mudguards, integral frame lights, Deore 10speed with Deore hydraulic brakes.
They are 1st generation ebikes but work well, mine has been great.
Edited to say - given up on the link thing.
eBay - Trek Conduit £669, there's also one on FB for a bit more that I'm sure you could chip them down a bit
You can see the 4 mounts, at the end of those small horizontal tubes welded to the head tube.
Aren't they for a front rack, the sort that Kona put on one of their Alfine commuter bikes?
Yep the mounts are for some sort of basket or rack, might be worth speaking to them for the correct fitting one.
If the hills bother you then not having gears will probably be a problem as well.
The bike looks OK for what it is.
If the hills bother you then not having gears will probably be a problem as well.
Agreed, very much a city bike I would expect.
yer a hub bike without gears isn't going to help that much, generally the hubs work better at higher RPM, and some of them require you to be pedalling quicker than the hub to make it kick in
flip side, if you have committed to it, you may feel obliged to just get on with it and push through it
Is this your invention then Poopscoop?
Looks good and if it helps you get about more then job done.
called a Metroneer London bike, so no doubt designed for the flat, but it'll still assist enough to make the hills manageable without too much sweat and I'm pretty sure the 15mph assist limit wont bother you cos you can just cruise without assist. Hope it sorts you out (in the dry weather anyway!) 🙂
It looks very similar to a G-tech model that a friend of mine bought except that was belt drive. It was perfectly adequate for the intended use of nipping around our (hilly) Derbyshire village. I think you’ll get a lot of use from it Poops, and enjoyment.
Perhaps you can write a review after a couple of months as an antidote to the perceived requirement to spend thousands on an electric bicycle?
You should get good back up from Merlin if necessary too.
Looks good for it's intended purpose.
If you don't want to faff with slime or bother converting it to tubeless put a pair of Schwalbe Marathon Plus on it.
Whats going on with the chain on that bike?
Plastic chain sleeve/guard that moves round with the chain possibly?
The G Tech bike I've seen had a bottle cage style battery and a toothed belt (like Gates). This looks very odd.
https://www.cyclingelectric.com/reviews/gtech-ebike-sport-review
The Merlin site says "Chain: Anti-rust chain w/chain lupper - Single Speed"
It would make sense if it had a plastic dutch style chain case but that photo doesn't make it look like that.
I got a very similar Ebike in the CRC sale(Bought march 2024). Cost me in that sale £500 and I've been very happy with it for commuting and shopping and general getting about.
Same 378wh battery, Gates carbon belt, and hub drive, but its an automatic 2 speed internal gear (Bafang H700) 32nm torque
I've had it about 18 months now and its been fine in commuter mode, handling just about everything including steepish hills. Couldnt say how you will get on with being single speed, but i suppose if its similar to my '1st' gear pretty much everything bar super steep hills will be a breeze.
Also got a Scott genius eride 920 which is entirely a different animal, with huge torque and much bigger battery, but for what it is I'd say at £499 its well work buying as a first insight into Ebikes.
it;s the same belt drive bike, rebranded?
No, its definitely not a G-Tech. They don't make them anymore. One occasionally turns up in our work's bike shed. Work at the top of a hill, so I guess it gives the owner some assitance. And yeah, it has a Cotic style battery 🙂
I can't help you with the bike, but on this...
My lad would willingly give me lifts but his hours are all over the place and I really don't like asking him for lifts anyway. He has 2 young kids and a long drive each day to his station. He's a copper, his days are long enough as it is without being my chauffeur!lol
... I'd say, "get over it."
I was the son in your scenario. My mum was chronically ill for 20 years and lived on her own for 10+ of those after my dad smoked himself to death (not that he was much use in the first place). She'd get (free) buses into town or taxis to ASDA / the hospital etc, and bemoan how hard it was when she didn't drive and everyone's expectation was that she could just "pop in" for a visit. This was despite me living 100 yards away, having a perfectly functional car and probably sat at home watching TV or doing something equally constructive.
I had countless conversations with her, broadly going "you do know I have a car, right?" but she'd almost never ask. I think part of it was not wanting to "give in," to admit a declination in her independence. But knowing my mum I suspect that a big part of it was not wanting to be a burden, to impose on me, to be a pest.
What she completely failed to grasp / accept was that I wanted to help her, despite me telling her repeatedly and in the end quite bluntly. She's raised me, she was literally responsible for my actual existence, the least I could do is take an hour out of my day to empower her to run some errands. It was getting to a point where I wasn't just upset or frustrated but getting a bit cross about the whole situation. She was angry too, at the injustice of her condition, and justifiably so. But even something as simple as me asking "do you want anything from the shop" would be a game of Twenty Questions ("Are you going anyway?" Yes. "Where are you going?" ASDA, Tesco, wherever you want, the moon, does it matter? "Well, if it's not too much trouble..." And so on and so forth) before finally weedling out of her some 15 minutes later that she'd like a jar of coffee. If she'd just said that in the first place we could've chatted about something interesting instead.
So if your son actually wants to spend some time with his old man, grasp that with both hands while you're able and don't you dare feel bad about it. Six miles is a challenge for you but it's, what, ten minutes in bad traffic for him? Big whoop. If he's anything like me he'll feel rewarded to be able to help you out, and maybe just a little bit pissed off that you've felt compelled to buy several hundred quid's worth of bike ahead of just asking him for a lift (though if you wanted/needed the bike anyway that's different of course). It might sound trite but, sadly I no longer have his option.
TL;DR - please don't think you're a nuisance when his mere "willingness" to chauffeur might actually be a desire to give a little something back to you. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.
I wish more of these kind of bikes came with a front motor, I've an Alfine sat doing nothing that would otherwise be an ideal upgrade for something like this.
Looks similar to this gooutdoors ebike.... https://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/19624855/compass-navigate-hybrid-e-bike-19624855
in which case this rack might fit
https://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/19631714/compass-cargo-front-rack-19631714/5834634
It looks very similar to a G-tech model that a friend of mine bought except that was belt drive.
This is a belt drive, and frankly worth having for the lack of maintenance! No having to oil the chain, no oily marks on your legs. Yes, it’s a single gear, but that’s what the motor is for.
There are some very expensive eMTB’s around now using belt drive, in fact there’s a class for belt-drive in the World DH, but with just a gearbox and no motor.
I’d love one, I just need the Euromillions to afford it!
Edit - looking at the original photos it really looked like a belt drive system, I’ve seen them on lots of urban e-bikes, but I’ve never seen anything like that ‘looper’ thing - I think it’s a cheapskate attempt to make a low maintenance chain drive that doesn’t require a fully enclosed chain like bikes back in the 50’s had.
I’d love a beltdrive on my singlespeed, there’s a conversion system that has a belt that is joined with some sort of rivet system so it can be used without having a break in the seatstay, but it’s £350! 😳
That looks pretty handy👍
I’d like to recommend one of these if you find the saddle a bit hard
and you might be able to swap the rear sprocket for something slightly larger?
youre going to max out at 15mph..
The Chainlooper site says that it is
made in Bielefeld from Hebie
Well that's obviously a red flag...
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bielefeld_conspiracy
Thanks for all the replies guys/ladies.
The chain is odd isn't it? Looks like a normal chain with an articulated cover on the outside of it.
I'll do some googling later. The bike won't arrived for 7 days but I'm looking forward to getting her up. I'm not expecting miracles or anything but if it's capable enough to get me out of using Ubers that's enough. Any usability over that is a bonus. 😁
Keen to hear your review - if it ends up being like a private Lime bike for under £500, that's pretty compelling.