Shock electric bike purchase

[clouddog]

Hi

I am having my benefits cut by about £100 a week and will need to save money (petrol mot tax parking insurance etc etc)

I am not the ultimate sports machine i have always wanted to be but a disabled active bottom rung athlete and i can't face commuting (mum's and back - shop and back - town and back) with any other type of bike - even a good road bike) as it is I have borderline obesity and that isn't pretty in public going up a hill

I will probably hang on to a bicycle for trails and races of my 2 old ones

I will probably have £4500 - £5000

I owe a lot of money to family

will there be a difference between a £1600 electric bike and say a £2600?

significant to the price?

I want something that will really last


file://localhost/Users/comet/Desktop/E-Sportster%2020%20Lady.jpg
the one I have seen that i want is this one

I need to know if there is going to be anything but ethetifc differences really and i'm sure you get what you pay for

Is it worth it?=

 

[Volnix]

Even though I lived in the UK for some years I still didnt really get what you said but I think I got the part that you are looking for reliable electric bike solution.

There are a few options. One is the electric bikes which are sold as electric to begin with, some of them actually look like normal mopeds with pedals just for "legal" reasons and some which are actually bicycles with a battery - motor system.

Then you can always buy a battery and a motor and transform a bicycle into an electric.

I have flirted alot with the idea but I realized that unless you are always using the electric support the bike is gonna be really difficult to pull without the electric assistance since the motor (which is probably a friction drive without electric assistance) and the battery weight alot and the bike will end up as something like 17kg. There are a few electric bikes which are lighter then that.

I also heard a rumour that the "cheaper" electric motors that are fitted on hubs later on tend to overheat and get burned.

Here are some electric bikes which look a bit "reliable" and I think they are much cheaper then the 5000pounds you are saying:

Specialized Turbo


Cube EPO: ("EPO"... get it?

Like in Doping...

)


These are actual electric bicycles and not the "barely legal" moped stuff like this one:



Ofcourse you can transform any bike into electric by subtituting the hub of one of the wheels with the motor and attach a battery (there are some 72volt batteries I think... guess they are fast

) and end up with a fantastic vehicle which looks something a 5yo has made...

For me they dont make much sense, but for you they might be ok.

Things I am a bit skeptical about are:

1. Battery life (quality of battery, memory effects, discharge curve)
2. Ability to operate without pedalling, like the throttle grip on a moped (the more "serious" electric bikes like the first two might only assist electrically the pedal motion).
3. Motor life and waranties.
4. Price! (because for that money I can probably get a gooood carbon bike + kit)
5. Weight in the case of a flat battery.

Good luck!