Which Electric Bike?

[Annik]

After dithering for two years we have decided to get a couple of electric bikes, when we first started looking we had our hearts set on kalkhoff bikes but over the past 18 months there seems to be dozens more companies now making electric bikes so now we are confronted with too much choice.

Is there anything else worth considering compared to kalkhoff?

How are people's batteries holding out that are already long term owners of e bikes ?

 

[greenfintry]

For use in a van, the Gocycle 2 is very good, light and folds

 

[Gavinskii]

For use in a van, the Gocycle 2 is very good, light and folds

If Annik bought a couple of these they would be in hole for circa £6k ... surely a couple of regular bikes or a little 125 scooter on a small folding trailer for bigger distances (Motolug or similar) could be easily achievable for nearer £2k

 

[mordav]

The kalkhoff bikes aren't cheap either, but that's what was originally proposed.

 

[MKRW]

Check out the Haibike range. Crank drive electric bikes that offer most bike configurations you could imagine.....

 

[DMB9R]

i'm doing some work for these guys at the moment Veelo
http://www.veelo.co.uk/

 

[WooburnCalifornia]

So much has changed in the past few years with electric bikes and we are now in the market for one but I am gobsmacked at the choice now available, also prices now seem a bit more reasonable! We are looking for something to use as leisure bike only so country roads and cycle tracks and we have around £1,500 to spend.

Any suggestions greatly appreciated as I am bamboozled by the choice.

 

[Jonathan Duke]

I'm patiently waiting for these to arrive back into stock.... I'm a big fan of all things (Mini) Cooper, so I might just about allow myself to ignore the price-tag

https://cooperbikes.com/collections/all

 

[Amarillo]

I'm patiently waiting for these to arrive back into stock.... I'm a big fan of all things (Mini) Cooper, so I might just about allow myself to ignore the price-tag

https://cooperbikes.com/collections/all

N+1

I wonder how easy it would be to integrate e bike batteries into the leisure battery and solar charging circuits, thereby increasing the Beach's 75 Ah capacity and charging e bike batteries from the sun?


Follow my blog: www.au-revoir.eu

 

[Skewif]

N+1

I wonder how easy it would be to integrate e bike batteries into the leisure battery and solar charging circuits, thereby increasing the Beach's 75 Ah capacity and charging e bike batteries from the sun?


Follow my blog: www.au-revoir.eu

Easy to charge from the sun and in theory (!) at night you could connect the 36Volt bike battery to your solar charge controller as that would reduce the voltage and charge the leisure battery. So a 500w bike batt would give you about another ~40Ah.

 

[SimonB]

I have a Gazelle Cityzen with a range of 70 miles. It has the motor in the pedal crank so can use all the gears on the bike to get extra range, unlike the ones that have a motor in the wheel hub. I have had it for 2 years and find it excellent. It is a motor assist bike so will only work if you are pedalling as well, if you stop, the motor stops so it's not an electric motor bike. The motor legally has to cut out at 16mph which means that above that speed it is you cycling.
The motor is Bosch and it comes with a 240v charger and you can buy a 12v charger for it as well.
I would recommend this company to buy your bike from https://www.electricbikesales.co.uk/bristolstore as they will let you hire the bike from Saturday afternoon till Tuesday lunchtime for £50. They have branches around the UK. If you buy the bike the money is refunded.
I took the bike to Bath and back on the cycle path on the first day. The second day I repeated this ride to Bath and then went on the Two Tunnels path back along the canal and then back to Bristol, about 40 miles or more.
The bike performed perfectly and there was charge left in the battery when I got home.

 

[soulstyledevon]

So much has changed in the past few years with electric bikes and we are now in the market for one but I am gobsmacked at the choice now available, also prices now seem a bit more reasonable! We are looking for something to use as leisure bike only so country roads and cycle tracks and we have around £1,500 to spend.

Any suggestions greatly appreciated as I am bamboozled by the choice.

Your not wrong Woburn. Went to the bike show last year and 65% of it was dedicated to e-bikes.
We are definitely considering buying a couple, but may hold on, until next year.
The sector is evolving very quickly, it’s definitely more of a go than electric cars.

 

[sidepod]

Awesome

http://www.fullycharged.com/Bultaco-Brinco-Electric-Bike

 

[CampervanTime]

Wife has a Lapierre Overvolt Urban 300. Great bike with Bosch system.

When we researched it we basically found a big gulf of difference between those bikes that didn’t have a torque sensor and those that did. Shimano and Bosch are good quality motors and batteries and are used by a lot of bike makes. These do tend to have the torque sensor that makes riding an ebike really pleasant not jerky.

Weirdly I have an electric car but am stubbornly not buying an ebike as I prefer my roadie/carbon mtb or my Brompton. I can’t have a fourth bike!!

 

[Amarillo]

Weirdly I have an electric car but am stubbornly not buying an ebike as I prefer my roadie/carbon mtb or my Brompton. I can’t have a fourth bike!!

N + 1

https://www.brompton.com/Brompton-Electric


Follow my blog: www.au-revoir.eu

 

[mike&agnes]

After dithering for two years we have decided to get a couple of electric bikes, when we first started looking we had our hearts set on kalkhoff bikes but over the past 18 months there seems to be dozens more companies now making electric bikes so now we are confronted with too much choice.

Is there anything else worth considering compared to kalkhoff?

How are people's batteries holding out that are already long term owners of e bikes ?

 

[mike&agnes]

We bought two Cube Dehli’s about 4 years ago. They are very similar, high spec bikes to the Kalkhoffs and have been excellent. I still ride my none e-bike on occasions but living in a hilly area, we are total converts. They are quite heavy to lift onto the Cali rear rack but two bikes plus a Fiamma bag goes well on long European trips. Watch the total weight though.
My advice:
Only get a bike with a Bosch motor and large capacity battery. Yes, they cost, but any other system is inferior.
We are still getting up to 70 miles per charge range after 4 years.
Hydraulic brakes are amazing.
German lights as supplied are dazzling.
We opted for NuVinci gears on ours. These are good and a great match to an e-bike but no one in the UK (even the dealers) knows how to set them up properly. I might opt for traditional Shimano gears next time.
Bike insurance is expensive and e bikes are not covered on normal policies which only cover up to £1k. I didn’t insure after the first year but have best U lock I could find.
Recharging two bikes in sequence is a doddle overnight if you have mains hook- up. Also the built -in Cali inverter will power the charger. This also works over-night for two bikes but not sure how many days it would work without running the engine as the bike batteries take quite a lot of current.

The e-bikes have been a great experience in all sorts of situations and make a perfect combo with a Cali as a local transport system. Go for it!

 

[Skewif]

Only get a bike with a Bosch motor and large capacity battery. Yes, they cost, but any other system is inferior.

The Bosch system is overall good and has so far been the market leader. I've done many thousands of miles over the last few years on my Bosch powered e-mountain bike and still think it is one of the best toys I've ever owned.

While the Bosch is good it's design is getting long in the tooth and IMO it suffers from two major flaws. Firstly I discovered the motor is not weatherproof. After 5 months of winter riding the seals let in muck, bearings in the motor became very noisy then error messages and a new motor needed. New motor fitted under warrantee (~£800 then), now aways avoid getting it wet and it has lasted well. A pain though as greatly limits winter riding and for £4k I thought I was getting a Land Rover not a sewing machine.

Secondly, if the battery runs out it's near impossible to ride unless down hill. The drag of the gearbox and motor create so much friction that it's like the brakes are stuck on. This also happens when you hit the 15.5mph power assist cutoff point. Trying to peddle any faster and most of your effort is lost by the drag. This is hugely disappointing if you like to ride fast, won't be a problem if you just want to potter and never run out of battery.

As the resale value of e-bikes is so low I'll hang onto mine to see what new design of motors come this year or next. If nothing changes I'm getting a Brose based bike. Brose motors are smaller, lighter, better integrated, as powerful, quieter and fully disengage so no drag. I can see why everyone raves about Specialised Levo.... I want one too.

 

[HectorPascal]

The Bosch system is overall good and has so far been the market leader. I've done many thousands of miles over the last few years on my Bosch powered e-mountain bike and still think it is one of the best toys I've ever owned.

While the Bosch is good it's design is getting long in the tooth and IMO it suffers from two major flaws. Firstly I discovered the motor is not weatherproof. After 5 months of winter riding the seals let in muck, bearings in the motor became very noisy then error messages and a new motor needed. New motor fitted under warrantee (~£800 then), now aways avoid getting it wet and it has lasted well. A pain though as greatly limits winter riding and for £4k I thought I was getting a Land Rover not a sewing machine.

Secondly, if the battery runs out it's near impossible to ride unless down hill. The drag of the gearbox and motor create so much friction that it's like the brakes are stuck on. This also happens when you hit the 15.5mph power assist cutoff point. Trying to peddle any faster and most of your effort is lost by the drag. This is hugely disappointing if you like to ride fast, won't be a problem if you just want to potter and never run out of battery.

As the resale value of e-bikes is so low I'll hang onto mine to see what new design of motors come this year or next. If nothing changes I'm getting a Brose based bike. Brose motors are smaller, lighter, better integrated, as powerful, quieter and fully disengage so no drag. I can see why everyone raves about Specialised Levo.... I want one too.

A useful post. Thanks.

 

[kurienp]

The Bosch system is overall good and has so far been the market leader. I've done many thousands of miles over the last few years on my Bosch powered e-mountain bike and still think it is one of the best toys I've ever owned.

While the Bosch is good it's design is getting long in the tooth and IMO it suffers from two major flaws. Firstly I discovered the motor is not weatherproof. After 5 months of winter riding the seals let in muck, bearings in the motor became very noisy then error messages and a new motor needed. New motor fitted under warrantee (~£800 then), now aways avoid getting it wet and it has lasted well. A pain though as greatly limits winter riding and for £4k I thought I was getting a Land Rover not a sewing machine.

Secondly, if the battery runs out it's near impossible to ride unless down hill. The drag of the gearbox and motor create so much friction that it's like the brakes are stuck on. This also happens when you hit the 15.5mph power assist cutoff point. Trying to peddle any faster and most of your effort is lost by the drag. This is hugely disappointing if you like to ride fast, won't be a problem if you just want to potter and never run out of battery.

As the resale value of e-bikes is so low I'll hang onto mine to see what new design of motors come this year or next. If nothing changes I'm getting a Brose based bike. Brose motors are smaller, lighter, better integrated, as powerful, quieter and fully disengage so no drag. I can see why everyone raves about Specialised Levo.... I want one too.

The drag is something they seem to have addressed with the gen4 motors. Test riding a Whyte 180 Wednesday with the new gen4 motor. Will report back. The drag and also how it hands over power from when pedalling to not, was also not smooth with the gen3 motors.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

 

[Borris]

After dithering for two years we have decided to get a couple of electric bikes, when we first started looking we had our hearts set on kalkhoff bikes but over the past 18 months there seems to be dozens more companies now making electric bikes so now we are confronted with too much choice.

Is there anything else worth considering compared to kalkhoff?

How are people's batteries holding out that are already long term owners of e bikes ?

Hello Annik,
Can I ask did you eventually end buying Kalkhoff Electric bikes?

If I may explain, I am not a cyclist and much prefer a long walk. However, I have an issue with one knee which if you excuse the pun, is very long standing. I like to go out for a long walk each day if circumstances allows however I often have restless nights afterwards with said knee grumbling away. Accordingly, I often resort to slapping on pain relief gel and occasionally taking a couple of paracetamol as a result.

Anyway, a friend recently said that an electric bike may be better for the knees and so long story short, I have reluctantly started to explore the options which quite frankly, I've found mind boggling. Without looking at too many options, I came across the Kalkhoff range which I like the look of very much indeed. I don't want to go off road and will be using the bike (if purchased) almost exclusively on the quiet single track lanes in my part of Kent. I won't be wanting to take it away in the Cali either. Yours truly will be wanting nothing to do with lycra and would prefer the upright riding style at a steady rather than spirited pace. Some of the bikes in the Kalkhoff range seem ideal but being expensive, I would like as much advice as possible before deciding to give one a go. If I do go ahead I will endevour to find somewhere that will let me borrow one for an afternoon before deciding.

If you did purchase, can I ask how have you got on with your Kalkoff bikes? Your opinion on the good and bad points would be very welcome indeed.

If anyone else has any comments please feel free to pitch in.

 

[soulstyledevon]

Hey Borris.
Kalkhoff do great bikes, Moustache look pretty cool too Moustache Lundi, Cube have some great bikes also using the Bosch system or something like @GrannyJen has just purchased the Specialized.

Personally I would look for a bike with the Bosch Gen 4 motor. It’s absolutely brilliant.
We have a Trek with this motor and the Cubes have the Gen 3. No issues/failures with any of these Bosch motors and the assist has been brilliant.

If you have knee issues, look for a low step frame for ease of mounting and dis-mounting.

There’s a company called Fully Charged in London that have good knowledge on the electric bikes, otherwise have a look around your local bike shop...

Hope this helps.

 

[Corradobrit]

Hello Annik,
Can I ask did you eventually end buying Kalkhoff Electric bikes?

If I may explain, I am not a cyclist and much prefer a long walk. However, I have an issue with one knee which if you excuse the pun, is very long standing. I like to go out for a long walk each day if circumstances allows however I often have restless nights afterwards with said knee grumbling away. Accordingly, I often resort to slapping on pain relief gel and occasionally taking a couple of paracetamol as a result.

Anyway, a friend recently said that an electric bike may be better for the knees and so long story short, I have reluctantly started to explore the options which quite frankly, I've found mind boggling. Without looking at too many options, I came across the Kalkhoff range which I like the look of very much indeed. I don't want to go off road and will be using the bike (if purchased) almost exclusively on the quiet single track lanes in my part of Kent. I won't be wanting to take it away in the Cali either. Yours truly will be wanting nothing to do with lycra and would prefer the upright riding style at a steady rather than spirited pace. Some of the bikes in the Kalkhoff range seem ideal but being expensive, I would like as much advice as possible before deciding to give one a go. If I do go ahead I will endevour to find somewhere that will let me borrow one for an afternoon before deciding.

If you did purchase, can I ask how have you got on with your Kalkoff bikes? Your opinion on the good and bad points would be very welcome indeed.

If anyone else has any comments please feel free to pitch in.

I don't know if you use a knee brace but if you don't, consider it. I wear one of these whenever I do something strenuous like hiking, work in garden etc. Helps stabilise the joint and avoids the irritation and flare ups you describe.

 

[Rololux]

My wife has just taken delivery of a Specialized - she is really pleased with it - 90NM of torque would you believe! Actually, initial impression is that it’s almost too much, but that’s coming from a family that has always used regular bikes, so I guess we’ll adapt. Then again, she’s not done any long trips yet, and when you are at the back end of a 50k, faced with a tough climb, I guess she’ll be happy to have the extra available. Also, pretty pricy at 4K Euro, but we are fortunate to benefit from a 800 Euro subsidy from the government.

I have a Cube on order - but it’s been that way since September! LONG delays unless you go to a big dealer - apparently they corner the market.

So my advice, whatever you choose, is to get something from stock, so as to be able to enjoy it in the Spring.

 

[Polomint]

I have had an electric mtb for a good 2 years, I injured my knee in my 20’s and find uphills hurt, hence the electric assistance.
The Bosch motors are great and have recently been updated to give a little more power. A lot of manufacturers are doing road and hybrid electric models now. I can easily say I would not be able to get up hills without the power.