Just wondered what they are like for general use and what the choice is out there?
Ive heard of them and while I have a mountain bike, I wouldnt mind something that can do a bit of the work for me and save me taking my van into town etc as I live in the countryside.
Are there many makes and what sort of costs are involved?
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No personal experience but have heard a few people speak highly of Heinzmann.
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A friend has Giant electric -he's 70+ and he bikes 20 miles round trip in the Chilterns on it, and says it's great. Not cheap, but very good if you have a flat to medium hilly trip and don't fancy a free workout on the way.
tinyurl.com/yk9pgy
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'Giant' electric bikes are also branded 'Lafree'. I have a friend (who lives at the top of a steep hill) who rates his highly, so presumably it gets him home.
These guys seem to like them too:
www.croydon-lcc.org.uk/info/electric.htm
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I looked at electric bikes earlier this year. They start from about £250 and can reach £2000.
The main thing to consider is the battery, the cheap bikes have lead acid batteries and will require replacement in about 2 - 3 years depending on use. More expesive bikes have lithium ion batteries, these are lighter, charge faster, last longer, but cost more to replace.
The next consideration is the bike weight, cheap bikes have heavy iron frames, the best bikes have alloy frames and are just over half the weight.
When I was considering them I would expect to pay about £600+ for an acceptable bike. Even at this price they were still most likely to be made in China.
I suggest, if you are serious, you run a search on google for electric bikes. You will turn up lots of retails making various claims, but also I found a couple of useful reports and comments.
--
Roger
I read frequently, but only post when I have something useful to say.
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And another site here: www.pedelecs.co.uk/
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Stunorthants,
My route to work is a couple of miles of fairly hilly town roads and I decided to save on fuel costs and get a bit more fresh air, and bought a Powabyke 5 speed Euro. I thought that the £600 cost would soon be recouped in fuel saving. Sadly, the bike is now stored with my treadmill, exersize bike and pedometer. Not that the bike is to blame though.
It's great for pottering about at walking pace, and on the flat reaches it's 15mph max speed easily. (I must check the speed with my now unused Satnav). Headwinds and moderate hills are no problem but the motor gets a bit noisy under load and seems to be asking for a helping shove on the pedals. There is one short sharp hill on my route that has most cyclists dismounted and pushing their bikes, or standing on the pedals wobbling all over the place. The Powabyke grinds it's way up, but by the top I'm in bottom gear giving considerable pedal assistance. Tyre pressures are important and they must be pumped up to the recommended 70psi otherwise the bike slows down and the motor whines a bit. (It's a lot more comfy with softer tyres though).
The bike attracts a fair bit of attention, and every eye in a bus queue will be watching as you glide past. Dogs seem to be attracted to the noise of the motor and I used to throttle back and pedal whenever a dog was nearby.
The bike and it's power pack weigh a ton, a loose connector left me powerless about 1/4 mile from home and I had to pedal it. I thought then that if it had happened a mile from home I would have to hide the power pack somewhere, pedal home, and use my car to recover the power pack.
The power pack is actually three 12v sealed lead acid batteries connected in series giving 36v. My local dealer says that 3yrs is the max life and he sells an exchange pack for about £90. The batteries are available cheaper elswhere though, and with a bit of patience and fiddling about anyone could fit three new batteries into the housing, saving about £45.
Other running costs are next to nothing but electrical spare parts are expensive and prone to failure. The local dealer tells me that the 36v charger is unreliable and that he sells an improved one for about £80.
The owners manual recommends that the bike isn't left in the rain all day, draw your own conclusions from that !
The Powabyke website is good with lots of links. The Powabyke itself is good, as long as you accept that it's Chinese and relatively cheap.
It's a nice morning, my battery pack is fully charged - I might just go for a spin, bit of shopping in the panniers and a couple of pints on the way back.
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