E bike advice

[david k]

Looking to get my son an e. Bike but it's a minefield!
He's 6'5" and about 19 stone. He doesn't drive and has a new job, only 3 miles away but he doesn't want to turn up sweaty, it's a lumpy 3 miles and in his work gear he's bound to get sweaty and he wants to be fresh so considering an e bike.

New bike or conversion ?
Throttle or assist?
New or second hand?
Decathlon good for e bikes? Halfords looks poor, small batteries?

His budget is about £700-1100 ish

 

[bonzobanana]

Pre-built ebikes at £1100 or less aren't going to have huge batteries but with such a short commute I don't think it matters too much. I saw a video for a Decathlon model that sells at £999 and that had a 320Wh battery. Less than Halfords models plus their weight limits are lower than Halfords. 19 stone is about 120kg so right at the top limit of many ebikes. So you need to be careful checking the weight limits as some ebikes will be considerably below that. Lowest would be around 80kg rider weight and max would be around 120-136kg.

Secondhand is high risk if the battery is end of life with little capacity left.

Maybe consider a Yose ebike conversion kit, they are good value and some of them are despatched from the UK. You could either buy a new or secondhand bike to convert.

I'd probably go with something like this;

https://www.halfords.com/bikes/hybr...ke-2020---grey---s-m-l-xl-frames-346174.html?

https://yosepower.com/collections/e...for-cassette-with-36v13ah-battery-and-charger

Important to note that you want the Subway with mechanical disc brakes as the kit comes with brake levers with sensors for mechanical disc brakes. It's more difficult to convert bikes with hydraulic disc brakes. It's not impossible just means an additional purchase and not as well integrated.

There are always ways of getting extra discount. I think if you sign up to yosepower emails you get a discount code. You can go through cashback sites to halfords to get some money back and often if you search there may be a way of getting a discount at halfords directly or buying halfords giftcards discounted. Lots of ways to bring down the price slightly.

In theory the bike would be around £700 with kit but making use of all discounts might knock £50 off that.

 

[bonzobanana]

Just realised the Subway comes with integrated brake levers and shifters so you would need to buy a set of individual shifters which would be around £20 give or take but if you carefully take off the existing levers you can sell them as new and get your money back for those on ebay.

 

[Turdus philomelos]

Just a thought can your son join a cycle to work scheme which would then allow him to up his budget where he will be able to source a better quality and a wider range of bike

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

If you need something fairly cheap (for an ebike) look on the online sites - they some times have the previous year's model going quite cheap

Getting on second hand can be a minefield as you don;t know how well the battery has been treated

for what it is worth - I have a Raleigh Motus and find it great. I previously had a Raleigh Array which was cheaper and better in some ways - better equipped anyway
I swapped them due to problems but those problems have been fixed now so the Array seem like a good idea if cost is an issue

 

[david k]

Just a thought can your son join a cycle to work scheme which would then allow him to up his budget where he will be able to source a better quality and a wider range of bike

Possibly but he has just started on a three month probation, wonder if it applies yet even if they have one

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

Possibly but he has just started on a three month probation, wonder if it applies yet even if they have one

Doesn;t hurt to ask

 

[david k]

Pre-built ebikes at £1100 or less aren't going to have huge batteries but with such a short commute I don't think it matters too much. I saw a video for a Decathlon model that sells at £999 and that had a 320Wh battery. Less than Halfords models plus their weight limits are lower than Halfords. 19 stone is about 120kg so right at the top limit of many ebikes. So you need to be careful checking the weight limits as some ebikes will be considerably below that. Lowest would be around 80kg rider weight and max would be around 120-136kg.

Secondhand is high risk if the battery is end of life with little capacity left.

Maybe consider a Yose ebike conversion kit, they are good value and some of them are despatched from the UK. You could either buy a new or secondhand bike to convert.

I'd probably go with something like this;

https://www.halfords.com/bikes/hybr...ke-2020---grey---s-m-l-xl-frames-346174.html?

https://yosepower.com/collections/e...for-cassette-with-36v13ah-battery-and-charger

Important to note that you want the Subway with mechanical disc brakes as the kit comes with brake levers with sensors for mechanical disc brakes. It's more difficult to convert bikes with hydraulic disc brakes. It's not impossible just means an additional purchase and not as well integrated.

There are always ways of getting extra discount. I think if you sign up to yosepower emails you get a discount code. You can go through cashback sites to halfords to get some money back and often if you search there may be a way of getting a discount at halfords directly or buying halfords giftcards discounted. Lots of ways to bring down the price slightly.

In theory the bike would be around £700 with kit but making use of all discounts might knock £50 off that.

Conversion looks interesting, I have a Btwin 540 mountain bike I assume I could use that?

 

[david k]

Found this online as best budget bikes search.

https://eskute.co.uk/products/netuno-e-mtb

Anyone come across it?

 

[rualexander]

3 miles?
Might be as well walking and saving the money, unless he wants a bike for other use as well.
Also, no real need for an ebike to avoid arriving sweaty, just get something with the right gearing and ride it in a leisurely manner.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

Also - for 3 miles a small battery would be fine - my decent battery isn;t that big and manages about 60 miles in summer - less when it is cold but would still laugh at 3 miles each way!

 

[CXRAndy]

3 miles around an hour steady pace walking

On bike 20mins steady riding

 

[david k]

3 miles?
Might be as well walking and saving the money, unless he wants a bike for other use as well.
Also, no real need for an ebike to avoid arriving sweaty, just get something with the right gearing and ride it in a leisurely manner.

I agree, but he doesn't 😃
He finished at midnight and not a straight forward walk. He does 9 hour shifts all on his feet, so wants as easy ride home or rely on parents picking him up, so this is as much for us as him 😃 yes we are soft, I blame the mum 😉

 

[bonzobanana]

Conversion looks interesting, I have a Btwin 540 mountain bike I assume I could use that?

I had a quick google and it looks viable. Looks suitable but make sure you have the right size wheel. The current model is 27.5" wheels but maybe there was an earlier one which was 26" wheels. Also the current model has hydraulic disc brakes so would need extra adapters to work with hydraulic disc brakes. However if an earlier model perhaps it has conventional mechanical disc brakes which would work as is.

 

[bonzobanana]

Found this online as best budget bikes search.

https://eskute.co.uk/products/netuno-e-mtb

Anyone come across it?

I think the issue with that bike is the low quality zoom suspension and basic freewheel drivetrain. Also the battery slots into the frame. The bike will be high maintenance due to the forks and basic drivetrain and the battery will be harder to replace due to its customised housing. It would likely need to be recelled by a specialist company. Basic zoom forks like that don't achieve a lot and with a heavier rider could be a problematic, they could bottom out frequently and let in water if the bike is ridden in the rain so you may have to service them quite frequently. Typical zoom suspension forks do not have spares available so if seals perish they may not be easily replaceable. Simpler bikes with less proprietary parts are easier to keep on the road especially for commuting which could be frequent use.

At £600 you might think worth the risk and maybe changing a few components but at £1200 I personally don't think its good value.

The Subway I linked to is a very low maintenance, strong bike and with an ebike kit will have many advantages over the eskute including much lower price, faster gearing, longer range, lower maintenance, no proprietary parts. Lighter overall too and much easier to climb hills due to the better gearing. Also later on if you get bored of the Subway you might be able to move the ebike kit to another bike.