Electric bike on Cyclescheme

[ChrisV]

is it possible to get a decent one for £1,000? A cursory search would suggest no, but I might be looking in the wrong places.

My commute is 20 miles each way, which I have found to be enough to put me off regularly and I just start using the car. I was thinking that 4 x 40 miles a week will be better that 1 x 40 a week or even month! An e-bike might be the difference between me cycling and not.

I contacted Tredz to see if I could take the first £1,000 of an e-bike on Cyclescheme and the next £850 on finance.

They said no.

Any advice from those who have maybe managed it?

 

[vickster]

Any pointers in here?

https://www.cyclechat.net/forums/electric-bikes.159/

Why don't you drive to work, leave car, cycle home, cycle to work, drive home?

Or get a folder, drive part way, cycle part way? Or similar?

 

[Deleted member 26715]

Or get a folder, drive part way, cycle part way? Or similar?

Sorry but this is completely ff topic apologies, (maybe should start another thread) but where do you find somewhere safe to leave the car. Around Sheffield there is nowhere & if you choose the same spot each day, some little scrote will realise.

 

[vickster]

The OP isn't in Sheffield?

A residential street? A car park?

Or leave it at home and cycle to work, perhaps twice a week, rather than 4x or 5x a week

 

[raleighnut]

Fit a front drive kit to an existing bike,

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rc...e-kit/&usg=AFQjCNEH4IpynCxh3CdtyMtb6ZN_nY9UQA

 

[Milkfloat]

Evans amongst others will allow you to go over the Cyclescheme limit. I am not sure about putting the rest on finance, but I don't see how that would be an issue.

 

[summerdays]

Sorry but this is completely ff topic apologies, (maybe should start another thread) but where do you find somewhere safe to leave the car. Around Sheffield there is nowhere & if you choose the same spot each day, some little scrote will realise.

Ok not Sheffield, but each day I get a lift with my OH and the bike goes in the back, and the car is left in the same place, a public car park (retail centre). I've been doing that for the last 4 years. Is Sheffield much worse than any city? Equally I've seen someone do it with an electric folding bike.

 

[vickster]

With retail parks, Do check that there's no limit on parking. My parents got fined for spending over the limit at sainsburys, even though they were actually shopping and lunching all that time!

 

[ChrisV]

I found that driving part way was just a nuisance. Bike in and out of car was a faff. Same problem with the drive in, ride home, drive back. I suppose I could look at getting a bike carrier though.

I just think a folder looks silly going about rural roads etc where you almost never see one. Different in London where it looks quite trendy! I would fancy longer rides at weekend on it either.

I suppose the road bike is the answer, but I just need to find a way to make the commute doable for me.

 

[bonsaibilly]

Sorry but this is completely ff topic apologies, (maybe should start another thread) but where do you find somewhere safe to leave the car. Around Sheffield there is nowhere & if you choose the same spot each day, some little scrote will realise.

As someone who's bike got nicked in Sheffield, I can empathise with this observation.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

I found that driving part way was just a nuisance. Bike in and out of car was a faff. Same problem with the drive in, ride home, drive back. I suppose I could look at getting a bike carrier though.

I just think a folder looks silly going about rural roads etc where you almost never see one. Different in London where it looks quite trendy! I would fancy longer rides at weekend on it either.

I suppose the road bike is the answer, but I just need to find a way to make the commute doable for me.

Yes I find that by the time I have dressed for the ride, loaded the bike onto the car, driven half way, unloaded the bike, rode in, got changed then do a day's work & repeat in reverse to go home it's too much of a faff. The easy option is to just drive all the way in

 

[Deleted member 26715]

As someone who's bike got nicked in Sheffield, I can empathise with this observation.

Having the bike in the centre isn't an issue, I can bring it into the spare offices downstair, it's leaving car on the street in the same place each day.

 

[Venod]

I just think a folder looks silly going about rural roads etc where you almost never see one. Different in London where it looks quite trendy!

I apologise if this post offends but, who gives a fook what you look like on rural roads and trendy is not a thing a cyclist should consider, just ride what and how you want.

 

[Pale Rider]

is it possible to get a decent one for £1,000? A cursory search would suggest no, but I might be looking in the wrong places.

My commute is 20 miles each way, which I have found to be enough to put me off regularly and I just start using the car. I was thinking that 4 x 40 miles a week will be better that 1 x 40 a week or even month! An e-bike might be the difference between me cycling and not.

I contacted Tredz to see if I could take the first £1,000 of an e-bike on Cyclescheme and the next £850 on finance.

They said no.

Any advice from those who have maybe managed it?

A £1,000 electric bike may not be up to a 20-mile each way commute.

The bike bits will be mostly cheap no-name Chinese, wheels, bearings, brakes and the like will be the sort of stuff you get on a £200 push bike.

I suppose you could ask yourself the question, would you be happy to commute on a bike of that quality?

Equally, the electrics will be budget Chinese, good value in some ways, but prone to niggly faults.

Battery range may come into play, the capacity of most ebikes - measured in amp/hours - is about 10 or 11.

Generally, that would give a realistic range of up to 40 miles or so.

A lot depends on hills, headwinds and rider effort, but I think you may be up against it to get a round trip reliably from one charge.

If you are still interested, a couple of the better budget brands are woosh and Kudos.

http://wooshbikes.co.uk/

http://kudoscycles.com/

Slightly better quality but still reasonably priced is wisper

https://amps.bike/wisper-electric-bikes/

 

[ChrisV]

Cheers for that, will have a look.

I much prefer dropbars, so been looking at the Giant E+1 electric bike at £2,750. Phoned a company who said they would accept £1000 Cyclescheme voucher and £1,750 finance. £2,750 and commuting all the time is much better than £1000 on a road bike that I struggle to commute more than once a week at that distance.