Electric bike newbie purchase
Discussion
I want to buy my 16 year old and myself an electric bike to share. We are similar height and weight. The roads around here are single track country lanes with lots of hills. I want to give him longer range so that he can go and see friends more easily who are 10 miles or so away. I want to spend a max of £2000 . What do you guys suggest?
I did think of getting him a 50cc scooter instead ..
We are a bit remote for him here.
He is 17 in November and will start learning to drive then so its more a stop gap.
I did think of getting him a 50cc scooter instead ..
We are a bit remote for him here.
He is 17 in November and will start learning to drive then so its more a stop gap.
Edited by Jonny TVR on Wednesday 21st July 10:14
Missus has one with big battery (350wh and says 80 mile range) but that's on min assitance. Hilly here too and with her keeping up with me she needs to use level 3-5 (1-5 assistance). With this assistance she gets 20-25 miles out of it.
Can't help you on whch bike, but hopefully the range chat helped.
of note, we moved to a rural location when my lad was 16 and he wanted to stay at his school (20 miles away) and still vitis his mates. We bought him a scooter and he loved it in the summer but on dark, cold, winter days i still drove him. He passed his test 5 weeks after his 17th birthday and never, ever used the scooter again.
Can't help you on whch bike, but hopefully the range chat helped.
of note, we moved to a rural location when my lad was 16 and he wanted to stay at his school (20 miles away) and still vitis his mates. We bought him a scooter and he loved it in the summer but on dark, cold, winter days i still drove him. He passed his test 5 weeks after his 17th birthday and never, ever used the scooter again.
Edited by TheDrownedApe on Wednesday 21st July 12:41
Tredz sell the Haibike HardSeven 4 2021 for £1999 and should do everything you need nicely; it's got a 400 Wh battery and a Bosch motor. It's a hardtail of course, you won't really find a decent full-sus at that price point.
https://www.tredz.co.uk/.Haibike-HardSeven-4-2021-...
https://www.tredz.co.uk/.Haibike-HardSeven-4-2021-...
Can't help on the electric bike front but my parents bought me a moped when I was 16 and the freedom it gave me was incredible. Was just before I went to college so used that to commute every day there and back, saved me waiting for a bus like a lot of my mates. Could go home if I had a free too where as they had to stay around all day.
Think the moped was £1000 brand new so cheaper than your electric bike budget. Insurance was £200 and it used to cost me £7 to fill the tank which would last about 10 days. In the winter it isn't much fun but you just need to wrap up with gloves and a snood and its bearable. Ran again isn't too pleasant and you have to watch out for manhole covers as they turn into death traps when wet.
Was the perfect thing to get me out and about until i passed my driving test.
Think the moped was £1000 brand new so cheaper than your electric bike budget. Insurance was £200 and it used to cost me £7 to fill the tank which would last about 10 days. In the winter it isn't much fun but you just need to wrap up with gloves and a snood and its bearable. Ran again isn't too pleasant and you have to watch out for manhole covers as they turn into death traps when wet.
Was the perfect thing to get me out and about until i passed my driving test.
The only think about the moped is that he needs a provisional license which he has just applied for and due to covid it could take 6 to 10 weeks! He needs it for the Summer. The advantage with the e-bike is that I could use it too. The one you sent a link on is too small. We are 6ft1 and 6ft3 so need an XL size.
MOBB said:
My knees hurt just looking at those. Not sure I’d want to be pedalling 10 hilly miles on something without adjustable seat height. I was going to suggest something like the Canyon Roadlite, that has the same motor as my Boardman eBike, but just looks alot nicer.......Than I realised Canyon wants £2700 for the cheapest version and over £3300 for the top spec one!!
My Boardman was £2k and I thought that was pushing it for what is effectively a flat bared hybrid bike.
Unless your son is into cycling a moped is almost certainly the cheaper option, as mad as that sounds. The cheaper eBikes look like cheap eBikes, teenagers are probably more sensitive of their appearances, so you probably want to check they will want to ride an eBike that looks like a normal bike but with a massive battery stuck in the frame.
This is half the price of the Canyon, it'll almost certainly do the job of a 20 miles assisted round trip ride just as well, but look at it.......get the moped!!
My Boardman was £2k and I thought that was pushing it for what is effectively a flat bared hybrid bike.
Unless your son is into cycling a moped is almost certainly the cheaper option, as mad as that sounds. The cheaper eBikes look like cheap eBikes, teenagers are probably more sensitive of their appearances, so you probably want to check they will want to ride an eBike that looks like a normal bike but with a massive battery stuck in the frame.
This is half the price of the Canyon, it'll almost certainly do the job of a 20 miles assisted round trip ride just as well, but look at it.......get the moped!!
Edited by gangzoom on Wednesday 21st July 21:23
If you can stretch a bit get her take a look at some of the Cube Reaction Hybrid bikes - they look absolutely up to the minute, Bosch power train. Only the 500wh on the lowest model, but that’s still pretty good.
Another good one is the Cube Acid One Hybrid 500 which is around £1800. Very very good bike, but the Reactions are chunkier.
Cube IMO offer the best “bang for your buck” available these days, extremely good value.
Whatever you do don’t go wasting your time on those awful Halfords thing with the hub drives and batteries strapped to the frame - they look like such a bitsa. Get a good one and when you come to sell you’ll lose very little.
In fact there’s three battery variants!
https://www.cube.eu/en/2021/e-bikes/mountainbike/h...
Another good one is the Cube Acid One Hybrid 500 which is around £1800. Very very good bike, but the Reactions are chunkier.
Cube IMO offer the best “bang for your buck” available these days, extremely good value.
Whatever you do don’t go wasting your time on those awful Halfords thing with the hub drives and batteries strapped to the frame - they look like such a bitsa. Get a good one and when you come to sell you’ll lose very little.
In fact there’s three battery variants!
https://www.cube.eu/en/2021/e-bikes/mountainbike/h...
Have to nominate my benefits for work and was thinking an electric bike would be a great idea.
1) I work from home.
2) There are some great roads round here, I don't think I will be going off road
3) it's the darn hills that are a pita....
So ultimately I want to use my benefits for a tax advantage and hopefully use a bike for leisure rides (don't get too much time with kids that need ferrying to various activities).
Got to that age where it is better to buy something decent than something that will be a PITA a lot of the time.
Looking at the cost of bikes (last one was a 2015 and £1000 for a Boardman was toppy for something that was only used to go out with kids) I am surprised that the entry price of 'decent bikes is £2-3k.
Not opposed to the idea, but for those that have or are knowledgeable, any suggestions?
TBH, I doubt I'll be going out for a ride in Jan / Feb so no crazy rush, but I do have to decide on the sum for the cycle to work scheme.
Was thinking of £2.5k and something like this:
https://www.evanscycles.com/brand/cannondale/tesor...
or
https://www.e-bikeshop.co.uk/products/electric-bik...
But budget creep led me to this
https://www.vanmoof.com/en-GB/vanmoof-v
https://www.e-bikeshop.co.uk/products/electric-bik...
Happy to hear suggestions....
1) I work from home.
2) There are some great roads round here, I don't think I will be going off road
3) it's the darn hills that are a pita....
So ultimately I want to use my benefits for a tax advantage and hopefully use a bike for leisure rides (don't get too much time with kids that need ferrying to various activities).
Got to that age where it is better to buy something decent than something that will be a PITA a lot of the time.
Looking at the cost of bikes (last one was a 2015 and £1000 for a Boardman was toppy for something that was only used to go out with kids) I am surprised that the entry price of 'decent bikes is £2-3k.
Not opposed to the idea, but for those that have or are knowledgeable, any suggestions?
TBH, I doubt I'll be going out for a ride in Jan / Feb so no crazy rush, but I do have to decide on the sum for the cycle to work scheme.
Was thinking of £2.5k and something like this:
https://www.evanscycles.com/brand/cannondale/tesor...
or
https://www.e-bikeshop.co.uk/products/electric-bik...
But budget creep led me to this
https://www.vanmoof.com/en-GB/vanmoof-v
https://www.e-bikeshop.co.uk/products/electric-bik...
Happy to hear suggestions....
RedWhiteMonkey said:
Smoggy XJR said:
What happened to Puch Maxis?
The 1980s ended.This is the correct answer for PH:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/175620931475
Seriously though, motorised transport does offer a lot of freedom, especially if you live in the boondocks.
When I was 16 I did a lot of miles on a 50cc.
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