Commuter bikes

Author
Discussion

HantsRat

Original Poster:

2,379 posts

114 months

Wednesday 7th September 2022
quotequote all
About to start a job that will involve some travel to London 1 or 2 times a week. I'm a 30 min walk to the train station and the office is a 30 min walk from Waterloo however I would like to speed this up.

Are there any foldable electric bikes that are 'commuter friendly' and are allowed on trains on peak times to London anyone can recommend?

lllnorrislll

148 posts

146 months

Wednesday 7th September 2022
quotequote all
Folding bike, the answer is always Brompton

Want electric and folding - Brompton Electric

mike9009

7,451 posts

249 months

Wednesday 7th September 2022
quotequote all
https://www.brompton.com/bikes/brompton-electric?g...

Nearly always the answer for folding bikes. Never tried an electric one, but the non electric is a great bit of kit.

HantsRat

Original Poster:

2,379 posts

114 months

Wednesday 7th September 2022
quotequote all
Can these easily fit and are they allowed on South Western Railway trains at peak times? I guess they can't fit in the overheads.

jm8403

2,515 posts

31 months

Wednesday 7th September 2022
quotequote all
mike9009 said:
https://www.brompton.com/bikes/brompton-electric?g...

Nearly always the answer for folding bikes. Never tried an electric one, but the non electric is a great bit of kit.
16.6kg and 3k for a little electric... steep!

cml24

1,436 posts

153 months

Wednesday 7th September 2022
quotequote all
I think all folding bikes are allowed on all over ground trains.

I don't think any electric bikes are allowed on any tube trains though. A 30 minute walk is probably OK on a non electric bike to be honest, would you consider it?

You can rent a Brompton, maybe try it with a non electric?

My friend likes his go cycle. Doesn't fold as small as a brimoton, but fine for a train and having tried both he believes it a superior ride for linger distances.

_Hoppers

1,329 posts

71 months

Wednesday 7th September 2022
quotequote all
Assuming the walking part of the trip is 4 miles, that’s not very far to cycle, do you really need electric? Taking it steady you should be able to do each 2 miles stint in ten minutes.

dontlookdown

1,914 posts

99 months

Thursday 8th September 2022
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Other folding bikes are available - Tern for example are OK. They are not as solidly built as a Brompton, and don't fold quite so neatly, but are a fair bit cheaper.

Assuming that you don't have any health issues that might influence it, unless there are some big hills on your 30min walk to the station you don't need an ebike. That's a 10min bike ride.

In fact the considerable extra weight of a folding ebike would prob be more hindrance than the extra power would be help. Lugging it about on the train would be a pain.

Alternatively get a cheapo station bike and leave it at the station. Wouldn't help at the other end but would be a cheap way of finding out whether you like the bike ride.

Edited by dontlookdown on Thursday 8th September 08:34