Electric bike > £1000

[Dodgy69]

Trying to get my lady a bit more active. I'd class her as fairly inactive. Happy sitting about, whereas I'm happy doing summot.

I'm cycling or walking everyday, keeps me happy. Problem is for her to pedal with me, it would get slow and frustrating for me and I would get nothing out of it.

So, idea is lecky bike for her. Hoping this would solve our fitness differances, maybe. Been looking at Carrera electric bikes. Any advice/points of importance I need to know. £1000 max.

Thanks.

[weeksy]

That's a bit low in ebike stuff sadly. Maybe an ex demo Cube?

[Dodgy69]

It's only for soft pedaling around the lanes.

[rossm]

Why not get a cheapo standard bike and mount an aftermarket motor, choice of replacement wheels with the motor mounted within, or as I did a crank mounted motor (bit more but fairly discreet)

[Dodgy69]

I looked at conversion kits but with battery it was a bit pricey. So ordered a bike from cycle Republic. Think there halfords in disguise, but £100 cheaper.

[flicker]

Trying to get my lady a bit more active. I'd class her as fairly inactive. Happy sitting about, whereas I'm happy doing summot.

I'm cycling or walking everyday, keeps me happy. Problem is for her to pedal with me, it would get slow and frustrating for me and I would get nothing out of it.

So, idea is lecky bike for her. Hoping this would solve our fitness differances, maybe. Been looking at Carrera electric bikes. Any advice/points of importance I need to know. £1000 max.

Thanks.

Did exactly this for Mrs P, she suffers with arthritis.
We spent £1700 on a cube hard tail with a Bosch system through Evans. Expensive but she loves it, we looked at the cheaper systems and self build stuff, you get what you pay for.

Evans were doing a 12 month interest free deal at the time.

[Dodgy69]

Did 25 miles on the ebike today. On the whole, very happy. Changing to higher gears ain't the best, bit crunchy, hope it will bed in. High to low fine.

3 settings, eco, std, high. In high, you can leave in highest gear and motor pulls well from stand still. In eco, you would need a lower gear. Motor helps up to 16mph then it's down to you.

I used eco for first 12 miles, playing safe with range, but still plenty of battery so used high for rest of journey. Needs a more hilly route really to do more interesting test. I did stop at the bottom of one short hilly bit, top gear and pulls you straight up to 16mph easy.

Big test will be with lady on board, Sunday or Monday. Think she will be happy, takes all the hard work bits away basically. Most of us want some hard bits, then get your breath back on flat bits, so for me, I won't be getting one just yet, road only.

But for £900 it a great bit of kit for those who enjoy the outdoors and are a bit out of shape and need a bit of a push up the hills.

[Bomble]

Sounds just the ticket. Not sure what motor you have but they generally work more efficiently with higher cadence. It’s supposed to battery range and if the motor is belt driven, stops the belt burning out.

[Dodgy69]

Wife had her first proper ride on her ebike this afternoon and the result was...

She loved it. Went down some lanes she hadn't been down for years. Oil seed rape filling the air. She'd missed the sence of being out and about in the wild. She is pretty much car travel only, but that has changed today. Yes, she would have local walks but the ebike has opened the door for further a field gaunts.

We'll be out again tomorrow, weather permitting, 18 mile loop of country lanes. Today was only 12 miles, her arse is shouting a bit, but she's very happy with the bike.

Battery has 4 lights when fully charged, down to 3 now. Incidentally, I presume it's ok to top these batteries up, rather than drain completely. Think I read, every so often, drain battery completely to extend life... What you ebike guys do with battery.??

So, as I write today, this ebike has been a very successful purchase and that alone makes it worth every penny.

[Nordboy]

I just plug mine in when i need to. The bosch info that came with mine said that it didn’t matter if i still had charge before recharging, don’t have to run it right down.
I rather have more than not enough. I’ve had ‘battery anxiety’ on a couple of long rides and it can be a little distracting
Mine weighs in at 25kg so it would be a bit of a brick to ride without battery! I do turn it off when I don’t need it on rides, eg downhill sections to save a bit.

[Dodgy69]

Cheers Nordboy,

Think it's 26kg or bloody heavy. Lifting back wheel of the ground could put your black out, but once pedalling, all good. I did turn it off yesterday and down hill the weight helps but once climbing, forget it. On the flat, it's doable but probably not for too long.

[Bomble]

Battery has 4 lights when fully charged, down to 3 now. Incidentally, I presume it's ok to top these batteries up, rather than drain completely. Think I read, every so often, drain battery completely to extend life... What you ebike guys do with battery.??

If you are leaving it unused for a few weeks try and leave it about 40-60% charged. I believe the draining thing to extend life is for the old battery tech.

[weeksy]

Battery has 4 lights when fully charged, down to 3 now. Incidentally, I presume it's ok to top these batteries up, rather than drain completely. Think I read, every so often, drain battery completely to extend life... What you ebike guys do with battery.??

If you are leaving it unused for a few weeks try and leave it about 40-60% charged. I believe the draining thing to extend life is for the old battery tech.

I got the impression that they're also batteries with a 'number of charges' in their lifetime, something like 3000 i think i heard, so we only top up the wifes bike once it gets to about 1 light (out of 5) remaining, obvioulsy if going for a long day out we'd charge to full, but if going fairly short and starting with 50%, then we'd just go with it.

Worst case scenario, hers runs out and i'm pedalling a heavy bike home

[Dodgy69]

Just had a read of manual again..it suggests to perform a complete discharge and recharge every 3 months or after 40 charging cycles in order to make the battery life longer. Quote.

Carnt see anything about total recharge cycles, but if you press the power button on the battery for 10 secs, the light pattern tells you how many recharges it has had. Whether that's a full charge or a mini charge, i have no idea.

Out again later with no recharge, so as you say, I could be riding the heavy bike home.

[Dodgy69]

Well, battery still going strong. We did 18 miles this morning on top of 12 yesterday and still 2 lights on battery. Won't be risking another ride so on charge it is.

She's got a sore arse now so it will be a rest day for her tomorrow. She's loving it.

[Bomble]

Battery has 4 lights when fully charged, down to 3 now. Incidentally, I presume it's ok to top these batteries up, rather than drain completely. Think I read, every so often, drain battery completely to extend life... What you ebike guys do with battery.??

If you are leaving it unused for a few weeks try and leave it about 40-60% charged. I believe the draining thing to extend life is for the old battery tech.

I got the impression that they're also batteries with a 'number of charges' in their lifetime, something like 3000 i think i heard, so we only top up the wifes bike once it gets to about 1 light (out of 5) remaining, obvioulsy if going for a long day out we'd charge to full, but if going fairly short and starting with 50%, then we'd just go with it.

Worst case scenario, hers runs out and i'm pedalling a heavy bike home

I believe the battery management software in the mainstream bikes knows you are part charging and accounts for this in the total number of charges, eg you can charge it 25% 4 times and it counts that as one charge cycle.
The batteries slowly degrade and lose capacity, I had a specialised levo and with the app you can see your battery condition as a percentage.
I’ve seen examples where 2 year old batteries have lost about 5% capacity so doesn’t seem a massive issue long term.