cowpeam Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Does anyone know of a good guide to buying an electric bike? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caroline Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Hi There is a forum for Electric Bikes, www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/electric-bicycles here is one i found on the internet. We brought ours from AS Bikes at the Motorhome shows and have no regrets, would suggest you have a good look round at all options and ask lots of questions. :-> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Yes Pedelec forum best place to get some free advice and read up on e bikes http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/electric-bicycles/ We have had ebikes for 4 years and know a bit, feel free to ask away.... :-D Here is a pic of ours. 20kg each so easy to get on rack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 There are many guides on the internet...Juat be careful of ones tied to a certain product. Halfords seem to be the worse for this and they dont sell particularly good e bikes here are a few: just read up a bit and feel free to ask away... http://www.electricbikesales.co.uk/info/faqs/ http://www.electricbicycles.co.uk/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tugga Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Judge, you say your bikes are 20kgs each, is that with or without the battery? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caddies104 Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Hi We love our AS bikes, they travel at around 15 mph and can do around 30 miles without charging, can be pedalled without the battery so can do even more if you want.. Very impressed with the service as well.. Derek & Pauline Would of put a photo on but do not know how ?? Help please! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 tugga - 2012-02-06 5:17 PM Judge, you say your bikes are 20kgs each, is that with or without the battery? we have 2 very different bikes, one latest Bosch ( centre crank drive) and the other a hub motor style. both weigh 20-21Kg with batteries so when loading we take the batteries of.....This is for security as well? as an e bike without a battery, or charger ,or key is very suspect when it appears for sale.... taking the seat of as well is not a bad idea :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Caddies104 - 2012-02-06 5:35 PM Hi We love our AS bikes, they travel at around 15 mph and can do around 30 miles without charging, can be pedalled without the battery so can do even more if you want.. Very impressed with the service as well.. Derek & Pauline Would of put a photo on but do not know how ?? Help please! the way I do it (there are others) is email pic to myself, then you get the choice to resize pic? make it smallest size available, and save on desktop. then tick "attach a file after posting" on bottom of page. click "browse" select "desktop" then select your pic from list and click upload... you may get an error 500 message this is because the server is rubbish...but sometimes pic loads anyway even if you get this message *-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caddies104 Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 JudgeMental - 2012-02-06 5:54 PM Caddies104 - 2012-02-06 5:35 PM Hi We love our AS bikes, they travel at around 15 mph and can do around 30 miles without charging, can be pedalled without the battery so can do even more if you want.. Very impressed with the service as well.. Derek & Pauline Would of put a photo on but do not know how ?? Help please! the way I do it (there are others) is email pic to myself, then you get the choice to resize pic? make it smallest size available, and save on desktop. then tick "attach a file after posting" on bottom of page. click "browse" select "desktop" then select your pic from list and click upload... you may get an error 500 message this is because the server is rubbish...but sometimes pic loads anyway even if you get this message *-) Thanks for that Judge..most useful, I also tried to put a pic on my profile, but couldn't do that either, might be because I hadn't reduced it enough.. Sorry to go off the thread, thanks again........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hallii Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Another vote for AS Bikes, we love ours. (MK3 folders) H Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyishuk Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 We have a couple of Freegos The link takes you to the Pedlec Forum. http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/electric-bike-reviews/10149-freego-eagle.html We carry them on a Thule towbar carrier. http://www.thule.com/en/GB/Products/Bike-Carriers/Towbar/Thule-EuroPower-916 Which is made to take the weight of ebikes. (although we do not carry the bikes with batteries mounted. We modified on of Taylormade (The silver screen people) bike covers to cover them whilst in transit. Rgds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob b Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 I've just bought the Freego Kingfisher that is advertised in the Buy & Sell section on this web site. I can't add anything constructive as I only rode it 'round the block' yesterday!Although I normally tow the motorbike on my travels, I thought it would be handy when I'm away for the odd night or two. I'm also next to the Downs Link way which meanders through the south downs. So it'll be good for taking some exercise without the punishment of hill climbing manually!I've got a rack that clamps to the towbar, but I am interested in a transit cover. Perhaps you could post a photo of your cover Tony? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyishuk Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Hi We had to alter the cover quite radicaly to cover two bikes, when the weather improves I will take a photo. Unfortunately there were very few suppliers who made covers, we had a look at Halfods and local bike shops, but we reckoned the materials would not stand the rigors of motorhome wind flap. TaylorMade were helpful but could not make one to order, although Anne ( Co Owner / Girl friday ??) was quite interested in what we were doing. Unfortunately a bout of bad health and weather has slowed up the phographic process ! BTW there is a Freego Agent in Worthing @ Broadwater green Easy parking. They have been very helpful with regard (as have Freego) with a couple of problems we had with a battery and charger. Rgds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J H Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 We also have AS bikes - excellent after sales service. The bikes are good too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Coo-eee Cowie!!! :-D We haven't got any, but have looked into the ins and outs of them, and have also riden a few, as we have considered getting them ourselves. You really need to ride any bike you're thinking of getting as they are all different. You also need to decide what type of bike you need, whether just pedal assist, or ones where you can just let the bike take the strain without having to pedal at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
travelling taylors Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 :-> we have had 2 bikes from AS bikes for a year now , they are brilliant , they get a few admirers when we are abroad especially in greece and Turkey last year , only problem we had was a broken bike stand which Pete who owns AS bikes replaced striaght away at the next motorhome show we attended . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandya Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 We have two wisper 750e have had 45 mile round trip on them claimed range is 50miles,many bikes fall short of claims on range but these do what it says on the tin they have been in almost constant use for eighteen months and give much enjoyment good luck in your choice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bolero boy Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 My wife has just got a Raleigh Leeds Tour with the Panasonic crank drive system and it will comfortably do 30 miles including some hills. I tested a couple in Bath a fortnight ago and was very impressed by a Scott with the new Bosch crank drive and it went like a proverbial bat up Bathwick hill which is really steep. Problem? - yes, it's £2,400!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 Good choices Sandya and Chris! Wisper bikes are a firm favourite and they have an excellent support network. I now have the latest wisper DaaHub kit fitted on a Specialised Crosstrail Ltd disc (red and black bike in pic) This is a high spec bike and with kit it can fly. The beauty of a kit is you can fit it to an existing bike you like, or as I did, you can end up with a more sophisticated e bike, simply because many e bikes (unless expensive) are built on mediocre bikes The Panasonic powered crank drive bikes are very good hill climbers. But as Chris says the introduction of latest Bosch crank drive bikes in 2011, have taken the market by storm..they are a fantastic e bike. More then 35 major bike manufacturers have Bosch powered bikes for 2012. the white bike in picture is a Bosch powered KTM Macina cross, it is being replaced with newer model as wife does not like the crossbar. It cost £1800 and the replacement Haibike is £2000 (higher spec) I have seen some 2011 model Bosch bikes for £1500 E bikes are like anything else you pay for what you get......If you want a light well handling bike that will climb anything you need to be looking at spending a bit... I started of interested in E bikes for our motorhome holidays, I now use it almost daily and much prefer it in London, where I can get places faster and a lot cheaper then in the car... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 It has just come to my attention, that a reasonably well known e bike company that I am familiar with (no connection) who has tried to get a stand at Motorhome shows has been refused... Reason given was that the other e bike exhibitors do not want the competition!. probably because they know as well as I do there are better bikes out there! So as I suggested earlier in this thread if you want a decent e bike, please do a little home work and look around, as you are not getting a fair representative view at motorhome shows of what is available...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhiteCheyenneMan Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 There are quite a few very good bikes in the usual £1,500-3,000 range (there are also quite a few poor ones with inferior range).Personally, I wasn't prepared to spend that much even though I use my bike at home for exercise (just power on the steepest hills honest ;-) ).So I bought a 36v AS Bike last week at Excel. With lights, panniers and lock, plus a helmet when I got home, I still had change from £800!!Great people, great bike! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 Indeed.......Yes there was a lot of choice at Excel wasn't there NOT! There are pleanty of GOOD e bikes around for under £1000*-) Its a good place to market e bikes when you think about it, as if shoppers prepared to pay 40 - 120k for a camper an e bike is small change....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruisecontrol Posted March 14, 2013 Share Posted March 14, 2013 After a considerable amount of research and trial rides we've bought two FreeGo Eagles at £1k each. Unlike a few mentioned above and seen at shows, these bike seem to have a reasonably wide distributorship network and in my case are local. Pretty essential in my book should things go awry. They certainly look well made and have sensible design features such as easy electrical disconnect of the rear wheel in the event of a puncture. Usual disclaimers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted March 14, 2013 Share Posted March 14, 2013 Pretty ordinary and not very refined Chinese hub motor bikes...things have moved on considerably and far better and lighter bikes around..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruisecontrol Posted March 14, 2013 Share Posted March 14, 2013 Oh dear! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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