A little lost and just a bit confused from Devon

[Eurydice]

Hi all, I'm Kat and live in the South West, Devon, with my small family. My children absolutely love bike riding and go out frequently with their dad.

I have AS (ankylosing spondylitis) and would love to be able to go out riding with them as a family. The type of bikes, brakes, batteries, motors have me worried, as for a lot of people this is a massive investment, and I'm worried I'll buy a crap one and have nothing to show for our year of saving.

I would go second hand but again I wouldn't know where to start lol

I found this group in my search to find more knowledgeable people to ask advice and questions from. Ideally I'm looking for a low step through with pushed back handle bars, I'm 5'3 (nearly) and 15 stones, so it would need to carry my weight, I'd be riding it for leisure in the South West where it can get quite hilly.

I have just over £600 saved ... and not really looking to go much more than £800 :-/

 

[Tabs]

Have a look at a company called woosh,their trade members on the forum and seem to get positive feedback.

 

[RobF]

Kudos has their Safari bike on offer for £695.

I reckon that's about as good as you will get for your budget.

Easy to ride stepthrough with hub gears.

It only has a 10ah battery, which is a bit smaller than some.

Should be good for 20 miles or so, even with some hills.

https://www.kudoscycles.com/product_info.php?cPath=1&products_id=275

 

[Nealh]

The Safari uses the older LIFEPO4 chemistry a bit heavier then lithium ion but will out live the lithium ion when it comes to longevity and voltage sag is also better so ideal for hills, for the money I doubt you will find a better steed.
The hub gears are unusual for an ebike and need no adjustment if they are set up correctly, they are good for changing when stopped and just need peddling to cease for a split second when changing up gear. The Bafang front motor is quite an accomplished hub though may struggle for grip a little if the surface is slippy or loose on inclines as all front wheel dives will.
Kudos will look after you and spares shouldn't be an issue.

 

[Eurydice]

The safari does look like a good work horse and it isn’t bad looking either. I don’t understand what you mean about the battery though? Does it mean that it can pull my weight better?

I’m not normally this draft but I seemed to have hit a stupid rock trying to get my head round it.

 

[Nealh]

Yes, like for like with a similar 36v 10ah lithium celled battery it should perform better and have a life of about 3 or 4 times of lithium ion under the same use. The downside for lifepo4 over lithium ion is less range/mileage per charge.
The reason they are heavier is the chemisty, it is lithium iron phosphate so heavier material used also uses 12 parallel internal groups or strings compared to lithium ion with will have 10.
Lifepo4 is intended for high power solutions and give better voltage discharge, where as voltage discharge with lithium ion drops rapidly under load & starts to collapse (known as battery or voltage sag) then when the load demand recedes the voltage bounces back again. So on a hill or under load life po4 is far more stable and doesn't suffer with the sag but a lithium ion battery may well and often will cut out at some stage well before the Lifepo4.

36v lithium ion battery has 10 cell groups and a typical usable charge voltage of 34v to 42v so a wider fluctuation of voltage variance.
36v Lifepo4 has 12 cell groups and a typical usable voltage of 38.4v to 43.2v, less voltage fluctuation giving better voltage under load.

The reasons for lifepo4 being less favoured is the battery weight being heavier and the energy density, lithium ion can hold more energy/capacity which means better range as the expense of wider voltage variations and lower life cycle typical 4 times less. Also lithium ion batteries are cheaper to produce.

 

[Eurydice]

...

Should be good for 20 miles or so, even with some hills.

https://www.kudoscycles.com/product_info.php?cPath=1&products_id=275

20 miles doesn't sound like much? or am I being greedy?

 

[Woosh]

Hi all, I'm Kat and live in the South West, Devon, with my small family. My children absolutely love bike riding and go out frequently with their dad.

I have AS (ankylosing spondylitis) and would love to be able to go out riding with them as a family. The type of bikes, brakes, batteries, motors have me worried, as for a lot of people this is a massive investment, and I'm worried I'll buy a crap one and have nothing to show for our year of saving.

I would go second hand but again I wouldn't know where to start lol

I found this group in my search to find more knowledgeable people to ask advice and questions from. Ideally I'm looking for a low step through with pushed back handle bars, I'm 5'3 (nearly) and 15 stones, so it would need to carry my weight, I'd be riding it for leisure in the South West where it can get quite hilly.

Hello Eurydice,

May I suggest you take a look at these two bikes?

Woosh Petite:
http://wooshbikes.co.uk/?petite

Woosh Santana2:
http://wooshbikes.co.uk/?santana2

The Petite, as you may have guessed by its name, is made for your height. It has everything a good bike should have, good Bafang motor, comfortable suspension fork, mudguards, full size chainguard, luggage rack, adjustable stem and handlebars, and 24" wheels instead of 26".
The bike is this about 2" less tall than the Santana2 and about 2kgs lighter too.

The Santana2 has a larger, more powerful motor so offering better hill climbing ability. It can easily climb the kind of hills you mentioned.
Don't worry about your weight. All our bikes are good for that.
If you have any question, just ask.

Woosh Petite:

 

[RobF]

20 miles doesn't sound like much? or am I being greedy?

You might get more from a Safari, maybe up to 30 miles.

Depends on lots of things, but hills play a big part as does how much effort you can put in.

That applies to all ebikes, so something with a bigger battery would go further.

More battery power costs more money, so you would have to stretch the budget.

 

[Nealh]

Mileage is always speculative depending on many factors ranging from rider effort, assist level used, terrain, speed and wind just to name a few.
The battery is 10ah/360wh so a realistic range will vary from 20 - 36 miles imho.

 

[Danidl]

To help you come to a decision, it's often useful to play about. The Bosch ebike has a website which includes a calculator for range estimation. All the normal variables can be played with. It is of course centred on their ebike range, which uses centre drive not hub motors, but if you assume that a hub motor is about 90% as efficient ( plenty of people will jump in and say it makes no difference), then you will get a good idea of what you might expect.
Some people specify battery capacity in watt hours as 300,400 , other vendors , specify them in amp hours. A 10 amp hr battery at the usual 36 volts has a capacity of 360 watt hrs. A 15 amp hr battery has a capacity of 520 watt hrs. A 8 amp hr one is 280 watt hrs.

 

[Benjahmin]

Again to help you decide - it's useful to know that a cyclist will consume between 10 and 20 watt hours (Wh) per mile. So a 500 Wh battery(14Ah) will give you between 25 and 50 miles. This will depend on your level of fitness, terrain, weight, wind etc. etc.