Newbie, advise on which ebike to purchase

cat man

Finding my (electric) wheels
Jul 13, 2012
5
0
Hi Guys,
I'm new to this so please be patient with me. Just had a knee opp Doc says cycling or swiming, so e-bike seems the way to go. I live in Scotland, out in the sticks, 2 miles from the nearest town, 1 mile down hill & 1 mile up hill. I have been looking @ bikes from Alienocean, they seem to have the bike I thing would suit me, has any one delt with them & if so how did you find them & their bikes. Also any advise on what e-bike to purchase would be welcome, mainly country road work, but also some hill roads (trying to capture my youth again) some thing with a comfortable seat. Regards cat man
 

JuicyBike

Trade Member
Jan 26, 2009
1,671
527
Derbyshire
HI Cat Man
If you are near Dundee there is an excellent range of bikes to try at: Electric Bikes Scotland

John there will patiently show you his range and advise on your best choice.
 

KirstinS

Esteemed Pedelecer
Apr 5, 2011
3,224
899
Brighton
Great advice from Bob as the best way to see what suits you is to try them - and they seem to have a great range there (Kudos, Juicy, Whisper, Freego, solex, UM and Ebco)

I'd say its worth having some answers to the follopwing questions in your head as well

1) How big a range do really need ? ie. no point paying through the nose for 50mile range if you only ever likley to do 10 to 20 (batteries are a large part of the total cost)
2) How much are replacment batteries (again a large part of cost)
3) Know your terrain - do you need a torquey motor to cope with hills ? Do you need/want suspension forks ?
4) Check details of various warranty information across brands

As regards Alien I have not dealt with them but members on here seem happy with what they have. For my 2 pence worth - their bikes now seem overpriced for what they are (much of the actual bicycle components are very cheap chinese stuff) . Finally, on a comfortable saddle, I would not stake your choice of e bike around this. Its SO subjective for one thing and easily changed for relativley low cost
 

cat man

Finding my (electric) wheels
Jul 13, 2012
5
0
Newbie

oops. And one other rather cruicial point - how much are you willing to spend !
Well if it does away with a second car, thats a big saving. Did not want go on cost alone, more whats the best value
 

cat man

Finding my (electric) wheels
Jul 13, 2012
5
0
Thanks for that. I would rather spend a few shillings more & buy a good bike that will last a few years than skrimp & have it fall to bits in year. Who knows the e-bike might see me visiting some of the old climbing haunts that are well of the beaten track & miles into the hill.
 

KirstinS

Esteemed Pedelecer
Apr 5, 2011
3,224
899
Brighton
Sounds like a decent brand with warranty, high quality after sales and sensibly priced replacement batteries are the way forward for you then

To truly lose the 2nd car you need to factor in around £200 to £500 worth of waterproofs as well :) !

And thats not a slight against Scotland - its done nought but rain in Brighton for months !