Bike for overweight, nervy rider wanting to do long railway paths but not that fit

[tiacat]

My OH and me will be buying e bikes next year hopefully and we are doing our research now.

He is about 13 stone but I am about 18.

I get nervous if my feet dont touch the ground when Im on it, but the problem is my current bike is a child's bike I think, Trek Navigator which is a 14.5 inche frame!

So I havent mastered the getting on and off via the pedals (because I cant fit between the seat and the handlebars) and dont know if my lack of agility will ever enable me to do that.

Our requirements ideally are an integrated battery, motor on the pedal, possibly a step through for me, big battery like 400 or 500w. Removable battery.

We like fairly long trails, perhaps around 20 miles a time but these have traditionally been flat trails, with an ebike we will have more options and would do around double that length I think. We go on bridleways, railway paths, forest tracks etc etc. So I was thinking front suspension although OH doesnt think this is necessary. I do like the idea of fattish tyres. My current bike has about 2 inch tyres I think.

We hardly ever go on roads, Im too nervous.

On the above criteria, do any of you experts have any bikes in mind that would fit those options? We are in the south east in Kent

Thanks

 

[soundwave]

that bike is way to small for you esp with the waight as well but you can get a dropper post so it goes up and down so you can get ur feet on the floor with a push of a button.

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[tiacat]

Thank you, yes I know. Ive had it 22 years! I think it has done really well to hold me up. Only had one puncture and that was last month. Ive been heavier than that as well.

I have been looking at the raleigh motus range, but we saw one in a shop yesterday and I though the tyres were a bit thin.

I see there is a trek verve + and the other one I looked at was the electra townie go, although that has an exposed battery and no walk assist and no front suspension

I am guilty of looking at ones that are 'pretty'.

I was just looking at the juicy bikes but they seem to have rear hub motors which we were advised against. I dont know how accurate that view is though.

 

[Wicky]

Hub motors work fine!

 

[Wicky]

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[Wicky]

Woosh Big Bear LS | MTB electric bicycle from Woosh

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[Wicky]

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[tiacat]

Thank you I will have a look at those suggestions

 

[Nealh]

Hub motors are very reliable and give a nicer ride for leisure and pottering about riding, my hubs are use for longer rides and my rides are very rarely less then 100km/60 miles.

 

[tiacat]

Thank you, yes we are definitely potterers!

What is the difference then, how do they feel compared with the motors on the pedals?

 

[sjpt]

Copying a reply from an earlier thread; more about sensor type but strongly related to hub/crank motors.
~~~

Torque is more common with crank drive and cadence with hub drive motors; but that is not always the case. CD/torque systems tend to be the most expensive.

Cadence just measures how fast you are pedalling. Most cadence sensors just sense if you are pedalling or not. Once it decides you are it provides power dependent on the level you select on the control.

Torque measures how hard you are pedalling, and the power is provided to give a factor boost. Typically 50% or so in low/eco, so you are doing 2/3 the work and it is doing 1/3; and 200% in full so you do 1/3 and it does 2/3.

Torque feels more like riding a standard bike with extra strong legs. It also can usually sense torque and give full torque from a standing start; very useful on hill start across junctions. Cadence usually does not kick in until you have manged 1/2 pedal turn or so.

With cadence you can be very lazy; put it in a low gear and pedal so slowly you aren't pushing at all; the motor will then do 100% of the work. Of course, you can also have that laziness with a throttle, but there are various confusing legal issues about throttles operating when you aren't pedalling.

 

[Nealh]

Thank you, yes we are definitely potterers!

What is the difference then, how do they feel compared with the motors on the pedals?

A simpler answer is if you have strong legs and good stamina then torque PAS is as near to normal ride input, though if you tire or run out of puff they are not so advantageous.

A cadence PAS allows one to ghost pedal/merely rotate the pedals for assistance, as above if you want to step on the pedals harder you can get a bit more of a work out. If for instance you chain broke you can still pedal without one to gain motion, although you do look silly as there is no crank/chain load resistance.

Ideally test ride both types before buying.

 

[vfr400]

A short test around a car park or along a flat road is not enough to get a fair impression of the differences. You need to do 20 miles of varied terrain before the differences show themselves in a significant way. It's very easy to get a false impression from a short ride.

 

[Tarka]

Losing weight is more about what you eat then excercise.

Once you lose the weight then excercise becomes more enjoyable. An eBike will help you explore further and save the joints.

 

[tiacat]

A simpler answer is if you have strong legs and good stamina then torque PAS is as near to normal ride input, though if you tire or run out of puff they are not so advantageous.

A cadence PAS allows one to ghost pedal/merely rotate the pedals for assistance, as above if you want to step on the pedals harder you can get a bit more of a work out. If for instance you chain broke you can still pedal without one to gain motion, although you do look silly as there is no crank/chain load resistance.

Ideally test ride both types before buying.

Yes we plan to hire various types in the next year to see how we feel, next week hopefully we will hire around 3 different types

 

[tiacat]

A short test around a car park or along a flat road is not enough to get a fair impression of the differences. You need to do 20 miles of varied terrain before the differences show themselves in a significant way. It's very easy to get a false impression from a short ride.

I can imagine this, we are going to hire bikes to go on long rides so that we can get a sense of them.