Ebike under 700£

[JasonJ]

Hi,
I wonder if you guys could help me, I was initially oriented towards a kit, considering I have 0 skills on assembling bikes and the only bike I have is a 100£ second hand road bike.
Legalities aside I'm torn beside a 250w and 500w motor, I'll be using it mostly for my 20 miles round trip to work.
Ideally I need a bike to get me from A to B with the minimum effort, not really concerned about the time.
Is that possible to get a kit + bike for 700£ or even better get a already assembled bike for that amount?

Cheers

 

[Crossroads]

Jason,

Since the EU slapped a 37% levy on imported Chinese bikes your budget is going to be difficult for a decent new, ready assembled, bike for a 20 mile daily commute.

Does your work do a 'cycle to work' scheme ? If so, there are possibilities like the Carrera Crossfuse from Halfords or several bikes from Wisper and Woosh. A very cheap new bike is not a good idea as every component will be compromised and it won't last as long. You might be better off going second hand from someone upgrading.

E-Bikes ARE pricey and I, at first ,started looking at sub £1k bikes, but the more research you do, the more you realise that you are probably going to regret the decision.

One possibility that comes to mind is the GTECH bought from EBAY from the company, these are 'returns' but checked over by GTECH. They don't have gears and have a small battery that would need a short recharge at your work. Otherwise they are a stripped down decent bike. Last time I looked £750.
No good for big hills but inclines are fine.

 

[Woosh]

the Woosh Karoo with 13AH may suit.
it costs £899.
You get about 40-50 miles out of a full charge, with options for a larger battery if you worry about range.
http://wooshbikes.co.uk/?karoo

 

[Crossroads]

Another option is interest free credit - Wisper 805 SE, £312 down and £78 a month for 12 months.

If you work a five day week your fuel would be £50-£60 pm so actually costing you £18-£28 pm extra and after a year or so you are saving money on your commute.

905-se-crossbar

 

[JasonJ]

Jason,

Since the EU slapped a 37% levy on imported Chinese bikes your budget is going to be difficult for a decent new, ready assembled, bike for a 20 mile daily commute.

Does your work do a 'cycle to work' scheme ? If so, there are possibilities like the Carrera Crossfuse from Halfords or several bikes from Wisper and Woosh. A very cheap new bike is not a good idea as every component will be compromised and it won't last as long. You might be better off going second hand from someone upgrading.

E-Bikes ARE pricey and I, at first ,started looking at sub £1k bikes, but the more research you do, the more you realise that you are probably going to regret the decision.

One possibility that comes to mind is the GTECH bought from EBAY from the company, these are 'returns' but checked over by GTECH. They don't have gears and have a small battery that would need a short recharge at your work. Otherwise they are a stripped down decent bike. Last time I looked £750.
No good for big hills but inclines are fine.

Thank you so much for your detailed reply I will check those products out.

the Woosh Karoo with 13AH may suit.
it costs £899.
You get about 40-50 miles out of a full charge, with options for a larger battery if you worry about range.
http://wooshbikes.co.uk/?karoo

Thank you! I Already had a chance to have a look at Woosh bikes, it looks very nice, I'm reading some reviews online, I will definitely get in touch if I decide to go ahead with that one!

 

[Nealh]

As well as Woosh look as Kudos bikes for <1k, similar bikes different brand range.

 

[soundwave]

https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/cube-acid-hybrid-one-400-29-e-bike-2019/rp-prod181730

 

[EZEGO]

Our Commute EX might be the ticket, subject to the usual caveats re rider weight and terrain that sort of daily commute will be no problem at all. It retails at £999.

https://ezego.bike/commute-ex-gents-ebike



If you fancy testing the bike most of our stockists should be more than willing to let you try one.

 

[vfr400]

Don't think about a 500w motor. 250W motors often make more power in normal riding.

 

[JasonJ]

Don't think about a 500w motor. 250W motors often make more power in normal riding.

Thanks for the heads up,
I was looking into Woosh and kudos bike, although some people are saying they basically still put a lot of effort, I just need to know if this bikes can take me for 10 miles without breaking a sweat, that’s crucial for me because I need one for my commute to work and don’t want to start my day sweaty.
Is there a 250W motor that helps you in a proper way? No hills or off road, just mostly flat London commute

 

[vfr400]

Unfortunately "250W motor" doesn't mean anything. It's just a number on a piece of paper or stamped on the motor. What's important is how much power the motor controller allows from the battery into the motor and at what speed the motor has best efficiency. This makes it really difficult for newbs to make a choice. There's no single number you can read from a specification that tells you the power characteristics of the motor. Motor current from the controller is a good indication of torque, but hardly any sellers publish that figure.

An average not too fit rider can average about 100W without getting too sweaty. An unfit one, maybe 60W. Most 250W bikes can average at least 250W of motor output power, and some can average 500W, so whichever bike or kit you get, you'll end up with at least 2 1/2 times as much power as an average guy gets on a normal bike. It's impossible for us to say how much power you need to not get sweaty.

 

[Andy McNish]

Also it depends on speed and outside temperature.

If your commute is pretty flat with nothing over say 8% elevation hills, any ebike should get you there at this time of year without breaking a sweat if you are prepared to toddle along at say 10mph.

On the other hand if you want to do 16mph+ all the way and are doing it in 26 degree celsius heat midsummer or going up hills steep enough and long enough to make you work, then you are going to sweat...

These are ebikes, not e-mopeds and you are looking right at the bottom end of the price range.

You might be able to cobble together some illegal throttle based/destricted/overpowered kit from somewhere (i.e. China) and install it if you have the know-how for £700 or so, but god knows what its reliability and safety profile would be.

If you have a health issue or need to generate power without putting in much yourself then a cadence sensor motor would be better than a torque sensor one (as the first puts power in depending on how fast you spin the wheels and the second acts as a multiplier to the power you put in), but beyond that, with throttles and the like, you are getting into e-moped territory and most of us know very little about those.

Also the power multipliers are so big with any e-bike that even a torque sensor would make a very unfit cyclist into one who puts out an FTP of 300W or so. (FTP is functional threshold power and equates to the wattage you can put out consistently for an hour of cycling).

300W for an hour is the power output of someone who is a serious cyclist.

And that is if you can only put out 75W on your own.

I am overweight and middle aged and can put out an unassisted FTP of 210W (according to my latest non e-bike route on Strava anyway) with heart-rate kept around 160bpm (my HR max is 175).

On a slower run with an average heart rate of 118 (more or less non sweaty commute territory) my unassisted FTP looks like about 150W.

So 100W really should be easily achievable without breaking a sweat - putting your boosted FTP in Turbo mode into the 400W range, putting you firmly into pro cyclist territory.

 

[Frank D]

You could argue that it is very fortunate for ebikers that 250w marked motors does not mean anything.

We have more fun and stay just about legal.

 

[JasonJ]

Unfortunately "250W motor" doesn't mean anything. It's just a number on a piece of paper or stamped on the motor. What's important is how much power the motor controller allows from the battery into the motor and at what speed the motor has best efficiency. This makes it really difficult for newbs to make a choice. There's no single number you can read from a specification that tells you the power characteristics of the motor. Motor current from the controller is a good indication of torque, but hardly any sellers publish that figure.

An average not too fit rider can average about 100W without getting too sweaty. An unfit one, maybe 60W. Most 250W bikes can average at least 250W of motor output power, and some can average 500W, so whichever bike or kit you get, you'll end up with at least 2 1/2 times as much power as an average guy gets on a normal bike. It's impossible for us to say how much power you need to not get sweaty.

Thanks for your reply,
At this point I think I have to go ahead and try one just so I can get an idea.
Glad to know 250W doesn’t really mean anything,

 

[vfr400]

Easter is coming up. Halfords often give good discounts over holiday weekends, and you can get an extra 10% discount by joining British Cycling, and a few % more by using a cashback scheme. All those discounts can get a £1000 bike down to £800 or even £700.
https://www.independent.co.uk/vouchercodes/halfords#id-8365999