Exhuasted from research, any suggestions

[Jonnyhagg1966]

I have been scouring the internet for what seems like ages trying to find a suitable ebike. I guess my selection criteria is what giving me so many problems. Can anyone make some suggestions that would fit my requirements? I want an electric bike:-



1) that will do around 19+ miles an hour on flat tarmac road, with no wind, I weigh 14 stone. However the bike needs be supplied road legal, I want achieve the 19+ MPH by either by tweaking or modifying or a deristric button similar to the A2B. I will park the ebike at the train station and as such I will need to get it insured. I don’t think you can insure an ebike that is not road legal?

2) with range > 12 miles each way. As little pedaling as possible. 24 miles in all. I could recharge at work.

3) I would prefer a bike that does not have huge battery that sits in an upright position. I want it to look like a proper bike, like the cytronex range, Infineum, Synergy Avanti, with a more subtle battery styling.

4 The supplier has to accept the Cycle to work vouchers.

5 ideally less than £1,250


The Alien Ocean Apollo or Aurora would be idle, even if the battery is larger than I would ideally like. However as they are so obviously illegal I don’t believe I would be able purchase insurance for these bikes?

I guess it’s a tall order and maybe what I'm looking for is not available and I might have to make some compromises or wait for technology to move on. But any suggestions would be much appropriated.

Many thanks
John

 

[NRG]

I'm confused: you don't want an illegal bike but want a road legal bike that you can make illegal and be able to insure it!? Seems odd and will you tell the insurance company you've made it illegal?

 

[Jonnyhagg1966]

I’m sorry I did not make my intension clear, from what I can tell you can only insure an electric bike if it is road legal. Is this true?

If true I want to buy a road legal electric bike; so if it does get stolen I will have the necessary documentation to make a claim.

However I want better performance than 15 MPH so I want a bike that I can be tweaked, mod or deristicted.

And of course I would not tell the insurance company if I got better than 15MPH, because they would not pay out in the event of any claims.

 

[overlander]

If you got a bike which was basically a normal bike with a kit like the ones you mentioned, you could easily reach 20 mph with relatively light effort. But if you really want do do 20 mph with no effort and given your expected range you really should look at a moped. Probably cheaper to insure a moped i would hazard a guess.

 

[Xcytronex]

Buy the bike you want -insure -ride it. Any bicycle is capable of 15+ m.p.h -I think the important factor here is the motor output.This peaks at considerably higher rate than is generally specified -making pretty much ALL e-bikes 'illegal'
Flecc can give you the proper technical breakdown on this.
Your insurers need never know. Are you an electric biker or a boy scout. Stand up and be counted man---exceed that 15.5 m.p.h. limit -feel the breath beeing sucked from your lungs-hear the sonic boom as you power upwards -ever upwards to the [gulp !] forbidden speeds of ----20+ miles per hour.
Either that or get a pair of stabilisers !!

 

[Old Timer]

I have been scouring the internet for what seems like ages trying to find a suitable ebike. I guess my selection criteria is what giving me so many problems. Can anyone make some suggestions that would fit my requirements? I want an electric bike:-



1) that will do around 19+ miles an hour on flat tarmac road, with no wind, I weigh 14 stone. However the bike needs be supplied road legal, I want achieve the 19+ MPH by either by tweaking or modifying or a deristric button similar to the A2B. I will park the ebike at the train station and as such I will need to get it insured. I don’t think you can insure an ebike that is not road legal?

2) with range > 12 miles each way. As little pedaling as possible. 24 miles in all. I could recharge at work.

3) I would prefer a bike that does not have huge battery that sits in an upright position. I want it to look like a proper bike, like the cytronex range, Infineum, Synergy Avanti, with a more subtle battery styling.

4 The supplier has to accept the Cycle to work vouchers.

5 ideally less than £1,250


The Alien Ocean Apollo or Aurora would be idle, even if the battery is larger than I would ideally like. However as they are so obviously illegal I don’t believe I would be able purchase insurance for these bikes?

I guess it’s a tall order and maybe what I'm looking for is not available and I might have to make some compromises or wait for technology to move on. But any suggestions would be much appropriated.

Many thanks
John

Hiya

Do you have a decent lightish MTB? if not then purchase one and fit a kit. I have two Alien road legal kits. The one I was riding today will cruise along with hardly any effort at 18mph in 5th gear(out of 6) on the flat I can ride it at at or over 20mph without a lot of effort in 6th gear. To be honest that is generally fast enough. £1250 will get you a kit and a decent bike. If you fit panniers it will cover the battery and you can just take the battery out and with you to work. You won`t need to charge it at work.
On the other hand get an Aurora and start living

 

[Jonnyhagg1966]

Overlander
Moped – a comprise too far.

Xcytonex

Boy scout – Stabilizers . I cannot afford to write of the cost of an ebike if it were to be stolen without having adequate insurance. Looks like a boy scout iro your analogy.

50 Cycles – Scott.

Thank you for your suggestion. The Pro Connect looks like a very fine choice which would meet nearly all of my criteria other than as you suggest the cost maybe prohibitive. I will have to consider all other options before committing to that sort of expenses.

Older Timer.
Thank for your suggestion. It is something I am considering. I could get a kit through my wife’s cycle to work scheme and fit it to my current mountain bike. (its heavy and old) In November this year when employers cycle to work scheme re-opens again I could get a new hybrid bike through Evens cycle (the scheme that my employer offers restricts me to using Eavens only, and is only open for 1 month twice a year) and fit the kit to the newer lighter bike more suitable bike.


Again thank you all for your sugestions or comments.

 

[lemmy]

And of course I would not tell the insurance company if I got better than 15MPH, because they would not pay out in the event of any claims.

Is it just me or is there something brazenly dishonest in that statement? I think it must just be me since no-one else thinks there is anything unusual about it.

If that is the current way of thinking, then no wonder insurance premiums are so high and insurance companies are so reluctant to pay out.

When I need a new mobile phone, maybe I'll just nick one. I probably won't get caught so that makes it OK

 

[Bandit]

Is it just me or is there something brazenly dishonest in that statement? I think it must just be me since no-one else thinks there is anything unusual about it.

If that is the current way of thinking, then no wonder insurance premiums are so high and insurance companies are so reluctant to pay out.

When I need a new mobile phone, maybe I'll just nick one. I probably won't get caught so that makes it OK

It depends on (a) whether you believe insurance fraud affects premiums and (b) whether an illegal electric bike actually poses a greater risk for the insurer.

Unfortunately, the insurance market has gone way beyond its high-minded original idea of the many banding together to share the cost of misfortune hitting the few. Now it's just a cross between betting and anxiety therapy, and both sides abuse it.

 

[allen-uk]

Many bikes have an 'off-road' button, technically only legal off road, as it says on the tin.

Electric bikes ridden on the roads with the button mistakenly engaged might hit 18mph rather than 15mph. If you are super fit, you might increase that to 20mph+, but the extra would be leg power, not electric.

I have never come across a police report on an accident which says 'the vehicle was travelling at 17.5mph'. 15 to 20, maybe, and very often 15 to 25, or 'under 30'.

You will be properly insured, UNLESS you modify the bike so that is PERMANENTLY in the 'off-road' condition. Then, any engineer could inspect the machine and point to the re-wiring (or more crudely, the button taped up!)

Stop worrying about it. It is a red herring.

Pay a bit more for your bike (try going to £1500 and the best Wispers come into your price bracket).

Allen.