Newbie

[notebikeryet321]

Hi everybody im 58-year old ex trucker 18 stone looking to buy an ebike just for a bit of exercise and fun cycle paths and some trails I live in a hilly area would appreciate any advice regards power specs etc .

 

[masaiman]

Hello Mate,

I have very little knowledge regarding e-bikes in general out with what I have gleamed from this site and general google searches etc. What I can recommend is to possibly approach your local bike shop, they are usually full of young bucks willing to depart their knowledge to old buggers like ourselves and mostly it is good knowledge which can be usually taken and acted upon.

Good Luck.

 

[Benjahmin]

For hilly area's lots will say that a mid drive is the only thing and gives a more natural feel. Frankly that's guff, a hub will handle things just as well and is generally less hassle.
If looking at off the shelf bikes be aware that some (Bosch, Panasonic) are 'locked in' systems. That is if anything goes wrong you are wholly dependant on manufacturer replacements (if they can be got) and they are always way more expensive.
If going the conversion route, plenty of help to be had here.
Personally, I have a front hub conversion that's got me around hilly West Wales for the last 7 years. It does have it's foibles, but then don't we all?

 

[sjpt]

Despite the hills there is no need to go outside the legal limit of a nominal 250w motor (and 15.5mph assisted speed). However not all nominal 250w motors have the same maximum torque and power, you probably want one of the more powerful ones. The biggest NO (if doing a conversion): do not go for one of the nominally very high powered direct drive units advertised cheap on ebay and the like; they are very inefficient so chew through battery, and aren't very good at hills.

One bike to look at is https://wooshbikes.co.uk/?gran-camino . That has good motor and parts, Woosh provide excellent customer service, and it is quite a bit cheaper than most you will find at that quality. Woosh's website is a little out of date, is says 17 Nov for these; I don't know what availability really is. It is still hard to find availability of many ebikes (especially good ones) Even if you don't choose it it may be a useful benchmark to compare others..