A good few months ago I posted a query about what sort of electric bike I should go for. I had sort of made my mind up to go for a kit but as the makers of my bike's forks didn't respond to the queries about whether or not they'd take a motor, it kind of fizzled out a bit.
But with no sign of improvement in my chronic pain and mobility issues, I decided it really was time to sort something out, and so my amazing family came to the rescue and bought me a Pro Rider E-Wayfarer bike for Christmas!
Here's the spec (click the link): Electric Bikes - Leisure - E WAYFARER ELECTRIC FOLDING BIKE (SILVER)
Quick Summary:
Reviewer: Me….
Purchased From: Pro Rider Mobility
Purchase Price: £559
Time Owned: 6 weeks
Local Terrain: Very Hilly
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Strengths:
• Powerful motor and low gearing makes light work of even pretty steep hills
• Very cheap – good package for the money
• Comfy saddle and suspension
• Build quality seems ok so far
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Weaknesses:
• As with any smaller wheeled bike, ride a bit bumpy compared to big wheeled models, but good saddle and suspension help
• Low gearing means limited top speed and slightly frightening lack of traction on steep downhills
• Definitely not designed for off road use (which to be fair, is pointed out in the user manual!)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary:
For anyone looking to try an electric bike for the first time but with a limited budget, the pro rider bikes are certainly worth a look. And they’re especially good for anyone like me, who needs a really low geared bike if they’re going to be able to cycle at all.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Overall Rating (out of 10) : Not owned for long enough to be really objective, but so far I’d say 8 – would be a 10 with a better ride on poor surfaces – which might have been solved if I’d gone for the bigger wheeled version, I think!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A bit more detail:
My impression after a few rides:
It seems like a nicely put together bike, and with a powerful 36v 10ah motor it really does have some go in it! I live in an area of steep hills, and though I've not taken it up any really long ones yet, it managed a steep uphill mile with no effort on my part whatsoever.
The gearing is extremely low and mostly I've only shifted it out of seventh gear up the really steep bits of hill. When an episode of chronic pain got really bad, I did have to use the lower gears, which made it really easy to cycle. And it also went well on just the throttle when I couldn’t manage to pedal at all. There’s quite a lot of speed control on the throttle as well, so I can keep it comfortably ticking along at walking pace, so great when out with someone on foot.
The downside of the low gearing is that with the smaller wheels as well, you are quite speed limited. Once the power is at maximum and you're on the flat in the highest gear, you still won't keep up with someone on a big wheeled hybrid bike. But on the other hand, you're not putting any effort at all into going at what feels like quite decent speed on a small wheeled bike!
Going downhill is pretty disconcerting: because of the low gearing there is no traction AT ALL on the pedals on a downhill slope; so you just have to coast and trust to your brakes. But maybe that's true of all low-geared e-bikes? My only frame of reference is my (non-electric) hybrid bike that I can no longer ride, which has 24 brilliant gears and 700c wheels, so isn't really a fair comparison.
The e-bike is pretty heavy, even with the battery taken out, though from the spec, it's lighter than many on the market. It folds pretty easily though not as easily as I had hoped, due to the weight and my limited mobility. I think if you have issues in that area lifting it into a car could definitely be a problem though would probably be fine for someone fit and healthy. However, it's easy enough (when assembled, not folded) to wheel it up a ramp into my small camper van.
So far there seems to be plenty of life in the battery, despite the hills and me using it on the highest power setting and just on the throttle for a rest.
It's got lovely chunky tyres so feels very stable, even in slightly muddy conditions. It will slip sideways on serious mud though, so definitely not one for wet off road use. Coped with a rough, bumpy track though not particularly comfortable – it’s not designed for off road use though, so I probably shouldn’t have taken it down there in the first place...
I can't think of anything else to add at the moment, except to say I'm really enjoying the bike and finding it really easy to use.
I'll update again when I've had the bike for a while and tackled some longer rides, but my initial impression is that this is a great value for money e-bike, especially given how powerful it is up hills. And with the smaller size and really low step through frame, I would definitely recommend it for someone with limited mobility, and/or someone who wants a cheap, green shopping runabout and needs something that’ll cope with hills.
But with no sign of improvement in my chronic pain and mobility issues, I decided it really was time to sort something out, and so my amazing family came to the rescue and bought me a Pro Rider E-Wayfarer bike for Christmas!
Here's the spec (click the link): Electric Bikes - Leisure - E WAYFARER ELECTRIC FOLDING BIKE (SILVER)
Quick Summary:
Reviewer: Me….
Purchased From: Pro Rider Mobility
Purchase Price: £559
Time Owned: 6 weeks
Local Terrain: Very Hilly
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Strengths:
• Powerful motor and low gearing makes light work of even pretty steep hills
• Very cheap – good package for the money
• Comfy saddle and suspension
• Build quality seems ok so far
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Weaknesses:
• As with any smaller wheeled bike, ride a bit bumpy compared to big wheeled models, but good saddle and suspension help
• Low gearing means limited top speed and slightly frightening lack of traction on steep downhills
• Definitely not designed for off road use (which to be fair, is pointed out in the user manual!)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary:
For anyone looking to try an electric bike for the first time but with a limited budget, the pro rider bikes are certainly worth a look. And they’re especially good for anyone like me, who needs a really low geared bike if they’re going to be able to cycle at all.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Overall Rating (out of 10) : Not owned for long enough to be really objective, but so far I’d say 8 – would be a 10 with a better ride on poor surfaces – which might have been solved if I’d gone for the bigger wheeled version, I think!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A bit more detail:
My impression after a few rides:
It seems like a nicely put together bike, and with a powerful 36v 10ah motor it really does have some go in it! I live in an area of steep hills, and though I've not taken it up any really long ones yet, it managed a steep uphill mile with no effort on my part whatsoever.
The gearing is extremely low and mostly I've only shifted it out of seventh gear up the really steep bits of hill. When an episode of chronic pain got really bad, I did have to use the lower gears, which made it really easy to cycle. And it also went well on just the throttle when I couldn’t manage to pedal at all. There’s quite a lot of speed control on the throttle as well, so I can keep it comfortably ticking along at walking pace, so great when out with someone on foot.
The downside of the low gearing is that with the smaller wheels as well, you are quite speed limited. Once the power is at maximum and you're on the flat in the highest gear, you still won't keep up with someone on a big wheeled hybrid bike. But on the other hand, you're not putting any effort at all into going at what feels like quite decent speed on a small wheeled bike!
Going downhill is pretty disconcerting: because of the low gearing there is no traction AT ALL on the pedals on a downhill slope; so you just have to coast and trust to your brakes. But maybe that's true of all low-geared e-bikes? My only frame of reference is my (non-electric) hybrid bike that I can no longer ride, which has 24 brilliant gears and 700c wheels, so isn't really a fair comparison.
The e-bike is pretty heavy, even with the battery taken out, though from the spec, it's lighter than many on the market. It folds pretty easily though not as easily as I had hoped, due to the weight and my limited mobility. I think if you have issues in that area lifting it into a car could definitely be a problem though would probably be fine for someone fit and healthy. However, it's easy enough (when assembled, not folded) to wheel it up a ramp into my small camper van.
So far there seems to be plenty of life in the battery, despite the hills and me using it on the highest power setting and just on the throttle for a rest.
It's got lovely chunky tyres so feels very stable, even in slightly muddy conditions. It will slip sideways on serious mud though, so definitely not one for wet off road use. Coped with a rough, bumpy track though not particularly comfortable – it’s not designed for off road use though, so I probably shouldn’t have taken it down there in the first place...
I can't think of anything else to add at the moment, except to say I'm really enjoying the bike and finding it really easy to use.
I'll update again when I've had the bike for a while and tackled some longer rides, but my initial impression is that this is a great value for money e-bike, especially given how powerful it is up hills. And with the smaller size and really low step through frame, I would definitely recommend it for someone with limited mobility, and/or someone who wants a cheap, green shopping runabout and needs something that’ll cope with hills.
Last edited by a moderator:
