What would you recommend to new ebikers,most makes have serious drawbacks,whisper have many reports of cheap parts failing,ezee unreliable batteries ,powacycle are underpowered,giant with hub motors experience a bad drag from the hub,powabyke are heavy,but at least you can pick up second hand powabykes fairly cheap,(all i feel i could recommend to a newbie) and you wont lose a lot of money on one, kalkhoff sound very good but a new e biker would probably lose a lot of money on one, if they decided it was not for them.
What would you reccomend to a new e biker
- Thread starter fishingpaul
- Start date
If the newcomer is already a regular utility cyclist, the Panasonic motored bikes like the Kalkhoffs are a fairly safe bet, since they will handle any hill with a fit cyclist and their quality is good.
For all other cases where they are prepared to spend quite a bit, it's really important that they try out some bikes first, and also be aware of the limitations of e-bikes. Lots of those who don't cycle and are new to the e-bike subject view them as a sort of motor vehicle and aren't aware how much the rider still needs to do with most bikes.
Powabykes are always a safe bet, since there are dealers in every area so they can be tried, and they do now have lighter models. The support is good too.
For those on tight budgets who don't have serious hills to tackle, only having up to 1 in 10 at most, the Powacycle Salisbury (gents) or Windsor (ladies) models are quite well made for their £499 price with NiMh, or can be bought with a li-ion battery for £599, the battery proving to be reliable so far on that rather low powered motor.
Some like to suggest various SLA battery bikes that appear on ebay, and also the more advanced Synergie Li-ion models. I never do, since there's also so much junk on ebay, and the Synergie bikes get very mixed messages, newish owners praising them, but past buyers sometimes referring to them as junk.
I'm still happy for people to consider the eZee bikes at present just so long as they do it with their eyes wide open and are fully informed that there could be the odd hiccup before things settle and fully satisfactory batteries are available again.
.
For all other cases where they are prepared to spend quite a bit, it's really important that they try out some bikes first, and also be aware of the limitations of e-bikes. Lots of those who don't cycle and are new to the e-bike subject view them as a sort of motor vehicle and aren't aware how much the rider still needs to do with most bikes.
Powabykes are always a safe bet, since there are dealers in every area so they can be tried, and they do now have lighter models. The support is good too.
For those on tight budgets who don't have serious hills to tackle, only having up to 1 in 10 at most, the Powacycle Salisbury (gents) or Windsor (ladies) models are quite well made for their £499 price with NiMh, or can be bought with a li-ion battery for £599, the battery proving to be reliable so far on that rather low powered motor.
Some like to suggest various SLA battery bikes that appear on ebay, and also the more advanced Synergie Li-ion models. I never do, since there's also so much junk on ebay, and the Synergie bikes get very mixed messages, newish owners praising them, but past buyers sometimes referring to them as junk.
I'm still happy for people to consider the eZee bikes at present just so long as they do it with their eyes wide open and are fully informed that there could be the odd hiccup before things settle and fully satisfactory batteries are available again.
.
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