IbizaNick

Thanks for everybody's helpful comments. I think I will finally take the plunge and buy this bike. I've got to wait until next week when I should get some money through. It does make sense to order the step-through rather than the crossbar version, but I still think the 'man's' bike looks better...

I was thinking I might try and track down a spare battery once I've tested the limits of the first one. I have heard one or two stories of problems tracking down Decathlon batteries and they never seem to be listed on the website.

The main reason I'm getting the bike is to explore Ibiza, with improving my fitness being secondary. But, I'm certainly not expecting to get the bike to do all the work, although it'll probably take me a little while to optimise my use of the gears. I should also mention that although you're a year older, I was diagnosed with terminal cancer last year, which kind of trumps your seniority! That said, all things considered, I'm pretty fit. (Although, 'fit with terminal cancer', sounds like a bit of a contradiction in terms.) I'm still very drawn to the crossbar version, if only on purely aesthetic grounds. It looks a lot better, unlike the pictures of your step-through which looks very cool!

Thanks. The terrain in Ibiza is probably not that different from the Yorkshire Dales and I weigh about 75 kilos, so it's handy to hear your experience. And, having looked round it does seem to do what I need at a pretty reasonable price.

I'm still trying to decide which ebike to buy. In many ways, my preference would be to buy from a local bike shop, but there is a Decathlon nearby. I bought one of its folding ebikes a couple of years ago and I've no complaints about its service. And the prices seem better than I can find for what seem to be fairly equivalent models at one of the local shops. (I live in Ibiza, by the way.) I'm considering Decathlon's top of the range ebike which has been discounted from €1900 to €1700. (Here's a link to the UK web page. ) I've looked on the forum to see if anybody has experience of this model, but I can't see anything. I know that with some of Decathlon's cheaper ebikes there's been some suggestion that 'you get what you pay for'. This one, as a newbie, seems reasonably well specced. The thing I find difficult to get my head round with all ebikes is quite what the power of the motors actually means given they're all restricted to 25kmh officially. This one uses a Shimano STEPS motor which, apparently, produces a maximum torque of 50nm and is good for between 50 and 90km. It's unlikely I'd ever want to do more than 60km. Ibiza is hilly, but it's not mountainous, so I should be able to nurse it over that range, I would hope. But, maybe somebody can give me a rough idea as to how much help I'd actually get from a 50nm motor. The final question is, if I do decide to buy this bike, which version should I get, with or without a crossbar? I'm still old-fashioned enough to regard a step-through as a lady's bike, but, at 62 I have a bit of difficulty getting my leg over. [insert joke here...] But, does a crossbar really make that much difference on an ebike? I wouldn't have thought that the extra flexion of the frame would have as much effect as it can on a pushbike, but maybe I'm wrong. Thanks in advance for sharing your knowledge and experience.

Thanks. Obviously the motor is the key thing, but as somebody fairly new to e-bikes. it's trying to work out how much real difference there is in practice between units given the 25kmh eu limit. I won't be going on transcontinental trips, but we've got some quite steep hills on Ibiza, so it's good to know that it's worth forking out the extra for the more powerful motor. I wouldn't imagine the other components would make a massive amount of difference, unless somebody's going to tell me different...

It was never intending to just go in and pay the advertised price. That's partly why I've left it until towards the end of the season when I'm hoping they'll be keen to get rid of old stock. (Although cycling in Ibiza's better in the winter when it's not too hot, the rental companies don't have as many customers.) My main concern about buying a second-hand e-bike is with just how much wears out with age. Many, many, years ago in my teens I was quite a keen cyclist. I only ever bought one bike, but I kept upgrading the parts until nothing of the original machine remained. It's not so easy to do that with an e-bike and I've lost the desire to tinker obsessively. Obviously, the battery will be affected by the number of charges, the chain and gears will wear out, but I can recognise those problems. If the motor goes it's a bit different.

In some ways this is sort of two questions in one. The main query is: what are the risks of buying a second-hand e-bike? To give you a brief bit of background, I am a 63-year-old living in Ibiza with a terminal cancer diagnosis although the risk of my imminent demise seems to have lifted, for now. (I've gone into more detail in my introductory post.) I currently have a folding e-bike from Decathlon and I'm looking for something capable of going a little further, sometimes on unsurfaced roads. I won't be riding down any mountains, but I will be going shopping, so I need to be able to carry stuff. The maximum distance I'd be likely to go would be 60km which is less than 40 miles. (Ibiza's only a small island!) I'm looking at buying an Orbea, partly through necessity. It's stocked by the retail and rental company on the island with probably the greatest e-bike expertise. And, although Orbea might not be a big name elsewhere, it's the largest-selling bicycle brand in Spain and has been for many years. It's supplied machines for Olympic gold medalists and had its own racing team. So there's certainly nothing wrong with its pushbike pedigree, but, as with most makes, reviews of its e-bikes are hard to find. The Orbea Optima Comfort 10 seems to tick all the boxes for me. My plan is, initially, to rent one for a few days and see how I get on. Assuming I like it, the question is whether to buy it new or second-hand. The shop has an ex-hire model for sale, but it's the 2016 model. The newest version is 2019.The main differences I can see are that the older model uses a Bosch Active Line motor whereas the new one has a Bosch Performance CX, motor. The new one also has a 500Wh battery rather than a 400Wh. There are also variations in the components used by the two models. But, the biggest difference, for me, is the price - €1750 or €2999. I can just about stretch to the expensive model, but is it worth it? Obviously, e-bike parts do wear out and so there's more risk with an older bike. That said, the bike might have been well-used, but it will also have been regularly serviced. As it's a hire business, they're used to collecting riders from all over the island. And, because it's a small island, they're unlikely to deliberately sell me a lemon, because word soon gets around. (As you can maybe tell, my head says to buy the second-hand one while my heart wants me to get something shiny and new.) Any thoughts? (BTW, the spec for the second-hand bike is here: https://www.kandani.es/blog/orbea-optima-comfort-10-e-bike-alquiler-kandani-ibiza/ and the new one here: https://www.orbea.com/es-es/ebikes/optima-comfort-10-19

You see a lot of Orbeas here as it's the biggest bike manufacturer in Spain. It tends not to be the cheapest because it designs and makes most of its bikes at its factory up north in the Basque country or in Portugal, although it does have a facility in China. (The company's part of a big worker's co-operative so I do believe it's not just putting a couple of screws into a Chinese kit before putting 'Made in Spain' stickers on it.) As ever, it's hard to find reviews of its electric bikes as there aren't as many on the road, but its certainly a prestigious brand.

Thanks for the kind words everybody. I'm glad to have found such an active forum. It's still hard to get info on electric bikes

Hi All As you might guess from my forum name, I'm Nick and I live in Ibiza. I've been here for over 14 years and, although you'll regularly find me on the dance floor, I'm not exactly your stereotypical clubber. For a start, I'm 63. In February of last year I bought my first electric bike on a bit of a whim. I'd just been paid a lump sum for a load of work. The idea was to get a bike to ride into Ibiza Town which is about a 45 minute walk or a gentle 10 minute cycle, pretty much all flat and most of it smoothly off-road along the side of the port. I'd gone into Decathlon to see what was on offer and I was seduced by the idea of electric bike. I liked the idea of arriving in town not dripping with sweat in the summer when the temperatures hovering around 30 degrees. So I ended up as the proud owner of a Btwin folding electric bike. (Sorry I can't remember the model number off the top of my head.) I bought a folder because it's easier to get it into the lift in our apartment block and I can store it safely on our balcony. Anyway, I'd just started to enjoy using the bike when my world fell apart last April. In 2013 I was treated for advanced oral cancer. I had radical surgery, chemo and radiotherapy. Four years later, after several scans, I was told it had spread to my lungs. Not to put too fine a point on it, this was my death sentence. Any treatment I'd receive would be 'palliative'. The cancer was incurable. Last May I started a hefty course of chemotherapy. The bike stayed on the balcony. I wasn't allowed to go out in the sun (in an Ibiza summer!) and anyway I was almost too weak to walk to the end of the corridor. By September I was beginning to feel rather better, having finished the chemo, so I decided to get back on my bike for a gentle ride into town. All went well on the way in, I did a bit of shopping, had a coffee and generally had a pleasant time. Coming back, I pulled out into the road, just at the same time as a bus. I slammed on by brakes and fell slowly off thinking nothing was damaged but my dignity. The nearby port police thought differently. They could see blood pouring from a head wound and, as the adrenaline wore off, I could feel bits of me getting sore. It turned out that I'd broken my collar bone and torn a muscle in my groin. The head wound was nothing, but, even now, I find it sore to sleep on my left side. (Incidentally, one of the causes of my accident was probably the way that brakes here are wired the opposite way round to the UK. I thought I was used to that, but obviously ancient muscle memory kicked in.) Anyway, 2017 was not a good year for me. But it did get better. According to the stats, with my combination of cancers, I should be dead by now. But, either I responded spectacularly well to the chemo, or, possibly, I was misdiagnosed. Either way I have no signs of any tumours, at the moment. That takes me round to why I joined this forum. I'm back on the folding bike (with the brakes now operating British style!) but feeling slightly frustrated with its lack of battery range and suspension. My aim is to explore the island a bit more on two wheels over the winter when the weather's generally perfect for cycling. So I'm looking to buy something over the next few weeks. I'll start by renting an Orbea Keram 20 for a two or three days from the island's biggest bike hire shop. I may end up getting something in the same Orbea range as they seem good (although electric bike reviews seem few and far between) and it's useful to buy from a place which knows what it's doing. But I'll post something first in the "Which Electric Bike Should I Buy?" section.