sandys

Thanks Flecc, I'll give him a call, I'm in chippenham which is sort of equal distance from Bath or Bristol, neither are too far.

I like the tool to measure gradients, simple but effective, nice cheap engineering solution The secondhand powabyke might be an idea, these bikes do seem quite expensive for what they are, I think I need to try one out, there is bound to be somewhere in Bristol that does them, I've not really looked that hard to be honest as I wasn't sure if it was a realistic proposal which is why I stumbled upon this site looking for information. Reading through the posts the e-bike sounds like it could be a good option for me.

Thanks very useful charts, I guess I need to assess my routes gradients and figure out what sort of benefit I might get, there are a few hills on my route which would make cycling it difficult but obviously coming home should be a blast. I'm probably nearer rider 4 with my fitness level. Are there any online mapping resources that show inclines etc? Cheers.

Hi all, I've been thinking about an electric bike recently basically I used to cycle everywhere but stopped years ago due to distances and the convenience of a car but I get no form of exercise this way and consequently I'm now a big lard arse and very unfit. I'd like to get back into cycling as it used to keep me fit and healthy, I don't really have a lot of time for recreational cycling these days so was considering a bike for a commute (20 miles) in my current state that would kill me but thought an electric bike might be an answer in that it wouldn't do the whole job but help me with the tough stuff and could be the key to seeing my fitness improve over time hopefully to a point where I dust off my old bike and get back on it unpowered. Any thoughts on this, also what sort of impact do fatties (105kg) have on battery life or machine wear? Cheers