Hello

 

I need your help as I have no idea what to buy….

- commuting 20 mins twice a day and it’s hilly and urban with traffic lights on on hills so need a quick start from thoseas the drivers are idiots.

- step through as I wear a skirt

- removable battery very easy to remove as I park in a cycle shed and need to bring the battery home

- must be pretty!

- zero maintenance skills so something easy that doesn’t need too much care

- budget 1000, maybe 1500

- don’t want to buy secondhand as want a warranty

- folding also an option but not vital

 

I like the look of ado air 28 in cream and the fact the battery is in the seat post and easy to remove. So something like that

 

I bought an ado air but the dealer never delivered so I’m back to square one and absolutely overthinking this

 

Any help gratefully received

 

thank you

I like the look of ado air 28 in cream and the fact the battery is in the seat post and easy to remove. So something like that

Well, the Ado Air 28 in cream is available through Amazon... it comes direct from the manufacturer's own UK warehouse. The reason ADO bikes appear such good value is that there isn't a dealer involved, and that means there won't be anyone local to help you if anything goes wrong... other than the maker themselves remotely giving advice via email and Facebook. Fiido offer similar styles of bikes direct too, and whilst the manufacturer is as helpful as they can be offering spare parts and remote support, there still isn't anyone who is likely to fix the bike for you - local or otherwise.

 

My other worries would be that the Ado Air is belt drive, so you have no gears to help you up the hills. And that seat-post battery is in theory easily removable, but it is in reality a bit of a pain (speaking from experience).

 

EDIT: I should have said, if you're likely to need help keeping your e-bike maintained and on the road, the best bet is often going to a local bike shop or two and see what they can offer. If they sell it, they're likely to service and maintain it for you too.

Edited August 13, 2025Aug 13 by cyclebuddy

Thanks, that’s my concern buying from a remote company and no support. That’s a really good tip about the hills and this wouldn’t work for me, so the ado air 28 isn’t going to be practical

 

I’ve had a look at local dealers but they don’t have anything in my budget or only have mountain bike or cargo style which isn’t what I need

 

ideally it wouldn’t from Amazon or an American company too…

https://wisperbikes.com/shop/e-bikes/step-through-ebikes/wisper-705-26/

 

My wife has one of these - very powerful !

 

[mention=181]Wisper Bikes[/mention] have a good reputation here for customer service and support and can probably arrange support at a local bike shop - there's this on the linked page

 

 

They often have some ex display models with full guarantee

 

They also do a 24" wheel model for smaller people

Edited August 13, 2025Aug 13 by Peter.Bridge

Location /area ?

How about a Raleigh Motus either direct from Raleigh or from one of its dealers.

 

You choose either a derailleur or hub gear depending upon your preference and there are plenty of colour options as well.

 

It isn’t cheap, but it has high quality components.

Location /area ?

Bath / Bristol

How about a Raleigh Motus either direct from Raleigh or from one of its dealers.

 

You choose either a derailleur or hub gear depending upon your preference and there are plenty of colour options as well.

 

It isn’t cheap, but it has high quality components.

I don’t even know what a derailleur is or hub gears…..

They sell the Raleigh Motus in Halfords. If you join the Cycling UK first for about £50 a year last time I looked, you get free 3rd party insurance and a 7% discount from Halfords, which would be around £140 off. Also, halfords often give there own discounts on bank holiday weekends, which is the weekend after next. Typically, it's 10%, but I think it has been as high as 20% when times were hard for them (like they are now), so with the Cycling UK discount, the price would be about £1700 or less.

 

Halfords also have many other bikes like what you want and those discounts apply to all of them. I can remember a couple of years ago, people were getting the Motus for about £1000 with all the discounts.

I don’t even know what a derailleur is or hub gears…..

 

Maybe take a trip to Halfords and try both to see which one you prefer. I think you will prefer hub gears rather than derailleur.

 

Also you will be able to see if you can get the battery off easily before committing to buying the bike.

 

The staff should be able to explain the differences with each gear option and also show you how to take the battery off.

 

I have seen people test riding bikes in the car park at my local Halfords, so you may be able to try before you buy.

 

This Motus has hub gears and a chain guard to keep the oily bits well away from your skirt.

 

Edited August 13, 2025Aug 13 by AGS

EcoMove Bristol at Hotwells advertise an extensive range of Ebikes . Their Sale at the end of last month stated `Try before you buy `. They advertise the ADO 28 for £1199 . If you live in the Bath/Bristol Area you could call in and strike a Bargain . Ebike Sales in the UK are the worst in Europe , bottom of the table of 30 Countries . Reasons cited are no incentives from the Government , too expensive , lousy weather for Cycling . I could add , thieves targetting Ebikes , Cyclists not liked by a lot of Motorists , lack of safe cycle paths . Good luck in your quest .

I think the op was lucky that her purchase of the ADO 28 fell through. It doesn’t have any gears so her hill climbs could have been problematic with that bike.

I think the op was lucky that her purchase of the ADO 28 fell through. It doesn’t have any gears so her hill climbs could have been problematic with that bike.

Not if she doesn't weigh much. I've tried a few of those sort of bikes on medium hills, and I found them sort of OK, even with my weight. Someone half my weight (100kg) would have no problem at all.

 

Generally, those bikes have very small batteries, and you can't ride them so efficiently without gears, so there could be a problem with achieving the 20 miles range. Their suggested up to 100km range is cloud cuckoo land. I reckon I'd get about 20 miles from that battery. Someone else would have to factor in longer range from lighter weight and shorter range from not being able to pedal as hard as I can.

I don’t even know what a derailleur is or hub gears…..

Derailleur rear attachment to the wheel axle area which a chain runs through, the derailleur moves the chain up and down the gear cluster via a thumb selector or a twist grip.

 

Hub gears are internal gears these are concealed centrally within the rear wheel , spokes radiate from it's circumference, hub gears replace the derailleur and gear cluster for a cleaner nice look.

I don’t even know what a derailleur is or hub gears…..

Hell I don't even know what pretty is, and that's why I marrried my wife. Would wrapping whatever bike you get with silver laser holographic vinyl make it pretty? Or cream vinyl? See? No idea.

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/284256914374

 

 

To those who replied with useful tips, thank you. I’ll take a look at Ecomove in Bristol and Halfords for starters.

 

To the last poster, that’s just an odd response, rude about your wife and neither helpful nor relevant.

To those who replied with useful tips, thank you. I’ll take a look at Ecomove in Bristol and Halfords for starters.

 

To the last poster, that’s just an odd response, rude about your wife and neither helpful nor relevant.

The superficial doesn't matter. To some extent looks can be fixed. Take my wife for example. Please take my wife.

We have a step-through Motus (2016) with hub gears. Really suits up, and as mentioned in a post above, a bike like that may well suit you.

 

When a friend was looking for something similar a couple of years ago she tried a second hand one from electricbikebristol.

At the time they had a good stock of newish used bikes of that kind, especially Gazelle, at good prices with some guarantee (not as much as a new bike). She found them really helpful, and they gave much more chance for a sensible test ride than many local bike shops, but sadly they couldn't supply exactly what she wanted so she didn't buy from them.

 

Looking at them now they only have one listing I can find on ebay

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/286646358876

but it may be worth contacting them to see if they have more.

Im fond of my bike see icon, an Ortler cargo detroit iirc fitted with a stock circa £400 complete Yose Power rear wheel kit.

 

And i for one think its rather pretty too the grey paint looks pretty good for what must be a 6 yr old bike by now (converted 2 years ago) and when it gets a wash looks as good as new..

 

Its a cheap bike with rim brakes and no suspension, conversion to disk brakes is not trivial, but a suspension seat post is an easy fit.

 

But If buying/converting today disk brakes would be a significantly higher priority with hindsight so im posting just to prove my bike is pretty rather than promote it as a real suggestion.