Electric bikes

[Alshymer]

Hi
Can anyone recommend an economical, preferably folding, electric bike?
Thanks

 

[TeamRienza]

In November 2021 we bought 2 Raleigh EVOs from Halfords. These were chosen as they were both on ‘Black Friday’ offer, but nearly as importantly, they had some in store. This was important as very few shops hold folding e bikes in stock to examine. More importantly, my wife who came to cycling late in life has never been confident on a bike, so it was important to sit on it and get a ‘feel’ for wether she liked it or not. We did have a previous cheap low range pair of bikes, but wanted to extend the mileage.

They are used almost exclusively on the cycle paths and back roads of France, typically Il d’Oleron, Quiberon and similar. I cannot recall the price or indeed the range of the bikes, and perhaps now irrelevant as time has passed and models evolve.

Suffice to say that we typically only cycle a max of approximately 20 kilometres, which is my wife’s tolerated distance. The only minor nuisance is, of course, wheel size. This is more of a comfort issue for us, but given our use for pottering say, from Le Conleau to Vannes and similar, they suit us admirably.

Davy

 

[runnach]

As Davy, bought two off, these from our local Halfords about 6 year ago, battery is located withing the cross bar. I got a good deal due to a 10% off bike weekend and a wee bit more for buying two, great bikes, no issues.

As a guide, to distance, I got all the way around Rutland Water with doggy hut attached and pooch within.

https://www.halfords.com/bikes/electric-bikes/carrera-crosscity-folding-electric-bike-750632.html?_gl=1*4lwrb9*_up*MQ..&gclid=395a4f3973aa130f92d928e6815f0fde&gclsrc=3p.ds

Edit: price on link I posted, that is slightly cheaper than the original asking price (before discount applied) 6+ year ago, incredible!!

 

[TeamRienza]

I did a bit of browsing, not of practical use perhaps, but here is a link to the bikes I bought in a U.K. Halfords store in N. Ireland. The link is to Halfords in the Republic of Ireland, so the model is still available it seems. The price quoted is euros, but equates to £1000. The range is quoted as 30 miles.

Davy

PS. I was able to barter a further discount for buying two at once, so don’t be afraid to haggle.

Raleigh Evo Electric Folding Bike 20" Wheel | Halfords IE

Shop the latest Raleigh Evo Electric Folding Bike 20" Wheel at Halfords IE

www.halfords.ie

 

[Moped]

Hi
Can anyone recommend an economical, preferably folding, electric bike?
Thanks

By economical do you mean cheap?

Volt Metro folding ebikes are not cheap but once you have ridden one you won't want anything else. Very solid construction with front fork suspension, hydraulic disc brakes all round, Schwabbe tyres, suspension post seat, built in lock and swipe security key to turn power on, easy adjustment of handlebar and seat height to create perfect riding position for taller rider (important for me) and no rattles or creaks when on those gravel trails.

After 10 years I replaced mine with a new one as there was a good offer in a sale and I needed a replacement battery anyway and my 10 year old example was well used.

Wow the difference in design and spec upgrades over 10 years was the difference between chalk a cheese. Couldn't believe how solid and smooth it was.

 

[Alshymer]

Thanks but that’s a little pricey for my usage.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

Not ridden a bike for 25 years or more, not sure how I'd get on, I was interested in Davids, but Liz was not too keen as she can't pedal anymore so was concerned about range if we forgot to charge.

 

[Moped]

The Raleigh has a 250w battery which is a relatively small capacity. A replacement or spare battery of the same capacity costs around £300. Also caliper brakes front and back.

The Volt Metro has a 504w Panasonic battery as standard, a Bafang motor, and Tektro hydraulic disc brakes front and rear.

So add the cost of a second battery to the Raleigh if you do a lot of miles or cycle on hilly terain, and the extra cost of the premium brakes of around £175 which work well in all weather rain or shine unlike calipers, and the Metro is not so expensive if you can pickup one for £1500 as against the Raleigh for £1000.

I do a lot of miles using my Metro almost every day at home or away and take it on on day out train trips as it fits when folded on train luggage racks so no issues pre booking cycle carriage. In the 10 years of ownership of the previous Metro I have had 2 rear wheel rim rebuilds as the rear caliper brake on the old model wore the rim to the point of collapse twice. The front wheel had a disc brake so no rim wear. The 20" wheels do more rotations than larger wheeled bikes when braking so faster caliper brake friction rim wear. They maybe last 8000 miles depending on pad hardness. My experience anyway. Maybe that's why Volt switched to disc brakes front and rear on their latest version.

Due to hilly terrain where we live a 250w battery would not work for us. Another thing to bear in mind is that you may think you are only going to use the bike for mild use when motorhoming. However when you ride an ebike you will become hooked and will want to cycle everywhere as you can do more miles without getting exhausted or working up a sweat, even on hills. You can of course carry them in the back of a car if you can fold the rear seats down and have a rear hatch so handy for day trips out in the area.

Really it's horses for courses and if the Raleigh works for you then go with it. Having a ebike is better than not having one!

 

[Robmac]

The Raleigh has a 250w battery which is a relatively small capacity. A replacement or spare battery of the same capacity costs around £300. Also caliper brakes front and back.

The Volt Metro has a 504w Panasonic battery as standard, a Bafang motor, and Tektro hydraulic disc brakes front and rear.

So add the cost of a second battery to the Raleigh if you do a lot of miles or cycle on hilly terain, and the extra cost of the premium brakes of around £175 which work well in all weather rain or shine unlike calipers, and the Metro is not so expensive if you can pickup one for £1500 as against the Raleigh for £1000.

I do a lot of miles using my Metro almost every day at home or away and take it on on day out train trips as it fits when folded on train luggage racks so no issues pre booking cycle carriage. In the 10 years of ownership of the previous Metro I have had 2 rear wheel rim rebuilds as the rear caliper brake on the old model wore the rim to the point of collapse twice. The front wheel had a disc brake so no rim wear. The 20" wheels do more rotations than larger wheeled bikes when braking so faster caliper brake friction rim wear. They maybe last 8000 miles depending on pad hardness. My experience anyway. Maybe that's why Volt switched to disc brakes front and rear on their latest version.

Due to hilly terrain where we live a 250w battery would not work for us. Another thing to bear in mind is that you may think you are only going to use the bike for mild use when motorhoming. However when you ride an ebike you will become hooked and will want to cycle everywhere as you can do more miles without getting exhausted or working up a sweat, even on hills. You can of course carry them in the back of a car if you can fold the rear seats down and have a rear hatch so handy for day trips out in the area.

Really it's horses for courses and if the Raleigh works for you then go with it. Having a ebike is better than not having one!

I think that over 250w you have to have tax, insurance etc. They have started nicking people round our way for breaching this law.

 

[mark61]

I think that over 250w you have to have tax, insurance etc. They have started nicking people round our way for breaching this law.

250W is for the motor.
No limit on battery, but fair enough, battery would normally be expressed as Wh.

 

[Robmac]

250W is for the motor.
No limit on battery, but fair enough, battery would normally be expressed as Wh.

Doh - of course it is. There would be no reason to restrict battery size by law!

 

[trevskoda]

Our local dump is full of electric bikes, kids get feed up after xmas with them or the chenese battery fails.

 

[Moped]

250W is for the motor.
No limit on battery, but fair enough, battery would normally be expressed as Wh.

Whoops my mistake. Raleigh has 260wh battery v Volt 504wh battery just to clear things up.

Raleigh claim a range of 50km. Volt claim a range of 80km on a broadly flat London type commute on a low setting with a reasonably fit 70kg rider.

I'm a reasonably fit 75kg rider but generally use normal or high settings as I like to cycle a bit quicker than the low setting assistance permits. And there are lots of hilly parts in our area. As such probably get 60% of the Volt range quoted = 30 miles. On the flat the low setting gets me up to a cruising speed of 10-12mph and the normal setting gets me up to 14-16mph. The high and power settings are for hill climbs and very windy days. I overtake the lycra bods on their racers on hill climbs. Fun is that!

So realistically expect to get around 30km = 18 miles out of a Raleigh battery unless you use the lowest power setting in a flatish area.

This is my practical experience of the folding ebike with 20" wheels rather than the theoretical examples from manufacturers.

I also have an electric mountain bike and with the larger wheels the range is greater using the same battery. Less rolling resistance with the larger wheels I guess.

So if you can work with these sort of range figures with a 260wh battery then go with the Raleigh folding bike. For me I definitely needed a bike option with a bigger battery.

Out of interest what do others think of the range values?

 

[Moped]

This link may be of interest. The Raleigh Stowaway is in the list:-

https://www.cyclingelectric.com/buyers-guides/best-electric-bikes-under-1000-a-buyers-guide

 

[ricc]

Having bought a trike a year ago for the wife , about 900 on fleabay. I'm going to soon replace my folding mountain bike with something electric. At the moment it's 20 inch, folding, got to have mudguards and disc brakes and some gears. The trike has the motor on the front wheel, which I guess splits the drive through both sets of spokes , do the rear wheel motors lead to rear wheel failures? . But as we're sticking with legal 250 watt 36 volt motors and generally low power use on flat terrain that's not a deal breaker. I'm looking at about 550 on eBay .
The folding trike fits across the vivaro camper behind the passenger seat with room to use the porta potti.
I've removed the 3 way caravan fridge which wasn't connected to gas , used allot of leccy on 12 volt and manky inside. going to be getting a lectric camping fridge , the top opening will stop all the cold air falling out every time it's opened, will be able to open it when the beds in use, and there's the option to take it indoors the night before a trip or day out to cool it on mains power. Only need a small one to keep butter and milk coolish. And there's the option of using it in the car as well.

 

[colinm]

I'm a reasonably fit 75kg rider but generally use normal or high settings as I like to cycle a bit quicker than the low setting assistance permits.

And therein lies the 'problem' with these types of Ebikes, I too had an Ebike with a cadence sensor, quite good, but an Ebike with a torque sensor is much better, add in a crank motor as well, and cycling takes another step forward. These all come at a cost of cause, but if you are doing a lot of cycling it's worth it IMO.

 

[Moped]

Not many folding bikes have crank motors. Those that do are £2500 plus. Agree though that for mountain biking on random trails crank motors are a must to give you control at a slow crawl. For road biking hub motors with cadence sensors are perfectly OK.

 

[colinm]

Not many folding bikes have crank motors. Those that do are £2500 plus. Agree though that for mountain biking on random trails crank motors are a must to give you control at a slow crawl. For road biking hub motors with cadence sensors are perfectly OK.

Cadence sensors are OK, but as you pointed out in the earlier post they have limitations which can impact range. I did have a Ebike with a cadence sensor, and covered a couple of thousand miles on it, the bike I have now has a torque sensor (as well as crank motor) I usually only use low power on the flat, and it will deliver that low power right up to the legal limit. The other plus is that at very low speed when say maneuvering around 'obstacles' the power is directly proportional to the effort put in, making it much more stable.

 

[Moped]

Regardless of assistance type (crank or hub) surely the more assistance you require from the battery the shorter the range over which the battery will offer assistance. Using a higher level of assistance means I go faster for a given amount of human effort. But that assistance is provided over a shorter distance.

Agree crank drive is more progressive in the assistance offered whereas hub drive provides maximum assistance from standstill which tails off as you speed up.

But range and the level of assistance set is surely inversely proportional regardless of the mechanism by which it is offered?

Fact is though crank drives are not available within the budget constraint limits.

 

[colinm]

Regardless of assistance type (crank or hub) surely the more assistance you require from the battery the shorter the range over which the battery will offer assistance. Using a higher level of assistance means I go faster for a given amount of human effort. But that assistance is provided over a shorter distance.

Agree crank drive is more progressive in the assistance offered whereas hub drive provides maximum assistance from standstill which tails off as you speed up.

But range and the level of assistance set is surely inversely proportional regardless of the mechanism by which it is offered?

Fact is though crank drives are not available within the budget constraint limits.

Yes and no, with a cadence sensor the same power is applied throughout the speed range, on some bikes the power is limited by the setting so in low power the motor will only get you to a certain speed (depending on conditions) then it runs out of puff, to go slower you put in less effort to slow down but you use the same amount of power, for many cadence sensor bikes the 'power' setting isn't that at all, it just sets the speed at which the power cuts. On a torque sensor bike you set the amount of assistance the motor adds to your effort, at top speed with maximum power this will make very little difference, but at lower speeds and lower power settings this makes a huge difference in range.
Then we add in crank drive, (which could be in the price range if the OP was to buy secondhand), on smaller wheeled bikes it has less practical affect, but as the wheels get larger it really pays off when tackling hills, even when my hip was dodgy, in our local woods on a steep section I've accidently pulled a wheely when dropping gears and upping power then stamping on the pedals, and steeps hills around Devon, Cornwall, and Peak District are a doddle.