Electric bikes - how much assistance do they give?

[CinnySally]

I normally drive to work, I am full time office based pretty much. I can have the odd day at home but that’s not the norm.

Durning one of our most critical periods the local council are digging up all the roads to put in cycle lanes and other things. It part of a larger city wide project. Anyway this will mean for a period of around 6-8 months the traffic will be severely disrupted and there will be limited to no parking.

I am quite senior and client facing and have to be quite smart.

if I were to walk it would take around an hour and I would arrive a sweaty mess 🙈 I’m quite a keen cyclist but also a sweaty cyclist (there’s a menopausal theme here!!) so have considered this but again sweaty mess!

Public transport could also be impacted by the works - delays etc and I have to be on site quite early and on time at peak periods. There’s no convenient train station.

So I am considering an electric bike. But having never tried one not sure on how much oomph they give and if the motor makes much of a difference?

I can change and freshen up on arrival but ideally wouldn’t want to be too disheveled!!

Any advice on electric bikes appreciated (or anything else I haven’t considered!!)

We have them. Ours give 5 levels of assistance and I can go up a very steep hill on the highest setting with ease. They are quite heavy and so some of the power is pulling a chunky frame (mine and the bike’s). They are expensive. Mine was about £800 9 years ago. I love it. So you would find it easy. We hired some for half a day before buying. Lots of shops will hire you one and then offset that against the cost of a new bike if you buy.

I dont sweat at all riding one (unless ridiculously hot but then I don’t sweat walking either so not much help!

Yes, an electric bike is a good option. They give a lot of help. But if you have changing facilities, you could just go on a nirml bike. If its an hours walk you could probably cycle it in 20 mins? Its just a case of getting organised with clothes and wash stuff stored at work. And a good cycle panier to put your stuff in, don’t use a rucksack .

Electric bikes are great. They really help with the power. I think if you rode at a steady pace rather than as fast as you can you should be fine.

I love my electric bike. I have a very hilly bike ride and the steepest hills on full assistance still take some effort but it’s much more manageable than a normal bike.

I have a 6.5km bike ride into work with hills in both directions. I do get changed when I get into work (I don’t have panniers so I get a sweaty back) but I’m not massively sweaty or pink cheeked except on the really hot days.

My e-bike means I don’t get sweaty at all, whereas if I use a normal bike I need a shower. I’ve cycled into work and met with MPs and government ministers so it’s more than possible to look smart! I sometimes cycle in different footwear tho.

I love my e-bike, it’s so much better (and quicker)than a car.

Watching with interest as I currently walk and bus into work but the traffic is appalling and it’s taking an hour door to door; cycling would take half an hour. We have the cycle to work scheme but I want to try a few out first.

Thank you everyone it is sounding quite promising!
I never considered being able to try one out first. I will look into that. My work also has a cycle to work scheme so that would spread the cost rather than a big outlay.

So I suppose any recommendations on bikes?

Well, my workmate has one and hasn't lost a single lb of weight despite riding up a pretty steep hill every day for the past year. 😂 So I'd say they take most of the effort out.

Have you got secure bike parking at work? I was half considering one for pootling around town till DH reminded me that bike theft was rife in our city and I wouldn’t be able to leave it anywhere without worrying it would get nicked.

Love mine - I can’t use my normal bike because of fibromyalgia and heart condition. My e bike has given me my freedom back!
would your hair be okay under helmet?

This is a how long is a piece of string question. There are so many options in the ebike world now so you probably need to try a few to get a feel for what you want. You will almost certainly be able to find something suitable. Most ebikes have several assistance levels and there's a world of difference in how sweaty you'd get riding a bike with a fairly low torque motor on it's lowest setting up a steep hill compared to a higher torque motor on maximum assistance on the flat!
I'd suggest you look for a shop that sells a variety of types and try a few out. There's a different kind of feel to different motor types and you may find some nicer to ride than others. I've got a fairly low torque rear hub motor on mine and I like it much better than the really torquey mid motor on my DH's e mountain bike, but he feels the opposite!
Keep an eye out for weight. There's a considerable range. Mine is 11kg but it's not uncommon to see e bike weights in the high 20s, so a fair bit of the assistance is just compensating for the weight. On a fairly short journey that probably doesn't matter as you can use your higher assistance levels without worrying about running your battery flat, but weight is still an issue if you are ever going to need to carry it or lift it onto a bike carrier etc, so it's worth thinking about where you are going to store it, both at home and work. Whilst on that subject, where will you charge it? Some come with removable batteries, others don't, meaning you need to be able to get the whole bike fairly close to a socket. You don't want to end up with a 25kg bike with a fixed battery if you need to get it up 3 flights of stairs to charge it for example.
Finally, don't forget that you are buying a bike, not just the electrical side of things, so check that it meets your needs in terms of fit and the type and quality of mechanical components too. It's easy to get hung up on motor choice and battery life and forget that you still need to think about all the same things you do when buying a regular bike!

@MrsAvocet that’s a great point about where you’ll charge it - I stupidly hadn’t considered that! I don’t have power to my garage so would have to bring it into the house overnight. Not a problem for me as I have easy access and space downstairs but could be tricky for others.

Absolutely test ride some first and try to find some hills to ride up. I have e-bikes (solo and tandem) and yes they make things easier. However, the legal ones only multiply the effort you put in so if you don't put in some effort then neither does the motor! I live in a hilly area and it's still hard work climbing a 25% gradient.

you'll burn zero calories, but if that isn't your goal, the crack on with it

Brompton do lightweight folding electric bikes. Something like this is handy if you need to fold and store bike safely indoors at work or at home. The batteries remove to charge and reduce weight. Also handy if you want to take bike in car somewhere and not load onto bike rack each time

For regular e bike, I have been looking at the trek fx. It’s lighter than many and a more reasonable price than say cube.

Personally, I would go the whole hog and get a moped. That will take all the effort out of it. You used to be able to drive one on a car license, but I don't know if that is still the case. Modern scooters have loads of storage space.

They’re not that heavy anymore. It you have you own bike you get get a kit that electrifies it for about £500.

Swytch kit does the front wheel and Boost kit does the back wheel. And then you can do it yourself if you want or they can do it for you at the bike shop.

lots of work places also have the cycle
to work scheme so you could get one in salary sacrifice if you want some of the more expensive ones.

I find mine pretty great and do a 15 mile round trip with barely any effort.

What's your budget, what size bike? Some are v.heavy and some like Brompton can fold. Have a look on YouTube at bike reviews

Can’t speak for the others but the whole point of an e-bike for me is to get away from heavy traffic where possible. Sure, chances are at least part of your route will be on the road, but in my case 50% at least is on cycle or shared use paths and you can’t use those on a moped. Plus even with an e-bike you’re getting some exercise. With a moped you’re just sitting there.

True, but mopeds can use bus lanes, so in London, it's almost like having a dedicated lane. I don't know where the OP is, but it also stops the possibility of getting sweaty which was a concern.

The other thing that I've noticed in recent years riding my motorbike in the city is that the lanes are much narrower, so filtering is more difficult. Fortunately, the lanes are narrower to create room for a bus lane in many instances, so that balances the equation.

Off topic, but I lived too far to cycle in when I was commuting, so a motorbike was the only option for me. Even driving the car was faster and cheaper than the train.

I cycle to work using a Swytch e-bike kit on my hybrid bike. It's about 3 miles flat with a steep long hill climb at the end.

The Swytch battery is a bit weedy so I save it for the hill climb, but I don't arrive sweaty at all. Before the battery assist I was having to shower and change at work which was too much faff.

If starting today I'd buy a proper e-bike. It opens up so much practical cycling. It's absolutely brilliant. I like my Specialized bike so I'd maybe look at a Turbo Vado.

Obviously you need a decent route, I use a lot of cycle paths, and clothes are a bit of a compromise as wide leg trousers don't work and I like to wear a bright top on the bike. I use a pannier laptop bag from Decathlon as I hate cycling with a backpack.

I'd go for it. Can you get it through cycle to work scheme?

Thanks everyone I’m really glad i started this post as it has given me a lot to think about that I hadn’t really considered like the charging and storing and helmet hair 😂

I had also thought about a moped but the road closures and the lack of parking would be the same.

I have 4 weeks until it all kicks off (so will be mostly summer so plus side decent weather, downside hot 🙈) so I will go and try out some e-bikes I think and see how I get one. Although I am now wondering if it would be less faff just to use my own bike. I’ll do a few test runs of that too. Thanks all, it’s been really helpful.

We’ve got several electric bikes. Mountain bikes and road bikes. They’re fab! On the highest setting you could sail up the steepest of hills without breaking a sweat, but that obviously burns through the battery quicker.
mine will do about 40miles/charge on the lowest setting, but that lowers quickly when you turn the power up. Mine is about 5yrs old though so that may have improved.
the battery drains much faster when the weather is very cold.
the batteries do seem to be in the news for setting fire while on charge, so be careful where you charge it, just in case!