While wandering through town today, my wife and i popped into cycle republic as I need some new cleats. While looking around, she stumbled across a Pendleton Somerby e-bike, which she now seems quite keen on buying as it's not too expensive for an e-bike (£750). I've found a few reviews online that seem favourable, but has anyone here ridden one? It will mostly be used for short commutes, 3-5 miles each way, and occasional longer rides just the two of us.
Pendleton Somerby e-bike
- Thread starter rivers
- Start date
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Cycleops
Legendary Member
- Location
- Accra, Ghana
Sounds good. Its powered by a rear hub motor which you could buy separately and fit yourself to a donor bike for about £350 and save yourself a few quid. Battery is a bit small capacity but that shouldn't worry you.
Pale Rider
Legendary Member
The ebike bits are basic but have the advantage of being tried and tested.
Fair value at £750, but I think that is the current full price.
As with all things Halfords, there might be extra flash discounts - or there might not.
Worth an ask if they will do one for £650 and be willing to compromise on £700.
Fair value at £750, but I think that is the current full price.
As with all things Halfords, there might be extra flash discounts - or there might not.
Worth an ask if they will do one for £650 and be willing to compromise on £700.
Cycleops
Legendary Member
- Location
- Accra, Ghana
Yes, or maybe wait for one of their 'Sales'.
Pale Rider
Legendary Member
Some indication Chinese/Taiwanese factory gate prices are increasing.
That will take a little while to feed through to UK showrooms, but in a few months' time £675 for a Somerby now may look fairly cheap.
That will take a little while to feed through to UK showrooms, but in a few months' time £675 for a Somerby now may look fairly cheap.
I have a pendleton somerby, and I love it in some respects, but not overly impressed with the battery... does anyone know if it is possible to upgrade the battery? Is it a big/expensive job? I was advised that you get up to 60 miles out of the battery. I don't know about other people's experience, but that certainly does not seem to be the case. I would say that I get about 20 max. I'm planning to do the NC500 on it next week, but have a feeling I'm going to encounter some problems.... especially with camping gear etc as added weight. Any ideas/thoughts/tips?
Cycleops
Legendary Member
- Location
- Accra, Ghana
Makers are notoriously optimistic in their claimed run times but you could upgrade the battery to a better higher capacity. Look for a higher Ah rating, cost maybe around £200.
Make sure the connectors are compatible.
Make sure the connectors are compatible.
It may be possible to change the batt for a bigger capacity, but there are problems involving this. I googled the bike and it seems that the rack, where the batt is situated, seems to be made specifically for a batt of this capacity. The controller is also at the front of the battery. A larger capacity batt simply would not fit in there.
A way around this is to buy a spare batt of the same capacity from Halfords, then you could keep this battery in a rack bag above the original battery and simply swop them over as needed. This would give you a capacity of 2 X 8.8amp/hr batts, 17.5 amp/hr in total. You also still have the option of having just the one batt, which gives you a lighter weight bike for the times you dont need a lot of range.
