Suggestions?

[mynydd]

hi, after eight years of daily commuting with a very hilly ride home...... about 1200 feet in 7 miles, I’m contemplating buying an electric bike for the wettest and windiest days.....
I tried out my brothers old (12yrs) step through electric shopper..... and tbh despite being fun on the flat, it was bloody awful on the hills..... harder work than my normal regular commuter.
So, any suggestions as to what to look for? For a short, but steep ride home? Lights and mudguards would be a plus.
Thanks

 

[steveindenmark]

Are we talking electric bike?

 

[mynydd]

Are we talking electric bike?

Whoops...... sorry, yes. Will edit

 

[Pale Rider]

A modern ebike would be nicer than the one you've tried, but as you have discovered they are no balls of fire.

You need to test one on the route to see if an ebike is for you or not.

What you test is relatively unimportant since most legal ebikes have about the same amount of poke.

Having said that, the very popular Bosch crank drive motor has more poke than the Ebikemotion hub drive fitted to the likes of the Orbea Gain.

If you stay legal, you will be stuck with the 15.5mph motor cut off whatever you buy.

That alone could kill this idea if you are a hard arse roadie.

 

[I like Skol]

If you stay legal, you will be stuck with the 15.5mph motor cut off whatever you buy.

That alone could kill this idea if you are a hard arse roadie.

Why so?
I thought the ebike idea was to enable less strong riders cope with difficult climbs or longer distances. I didn't realise it was to allow people to blast along at superhuman speeds.
A 15mph cut-off will give plenty of scope for assistance on the climbs or any repeated stop/start sections of the ride. Any areas where a rider can usually maintain speeds above this clearly don't require e-assistance for these sections?

 

[butomus]

I've had a orbea gain rear hub drive and now I'm on a giant mid drive and out of the two I prefer the mid drive there's just more torque.

 

[Pale Rider]

Why so?
I thought the ebike idea was to enable less strong riders cope with difficult climbs or longer distances. I didn't realise it was to allow people to blast along at superhuman speeds.
A 15mph cut-off will give plenty of scope for assistance on the climbs or any repeated stop/start sections of the ride. Any areas where a rider can usually maintain speeds above this clearly don't require e-assistance for these sections?

Propelling an ebike above 15mph is hard work, whatever the maker's say about no motor resistance above cut-off speed.

If that's a problem depends on the OP's cruising speed, but he already mentions the ebike he tried being 'harder work than my commuter on hills'.

This rather suggests the OP is a fit rider who likes to get on with it.

Not so much has changed in the time the ebike he tried was made.

My original Bosch ebike was made in 2010.

The latest Bosch motors are very much the same, give or take some marketing puff.

 

[jowwy]

Why so?
I thought the ebike idea was to enable less strong riders cope with difficult climbs or longer distances. I didn't realise it was to allow people to blast along at superhuman speeds.
A 15mph cut-off will give plenty of scope for assistance on the climbs or any repeated stop/start sections of the ride. Any areas where a rider can usually maintain speeds above this clearly don't require e-assistance for these sections?

in some ways you are correct....asisst upto 15.5mph is fine on uphill sections were you cant reach those speeds.......

but on flat sections of road, once the 15.5mph cut off is reached, you then have to propel yourself a 24kgish bike that does have (on some) very draggy motors indeed and can feel like your riding in quick sand

some motors have zero drag ( supposedly ) after cut-off, but those bikes do tend to be the more expensive models available

 

[mynydd]

Thanks all, I’m not so bothered about speed..... just help up the hills in the worst weather and headwinds throughout the winter. I can’t go much faster than 7mph up hill on the commuter with full panniers anyway.......
I think I might go and try some out at my Lbs.

 

[I like Skol]

Getting back to your OP, that is a hilly ride home so I am not surprised at the lower speeds. There are points in my commute home where my speed drops to 7/8/9mph after a 12hr nightshift so I can feel your frustration and cannot imagine having to face that for the whole trip, everytime. Hats off to you for doing that for the years you have.
There are some nice looking ebikes on the market now and I am sure they will feel and respond very differently to an enthusiastic effort up hill than a basic, wobbly wobbly step through bike like you have tried.
You really need to get a test ride on a modern, 'normal' framed ebike to see how they feel.

 

[Smudge]

Riding up hills with an ebike, is all about how much torque it has. Low torque = hopeless on hills. The higher the torque figures, the better it will be on hills. The downside is more torque, less range, you dont get power for nothing.
Crank drives have the best torque, but hub motors are simpler, more reliable and put less wear on chains & gears. They both have their advantages and disadvantages.
For hub motors you want preferably 45 or more nm of torque. Crank drive 50 +.