Electric assist bikes

bluevalentine

Anyone got any experience with electric (assist) bikes?
I'm in the market for one. Ireland (as usual) seems poorly served - most of the ones I've seen are not amazing - fairly crude far eastern frames with cheapo crap gears, brakes, tyres etc and a motor (the expensive bit) and battery.
The lekky bikes enthusiast sites reckon the best is the German Kalkhoff or the Dutch Gazelle but there are no dealers here.
Giant apparently used to be good but they have dumped the Panasonic motor system on the grounds of expense, apparently, and the new Twist as it's called is supposed to be crap by comparison. Anyhow, most Giant dealers here are happy to sell you one but can tell you slightly less than the cube root of sod all about them. Doesn't inspire much confidence.
There are a few people in England who will build you a lekky bike on a frame of your choice using something called a Heinzmann motor, which is reckoned to be very reliable. Couldn't find anyone in Dublin offering this service.
Before anyone gets on and tells me to get a lightweight hybrid, mountain or road bike and sod the motor, I should say I am of 'advanced years' and need all the assistance I can get!
Any help greatly appreciated.

kenmc

One colleague used have one a few years back,and while it was fine for the first while the battery life went to sh1t very quickly, so much so that he had to bring the charger into work to charge it to get home - he had a trip of around 8km each way. The added weight meant that it was a horrible bike to cycle up hills, without the power-assist from the batteries. This was about 3 years or so ago, so that may all have changed, but probably not hugely, and unless you spend serious money on it.

bluevalentine

I know a couple of people in the Uk and 3 in Holland who are very happy with theirs. Target weight is now around 20kgs whereas only a few years ago they had difficulty making 40. Battery technology and power usage has apparently advanced too.
My main quibble is with lack of availabilty here and also background knowledge of sellers/dealers.
Most of the bikes I've seen look like 200 euro junk bikes - crap Chinese frames, **** end of SRAM or Shimano derailleur ranges, poxy V-brakes, bendy cranks and dodgy cassettes. Tyres, saddle & stem are easier to swap, not much of a problem there. I don't mind paying a fair whack but for top dollar money I want top dollar gear and a bit of expertise and service to back it up.

penexpers

I think your best option might be to get a frame and retrofit it with something like a Stokemonkey. That seems to be the one that most people are going for these days.

More info here

http://clevercycles.com/

blorg

I don't know anything at all about electric bikes, or if these are any good, but Greenmachines are based in Terenure, on the road to Rathgar.

marty mannering

Electric bicycles are very advanced these days, saying that Ireland is quite a way behind the rest of Europe. www.Goeco.ie will show you what most people are happy to buy at the moment, but they do have close links with much more advanced electric bike dealers all over Europe & UK if you want to get the top of the range stuff they will get it for you & handle the warranty. Talk to them you will be pleased.:o

bluevalentine

After doing a lot of homework I bought a 20" folder, a conversion on a Dahon Ciao by a company called CH White in England who sell folders of all makes.
The company were very helpful.
I'd never ridden a folder before and I'd not been on a bike at all since an accident 11 years ago but this one rides pretty much like a normal bike. It weighs about 23.5 kg with the conversion, a throttle operated motor in the front hub.
The battery is neatly stowed away in a bespoke aluminium housing underneath the rear luggage rack.
The bike itself is beautifully built, outfitted with really good gear (8-speed Shimano hub gears, good brakes, led lights comfy saddle etc) and decent wheels with top-notch Schwalbe tyres (Marathon racer plus) although they swapped these for Big Apple at my request (just for the pose!)
My one worry is that it might be slightly underpowered - but then I am 16 stone! Haven't tested it on a big-ish hill yet.
I should stress I have no connection whatever with CH White & Son.

PS since typing the above this morning I have had the bike on an up and down trail where I didn't need to dismount or knacker myself on the short but quite steep hills, using 1st and 2nd plus motor assistance. Could have done with gnarly tyres, though!