HOW TO BUY A GOOD E-BIKE

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Categories: E-Bikes Tips

E-bikes provide way easier and faster transportation, especially for big busy cities.

Unfortunately it may be very hard to find high quality electric bicycle at resonable price.

That’s why here we will try to give you some tips on how to find the best deal for price and quality combination!

BATTERY IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART

Capacity is very important especially if you need to go on a long journey, do delivery job or if your e-bike is powerful.

If you need the electric bicycle for delivery job – you need minimum 48v20ah(1000Wh) for part time work or 48v50ah(2400ah) for Full day work.

Otherwise if you need the ebike only for casual use – 48v10-15ah is fine.

But on other hand if your motor is very powerful like 1000W+ you must get expensive, big and high quality battery, because powerful motors will damage a small cheap battery too fast and the range is also going to be much lower

CHINESE vs BRANDED CELLS

Chinese cells last 3-4 times less compared to branded cells like Samsung, LG, Panasonic. Chinese cells have life of 1-3 years, but only after the first 800 recharges, the capacity will go below 60%.

Branded cells will last 3-5+ years without problems. After 800 recharges you will still have 80-90% of the capacity left!

MOTOR TYPE

HUB MOTOR – great for road use.

Thats the motor which is built inside the front or rear weel. Its very reliable and in most cases you only need to just service the planetary gears in it if its geared, but if its gearless – its nearly immortal.

Other postive side is that you dont put extra load on your chain, gear system or crank.

The bad part is that its adding extra weight which is not centrally ballanced.

MID DRIVE MOTOR – great for offroad

If you love offroad – then the mid drive motor is the best choice for you, because its adding weight in the middle of the bike which make it perfectly ballanced and can have very high torque thanks to the gears, because the mid motors are moving the chain to give you the power.

SUSPENSION

Front Suspension – is a must have!

Electric bicycles can be very heavy and comfort is important. So you must have front suspension which will provide you with a nice experience in your daily commuting or food delivery job.

Rear Suspension – is a nice bonus option

Rear suspension in e-bikes is not very famous, because there is no space for it, because of the battery, but still it can provide extra comfort in your ride. If you are going to use the bike for offroad – you may consider finding one with rear and front suspension.

BRAKES

Hydraulic e-bike brakes are A MUST for a good safety and comfort while riding ebike. They provide maximum stopping power and long brake pads life.

Mechanical Brakes are a good compromise if you want to save money and if you do not make big daily journeys. Their stopping power is more than that of rim brakes, but very less than that ofhydraulic brakes.

Rim brakes have low stopping power, can be noisy in the rain, and are complicated to adjust.

AFTER PURCHASE SERVICE AND REPAIRS

Local shops are great options, because they are easy to access and usually the staff is very friendly.

Same country shops may take some time to deliver spare parts to you or send the ebike to them for fix, but its fine.

Amazon/Ebay usually are great with returns, but can take ages. Usually the bikes sold in amazon are terrible quality and very low value for the price.

Price for a decent e-bike should be between 800gbp to 2500gbp. If you need to use the bike for casual use its fine to be in the lower range, but if you need to use it for delivery job – you need to spend 1000gbp+. For example our rental e-bikes cost 2000gbp+

SECOND HAND ELECTRIC BICYCLES

Many of us sometimes want to have cheap e-bike and second hand sounds nice idea… BUT if its too cheap there must be a catch!

If its too cheap it may be stolen or with problems like too old or damaged battery. The owner definitely know that there is something wrong and want to sell it, but of course will act as the bike is perfect.

If the battery is chinese and older than 1 year – you need replacement. If its from a reputable brand like Samsung, LG, Panasonic – then up to 3-4 years is fine, but in depends of the usage it had – what power was the motor and if it was taken care of.

CONSIDERING RENTING AN E-BIKE

That may be the best to do if you don’t have decent budget in the moment or if you are a delivery rider. Delivery riders in most cases need 2 big batteries, and that will cost them 1200gbp+ without all the needed extras for easy and safe work.

We offer e-bikes for rent or e-bikes for sale, so feel free to contact us!

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