E-bikes

[Duckonhill]

We are looking for an e-bike each to take away with our campervan, they would allow us to leave our van at the site more often when exploring the local area. We could go further afield than on our our normal bicycles. But but they are very expensive in Britain and DIFFICULT to get hold of in shops, being told today that the soonest they could get the bike we wanted was November! We are hopefully going to Santander, Spain in September, does anyone know if is possible, or a good idea, to buy e-bikes there for use on our holiday and then bring them back home afterwards? We have a bike rack.

[simon says]

Try BicycleWorld online. I bought a Fiido D4S for £660 and it is a lot of fun. Many reviews on YouTube. It is foldable with 20" wheels.

[TeamRienza]

We bought ours from Halfords several years ago. Coyote Connect. Cheap and cheerful at £500 each. I felt happier buying cheap giving consideration to battery future availability, and potential theft and likely insurance payout.

 

The downsides are range and only six gears. Ours are folders so small wheels which could be an issue on longer trips on hilly ground. In reality we only cycle small distances into towns and villages and usually on flat ground. Most use on the many excellent cycleways in France. Il de Re, Il d’Oleron and the various canal and riverside routes.

 

It may be a good idea to research if you would fall for import taxes or duty if you were to buy abroad. Better to know the risks or be sure of the situation before deciding.

 

Davy

[stevec176]

Last year we purchased a couple of Batribikes. Both folding with 20" wheels. We upgraded the batteries so in theory they will do upto 70 miles but that depends on how much battery power you use to ride the bike. We had problems initially but they were sorted out by the supplier, he even offered to take them back and fully refund me but we decided to keep them.

[malc d]

Beware buying e-Bikes that are too heavy for your bike racks - depending on what kind of racks you have.

 

We have always carried standard bikes on a rack on the back of our van - but the e-bikes we bought a couple of years ago are too heavy ( but they are ' full size ' with 28 inch wheels ).

 

( The weight can be reduced by removing the batteries but I still wouldn't take a chance on putting ours on our rack ).

 

Good luck with the search.

 

 

[alansh]

We have 2 ebikes - Decathlon EST 520's. They way 23Kg each and have wide tyres. There is no way we could fit them onto our bike rack on the Kon-tiki as the rack is too high, I don't think it will take the weight and the wheels are too wide.

 

However, we do have a Thule tow bar mountable rack which we use when doing trips in our cars and will be using that.

 

Next issue is security. We have already had 2 bike stolen off a bike rack (they broke the rack even though the bikes were locked to it) which cost us over £3.5k to replace. Our plan (and we bought a motorhome with one) is to transport them on the tow bar (see above) but then to secure and lock them in the garage (which is alarmed) when we are on site.

 

As to the original query - keep an eye on the Decathlon site. They update it at 11pm every night with what they plan to build for the UK - so that's a good time to check on stock levels.

 

Alan

[Cruisecontrol]

About 5 years ago we bought two FreeGo full size ebikes weighing 20kg each. Cost per bike was £900. They served us well but one had water ingress within the motor. Apparently not uncommon with Chinese made hub drives. Had it repaired and bought two Raleigh Motus from Evans who accepted CMC's 10% discounts at 2 x £1800. With a Bosch motor and a "computer managed" drive they are world apart from the FreeGo versions.

 

Visiting a couple of independent bike shops recently I noted they had ebikes in stock to include the Raleigh Motus (e.g. Rutland cycles). In terms of European bike prices - 2 years ago we looked comparative costs in Holland and Germany for bike similar to the Raleigh's - virtually no difference to the UK market. BTW the Raleigh's weigh about 22kg and with careful loading fit in the van' s garage.

[Pete-B]

Try Rutland cycles, over the years we've had 4 bikes from them. The last 2 were ex-hire bikes witch, after you buy, they put through their workshop and then give you the full 2 year manufactures warranty.

 

A really good company to deal with we find.

[Adiebt]

In my experience with E Bikes “ buy cheap buy twice “ .

Both my wife and I have Cube E Bikes which are quite simply amazing pieces of kit and technology.

I would most definitely buy in the UK and fit a dedicated E bike carrier with winch that moves the bikes from floor position to fixed position .

Re theft , just make your bike the most “ unstealable “ that you can , when we leave bikes locked up in towns we use a combo of five locks and two cables and my bike is also alarmed .

[Caddies104]

As we only use our E bikes (Electrobike) when away on holiday, we decided to buy reasonably cheap, £550, had them now 8 years and still with the same battery. Said to do around 30 miles on a charged battery, but guess now it’s a lot less but more than we need..

Bought from the Show at the NEC, cannot moan as they do what we wanted them for, :-)

 

 

[Yorkyrunner]

If you are Benidorm way try the International bike just as you get in Albea, shop opposite Lidl on the r/about. We get our bikes serviced there a lot cheaper than the UK and they were selling some good brand bikes when we were last there in 2020. They speak excellent English

[AliB]

Regarding security, I use a fitted alarm/light. Remove the light and the alarm is activated.

https://bouh.co.uk/

 

It has not yet gone off in the night. When the bike is parked in town it is an extra level of protection. When parked in town try and fit the locks and chains as low down as possible. It makes it more awkward for a thief to tamper with them and looks more obvious to passersby

[Cattwg]

Last year, at the Malvern Show, we purchased two 26” wheel folding bikes from AS Bikes at a cost of £2500. They are a family company and pleasant to deal with. We have seen them at very many shows over the years and have never heard a complaint against them. When buying their bikes you are offered free accessories, two per bike, we chose panniers, 2 sets of lights and a bike bag. The day after buying our bikes we decided that we needed a second bike bag. They have these priced at £30 on their stand and they simply gave us one.

Unfortunately, we’ve been unable to use them as much as we would have liked. But when we have, they’ve been great.

 

You need to be sure that your bike rack can carry the load. Compared to conventional bikes e-bikes are very heavy, even with the batteries removed.

Our 6.4m Adria Twin provides a transverse fixed double bed with a large storage area beneath. In this storage area, with some judicious packing we can fit both folding e-bikes and all of the other paraphernalia that we previously carried there.

Cattwg :-D