E Bike for experienced cyclist to commute.

daveyroids

Hi been commuting by bike and generally cycling for years and have the idea that maybe an E bike is what someone progresses from and not to, if that makes sense.

Well been thinking for a while about selling my car and doing without. Starting to get a bit pricey to keep a car on the road when over 99% of my journeys are commuting anyway. I work shifts and depending on shift usually dictates if I use the car or not. To be honest if I work a late shift then go straight to an early the next day for example, i don't have the time to sleep and have the energy to cycle the next morning. Another thing is that I'm going on 2 months of night shift soon and WILL use the car to commute. Tiredness and lack of energy/motivation in this case.

The Bike.

I have a few ideas and wanted to see what others think first. Need something reliable as in something that will work in any weather... and also more importantly will just work! I am considering getting the bike from somewhere like Germany and therefore not stuck with 15 mph limit on the motor. I know before anyone informs me that this is very illegal to use it on UK roads. My attitude is that I'm sure that far worse crimes are carried out on UK roads on a daily basis. Anyway, if I don't tell the police how are they going to know. I know bad attitude about this, sorry in advance!

I don't want a cargo bike or something that could be reclassified as a tank. I already have what i class as a utility bike (which I converted and put road gear on it including drop bars) and love it. I can do shopping and carry a couple of weeks supply of shirts into work on that as an E bike would not be used every day. Looking for something that I can just zip along the road for a long distance. I only live about 12 mile from work but would like the bike's charge to last way beyond that.

Thanks in advance for any help and advice given.

The Rookie

One suggestion I'd make is to get to the cycleshow as last year they hade a specific ebike section with test rides.

Not sure of the range of most ebikes, but battery sizes (and capacity) are pretty constant, so the more power you use/less you pedal the shorter the range.

Due to the nature of ebike buyers, many are horrid with poor components, sit up and beg riding positions and silly things like cheap suspension forks, I'd consider a conversion kit on a bike of your choice (a CX bike would be an option, putting epower into a real bike, use a rack for the battery or try and mount inside the triangle if you want a rack as well.