Electric bike or not?

Absolutely go electric if you think you’ll use it even marginally more than you would a regular bike.

Both my parents are on ebikes these days, having only been fair weather cyclists at best the past decade or so, and are now using them for commutes, trips out on the weekend and even small trips to the shop etc.

Bought my wife an e bike and she loves it. She commutes daily, there's a few hills and it's about 5km each direction. Best thing ever for her.

I have a rad runner fat bike. Came from Holland at a very reasonable price. Love it to bits. Has good range and can be set up with loads of accessories baskets etc. Not on the bike to work scheme, but still good value I think.

I had an ordinary hybrid bike which I hardly ever used (a breeze cycling downwind/downhill into work, where the bike would stay for weeks because I was too lazy to cycle it home again!). I eventually donated it to a relative who'd had their bike stolen.

I bought an electric bike last year, and am never off the thing. It has literally changed the way I go around the place.

Upwind/uphill? Not a bother - just up the power a nudge or two. I keep it in bare minimum mode mostly so I'm still actually cycling, but if it all gets too much like hard work, it's like a hand at your back giving you a gentle shove!

I bought a folding one, as I've a very small outside space to store it and I thought I might throw it in the car occasionally - I have done once, but it weighs a ton so not all that easy. If I was going again I'd probably go for a full-size hybrid style one next time.

But I could not recommend the electric bit highly enough - it's got me back out on a bike the whole time, and that's a result!!

ETA - I also went for a detachable battery as I've no way of charging outside, and didn't fancy having the bike in my house - others I know went for integrated battery as less of a theft risk - but that decision all depends on your power outlet setup at home.

View from the bike shop...

Ebikes are steadily increasing as a very viable alternative for commuting to work.

30c to charge a battery, which can potentially give you up to 100/120km of pedal assistance on the cycle to work. It's a no brainer.

Personally, I'm on my second ebike in as many years, albeit due to health reasons. I use the same phrase every day to customers "on an ebike, hills and headwinds don't exist".

Scientifically proven to give you up to 70-odd percent of the same workout, as a manual bike, so no guilt needed.

My ebike has rekindled my lifelong love of cycling.

Really depends on hills. You will get away with it on a flat route - if you have any significant hills then better going with the gears.

I've recently switched to an ebike when I moved to a slightly longer commute (5km to 10km each way). I can take it easy and don't need to change or shower so it is great.

On the other hand I do find that I miss the exercise. I've heard a lot of people saying that it is half the effort / 70% of the effort. It doesn't feel like that to me at all - more like a short casual walk

Not convinced by single speed ebikes. You will need gears for any significant hills unless it has a very powerful hub motor and associated battery. Also Murphys law dictates that you will run out of battery at some stage.

Also wouldn't recommend a battery smaller that 13ah unless you're using it to go to the shops and back, which isn't 15km each way, batteries lose capacity as they age, as they are recharged and range is dependent on so much. I would only count on 50% of the manufacturers promised range when new, less as time goes on.

I would seriously take a trip to 360cycles to look at a Kuma R1, its ten times better than the two you showed. I was actually onto DLB about supplying a Wisper bike for my dad - very good brand that you can buy through them - they are a little more expensive but worth it. Electric Bikes | 0% E-Bike Finance | Wisper Electric Bicycles (wisperbikes.com)

Other than that try a Bosch / Shimano / Yamaha / Bafang mid drive to see if you like a torque sensing bike, to me they feel more natural to use. I put 18k km on my Bosch before it stripped a gear. It was rebuilt and is on 25k km now, the original battery is only now starting to fail. Bike has never left me stranded apart from a shredded tyre (which was my fault!) and I treat it like an absolute hack.

Just to say that this is wrong. Rad do partake in the Irish Cycle to Work scheme. You need to message them to set it all up for you though, it's not available just through the website. Just fyi!

Just to add my own 2 cents - I have a commuting ebike - about 15 km each way. I love it.

When I was shopping I had a list of requirements:

• Mid-mounted motor
• Battery low down (not on the pannier rack)
• A third-party provided motor and battery (i.e. Bosch, Yamaha etc.)
• As big a battery as I could afford

A mid-mounted motor was so that I could use the gears to maximise the torque available and make climbing a bit easier. Probably doesn't make a huge difference, but if you look at the hardcore mountain e-bikes, they all use mid-mounted motors. Low battery to keep the centre of gravity as low as possible. Third-party motor/battery was about longevity - trying to hedge my bets that there will be parts and batteries available in 5 years time. And the big battery for as much range as I could get.

Generally I'm not a fan of Halfords, but this bike seemed to tick all of my boxes at the lowest price I could find. It seems to be flitting in and out of stock over the past few months. The next option was a Cube bike, which was a couple of hundred dearer again.

Didn’t know this! Excellent value so. Ill use it for next one!

I'd be more in favour of buying from Decathlon or Halfords than a complete no name brand.

I'd also take a look in a bike shop near you at Cube - they are one of the best value non electric bikes that you can get from a physical shop, not sure if it is the same for their electric models. But they use Bosch motors etc