I have been considering buying a electrics assist bike.
I know that they are regulated to 15.5mph and 250watt.
Is this enforced as I think a 250w motor would struggle due to my size (6'3"
Not tried a bike as yet.
Any recommendations rear drive or mid drive etc.
Thanks Matty

they are 'assist' so don't do all the work, ie you have to put some energy in too

From what I've seen that's easily overridden so you don't need to pedal, it's against current regulations mind..

AFAIK we just copied the Euro regs, so have a look at them.

[Edited on 23/3/17 by UncleFista]

I'm a keen mountain biker and see them on the trails quite often. I was chasing a big old chap on a ktm, I'm not slow but I couldn't keep up with, I had a chat with him and he was raving about the bike - looked like a nice bit of kit too.

I'm a purist myself, leg power alone for me!

You can buy powered front wheels as a DIY kit which is a lot cheaper than a whole bike with rear powered hub.

The Befang conversion kit is worth a look - they can be upgraded (out of regs, of course) too

I have a very basic one with step through frame, motor in front wheel, full power all the while, it was cheap and quite good fun for short trips. From this I have learnt get one which is comfortable to ride as a push bike with a range of assist levels, this helps increase the range, some have a regen charging system but not sure how effective they are. Possibly go for one without the motor in the wheel as there is a quite a drag when you just pedal them. If you are looking at used ones bear in mind new batteries are expensive.

As for your original question about motors over 250watts, I found this.

"Anyone found riding an electric bike with a motor more powerful than 250W rated power without the correct documentation* is liable to be prosecuted by the police. The rider will be open for prosecution for driving without a licence, driving without insurance, driving an unlicensed vehicle etc. If the person riding such a vehicle has a current driving licence and is prosecuted, they will receive penalty points and may even be banned from driving any motor vehicle."

*MOT, insurance etc.

As a keen cyclist the concept of electric bicycles leaves me a little cold.

I think the key is in the word "assist". i.e. the bicycle will "assist" you, but you still have to contribute some power yourself.

Nothing wrong with a bit of graft though and working the pedals yourself

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Originally posted by nick205
As a keen cyclist the concept of electric bicycles leaves me a little cold.

I think the key is in the word "assist". i.e. the bicycle will "assist" you, but you still have to contribute some power yourself.

Nothing wrong with a bit of graft though and working the pedals yourself

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Thanks for your replies looking to get back into biking so want some assistance.
What are the pros and cons to mid drive and rear hub mount.
Am I right in thinking I can go faster than 15mph if I pedal harder.
Matty

250W is quite a high continuous power output for a cyclist:

For reference, 250W would complete the cycling phase of an olympic distance triathalon in 1hr 03 approx - olympic riders do it in about 1 hr.
Obviously a rider puts more power in on the uphill sections (more than double the average), so you might struggle if your route is very hilly!

http://www.cyclingpowerlab.com/CyclingPowerOutput.aspx

Regards
Hugh

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Am I right in thinking I can go faster than 15mph if I pedal harder.

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Originally posted by 40inches

quote:

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Originally posted by nick205
As a keen cyclist the concept of electric bicycles leaves me a little cold.

I think the key is in the word "assist". i.e. the bicycle will "assist" you, but you still have to contribute some power yourself.

Nothing wrong with a bit of graft though and working the pedals yourself

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That's fine if you are fit and healthy, but if you have arthritis of the knees and live in a hilly area, an electric cycle may
be the difference between cycling and not!

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Not my cup of tea but I regularly see a couple of guys who appear to use them for commuting locally. The bikes look basic and quite heavy but with the motor and a little bit of pedalling they seem to go along at around 15mph.

All the info you need

What's your budget ?

A colleague has a HAI bike with a Yamaha motor. He's modified the pickup slightly and manages to reach 30mph.

Basically with the assist he can double his usual off-road route.

I've tried a couple of ebike recently, just out of interest.

I had a road ebike on loan for a couple of months, it has a bosch pedal assist and to fair i was impressed with how it works. There are different levels of assistance from the basic eco mode where it just gives you a little bit of help just to get moving and again when you start to slow on a hill, up to the full 'turbo' mode where you just need to turn the pedals over and the motor does all the work.

A friend had a Scott mountain bike, again with the Bosch set up but with the more powerful motor. It just flew, trouble was people weren't expecting it, off raod folk were getting upset at the speed and on the road drivers were being caught out by how fast it approach them (pulling out etc).

On both the above the motor didn't cut out until 22mph which isn't too shabby and they can be modified to crack 30mph although the system has data logging so when it goes bang Bosch can say 'on yer bike' ho ho...

One thing to be aware of is that they're quite hard to pedal without power.

They're good if you're want to get out cycling and have health issues/ v unfit etc. but if you're looking to get fit / loose weight then it's too easy to rely on the assistance. I was kind of glad when i gave the bike back and got back to pedal power