A beginners guide to buying an e-bike

Last week the E-Bikes Direct blog looked at many of the reasons that people go to electric bikes. This week we will go a bit more technical and look at how to choose the right e-bike for you.

From someone who wants to sweat a few kilos off to the person who is a competent bike rider and wants to extend their range, there really is an electric bike for everyone. Lets have a blast through your options below:

Getting back in the saddle

The first five groups of riders here will want to get back into the saddle for whatever reason:

I want an electric bike to get me to town

This group of people will not necessarily want to spend thousands on an e-bike and may never really need to do more than 5 miles on a run. Electric bikes with hub motors and perhaps panniers and a shopping basket may well be the electric bike you’re after. The PowaCycle Milan 2 step through electric bike may well be the answer, as it is at a competitive price for a new pedal bike yet will get you about with a little cargo for a potter into town.

I want to commute by train

Many commuters will do the lions share of their rides by train yet not want to get on a bus or Tube train for the last mile or so. Given how silly some train companies can be about bikes, a folding bike will sit in the luggage compartment – and some even have bags to conceal it from a bike hating train conductor! We sell a range of electric folding bikes for different budgets – see Electric Folding Bikes here.

I want to ride to work over 5-7 miles on nothing too showy

You can get an electric bike for around the £1000 mark that a thief may not necessarily give a second look at, yet it will do what you need reliably and with minimal maintenance. These bikes are hub driven and may weigh a few kilos more than the sexier end of the e-bike spectrum but again, will do what you need. The Oxygen brand of electric bikes will cost just over a £1000 but are both excellent rides yet not too showy. Wisper brand of electric bikes would also fall into this very competitive area of the market.

I want an e-bike for rides with my family

Watching my three-year-old I have concluded that children get faster and faster until they reach close to Mach 1 at 10 years old and then around the age of 12 slow down to consider the important things in life, like sleeping around the clock wherever possible. For me that means around seven years of needing to go faster. That could well mean an e-bike for under £1000 like the Greenedge CS2 Electric Bike.

More serious machines

You may well have a good quality traditional bike and want a machine that saves you energy so you don’t need a shower when you get to work, makes those climbs to the top easier or enables you to keep up with the peloton. Lets have a look around the more expensive electric bikes now.

I want to commute 7-10 miles daily in all weathers

Raleigh and Haibike go head to head on this one. Both have crank drive electric bikes with a variety of different mechanisms that will serve you well over thousands of miles a year of riding. Generally the Raleigh e-bikes will be better for road riding, while the Haibike Trekking range competes on the road but make some pretty cool looking hybrids and cross country machines.  The Haibike SDURO and XDURO Trekking series have front and rear road lights wired into their main batteries too.

To this group we should also suggest the Byocycle, Batribike and Raleigh as these are for more serious on-road riders who might just want to enjoy life on the road as opposed to a more utilitarian ride.

I love the trails but none of the pain in getting to the top

The Diamondback and Haibike brands are the ones for you here. Haibike have the biggest range of very serious e-MTBs and if you want Teutonic quality and design for a specialist discipline, be it downhill, XC or single track then do have a look at what we have on offer!

More beyond too!

You will have probably gathered that this is not our entire range of electric bikes; far from it. We are big sellers in all things cycling at Electric Bikes Direct. The bikes we have mentioned here have been suggested from an extensive range that will hopefully give you a more researched approach to finding an electric bike that will suit you and your requirements. Have a look around and see what you can find or give us a call on 01580 830959 and we can talk you through the options!