Looking for best bang for buck E Bike. I know very little about them. Can't go over budget unless multipurpose, ie dirt bike.
It needs to handle the following;
90kg rider
20km distance on single charge
Available spare batteries
19km of flat road and about 1km of decent hills to climb, (25 degree slopes?) Good example of hills
Edit:
Decent speed, say 40-60 25km/h
lol no. Some of the potholes are the depth of wheels. Besides I want to be on a bike not that.
The 19km of flats would likely be faster on a normal bike once your fitness is up.
Yes and I've factored that in before posting.
For the budget, you can get the NCM one. They are the bike of choice for food deliveries guy.
Cheers. Just been looking on their site, no mention of top speed. Reviews also are hard to find on youtube.
They look good however and I like how they are designed and made in house.
All e-bike that are legally compliant have a motor cut off speed of 25km/h. You can pedal or go downhill faster than this but the motor is meant to cut off assistance at 25km/h.
Oh wow didn't realise they were limited to be that slow lol.
Is it mostly for commuting or something else? We purchased a Valk from mytopia: https://www.mytopia.com.au/valk-emtb-maxxis-velo-rockshox-du… which has now done over 1000kms with no issues. It also handles hills like the one you posted. Let me know if you have any queries.
No it won't be used for commuting, used once or twice a week on country roads to pick up groceries and visit shops.
40-60km/h
Legally they must be capped at 25km/h
Yeah. Well I guess I'm after one that can do 25km/h then. It's mainly to help assist me up hills etc anyway so I'm not afraid to peddle.
just got a Cullen version 4 ebike.
2000watt motor, 48v 15ah battery
this is fun, been up to 60kph on bike trail, with further levels to go
I'm 125kg and this belts around with me not a problem
and costs under $1600
get one, do yourself a flavour
Does it need to be hacked to unlock higher speeds?
What I mean is do you get those speeds out of the box?
Looks like a nice bike! I was leaning toward the mountain bike style.
Would totally use this, but the chance of getting caught with almost $2000 worth of fines is never zero.
My question for this is how could the 'bored' police officer possibly know if I was peddling or using the engine?
The chance of getting caught is miniscule.The chance of getting involved in an accident and then getting the book slammed at you for being an unregistered motor vehicle is the real risk.
@figarow: No it cannot be registered at all. The road rules for ebike is this. 200w limit for throttled bikes. 250w limit for pedal assist only ebikes and motor assist should cut off upon reaching 25km/hr
but in suburban surrounding you can always set the maximum speed at 25kph so you dont get busted
on bike tracks and dirt paths and some backstreets open it up, but always be vigilant
and yes, those speeds are out of the box
I have never heard of any police busting an e-bike rider for being over 250W. Having said that the risk of injuring yourself or someone or another car with an unregistered motor vehicle can be a bankruptcy level event, just saying… Drongos who drive unregistered cars don't care because they are bankrupt anyway.
Out of interest, do the consequences of injuring yourself or another with a pedal powered bicycle differ from doing so with a non-compliant eBike? People often ride pedal powered bikes at speed far in excess of 25kmh. Surely you are still liable for injury regardless of the power source.
I believe the eBike legality is around the motor wattage, not the speed of your travel. In WA it is 200W.
The key difference is an ebike over 250w power is an unregistered motor vehicle similar to riding an unregistered trail bike on the roads. You'll get the book thrown at you and will be a lawyer's feast (or nightmare).
A bicycle does not need registration and is a road legal vehicle.
@pao2x: I know one is legal, and the other is not. But is there an actual difference in terms of liability between:
a) Smashing into a pedestrian (causing serious injury) at 50kmh on a road bike, and
b) smashing into them at 50kmh on an eBike?
I would expect you to be screwed either way. I take your point that you will probably get in extra trouble for driving an unregistered motor vehicle if your eBike is non-compliant, but I imagine that would be the least of your worries if you actually injured or killed someone.
@djsweet: A lot of road bike riders, are members of clubs and/or associations and have insurance to cover them in accidents.
A state association, that I belong to, offers free initial legal consultation as well.
I'd strongly suggest anyone riding any type of bike join a state association or similar, for the insurance alone. You can even get family memberships, to cover everyone in the household.
@DashCam AKA Rolts: Correct, bike riders insurance covers this events. Insurance will never cover an illegal e-bike
@DashCam AKA Rolts: That is cool. Didn't know bike riders insurance existed, and I used to ride a lot… Well glad I know now!
@djsweet: There is because there is a presumption you were doing something illegally prima facie in riding an unregistered motor vehicle. It can be very easily argued you reached those speeds with the aid of a motor in an unregistered unroadworthy vehicle (i.e easily proven as reckless).
The pedal bike rider is assumed to be riding within the laws of the road.
If the pedal bike rider was otherwise riding 50km/hr on the footpath then they would have the same culpability as the trail bike rider riding 50km/hr on a footpath.
I know one is legal, and the other is not. But is there an actual difference in terms of liability
If one is legal and the other is not there is a significant difference to liability. If you hit something you can be held liable.
In terms of difference of incident, the ebike will be heavier possibly by 10kg, but otherwise there is little difference in a collision
@Euphemistic: My point is you would be held liable even in the case of the legal bike. Although as others have pointed out, cyclist insurance is a thing. So obviously to you need to be riding a legal bike to be covered by that.
Look into getting a separate eBike kit. Cost about $1200 at Solarbike. You can get a decent bike with what's left (even better if secondhand)
Pity Bunnings stopped selling the Ozito bike.
Imagine using your existing batteries and go all day?
I've been checking out Lectric bikes, they start at $799usd. I've never tried one myself but they appear to review well on Youtube etc. I'm looking for something myself, so cheers for starting the thread.
For 20km I’d want to prioritise ride geometry and have a decent diameter wheel.
The things that look like a step through scooter with pedals (like what I see on the lectric website look ok for shorter distances.
Suggest to not get a bike with a wheel-mounted motor, especially any of the lower-priced ones. The wheel spokes usually cannot handle the torque and the wheel will end up damaged.
Had a friend who had trouble returning their bike to 99 bikes after he bought a "cheap" electric bike (still $1500..). They didn't let him return it as it was not covered in warranty according to them and he then had to go contact the manufacturer himself.
Note that it may have just been that model having this issue but I have seen similar comments about wheel-mounted/hub motors.
Get a bike with a Mid Drive Motor but these are usually more pricey.
on mine the spokes are thicker and theyre also shorter thus reducing any torque distortion
would have preferred a mid drive, but for the power and cost just couldnt beat the Cullen4
Agree a mid mounted motor is better, but for different reasons. It evens up weight distribution and allows the motor to use the gears for better performance. It’s a true pedal assist. While a wheel motor is cheaper to install, it only boosts at one torque output.
No mention of the Aldi/ Estate city bikes above. We bought 2 recently of the unisex and men's model for $999 each and love them - though we have no previous e-bike riding experience to mention. Their Mountain bikes, at about $1,800, seem to be well regarded for quality and value. Aldi are probably OOS now, but maybe worth checking with Estate City directly. We are not linked to these companies in any way except being customers.
Looks like horrible geometry to me, especially if tall.
I went into 99 bikes in Adelaide yesterday and couldn't believe it when I asked about an ebike and half their floor stock were electric. They were offering free test rides so maybe try before you buy?
get a normal non-motorized, and fit a bafang kit onto it. kit will cost around 1000-1500 leaving some space for the actual bike. Will get you to 40-60kmh (not legal lol)
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/696138