Hi everyone,
I am in Brisbane, recently researching e-bike for my commute to uni and uber eat at weekend.
I have found these bikes, does anyone have these? please share with me some reviews or other bikes recommendation, my budget is around $1k5, and the road is very hilly.
https://ottostore.com.au/collections/ebikes/products/otto-el…
https://www.pedl.com.au/products/the-cullen-e-bike-48v-15ah-…
https://www.kogan.com/au/buy/maxmart-tdr-29-customise-your-e…
Hefty fines if you pass a cop that's short on their quota.
Would probably make their quota for the week too.
On the bright side with the death of AU car production and the passing of the Commodore / Falcon patrol car era - a decent 2KW+ mid drive would pretty easily outrun most of the depressingly average vehicles in use by local men & women in blue.
If want a mid drive, are handy at putting things together and happy to provide your parts & battery / do your own wiring - I have never met a hill that really posed a problem for ones of these for the price…
Legality might be an issue depending on battery choice and throttle discipline however.
https://www.cyclone-tw.com/product/3/data/54
However being serious the Cullen looks like a halfway reasonable deal out of those ones but any of thses are going to need plenty of maintenance and care to keep going as mid drive stuff really loves destroying geartrains if not used with sympathy and plenty of care for it.
Pretty basic bikes, can you budget any more? Are you a regular rider or newbie? A regular rider would appreciate the improved bike of a bigger budget.
For hilly areas you really should look for a mid drive unit. Then you can use the gears to take better advantage of the power.
I'm a newbie, so not have many ideas about mid-drive, can you introduce me to some models?
Unfortunately can’t offer any suggestions. I’m just aware of the benefits of mid drive.
Keep in mind quality e-bikes are more like $5k to get an idea where corners are cut. A $1500 e-bike is likely going to be a $3-400 bike with a motor and batteries. While that level of bike is serviceable, there’s a reason most bike shop bikes start above that price.
Holden Commodore VN
You want mid drive. Mid drive allows you to tap into more torque in lower gears with sensors that will react to how much input you are putting in, and then give a percentage of max torque based on those sensors. So for instance starting off low gear, and up a steep hill you can get max torque without needing to be pedalling at a high cadence.
IMO the best motors are made by Bosch, but Bafang are okay because you can often access spares, but personally I’d go Bosch because I think they’re the most reliable on the market, and not everyone will work on Bafang.
Hub drives can be very reliable but unfortunately they’re just not very good on hills because you don’t get the low down torque when you’re struggling up a hill, particularly with the limits on motor output in place in Australia.
The biggest issue with e-bikes at the moment is price. It’s frankly stupid how expensive they are. For something reliable, mid range, with something that could be overhauled you’re probably looking around 3.5-4k. There is definitely cheaper stuff on the market, the issue you have is can you get spares, who services them, can the motors actually be overhauled (some of them you have to replace the whole drive unit) etc.
If you’re relatively unfit, will be routinely going up dogs of hills, and especially doing it for Uber eats of what not, I’d be looking at something like a Bosch Performance CX (85nm), but they’re just really overpriced. Lower torque is usually okay, but you’ll probably find if you’re in super hilly areas you’ll be using the highest setting anyway and always maxing out the motor, so I’d go with something more powerful where you can use lower settings and not always be stressing the motor.
I’d avoid Shimano motors as my understanding is that the newer models are difficult to work on, and generally they are swap out units (~1k) just of the drive unit.
I wish they weren’t as expensive because they’re super cool, and I want to get away from always using the car, but I just can’t justify 3-4k for a bloody bike.
wish they weren’t as expensive because they’re super cool, and I want to get away from always using the car, but I just can’t justify 3-4k for a bloody bike.
I get that. I considered an e bike to encourage me to ride to work more (up a pretty decent hill) but the price is just too much to justify, especially when I can easily ride faster than 25km/h cutoff most of the way back home and the section I want assist for is less than 10% of the commute.
go for version 4 of the Cullen, has 2000watt motor, hydraulic brakes
hauls my 130kg up hills in melbourne, just use low chain gear for hills