Buying an electric bike

[skyscraper101]

I saw one of these recently at a consumer electronics fair. It looked like a relatively hassle free way to create an e-bike from a regular bike.



I couldn't say how effective it was as I didn't get to try it, but it looked interesting.

 

[BigTom]

I don't work there anymore but I always liked the Whyte ebike hybrids when I did. Like this

Whyte Clifton 2022 Electric Bike | Bike Coop

Whyte Clifton 2022 Electric Bike is a great choice. Our accessible experts are always here to help. UK delivery available.

www.edinburghbicycle.com

Or this

Whyte Coniston 2022 Electric Bike | Bike Coop

Whyte Coniston 2022 Electric Bike is a great choice. Our knowledgeable staff is here to help. UK delivery available.

www.edinburghbicycle.com

Cheers... the second one is reduced by nearly £1k so hopefully I can get it in time!

 

[weepiper]

We are now going to be refusing to do even mechanical work on the aftermarket Amazon conversion bikes after an incident in the shop this week. A Deliveroo guy brought us a rear hub motor ebike which had been designed as a legal pedelec ebike from scratch (so built-in battery etc) but had then had an aftermarket conversion done on it with an overpowered motor and a throttle. Controller etc attached to the frame with a bunch of zip ties which is always a giveaway. He wanted us to bleed the brakes and change the disc rotor on the rear wheel.

So colleague did the brake bleeds and then went to take the wheel off the bike to put a new rotor on it. As he unplugged the motor connector in order to be able to do this, the two halves of the plug came to pieces in his hands because the overpowered motor has been drawing too much current, overheating and making metal tines of the connector become brittle. The inside plastic of the connector had begun to melt and on closer inspection other connections on the bike had big scorch marks on them too. Edit to add that both ends of this connector cable are hard-wired into the motor and the controller box so the lead can't be replaced. So now the connector can't be plugged back together and the guy's ebike is toast. None of this is our fault, but the guy doesn't have very fluent English so it's very difficult to explain it to him in a way he can understand. He gets arsey and threatens to call the police, to which we as politely as possible say go ahead, your bike is completely illegal and literally a death trap from which we have just saved you by revealing the problem before it actually goes on fire underneath you or burns you and your neighbours to death in their beds while you're charging it overnight. His beef is really with himself for choosing to do the aftermarket conversion, or with his friend that fitted it for him, not with us.

 

[Almor]

What issue are you having with it? If the gear cable was frayed that will have been sending your shifting all over the place. Linkglide is very new so a lot of places won't be stocking the bits yet as they haven't needed to (no demand for replacement parts yet because people haven't started wearing them out yet). We haven't had anyone in my repair shop needing a Linkglide bit yet for example, and we fit maybe twenty chains and cassettes in a week.

The issue that made me think it was wearing fast was skipping under load, the highest gear has been doing it since purchase because the limit screw wasn't set up properly and I was too lazy/cautious to get it perfect, I figured that would have caused extra wear, but the next highest gear started skipping recently too.

Then last week it started to feel like the chain was jumping and slamming into gear which is what made me check the derailleur and find the worn cable (on the tensioned side of the clamp on the derailleur).

I went through loads of gear cables cycling uber eats a year or two ago but on a front derailleur, the back cables seemed to last much longer so wasn't expecting it so soon. Was a fancy coated cable too.

The group set is fairly cheap shimano stuff so I was wondering if am upgrade to linkglide when the cassette wears out would be worth the cost of a shifter/derailleur long before they're worn out.

Thanks for the comment on link glide availability, I was wondering if it was production issues again.

 

[weepiper]

The issue that made me think it was wearing fast was skipping under load, the highest gear has been doing it since purchase because the limit screw wasn't set up properly and I was too lazy/cautious to get it perfect, I figured that would have caused extra wear, but the next highest gear started skipping recently too.

Then last week it started to feel like the chain was jumping and slamming into gear which is what made me check the derailleur and find the worn cable (on the tensioned side of the clamp on the derailleur).

I went through loads of gear cables cycling uber eats a year or two ago but on a front derailleur, the back cables seemed to last much longer so wasn't expecting it so soon. Was a fancy coated cable too.

The group set is fairly cheap shimano stuff so I was wondering if am upgrade to linkglide when the cassette wears out would be worth the cost of a shifter/derailleur long before they're worn out.

Thanks for the comment on link glide availability, I was wondering if it was production issues again.

It might well be worn but also worth checking the gear hanger is straight as a bent or twisted hanger will give the same symptoms.

 

[Almor]

It might well be worn but also worth checking the gear hanger is straight as a bent or twisted hanger will give the same symptoms.

Good point, thanks, I've been there before, so I did check that, made some more adjustment to the high limit screw and think I improved the high gear skipping a bit, will need to ride more before I have a proper idea whether the other gears are skipping less.

It'd be pretty disappointing if it's noticeably worn after less than 1500km though

 

[T & P]

I just spotted this recent BBC article. Quite horrifying, and astounding considering in most cases the rider should be able to jump away very quickly from the flames. Worth keeping in mind for anyone considering buying a budget one.

E-bike fires can be devastating, burns unit warns - BBC News

Chelsea and Westminster Hospital is seeing a rising number of patients hurt in lithium battery fires.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

It’s a simple flowchart:

“Should I buy a cheap e-bike conversion kit” ———-> “No”