Electric Mountain Bikes

Scaf

Member
Messages
6,511
Anyone got any experience with these, we are introducing the cycle to work scheme so I am going to take advantage of the tax break and buy myself one.

Any views of which brands to look at?

Will spend up to £2.5k
 

dickygrace

www.richardgracecars.co.uk
Messages
7,309
I have a 1KW Cyclotricity stealth which is fantastic for £1k. A good mate has a £7500 Specialized which I think he got for about £3k with cycle to work, VAT write off etc, and it’s nowhere near as fast as mine.
 
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Evo Cymru

Member
Messages
688
Before my knackered knee op I had a Moustache - amazing things in general but particularly liked the Moustache - groovy Frenchness and have one of the first companies to go the electric bike route. You will have a lot of choice for that money....
 

TimR

Member
Messages
2,654
I have a 1KW Cyclotricity stealth which is fantastic for £1k. A good mate has a £7500 Specialized which I think he got for about £3k with cycle to work, VAT write off etc, and it’s nowhere near as fast as mine.

Tha's cos yours is illegal....!
Class1 pedelec regs are restricted to 250watt and pedal assist is capped at @15mph.
Well,not illegal if you have insurance and road tax and registration and wear a helmet and blah blah blah...It aint legally a pushbike anymore essentially...!
I know, Im a kiljoy....https://www.gov.uk/electric-bike-rules

Id use the scheme to buy a better bike than 2.5K, not trying to be rude or contradict the above comment....
Its a fast paced market just now- that means there are lots of great deals to be had on last years model though...!
Try a few on a ride day. Either at a bike bike shop( Rutland cycles have a scheme where by you effectively use a brand new bike fpr a weekend, delievered on a friday, collected again on monday morning- wow !!!!) or a manufacturers try out day ( whilst Covid allows)
 

Hawk13

Member
Messages
1,471
I thought CTW was capped at a grand as well?

A mate of mine has just bought one after testing lots and decided that, if you actually want to use it as a mountain bike, anything less than 3 grand was sh!te. His rationale was that anything cheap was either heavy, had a poor battery life, poor components and / or just wasn't up to a proper day in the trails.
 

rs48635

Member
Messages
3,181
think there is more than one cycle to work scheme. My meat spent about £1500 on just wheels one year
 

rs48635

Member
Messages
3,181
I have a 1KW Cyclotricity stealth which is fantastic for £1k. A good mate has a £7500 Specialized which I think he got for about £3k with cycle to work, VAT write off etc, and it’s nowhere near as fast as mine.
Going to get bike for 76 year old mum. Will order from this company, UK based and used by this forum so must be sound. Their phone is busy so tempted to just hit the button.
 

Wack61

Member
Messages
8,764
Tha's cos yours is illegal....!
Class1 pedelec regs are restricted to 250watt and pedal assist is capped at @15mph.
Well,not illegal if you have insurance and road tax and registration and wear a helmet and blah blah blah...It aint legally a pushbike anymore essentially...!
I know, Im a kiljoy....https://www.gov.uk/electric-bike-rules

If there's a serious crash involving an illegal electric bike ie a death I'd think it'd be dealt with in the same way as the guy who rode a racing bike with no front brake on the road and killed a pedestrian

Wanton and furious driving is what they charged him with after he ran her over when he couldn't stop , 18 months in prison , though his lack of remorse might not have helped his case much

As an electric bike is powered they might just go with dangerous driving
 

TimR

Member
Messages
2,654
Sadly, this has been tested...
A pedestrian who was using a phone at the time, stepped in front of a cyclist and was killed.
The cyclist could not have stopped under the circumstances whatever he was riding by all accounts. The fault , you would think, must surely lie with the pedestrians failure to look where she going....
As he was found to have ‘chipped’ his Class 1 pedelec which effectively removes the restrictions which make it legal to use on roads ( incl BOAT(s), UCRs and permissive rights of way on mountains or anywhere else open to the public) as if it were a regular pushbike, he was convicted of manslaughter...!
If you own your own mountain, then fair play to you. Otherwise you are subject to the same rules as everyone else I’m afraid....:alan2:
 

mjheathcote

Centenary Club
Messages
9,033
If there's a serious crash involving an illegal electric bike ie a death I'd think it'd be dealt with in the same way as the guy who rode a racing bike with no front brake on the road and killed a pedestrian

Wanton and furious driving is what they charged him with after he ran her over when he couldn't stop , 18 months in prison , though his lack of remorse might not have helped his case much

As an electric bike is powered they might just go with dangerous driving

I believe you can switch them between road usage (250w) and off road usage (say 1Kw), and to do so you have to enter a pin code on a display.
 

azapa

Member
Messages
1,300
I have the specialized Levo turbo. Its a dream, reliable and very hackable. Fast. Much. Oops, sorry officer.
 

flexwing

Member
Messages
256
I cannot recommend the Specialised Levo Turbo enough. I was very sceptical as they are £7k retail although my mate bought one from the Specialised website direct for £5.5k.
Being somewhat overweight and with dodgy knees I hired one at Glentress for an afternoon.
It is a bit of serious off road kit and probably OTT for road use but ideal for Edinburgh roads!
It takes the load off uphill climbs but for serious cyclists it adds range and performance to tackle routes you couldnt do, no matter how fit you are.
I'm thinking of buying one for commuting and occasional off road jaunt. Even with a well dodgy knee I was able to tackle sustained uphill, off road tracks and still be able to move the next day.
 

Scaf

Member
Messages
6,511
I cannot recommend the Specialised Levo Turbo enough. I was very sceptical as they are £7k retail although my mate bought one from the Specialised website direct for £5.5k.
Being somewhat overweight and with dodgy knees I hired one at Glentress for an afternoon.
It is a bit of serious off road kit and probably OTT for road use but ideal for Edinburgh roads!
It takes the load off uphill climbs but for serious cyclists it adds range and performance to tackle routes you couldnt do, no matter how fit you are.
I'm thinking of buying one for commuting and occasional off road jaunt. Even with a well dodgy knee I was able to tackle sustained uphill, off road tracks and still be able to move the next day.

These sound like great bikes but I am not in the market for a £5k - £7k bike.

I do want to avoid buying something that is **** though!
 

flexwing

Member
Messages
256
These sound like great bikes but I am not in the market for a £5k - £7k bike.

I do want to avoid buying something that is **** though!
Agreed, very expensive. I have also noticed that many advertised second hand have had a replacement motor fitted. A warranty is essential imo. You can buy them ex demo from Alpine Bikes for £3.5k with the balance of a warranty which I think is 3 years.
 

dickygrace

www.richardgracecars.co.uk
Messages
7,309
The friend I mentioned with the Specialized is on his third motor within 12 months, all paid for on warranty. The high price clearly isn’t for build quality.