10 Things We Wish We'd Known About E-Bikes

E bikes are becoming more and more popular as a smart and practical way of getting around and staying fit. And they’re a hell of a lot of fun! If you’re interested in jumping on the e-bike bandwagon or just want to know what all the fuss is about, we’re here to help with the top 10 things we wish we'd known about ebikes!

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[gcn]

What do you think are the most important things to know about e-bikes?

[SwazersC]

I hadn't had a bike since I was 16 years old. I bought my e-bike in July of last year, then aged 47. Fast forward 16 months or so down the line. I have ridden 5350 miles. Lost over 2 stone. My blood pressure is excellent. My fitness levels have increased massively. I have seen parts of my local area & county I didn't even know existed. I cycle everywhere & in any weather. Because of my e-bike, I ditched my car. I now only cycle in either eco mode the lowest assist level or I actually turn the motor off. I am now researching my next bike purchase, which will be a non-e-bike as my fitness has improved so much I am ready to add non-electric cycling to my life, I think I will buy a gravel bike? but I will still use my beloved e-bike. In the last lockdowns, I spent more time outside in the fresh air than I had ever done. I have reconnected with my younger self & found a new meaning in my life. I love cycling & even the guys on the fast road bikes are not as mean as they used to be & sometimes say hello when I am out & about. I managed my longest ever cycle last week (in eco-mode) 100KM, it took me over 6 hours with only 45 minutes rest. Buying my e-bike saved my life & anyone who thinks they are cheating needs to put themselves in another person's shoes. Life has not been easy for many of us over the past few years & without my bike, I fear my mental health would have been much worse. They are an amazing invention & one I will be forever thankful for. BTW, my bike is a Giant Explore GTS+4. I have modified the bike with new wheels & tires, better grips & even put a Brooks C17 seat on it. I even have a few items of lycra now, LOL & yes I wear a helmet. After years of sitting on my backside in cars, I never imagined I would become a cyclist, 31 years after my last bike. I turned 49 in September just gone & look & feel younger than I have done in a long time. When I say buying my e-bike saved my life, I mean it literally. Thanks for your channel I love watching your videos. Best regards, John. :)

[martinronchetti]

I’m a reasonably fit 61 y.o. cyclist living in a very hilly part of Cornwall with many 20% hills. I manage rides of 50 km+ on my non assisted road bike but sometimes the thought of the the final long climb home puts me off riding, especially when its windy as well, which is often the case. I realised checking on Strava that I spent 90% of every ride slogging uphill with only 10% of ride time spent on flats and downhill. My new e-bike flattens out the hills so I enjoy the ride more and go out more often and cycle further getting the same exercise with more fun and less pain.

[paulwilcock]

Absolutely love my eBike for commuting to work. Arriving in office clothes without breaking a sweat, even in Australia's summer is amazing. They're an absolute joy to ride.

[antoniocruz]

One thing to consider about ebikes is the fact that persons of different fitness can cycle together. My wife and I have done memorable trips of about 800km each over very difficult terrain while I ride a regular Mtb and she goes on the ebike. Don't hesitate to own one, you will surely use it.

[tommulvey]

Bought my first e-bike when I was 76. Although work is only 3km away I use the bike for this short trip each day and it has improved my fitness a lot. As well, when I arrive at work I feel energised and ready to go!

[deblewis]

I've been riding my e-bike for a while now. I'm 68 years old and I've lost 30 pounds this year between eating better and riding. I recently rode a gravel trail 55 miles and had a third of the power left. I have my street bike on a trainer so I can continue to ride during the snowy winter months ahead. I'm looking forward to more riding next year.

[ondank]

I have been a motorcyclist for 7 years and a cyclist for a year and a half now.

The one thing I would say to people is, don't let rain put you off. For most the year you can work around it and the first time I was caught in a torrential downpour whilst cycling I found it outrageously fun. The first time I went out and a thick mist descended I was struck by the absolute beauty and serenity of it.

There are plenty of good reasons why you can't trade in a car for just a bicycle. But even trading in many of your journeys, even in the rain, is doing a great bit for the environment.

[nkgeorge]

I'm 63 and over the past dozen years, I progressively developed painful knee problems which pretty much made riding a conventional bike rather torturous. Even after just a couple miles, my knees would start to hurt. I decided to invest in an ebike and now I am riding about 1200 miles a year which is great in of itself. However, the JOY of riding an ebike - it makes me feel like a superman able to tackle steep hills and trails with a childish glee! The ebike has given me a new lease on enjoying the mental and physical benefits of cycling. The technology has done wonders for people like me!

[quadroff]

Being able to eat a cake instead of going to petrol station is a true victory

[esenel]

Ebikes are great fun when they work. Some tips I'd have from personal experience are:
Make sure the motor is a freewheeling one, there are ones that once turned off will function as generator and some even charge the battery while riding with the motor turned off.. (great if you want to burn calories, but less fun when far from home and the battery dies). Make sure it rides well, and that you can do a decent distance with the motor/electronics turned off.

Find one that doesn't pair the battery to the bike. This will make cheap revisions over time possible. Some batteries will just lock up once they are "tampered" with, or will flat out not work if you want to let your mate borrow one. Then you'd need to go to a dealer and have the battery paired to that bike (for which some brands charge (an excessive amount of) money. and then later it would need to be paired to yours again. (there are also brands that will allow riding 80-120 or so KM on a non-paired battery before shutting off.
There's nothing like doing a multi day trip with 2 batteries (1 borrowed) only using the battery for long uphills or heavy headwinds so doing 200+KM per battery, and the 2nd one cuts off after 80 KM, refusing to work again without attaching it to the bike it's paired to that's hundreds of KM's away. Always check that kinda stuff when you buy an ebike. It can bite you in the butt as well when you have the cells in the battery replaced and everything seems fine and great until 80-120KM in it just turns off. If you want it as part of anti-theft reasons (the usual reason given for it) fine, but be aware of the limitations.
Personally I have had 2 bike bags on the back of my bike, with a approx 2000Wh battery. No need to worry about running out while riding, and actually making it possible to use a induction heater while camping for cooking and even heating the tent, and I used to just carry a conversion plug for public car chargers to charge the battery without going home. This would have been way harder to do with the bike needing a paired battery.

3rd, check the wiring for stupid design decisions. I didn't buy mine, it was a hand me down from my parents, but it had the wires coming from the controller on the back and going forward UNDER the mudguard, so between the mudguard and the tire.. Which eventually caused the wires to take damage and short out. Sure, it looks pretty, but putting wires in places where it gets sand, sticks, stones and water thrown at it all the time isn't good. so eventually about 40 volts went into the 5 volt parts which didn't end well. 😂
Thinking about it, I should just have changed that when I got the bike from my parents, its a stupid place for power wires to be.

4th, if you have a front or rear hub motor, make sure it's not one that gets "unpaired" when disconnected. Been there, done that... pulled the wheel out to replace a 20-30 euro tire, disconnected the motor plug to avoid damaging it, and had to pay 60 euro's to a dealer to pair the motor to the controller again because once you disconnect the cable, as "anti-theft measure" it needs pairing again. 🤐

I really hope these points have gotten better in the last 10-12 years or so, but somehow I suspect they will probably just be doing more to lock people in to their dealer networks and make it harder to service stuff yourself.

[hertzair]

E bikes were a game changer for my wife and I …as 60 something’s, we can now enjoy all the steep hilly terrain (or windy conditions) on any bike trails we would never explore before….

[AlessandroBb]

I want to add my experience with this comment for those who may be interested.
I've been commuting to work every day by bike for a year now and I have both a good quality e-bike and a cheap Decathlon road bike. The e-bike is key in hard windy days, rainy days or when I need to carry extra weight. Most of the days I ride the road bike, which also serves as weekend leisure ride.
I sold my motorbike almos a year ago and I've been barely using the car in the last year. At 37, I'm in my best shape ever and I basically need to thank the e-bike for making this possible.
Ciao

[dh]

I'm pretty neutral on ebikes, but when some scruffy dude in jeans and donkey jacket passes me on some hill it hurts my ego

[VRTrucker]

I never fancied an ebike until I saw your piece about the Orbea Gain and the ebikemotion system. After several months I managed to get a Gain M30, put some gravel tyres on it and it's now perfect for where I live in West Cornwall.
Prior to getting it I was done in at 40 miles on my previous gravel bike. On the Gain however I comfortably manage to do from home to Lands End and back which is over 50 miles and i'm not in bits for the rest of the day.
I don't see my ebike as cheating as it means I actually cycle a lot more than I was physically capable of doing previously.

[canoedoctor]

Keep in mind that many of us who are not as active as we used to be is not due to laziness but due to declining mobility. I have a great deal of walking difficulty now and an ebike is about my only option to be active outdoors. I am researching to purchase an etrike instead of a two wheeled bike for safety reasons. Videos into this specific application would be appreciated!

[theclanmeikle]

I bought my first Ebike one year ago and so far I have done 5000 miles on it. I have been a keen cyclist all my life and commute daily to work. When I was younger I would average 50 miles per day, 6 days a week. I have since had 3 big operations and the Ebike has enabled me to get back to fitness and I'm 51. They are awesome. Switch the power off and you'll get a tremendous workout during a 30 mile run on a 35kg fat bike. If you want to be a bit fresher at the end of your journey then use some power. Fly up hills with the power on or boost your leg size with the power off. Just get one, you'll be smiling all the time. After 16 mph you're under your own steam. My average speed for my commute is 22 mph. Not too bad for 20 - 30 miles and 1500 feet of climbing.

[rogerwilco]

I'm in my 40's and my 'normal' bikes have been sitting for almost a decade. I bought a cheap E-bike and I am hooked.
I ride for at-least an hour almost every day now.. An hour riding with assists is still healthier than not riding at all..
I'm losing weight, building my core, and I'm climbing mountains and seeing sights that I never would have dreamed of..

+ I'm also a courier and have even parked my car for a good portion of the day to take the smaller/closer orders by bike.
I'm even looking into bike trailers so I can haul more.. your next Instacart might just be delivered on an E-bike considering they think $4 is sufficient for someone to destroy their car with nowadays..

[wallywatkins]

My ebike is a Gtech. I chose it because it was the least expensive "quality" model available. It's about as simple as it could be. It's a single speed and 2 non-tuneable power levels. Simple, maybe, but excellent for my local needs. The only small problem is the limited range and the immense difficulty of pedalling without power-assist. I'm a super-fit 70-year-old and also have a road bike and ATB. But I love my ebike for leisurely rides as it really does flatten the hills.

[alberticus]

One of the learning points for me was the quality of the bicycle saddle. Since you put less power on the paddles, you are sitting with more weight on the saddle. So the quality of the saddle is important. For me a saddle that resembles my racing bike saddle worked quite fine. Also a more racing posture (that the sit bones are making correct contact) helped.