My lad has the opportunity to either get a paid for intensive driving course or an electric bicycle through a back to work scheme as he has no transport of his own and we live remotely with little bus services. Can anyone recommend a suitable bike, he's of light build, 5" 4' and we live about 8 miles from town so it needs suitable to have about a 25 Mike plus range as we are on a hill with steep gradients which is where most of the electric power will be used I presume. Pedal assist would probably be the best option. Price is Up to £1500
You're going to struggle to get something decent for that price. Your best bet might be looking for a lightly used Covid purchase, and possibly having someone who knows a bit look the bike over for wear before purchasing. Most brands start at the £2kish price point, the cheapest brand I sell is Volt and they have a hybrid around £1950, but I wouldn't ride it. Something from a brand like Giant starts at £2500 for a Talon E+. All things "should" be pedal assist and limited to 15mph, as anything with a faster top speed and a throttle isn't a bicycle and therefore a grey area of legality. @MLyons will testify to spending on a decent eBike, I think he dropped £2500ish on a Cube. I don't know every brand and price, but I probably wouldn't start any lower than this. It gets you a Bosch motor and battery, and puts the motor at the bottom bracket (pedals), not in the rear wheel which makes for a heavy back end.
Hard to recommend a bike, not all geometry suits everybody, you can't beat trying them, in addition to that I'm sure tech has moved on and I'm not up to date, but can recommend a pedal assist I use one for similar, a Haibike sduro, its been brilliant and reliable, bought for the missus so she could keep up on rides and started to use her bike for commuting to take the edge off on hills/windy days and be less of a sweaty mess, it didn't work for that, sure it took the load off the hard stuff but I was still a sweaty mess To that end if he needs to be fresh at the end, can't recommend riding, e-bike or not, cycling for a commute is a miserable experience IMO, need a shower at work etc, wastes a lot of time. Range tends to not be much of a concern, for the most part you will likely cycle faster than the assist limit of 15mph so won't use the battery until hills and wind etc. Might want to consider one pre loaded with stuff like a rack and lights if he'll be using it through winter and carrying stuff (spare clothes, wet gear etc) Personally I'd pay the extra and do the car thing, then you are good all year round, nice to cycle now and again but wouldn't want it to be my only mode. Price will be a struggle as things have gone up massively, mine was 1700 but that was years ago, looks like 2.5k now.
I would find a good, nice quality used bike and fit a kit. It will have much better components on, be much cheaper etc. Bikes are selling for naff all second hand ATM.
On a side note to this did you fit a kit to a non electric bike? I've been toying with the idea of fitting one to a carrera (hand me down) mountain bike. It's something I'd like to try but I don't and can't spe d a fortune on it I'm also competent but no guru with wiring if the fit is complicated. Also for the op is a scooter an option? They take next to no petrol but will 100 percent have the milage if distance is an issue for the ebike. They'll also be quicker for the 8 mile distance.
