Electric Bikes

You could get one of those electric motor-assisted bikes. Makes going up hill a lot more manageable. You’ll still get pissed on when it’s raining though.

 

No such thing as bad weather only bad clothing I ride a motorcycle year round

 

I only dressed like that for a bet.
I'm normally a cap and slippers bloke.

 

I wouldn't worry about the weather, I cycle commuted from 2016 to 2020 and only got soaked a couple of times. Electric bikes are quite expensive but would certainly help with the hills. They only help, if you stop pedalling, the bike will just stop. I've only tried one once and it will take a bit of getting used to. I know a few lads who have one, one of them has multiple health issues but he absolutely loves it and seldom uses his car, last time I saw him he was thinking about getting rid of it.

 

We had one each from around 2015-2021 when I put them up for sale. They sold easily and for a decent price, but obviously nowhere near the original purchase price. They were still in very good condition although, like any rechargeable battery device, it was only a matter of time before the batteries gave up and replacements are very expensive. We decided that they were spending too much time idle so it was time to get rid of them. I don't regret having one at all - it certainly made cycling easier and I never needed to get off and walk up a hill. The problem though is that the steeper the hill, the more strain on the battery, so capacity is reduced for that reason, plus the rider's weight of course is a factor.

When I bought mine from the Yorkshire Electric Bike company I was told a full charge would get me around 35 miles. That was about right in the first instance but by the time I sold mine nearly six years later I was lucky to get 10-12 miles before needing a recharge, which is pretty hopeless really. Obviously newer models have more power and more battery capacity - ours were probably first generation models and there were very few of them around at that time. They were the folding variety by the way because my initial thought was that we would chuck them in the back of the 4x4 and go off somewhere new for a nice ride, which is exactly what we did a few times. The downside of that though is the size of the wheels. Obviously the bigger the wheel the less pedalling you need to do.

You have to be aware of regular charging patterns as well. It's no good saying "Oh, I'm not going to use it for a few weeks so I'll leave it". The battery has a kind of memory chip in it so that when I took it for a service one year, complaining that it was not charging properly, they pointed out that I had not been charging it according to the service instructions. I wasn't aware of that so it's just something to think about. It looked like they were going to charge me hundreds for a new one. In the end though the manager of the company in Lincoln that makes them agreed to let me have a reconditioned battery free, which was pretty good of them seeing as it was my fault that the original battery was not charging properly.

My recommendation - if you can afford one, get one, but only if you enjoy cycling and intend to use it often - they are VERY expensive! In the end I became more and more conscious of vehicles nearly forcing me off these narrow roads around Harrogate so I started using it less and less. Personal choice obviously but I decided my safety was worth more than the occasional bike ride.

 

Who was the company in Lincoln?

 

Batribike supplied bikes to SYEBC near Goldthorpe although last time I went there they told me that more Chinese imports were swamping the market. The guy here in Harrogate told me the same

 

Always exciting to go somewhere new for a nice ride.

 

Nice Bike.

 

I've bought loads of things in my life but never anything that has given me as much Joy as my Cube Hybrid electric bike (even more than the season tickets I've had at Oakwell. No Honestly - hard to believe I know.)

If you're going to buy one - invest well. Never go near Halfords. Wheelbase are good. Expect to pay around £3k for a decent bike, and expect to wait before it arrives - demand is still high. You'll get between 80 and 120 miles on a single charge - depending on how you ride it. It opens up a whole new world of possibilities. Long distance routes are fantastic. I've done C2C, Way of the Roses, South Downs Way, Coast and Castles (South) and the Trans Pennine Trail 3 times (my favourite). £3k might sound like a lot on money (I had to leave the store and walk around it a few tames to get my breath back - until my partner reminded me that we would be dead soon, had been looking for two years - so should get on with it!) Yes - we bought 2 bikes - which caused me to take a very deep intake of breath as I completed the Bacs transfer.

I've never regretted that purchase for a single minute.

 

I’m sure the new generation bikes have much better battery capacity but you shouldn’t be taken in by claims of 60-70 miles on a single charge. I suppose it’s possible if you weigh about six stones but how many adults can claim that?

Not me for sure….

 

Yes we took them to the seaside to different places and enjoyed those long promenade rides that are sometimes possible, provided it’s out of season so not many walkers

 

Yes I ran out of power a couple of times and it’s certainly not like riding an ordinary bike after that. It was like riding through treacle- must be some kind of drag comes into force so it’s hard to pedal unaided and the weight was considerable. I always took the battery off before lifting it into the car

 

I’d be worried about leaving such an expensive bike unattended, no matter how good the lock was