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How To Buy An Electric Bike
Flying cars aren’t quite here, and we don’t float around on hoverboards just yet, but the future of cycling has very much arrived. It’s official; ebikes are here and here to stay. In fact, in the Netherlands, the spiritual home of cycling, e-bike sales surpass traditional bike sales, and although we may be a little biased, we have to say eBikes are amazing and so much fun, I can promise you: once you start riding, you won’t want to stop!!
“We love to give our customers Super Powers”.
Eddie Kehoe, Director Electric Bike Sales
But with so many great electric bikes on the market from household names such as Raleigh, Cube and Lapierre, it can be a little daunting to choose just the right bike for you. Thankfully at Electric Bike Sales, we are here to help, so we’ve put together a short guide to help you choose the perfect eBike.
We’ve boiled it down to 3 basic steps.
Where will you go? The right bike for you will depend on where you will ride most of the time.
- Mountain Bikes: Riding off-road
- Road Bikes: Long-distance tarmac riding, riding fast
- Hybrid Bikes: All round leisure riding and commuting
- Touring/Trekking: Ultra-long distance, carrying luggage, commuting
- Folding Bikes: Short distance commutes
- Comfort Bikes: Urban leisure riding, commuting
- Cargo Bikes: Adapted for business or family use
Of course, these are not hard and fast rules. If your heart is set on a mountain bike, but you live in the city, then that’s what you should buy.
Budget – eBikes within a particular category and price generally have similar types of components. But expect to pay more for high-performance parts such as more powerful motors, longer-lasting batteries, lower maintenance or higher performance gearing or carbon fibre frames.
Size – Like a pair of shoes, eBikes come in a range of sizes, so start by choosing the correct frame size based on your height. We can help you find just the right frame; please contact us and speak to a friendly, experienced technician. (read our blog article Electric Bikes for Tall and Heavy People).
Size Guide: The most important measurement is Bike Frame Standover Height. To work this out, you need to measure your inseam:
To measure your inseam: You will need a hardcover book, tape measure and pencil. Then:
- Stand against a wall (with shoes on).
- Stand against the wall and straddle the book, with the spine up.
- Use the pencil to mark where the spine of the book meets the wall.
- Measure from the mark to the floor. This is your inseam measurement.
- Repeat the measurement a couple of times to make sure it’s accurate.
If the bike has a straight top tube parallel to the ground, you should have approximately 1-2″ of clearance between your inseam and the standover height.
A few other considerations:
Frame Style
Full/High Crossbar – The most rigid frame type suitable for adventurous rides or long tours, requires leg swing over.
2021 Cube Touring Hybrid One 500 eBike in Grey
Medium/Low Crossbar – Easier to mount yet still rigid and responsive.
2021 Cube Kathmandu Hybrid One 500 Low Crossbar
Low Step-through – Fast and easy to get on and off safely with minimal space needed. eBike step-through models tend to more rigid than their non ebike traditional counterparts.
2021 Cube Touring Hybrid One 500 Low Step-Through
Comfort Vs Sporty
One last thing to consider is the bike geometry. Race bikes are designed to have low set handlebars and higher seating forcing the rider into a more aerodynamic riding position, which is perfect when jostling for first place in the Tour de France, but not the ideal stance when you’re not racing – which for most people is pretty much all the time.
Many cycle shops have a sportbike bias, and that’s fair enough in the UK, where the bulk of sales are sports bikes. Like sports cars, sportbikes generally look appealing. They have easy to competitive market specifications such as weight or number of gears, and like sportscars, sportbikes are finely tuned with high-end components that need a lot of maintenance. Sadly like sportscars, sportbikes are usually very impractical for everyday use.
Comfort Bikes are designed to have higher set handlebars that are usually curved towards the rider creating a more upright riding position placing less strain on the cyclists back, offering a much more comfortable ride. Most Dutch people cycle every day because they are comfortable and their bikes need less maintenance.
Many sporty bikes bought with good intentions in the UK end up in a garage covered in dust, so do consider comfort and your ability to maintain sport components before you make your choice. There are many models of eBike with full comfort, to all-out performance and many points in between. We can help you choose.
Please contact one of our eBike technicians who can help you choose just the right bike.
eBikes for business
E-commerce has revolutionised how we shop, with an estimated 97% of the UK population making an online purchase in 2020. The problem is that the way we transport and deliver goods has not changed and cannot sustainably keep up with E-commerce’s massive growth. The already congested UK streets have seen a 48% rise in the use of light goods vehicles over recent years, accounting for around 30% of the UK’s emissions.
eBikes are starting to revolutionise business, particularly the last-mile delivery, and offer real cost-effective benefits to businesses:
- Cheaper running costs
- Less maintenance
- Zero carbon emissions
- Eco-friendly
- Improved company image
- Healthier workforce
- Easily navigate congestion
- No parking fines
- No city congestion charges
Studies have shown that cargo bikes can be more efficient and improve a company’s image, making consumers more likely to make repeat purchases from sustainable businesses. When considering the cost-effective benefits, positive reduction in carbon emissions and flexibility and efficiency, electric cargo bikes are worth serious thought.
At Electric Bike Sales, we have a great range of e-cargo bikes perfectly suited to your business’s needs. See our full range of electric cargo bikes HERE. We also retrofit any existing bike with a powerful electric system.
CONTACT US and speak to one of our friendly sales team for the best advice on solutions suited to your business’s needs.
For more information on how your business can benefit from investing in an eCargo bike, see our blog Electric Cargo Bikes a game-changing solution for UK businesses
The Cycle to Work Scheme
The Cycle to work scheme, introduced in 1999, is a government initiative to promote healthier work commutes and reduce pollution. The scheme is run through participating employers and offers the most cost-effective way to get new cycling equipment.
It allows employers to loan bikes, eBikes, eCargo bikes and trikes, safety equipment and hi-viz clothing to employees as a tax-free benefit, meaning you don’t have to pay national insurance or tax on these products saving you up to 42%. The cost is deducted from your payslip over 12 to 18 months.
For example, one of our most popular bikes, the 2020 Raleigh Motus Tour Low Step a bike costing £2300, you could save £966!!
Employers of any size across the public, private and voluntary sectors can offer a tax-exempt loan scheme for their employees. Employees wishing to participate in the scheme need to be paid through the PAYE system. The scheme is not available to the self-employed or employees on the National Minimum Wage.
Most companies will be able to reclaim the VAT (if applicable) and offset the bike’s costs against their Annual Investment Allowance boosting their return by up to 30%. Now there’s an incentive! Please contact your HR department, to find out if your workplace is taking part. If you would like somebody to explain this to your employer, drop us an email with a phone number, email address, and the contact person.
Our stores accept most Cycle to Work schemes and can save you up to 42% of a brand new electric bike’s cost. We can provide you with a quote in minutes.
We also offer interest-free financing. Please contact us for more information.
See our blog Three easy ways to get a brand new e-Bike
Expert knowledge
At Electric Bike Sales, we partner with leading brands like Raleigh, Riese & Muller, Cube, Haibike, Lapierre, Gazelle and Babboe to bring you the finest range of eBikes and eCargo bikes found anywhere. We don’t hire any sales staff, only expert technicians. So when you visit one of our stores, you’ll be served by an experienced technician whose job is to help you figure out which make and model is suitable for your particular needs and look after you from that point on. Electric bikes are technical products, and it helps to know your stuff. We pride ourselves on our service, so whether you shop online or in-store, you can have peace of mind that you are buying the best from the best.
Contact
01223 360208
sales@electricbikesales.co.uk
You will find our stores at:
Cambridge
118-120 Newmarket Rd, Cambridge CB5 8HE
Oxford
125 Magdalen Rd, Oxford OX4 1RJ
York
32 Walmgate, York YO1 9TJ
Bristol
35 Lower Redland Rd, Bristol BS6 6TB
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