We love e-bikes, we love how accessible they make cycling, and we how sophisticated the technology they use is, but they can be quite confusing when you need to buy one. How should you
choose an e-bike? There is a wide variety of topics you need to consider
including what you’re going to do with the bike, where you’re going to ride it,
what your budget is; so these are everything you need to know about e-bikes and
how to buy one. We will touch upon road e-bikes, hybrid bikes, mountain e-bikes,
and I'll try to define terminology such as watt hours, power, mid-drive motors
One of the most confusing things about electric bikes is the jargon that surrounds them. But understanding it and understanding how it affects your ride experience is really important. Basically
an electric bike will consist of a motor and a battery.
Legally, all e-bikes in Canada are capped at 32 kilometres and in the United States around 45 kilometres an hour respectively, so above that limit, you will not receive any more support. E-bikes
have a motor fit in them, it might be front hub motor, mid hub motor or a rear
hub motor. When you switch your e-bike on, the motor slowly starts making the
wheel spin and this is what's known as pedal assist because it literally
assists your pedalling. Some brands display this as a percentage, depending on
the mode. Other brands display as a wattage.
When you read about e-bikes, you'll see torque mentioned as much as power. Now torque in terms of science, is a rotational force around in axis. In the terms of an e-bike, that is the
rotational force generated by the motor that drives the rear wheel. Torque is
actually one of the most important things about e-bikes, and I'll talk about it
more when I get onto the different motor systems later on. But in short, it is
what generates that feeling of acceleration when you start pedalling.
One other significant term you'll come across a lot is Watt hours. Watt hours is used to describe the capacity of the battery on the electric bike. For example, if an e-bike has a capacity of
250 Watt hours, therefore, if you ride it at 250 Watts continuously, you would
get one hour of support from the battery.
Just like with normal bikes in the world of e-bikes, you also get great variation in different models, including e-mountain bike, e-road bikes and hybrid bikes, amongst others. All of these have that
terminologies I just described. E-mountain bikes, for example, are much more
likely to have higher torque ratings, which is really important when you're
riding off-road and up steep climbs. Likewise, by applying a battery and a
motor to an e-mountain bike, you're basically able to have an up lift without
needing a car or a truck.
E-hybrid bikes are also as equally likely to benefit from increased torque because you'll get a bigger
acceleration that's really useful if you're starting from stopped traffic
lights or if you're riding in traffic. They also offer loads of advantages
because you can ride to work and you'll be less sweaty or you can commute
further distances. It's also possible to get e folding bikes, which offer these
same benefits, but with the portability that their form offers. However,
acceleration and torque is potentially less important on an e-road and an e-gravel
bike where you might prioritize battery capacity and a lightweight from the bike's frame.
Now this can be for many reasons, one of which might be that you don't want the electric bike to do all of the work when you're cycling uphill. And typically, e-road bikes have found a way
to replicate a ride feel as close to a normal bike as possible. Brands are very
specific when it comes to electric bikes and will expect different systems for
different jobs, and that includes motor placement, power and torque delivery
and pedalling resistance. Knowing what you want when you go into the buying
process will make the whole thing so much easier.
There are a couple of things to look out for when it comes to motor placement on e-bikes. It can make a big difference to your ride. Now, the first type of motor placement is called as –
Front hub motor.
Front hub motors are common on folding and touring e-bikes. If you are a mainstream cyclist, this placement gives you more options to customize the gears on the rear wheels. But it can
feel a bit unnatural as you’re pulled rather than pushed along. Balance can
also be an issue initially, particularly uphill or in wet conditions as you
might feel the front is heavier than the back.
The second placement is called as –
Rear hub motor.
Rear hub motor is the placement where the motor is in the rear hub on the rear wheel and the battery lives in the bikes centre frame. This type of motor placement has a great effect on road
bikes to, which feels like riding a conventional normal bike as your being
pushed rather than pulled and it can also be lightweight. Rear hub motor
e-bikes can be on the pricier side.
The third and the final placement is called as -
Mid-drive motor.
They look a little bulky as the motor is placed exactly in the middle of the frame where the pedals are and are often the most expensive, but they feel the most natural to ride and they
benefit from placing the weight lower down, by the bottom bracket. This can
have a really positive effect on the bikes handling and its performance. The other
great benefit of this placement is they work in synergy with your gears, which
can increase the overall efficiency of the bike.
The torque number of a system is also really important. Some brands prioritize a lower torque and this is to create a normal riding feel. This means the bike will not surge or accelerate as quickly when you start peddling.
Now, of course, lower the torque, lesser acceleration you'll get and that means you have to put more effort in yourself, especially when going uphill. For context, 55 newton meters (Nm) of torque,
which is considered as a great in-between torque figure, can work really well
for e-bikes that you’d probably ride on gravel areas to give them a bit more
assistance when riding off road. In comparison, the Bosch Performance Line
systems deliver 75 Nm of torque, which is about as high as it will usually go. Also
look at what cadence the system delivers power to, and this can be used to make
a bike feel much more natural.
Battery capacity is really important when it comes to electric bikes, and it's something of a hot topic. E
mountain bikes will typically have a much larger battery capacity than in e-road
bike, and this is because of their use on off-road and steep terrain. Systems
with bigger battery capacity include Shimano steps and Bosch Performance CX
line just for context.
Of course, there are trade-offs here, larger capacity batteries will weigh more. E-bikes weigh around 30 kg or more because of the battery pack and the motor which can be considerably
heavier than your normal conventional bike, something to keep in mind if you
need to lift your e-bike a lot. E-road bikes and e-gravel bikes will often have
a smaller capacity battery. This is because you're much more likely to ride
above the limit of assistance and they also want to prioritize keeping the
bikes weight down.
So you might think how about charging the battery. Some systems will allow you to take the battery out of the frame and charge it separately where other models have to be charged as a
whole. You should also take stated or claimed distances with a pinch of salt
because these can be affected by a lot of things, including elevation,
temperature and tire pressure, the list goes on.
Just like buying a normal bike, we'd recommend that you go down to your local bike shop where they'll have loads of expertise and talk you through any complicated jargon. They'll also
have various models that you can test. There really is no substitute for
experience when it comes to buying an e-bike. You can, of course, buy your e-bike
online either through the brand’s official website or through e-commerce
websites like Amazon and ebay.
There are also some accessories that you need to get when you buy an e-bike, now there is no legal ruling that says you have to wear a helmet when you ride but we highly recommend that you do. We’d also recommend that you buy a pump, now the benefit of this is they can inflate your
tires real quick. They are great to have in your garage or in your house, so
that you can just top up your tires before you go on for a bike ride. So, there
you go, everything you need to know about buying an e-bike.