I would NOT buy a Gazelle, even though it comes with a full chain case and very useful mudguards, lights and rear carrier. Double gee thorns punctured both tyres after I rode five metres over grass. A century ago Francis Birtles rode around Australia, sometimes with hundreds of double gees in his tyres. It took ten minutes to remove and replace the fragile and complicated chain case to grease the roller brake every three months, and every time I had to to fix a rear wheel puncture. In less than 5,000 kilometres I had to spend $400 to replace the battery charger and $70 (plus hours of my own time) to remove a broken rear carrier/battery cradle and fit and re-wire a second-hand one. Then I was faced with paying $950 to replace a failed battery.
Your Gazelle experience was not a good one.
Others should also note Gazelle have packed up and are leaving the Aussie market:
Although now past history how long was the manufacturers voluntary warranty on the E-bike battery and charger? Did the battery and or charger fail inside the voluntary warranty period? Noting consumers also have statutory rights for remedy that may be for a longer period of time.
Around $1000 seems typical for a spare or second battery for a Bosch drive. Some appear to come with a charger for little added cost.
A common problem in the parks where our children learnt to ride. I think we called them goats head weeds/thorns. Tropical sensitive weed was also a bike shops best friend with the spikes breaking off and staying invisibly in the tyre ready to puncture the repaired tube. Some tyres are more resistant than others. We learnt that the puncture resistant tyres are an aftermarket product. A customer choice at a cost when buying, at the local bike shop.
I bought the bike second-hand, after the warranty had expired. The battery had already been replaced once, under warranty.
Bromptons are faster than many folding bikes, because they use low rolling resistance high pressure tyres. They can fit Schwalbe Marathon PLUS tyres, which in my experience survive ten times as long between punctures as normal tyres. They also fold more quickly than most other bikes. It takes only a second to partly fold them, and the rear carrier has jockey wheels that you can use to roll the partly-folded bike. Their main negatives are weight and cost.
Certainly premium priced. When ai last looked at one it appeared to also fold into a better package than many other products.
On weight and cost I’d always understood Brompton’s folding bikes also set a standard for light weight. For a lighter folding E-bike possibly this option. Only by a couple of kilos from 13.3kg. Aussie pricing looks to be around $2000 less. Whether the promoted pricing is reliable or in store there are heavy discounts (negotiated prices) to make one feel good having put one over the sales staff? When looking at spending around $5k or more on a bicycle, it may pay to shop around. With some brands sold exclusively YMMV.
P.S. Another thought on a bike that might be occasionally useful. Luxury similar to having a nippy economy car for the daily commute and a tray back Ute as a second car to go to the dump.
What about a Cargo Bike.
They come in many different configurations. 2 and 3 wheel versions with front or rear carriers as well as multi pannier styles. My pick at under $8k, various versions.
‘Bergamont E-Cargo
The one grumble is they are still legally limited to 250W drives despite a gross weight permitted of 220kg in this example. Base weight of the example around 30kg.
One issue with electric bikes is the weight of the motor on the hub. My son’s e-bike was constantly snapping spokes after the first one snapped.
I was using it at the time so I paid $60 for replacement of the original spoke. After that another snapped which he replaced when he got the bike serviced. Extra $40 that time. Then another snapped and the wheel had to get rebuilt with new spokes.
Welcome to the community @Calps.
Was this supported by the bike repairer?
I was advised for my e-bike when new to bring it in for the spoke tension and rim alignment to be checked after so many days of first use.
The weight of the rider also rests on the hubs. The extra weight of the motor would seem negligible. Perhaps there is a slightly different explanation?
Had to take it to a couple of bike shops because they didnt have the correct spoke type. Eventually had to have the spokes machined to fit. It wasnt convenient to take the bike to the place it was purchased. They charged transport costs to their workshop from the retail outlet which wasnt close.
I looked into snapped spokes after that and found its not that uncommon.
Hitting potholes or taking corners at too much of an angle can cause damage. It’s dependent on the bike of course. The real issue is that because of the weight of the motor if you snap one spoke and dont notice it immediately then the extra weight on the remaining spokes can cause the rest to wear very quickly.
It’s an easy conclusion to draw. Is it necessarily correct?
Hub motors weigh around 4Kg. Some more some less. A bicycle wheel is designed to support more than 50% of the maximum total weight of rider and bike. For a kids e-bike expect a total weight of rider and bike of 50-80kg. The 4kg extra for the hub motor is a fraction of the total weight bearing on the wheel and carried through the spokes. That’s before any additional load is applied by the torque created by the motor. No comment on riding style or road conditions. They vary considerably according to energy levels.
It’s often commented that hub drives can be more prone to broken spokes. Most informed bicycle forums point to the spoke gauges, type of spoke ends, correct tensioning and rim alignment as important to ensure reliability. The extra weight of the motor is not noted as a cause. The extra weight may affect other aspects of the ride. How the wheel is laced and the spoke material (strength) are also important.
Assuming your wheel was rebuilt with quality spokes and by a reliable wheel builder - it will be useful for others to hear more of your experiences and how it goes.
Good points. Personally it’s been quite an education having to orienteer the evolution of bike technology let alone e-bike technology. As I said that’s from using my son’s bike that he left at our place for a while. I thought it might be useful for older prospective purchasers to get an idea of what they may be confronting.
The evolution of technology may be the least of the worries, locale dependent.
In what jurisdiction is that ‘bike’ as pictured not a motorbike?
Registration requirements seem based on motor power not ‘glam’. Without knowing the make and model I won’t be making related conclusions based on its appearance in the photo, such as can be discerned. Since she was cited it must be ‘over limit’ as a bicycle and I accept that as evidence of same.
Since the article is explicitly about NSW it would be unwise to be so presumptuous to think that the same, fewer, or worse penalties might not apply somewhere else. There is also a lot of contradictory and thus often misleading ‘advice’ on the net about maximum motor power as well as licensing for bike and ‘driver’/rider.
Buyers might be oblivious and are best advised to pick an e-bike and if it even might be at or above the state limits to get a written statement on legality from their roads/licensing department or minimally the source of the e-bike as a matter of their potential liability for incorrect claims.
Many newer e-bikes have motors mounted between the pedals, rather than in the wheel hubs.
These motors usually drive the rear wheel via the chain. Pedal power plus 250 watts puts more strain on the chain and the rear wheel than does pedal power alone. Unless they are designed for the extra load, the chain and rear spokes will be more likely to fail. A bike with a smaller diameter rear wheel is less likely to have problems, provided it has the same number of spokes.
Also, the forces that cause one spoke to break also affect other spokes. Riding with a broken spoke puts extra stress on the remaining spokes. Sometimes, unfortunately, the only solution is to have the wheel completely rebuilt with new spokes.
There are numerous reasons why mid mounted drives are a good solution.
Pros and cons: Electric bicycle hub motors vs mid-drive motors: Which should be on your next e-bike? | Electrek
It’s an interesting observation that mid drives could place greater loads on chain and sprockets. Is the reality professionally made e-bicycles take this into account. For other users are we more likely to rely on e-power than our own exertion. 200-250W is typical of the sustained output of pro riders who can burn up to 900Cal per hour! I doubt few of us more casual users rate at that level of performance.
However when it comes to good engineering of the loads placed in the bicycle chain (or toothed belt on some) the important measurement is torque produced at the drive sprocket. We can imagine how great that load is when we stand on the pedals with most of our body weight pushing down on each in turn. Hence it is important to know those forces and more meaningfully to reference the torque transmitted.
The power of a motor or rider depends on both the torque produced/transmitted and speed (rotational speed). Knowing the rated power of an electric motor is insufficient to make a reliable design assessment.
