E BIKE DILEMMA - A Cautionary Tale.

I have been a cyclist all my life (life member of the Cyclists' Touring Club), but had a stroke some 4 years ago which has left me with severe nerve damage to my left leg/foot. This means weakness in that area and pain if I indulge in any activity that pressurises it, so I cannot walk far. Thus an ebike seemed my only remedy.

For my first experiment I bought a kit and converted my own Claud Butler bicycle. To date I have now owned three ebikes and  I have been quite satisfied with my present Freego Eagle over two years and some 5,000 miles .

This bike uses a motor in its back wheel. You dial in a level of power assistance. A small magnetic disk behind the chainwheel circulates with it and a sensor picks up its signal and sends it to the motor. which then attempts to put in enough power to maintain that level of assistance as you cycle along. Being manufactured before the latest "pedalec" laws (which outlaws them) it also has an independent handlebar throttle which will power the machine up to 16 mph without pedalling. I find this useful to give me a "push" to move off or when crossing busy intersections.

However, Freego has recently gone into administration (something to do with increased European tariffs on Chinese products, which had reduced their profit margins).  So I decided to look around for a new ebike. The Raleigh Motus Tour (made in  EU Hungary for Raleigh of Nottingham) is the current head of reviews for normal touring ebikes.

This bike uses a Bosch electric crank drive, which is supposedly more efficient with low-down torque for slow hill climbing. The motor is neat, integrated into the bottom bracket and controlled by a handlebar mounted computer display.

 The motor works by sensing the level of pressure the rider puts into the pedals and powers the revolving cranks accordingly. There is no independent throttle. The "pedalec" law makes them illegal and since the pedals need to be exerting pressure for the motor to operate it would not be possible anyway.

I tested this latter bike at the dealer's around their industrial estate which had one small hill. Allowing for the strangeness of a new system, I felt OK with it and ordered one.(they were doing a special spring offer, knocking about £300 off the £2,000 book price, which was an additional inducement.)

It was delivered to me and on Easter Saturday I rode it for 17 miles, towards the end in great pain. Over that Easter weekend I was in subsequent agony as a result, with sleepless nights. My Freego Eagle never caused me such and analysing this I can only put it down to the way each system is activated. The Freego wheel motor will output power when the pedals turn (even without actual pressure on them). The Bosch crank drive needs pressure input to the pedals before it "wakes up".

Thank goodness I had kept that Freego! I asked if the dealer could give me a refund on the Raleigh, but they only deal in new bikes and said this was now "used". How enthusiastic they were to sell it to me and how uninterested they were in my subsequent problem.I am now advertising the bike for sale and will, no doubt incur a fair loss - that'll teach me!