Guide to buying an electric city bike, what to watch, how much to spend and how not to get fooled | Video

Electric bikes are now a consolidated reality on different fields of application, MTB, road, gravel and obviously also the city. Two-wheeled vehicles can take on completely different connotations based on the intended use, but in all cases when you are faced with the possibility of making the purchase it is easy to find yourself disoriented.

We therefore thought of carrying out a practice guide to buying an e-bike and in particular an electric bike (pedal assisted) for the city. As for the more “sporty” sectors, on the other hand, in addition to the more technical discourse relating to electric motorization, very specific variables related to performance come into play, so for the moment we will not go into these worlds.

How do you choose an electric city bike? what aspects should we pay attention to? how much to spend? what can be waived to contain the investment? Cannondale kindly provided us with one Adventure Neo 1 EQa bike that we already reviewed a few months ago, but which today will lend itself as a model to help us answer all these questions.

The first, by no means trivial, point from which to start is the legislation. The Italian state adopts a rather precise regulation on electric bikes to which we are obliged to refer if we do not want to run into very high fines.

The first fundamental aspect is the distinction between electric bike and pedal assisted bike. Be careful because they are often on sale, especially in online stores that import from China, real electric bikes, that is, capable of moving independently with the electric motor, like a scooter would do. Here are the requirements that the two-wheeled vehicle must meet:

• Pedal assisted bikes must not have an “accelerator” but they must be activated with the user’s pedaling and help him push. Furthermore, the bike must be able to stop gradually when the user stops pedaling. Everything else is considered a moped by the highway code (license plate, insurance, lights, helmet, driving license, mirrors, etc.)
• the engine must have a maximum rated power equal to or less than 250 Watts
• there full speed of the e-bike must not exceed 25 km per hour in pedal assist mode

By respecting the above requirements it is possible to ride an e-bike even without a helmet (but obviously it is not recommended), it is possible to circulate wherever traditional bicycles can circulate (therefore not on the motorway and wherever the prohibition sign is affixed) and also the minors can guide them.

The choice of a city e-bike should start here, motor and battery. Before any other element, it is these two components that affect the usability of the vehicle and the cost. If on the battery the scale of values ​​is obvious (the bigger it is, the higher the autonomy will be), on the engine instead many more variables come into play.

First of all, there are two types of motor, positioned in the bottom bracket and positioned on the rear wheel hub. There are also some bikes with a front engine but we do not recommend them because they are much less manageable due to the imbalance of the masses at the front wheel.

Pay close attention to the choice of motor because it radically changes the driving sensations. The more advanced ones, like the line Bosch Performance that we also find on our Cannondale, guarantee a natural pedaling that seeks the least invasive intervention possible on the rider’s action.

Our dispassionate advice is to remain within a range of well-known manufacturers (Bosch, Brose, Yamaha, Shimano) to be sure of buying a vehicle that is pleasant to drive. Each house has different proposals inside, gradually more powerful and efficient, for the city it is not necessary to climb too much in the range (obviously the speech would be very different for MTB, for example), unless you take into account many km per day and maybe with a good dose of climbs.

Coming to the battery, each manufacturer declares the km that can be traveled with a recharge, always remove something from that estimate because it refers to use in ideal conditions, probably in fact the tests were carried out on the track. Above 400 Wh you should be safe in the citythen consumption depends very much on any difference in height and on the level of pedaling assistance you want to have.

Speaking of the battery, it is very important that the module can be removed from the frame, this will allow you to disconnect it to recharge it perhaps at home without having to carry the whole bicycle with you.

Another consideration concerns the position in which it is installed: on higher-end bikes it is integrated into the frame for a very clean look and protected from theft, others require external positioning, often on the rear rack. Positioning is important because it radically changes the dynamic behavior of the two wheels, the battery, in fact, is one of the heaviest elements together with the engine, so the closer it is to the bottom bracket, the more balanced the bike will be, while on the rear it will inevitably make the vehicle less agile. Avoid e-bikes with battery attached in the handlebar area!

After motor and battery this should be your priority when choosing. Let us remember that an e-bike is first of all a bicycle, so it will be necessary to take into account the cycling qualities of the vehicle given by the geometry of the frame and the components. Here the speech is similar to that made for engines: stay within a range of well-known manufacturers, who build traditional bikes and are therefore supported by the experience developed in the field, or move towards “exotic” names only after making sure good functioning.

Be careful not to underestimate this aspect, a bike could have the best engine in the world, but if it is “badly fitted” (this is the jargon to indicate poor quality components) or it has poorly designed geometries, it will become undriveable, unnecessarily tiring and uncomfortable.

TRANSMISSION

It can be chain or belt, in the first case it requires a little more maintenance (a bit of cleaning, oil and after many km replacement of the chain for a few euros), in the second it is practically eternal and has fewer exposed and potentially damaged components. for a hit or a fall, however, the costs go up considerably. Attention here to the change, SRAM and Shimano are the reference brands, avoid everything else if possible.

BRAKES

They can be disc or skid, even those of the second type are fine but nowadays disc ones are found almost everywhere. Attention because here the types in turn are divided into mechanical and hydraulic. The mechanical ones are very simple and cost much less, the hydraulic ones have a more complex operation, home maintenance requires more tools and a little familiarity, but they brake considerably better and require less frequent maintenance. Shimano is the master, in any workshop they will know how to work and you can easily find spare parts.

WHEELS

For the city, the 27.5 “ones are fine, but 28” and 29 “are also optimal measures. On a new bike, avoid mounting with 26 “wheels, they will be more manageable but uncomfortable on city holes. It is difficult to give evergreen advice for this component, often on entry level bikes they are very heavy but sturdy, going up the range you will find more rims. bodyworked and light at the same time but the price will rise considerably. Sometimes, as on the Cannondale Adventure Neo 1, there are MTB wheels, which are perfect for withstanding city stresses and allow you to mount tires with generous tread.

Speaking of tires, there is no need to get too tight, it is one of the components most subject to wear and after a while you will have to change them anyway. Our advice is not to be afraid to orient yourself on “wide” tires, they will be more comfortable and will not affect the smoothness too much, rather keep an eye on the tessellation because that must be suitable for city routes or dirt roads, it is useless to go on tires from MTB.

SUSPENSIVE SYSTEM

Here the rule is simple: better not to have suspensions than to have them of bad quality. Unfortunately, however, the market is flooded with bikes with the typical decoy. Keep in mind that a good bicycle, mounted with adequate wheels and tires, can easily tackle the rough city roads, will need less maintenance and will score at least a couple of kg less on the scale.

On city bikes it is very rare to find high-end suspension forks, the suspensions are almost never air and offer even basic adjustments such as rebound or sinking lock, for example even the 4000 Euro Cannondale we used is equipped with an entry level spring fork. Santour forks are often used, they are not bad, while RockShox and Fox tend to mean better quality, but if you find bikes with “no-brand” forks, forget it.

Accessories can be tempting, but be careful not to get pulled because they often unnecessarily raise the price. Here are some examples you can save on.

A high quality roof rack can be found online for around 35-40 Euros, consider adding it later. The front and rear lights will take away a dozen euros at the Decathlon, an integrated anti-theft device of those with a key on the wheel is really of little use, do not make a choice based on this detail!

Kickstand, radar, mudguards, display integrated into the frame are all extra things that cost and have a relative impact in the everyday experience, perhaps it is better to invest a little more in a good lock (i Cryptonite are some of the best around)

We close with a consideration on the price. How much to spend? Below 1000 euros it is generally better to avoid, there are very good quality muscle bikes for the city at that price, instead for the electric ones you risk taking home a so-called “gate”. It does not want to be an invitation to spend a lot, but more a reflection that looks at reality, you seriously risk throwing your money away.

On the other hand, if you take into consideration what has been said in the previous points, it is very difficult to spend less than 1500/2000 Euros and, unfortunately, it is the only way to be able to have a bike that is truly usable with pleasure.

Clearly the investment is not low, but consider that a two-wheeler of a certain level can replace a scooter in most cases, as well as allowing you to move around the city with an ecological, versatile and fun vehicle.