Power up, Pedal on!

You may wish to purely ride on city streets or solely faraway singletracks. Perhaps you’d like to commute and still be able to ride the river trails on weekends. Better yet, you might wish to explore the New Zealand Cycle trails in your holidays. We have bikes for every gradient from purely off road to strictly on-road.This is your first decision in finding the right e-bike, consider how much you will ride on-road vs off road. We recommend you buy a bike that suits the riding you will do most often. Bikes suitable for gravel trails will have wider tyres and usually front and/or rear suspension. Bikes for street only will have narrower tyres and sometimes only a rigid front fork. You can use the filters on the shop page to choose which terrain suits your style.

Think about your typical weekly use. How far will you need to ride daily? Are there steep hills or is it flat as a pancake. Higher quality motor systems perform better when tested against steep Wellington hills. If you have a long commute or want to go touring on your e-bike you may need a large battery capacity or a dual battery system. If you just want to run errands around the flat parts of town then you might get by on a more affordable mid-drive motor system, with a smaller battery capacity.The harder you work your ebike the larger the battery and the more powerful a motor you will need. Fortunately, no one ever complained about too powerful a motor or too much charge in their battery. If in doubt, go up a grade. For more information about what sort of range you can expect from your e-bike, click here.

When riding an e-bike there is no need to be tucked down low into the wind as the motor simply pushes you through it, but if you’re an experienced rider you may find that a sporty riding position is more familiar and comfortable. If you’re new or newly returning to cycling you might prefer an upright step-thru bike, generally new riders feel safer riding upright. Perhaps you’d like a mix of both in which case a mid-step frame will typically give you that semi upright riding position. The riding position on most bikes can be customised somewhat with adjustable handlebars and seat positions. We can help you with this in-store. Use the frame style filters in our shop pages to choose your desired riding position.

Perhaps you only need to carry a laptop in a pannier, or perhaps you’d like to use your bike for everything including dropping off the children to daycare or adventuring with your longboard and camping gear. This is where we determine whether an ordinary e-bike, Utility bike or Cargo bike might liberate your life a little extra. If you want to carry all your children you should check our page about Cargo Bike children-carrying capacities here. If you just want to carry a pannier, then just ensure your bike comes with a rack, or ask us if one can be fitted. Generally standard racks will carry up to 25kg. We also have a range of baskets to fit the front of most of our e-bikes.

Some of the e-bike models we stock have a manufacturer-claimed range of up to 190km.

The actual distance you can ride on a single charge will vary according to several factors, including the size of the battery, your weight, how much or how hard you pedal, how hilly it is, headwind/tailwind, air temperature etc. So it is possible to use up a battery charge over a much smaller distance.

We explain this in a little more detail below. You can also get an excellent overview of how this works using this nifty range calculator made by Bosch.

For information about factors that may affect your e-bike range, click here.

In New Zealand, the legal power output for a road-going electric bike is 300 watts. We mainly carry Shimano and Bosch Electric Mid drive systems, which usually provide assistance up to 32km/h. However, some of the models from Benno and Riese & Müller can also get up 45km/h before the speed cuts off.

There are systems available that can go much faster, but the bicycle must be registered to go on public roads. We believe electric bikes should make the ride more enjoyable but not necessarily more exciting. If you are looking for a high power unit to take off-road we can point you in the right direction.

Choosing the right motor is a matter of what suits your bike and what suits your riding style. Here are some factors for your consideration. 

Mid drive motor

As a result of their massive improvements in recent years, we currently only carry Mid-drive systems, and here are a few of the reasons why.

A mid drive system has the advantage of driving through the bicycle gears. This allows for a greater torque control and speed range. Great for people who want a bike that responds like a regular bike. The conversion kits can fit to a wider range of bikes. Think of it as the “manual” system.

• More responsive to rider input, more assistance control
• More dynamic riding, gear changing needed for best performance.
• Motor weight is kept central in the frame, improving weight distribution.
• Suits bikes with internal hub gears.
• Suits all wheel sizes.
• Keep original wheels.
• Additional wear on chain and sprockets.

Hub motor

Previously, hub motor systems were the standard, as they were the first electric bike systems to hit the road, Nowadays, as a result of vast improvements mid drive systems, they have been largely phased out by most bicycle companies.

A good quality hub motor system can have good acceleration and high top speeds. This comes as a trade off to having a motor system that is less responsive to rider pedaling input. You could think of it as the “automatic” system.

• Involves a custom built rear wheel, making kits less compatible.
• External cables, making puncture repairs more difficult.
• More weight in the rear wheel, leading to worse handling.
• Easy twist and go use.
• Keeps original gears.
• No additional chain wear.

An e-bike is a bicycle with electric motor to help you along. You ride it much like you ride a normal bicycle, but with less effort.

E-bikes can come in many styles, from commuter bikes to full-suspension mountain bikes, and everything in between. Our focus is on urban and cargo bikes, used for commuting, transport, or pleasure. To that end, we stock bikes that have a focus on quality, are beautiful to look at, and will last a long time.

An e-bike motor works by automatically switching on the (quiet) motor when you pedal. There are two different types of motor: motors that are in the crank and motors that are in your rear hub. Both types have their pros and cons - it all depends on the type of riding you're planning on doing. 

As a rule, crank motors provide a more authentic bicycle experience. This is because the motor senses how much power you are putting into the pedals (using a torque sensor), and responds proportionally (that is, the harder you pedal, the more the motor helps you). This makes you feel like you have extra strong legs! Crank motors tend to be more responsive than wheel hub motors, and allow the bicycle to roll more freely without the additional drag of a motor in the hub. We stock several e-bike models with crank motors made by Bosch and Shimano. 

Wheel hub motors have been around for longer and offer a simpler design. Most wheel hub motors do not sense how much power you are making with your legs, so they will generally be either ‘on’ or ‘off’. Due to the placement of the motor in the rear wheel they also make changing punctures more difficult, and make the bike handle less like a regular bike due to less balanced weight distribution. Due to these and other reasons, we no longer stock hub based electric systems.

All of our e-bikes allow you to adjust how much power you want, or to switch off the power altogether and ride it like a non-electric bike.