When we were looking at touring we debated (for about 2 years) caravan or motorhome and part of that debate was the size of the motorhome if we got one. There are lots of things to consider, but one is the convenience of a motorhome (or lack of it). It’s hard to take a motorhome and park it in most towns. Country lanes are less accessible. Nipping to the shop involves packing up the motorhome (takes about 20mins). So after hours of talking we decided to go for a large motorhome and a pair of bikes, expecting to use the bikes as the means of getting around. So far this has proved to have been an ideal solution although sometimes it has been very cold and wet.

We got electric bikes, my theory being that we may well be going to hilly places and the motor will help. The electric bikes have been a dream.

After some reading around we settled on a Bosch motor. Basically there are two decent motor’s – Bosch or Yamaha, and if I’m being honest it was Bosch we got because that was on the bike that had most of the features we looked at.  You get 2 types of motors; hub (sits in the wheel hub and drives the wheel) , or crank drive (sits on the pedal hub). Hub motors are cheaper, less smooth and less powerful, so we got crankdrive.  You get 2 types of controllers. Firstly, ones where you push button on the handlebars and turn the throttle. These are being made illegal in some countries or at least being classed as not bicycles so you can’t use them on bike lanes for instance. The others are pedal assisted, the more you pedal the more the power kicks in. These are more natural and feel more like a normal bike. We got those. The ones we got allow you to turn up the amount of power delivered on each pedal. All ebikes are limited in speed to 16mph and once you reach that speed the engine cuts out. This doesn’t stopped you going faster, just means you get no help.  EU on top speed is the same so we had no concerns on that (so glad we are still part of the EU). The final key factor we considered was the brakes. You get V brakes as I have had on my bikes since childhood. You know the once you pull on and nothing happens, Disc brakes which are slightly better and then hydraulic brakes. Pull the brakes on going down hill while do speed and the bike actually stops.  I went for the latter, after failing to stop at a main road junction in Cotswolds last summer. There are other things to consider, weight, lights, suspension, gears battery power (our was mid range) and a few other things that I can’t quite remember. Then there is cost. A cheap bike will go for £1000 with enough change to buy yourself a beer on the first bike ride. Top end, I have no idea, and about £2000-£3000 for the sort of bikes we got.  Of course some of my dad’s genes survived in me, these prices are much lower if you buy second hand and ours were in reasonable condition, not too many scratches but it does mean we’re not 100% sure of the battery condition. As yet we ave never run out of battery on a ride, but we have not really done any long ones, you get about 70K from a battery, depending on if you do the flat or hills (ie how much battery you use). We have come close to running out a few times and once swapped batteries towards the end of the ride as John uses his battery less then mine, so it gave us extra distance.

We do have a bike rack on the motorhome but the bikes fit nicely in the garage where they are out of sight and not exposed to the weather.

These bike are so good. It hard to describe just how good. Ok we have not done the alps yet but we have done some pretty steep hills. Whack the gears down, power up and you can do the hills without breaking sweat.  Of course you can keep the battery low (or even off) turn the gears up and give yourself that work out.  Using the bikes enables us to see so much more without moving Bertie. We have cycled over moors, around salt flats, along the coast, up the hills among the vineyards and we use them at least 3 times a week for just sightseeing.  We also use them for practical reasons, we park on remote sites, I like being in the middle of nowhere, but the bakers is never more than 15 mins gentle ride away whereas it’d be a long walk. You see more things riding, but i still love walking as you do it slower and see more of the detail on a walk. We, so far, have had one issue with john’s. We cycled 4 hours in sleet, hail and constant pouring rain (I still wonder why) when we went to St Mont Michel. Water got into John’s controller and the controller was a few weeks before it work properly again. We now put a dreaded plastic bag around the controllers if it is raining.

A little about the controllers, ours are made by Bosch, and have a display screen.  It is basic, it show your speed, trip distance etc in text and allows you to page through those textural details. There are new controllers on the market that allow you to access the internet, do nice graphics, show maps etc.. These things are improving all the time, and maybe if you look around you can find one that runs on FOSS software for those that like hacking your devices.  I’d love to upgrade to the news ones, but at the moment we just attached our phone to the handle bars.

So to summarise. If your old, fat, unfit an electric bike is a fantastic buy.  Ok, if you’re 25 and cycle 100k a week then stay with the traditional sort. If you considering motorhoming around Europe get an electric bike.

PS Since I wrote this we have done some riding in the Pyranees. Only a 300 metre elevation but it would have been impossible for us without help.