Hi all, I'm living around 10km from work and with the covid situation and our inability of public transport system to provide decent carrying capacity during rush-hour. I'm looking at options to cycle to work via an e-bike.
I'm not an avid cycler and I see this purely as means of transport, hence the e-bike component. Driving is not an option due to the cost of parking. Actual motorbikes is out as well as I won't have a place to park nor keen on getting a license. I also have a very tiny apartment, so space is an issue. Hence looking for a lightest folding ebike I can find.
e-scooters and e-skateboards are out as well since I can't really cross the sydney harbour bridge with those and they're technically illegal in Sydney.
Researching around, our options in Australia is pretty poor in this category. There's lots of folding ebikes, but they are either heavy/large, compared to international options in 2020, or their specs are a tad dated, yet the price we pay for it isn't that cheap either.
Ideally, I'd like a 20inch (16 in is tolerable) folder with at least 7ah (250W) battery that weighs no more than 16/17kg and with a fairly small folded footprint (this is a bit subjective, so open criteria but must be fully foldable - i.e. wheels together). Obviously, as cheap as possible but being realistic here as well.
Some bikes I've looked at that does fall into these specs are all not available in Oz, The United City Bikes "The One" (there's an ali equivalent of this) and the Carbo e-bike is another. The Go cycle ebike is also another option, but this is beyond my budget for sure. These are examples that fit my criteria - not a lot. There's all sorts of bikes on Ali, but they're all a tad heavy (and not certified for sure, see below).
Any thoughts other models?
Also, what is the practical importing considerations? I've read the government's guidelines, saying only 200W motor or if 250W must have the EU certs for a pedelac. Most of the bikes above are 250W but they aren't necessarily certified with the EU as a pedelac. Emailing the sellers, they said they've shipped to Oz with no problems, but that could just be them wanting to make a sale. Anyone have experienced importing e-bikes into Oz? Given the price I don't wanna pay so much to not get the product…
What a great post; well presented and obviously well researched before looking for the opinions of others to help out.