City e-bikes
A city e-bike is built for the daily commute, an upright seating position and a low step-through, not for the trail. Frame size is chosen by your height and wheel diameter by whether you want a calmer roll or quicker turns. In the European Union only a bike up to 250 W and 25 km/h may use the cycle path and the road without registration. The real range comes out of the watt hours, not out of the number in the listing.
City e-bikes
A city e-bike takes care of the ride to work, the shopping and the loop along the cycle path, that is riding on a hard surface and in traffic. Mostly twenty-eight and twenty-six inch bikes sell, both with a suspension fork, disc brakes and seven gears. Seven gears are enough for city climbs, because the motor takes most of the load and the derailleur only trims the cadence. From a mountain bike or a folding bike the city bike differs in having a rack, mudguards and lights from the factory, so it is ready to ride on day one.
The first choice is frame size and step-through, because a wrong frame height cannot be made good by moving the saddle. For a height under 170 centimetres twenty-six inch wheels suit better, over 175 the twenty-eights, which hold a calmer line over a long ride. The low step-through without a top tube is what you appreciate when you get on in a coat or a skirt, or when your hip hurts. The upright position with a higher stem spares your wrists and back, but into a headwind it costs more energy than a posture bent over the bars.
In the European Union only a machine up to 250 W and 25 km/h counts as a bicycle, one where the motor helps only while you pedal. City bikes with a 250 W motor stay inside that limit and may use the cycle path and the road without registration. The model with 1000 W and 42 km/h does not stay inside it, so it belongs on private land or has to be registered and insured as a motor vehicle. What counts is the continuous rated power on the motor plate and the rules of the country you ride in, not what the listing says.
Range comes out of the watt hours, that is the voltage multiplied by the capacity, and the number in the listing is measured at the lowest assist level with a light rider. A battery of 36 V and 13 Ah holds 468 Wh, one of 43.2 V and 13 Ah holds 562 Wh and one of 48 V and 17.5 Ah holds 840 Wh. A city bike on the flat and at medium assist uses about 8 to 12 Wh per kilometre. That works out at roughly 39 to 58 kilometres on the 468 Wh battery and 47 to 70 kilometres on the 562 Wh one, not the advertised 120.
The equipment for traffic decides whether you take the bike in November as well or only in summer. Lights, mudguards, a rack and a firm stand belong on a city bike from the start, because on an e-bike with the cables routed inside the frame they are harder to retrofit than on an ordinary bike. An e-bike weighs around twenty-five kilos and therefore needs a wider stand, and for the lock reckon on a hardened chain or a D-lock, not a thin cable.
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