Not very different at all, except for the additional push you get from the motor, which makes it so much easier and more fun! Other than that, pedalling, operating the gears, brakes, and steering on an e-bike are basically the same as on a regular bicycle.

Yes, all the e-bikes we support are pedelecs or pedal-assisted electric bicycles, meaning that you need to pedal to engage the motor. The drivetrains in the bikes we offer have different levels of support to help you along, but they are like a well-trained dog: they will only help you when you ask them to!

The level of exercise you get on a pedelec varies with the support level you choose, but generally it is similar to walking. For the same amount of effort you’ll be going about 5 times faster though, without getting sweaty.

Yes, absolutely! Your effort will be similar to a walking effort and if you want more you can always switch off the support.

Yes you can. Our e-bikes can be ridden like a regular bicycle when the battery is flat, however there won’t be any support from the motor. Pedalling will be slightly harder than for a regular bicycle due to the pedelec’s extra weight. Even when the battery is flat you’ll still be visible at night though as the display and the lights will continue to work for a long time after. To avoid running on a flat battery, just keep an eye on your display which shows the current charge of the battery.

A full charge takes about 3-4 hours. We recommend to just plug it in overnight so you are ready to ride in the morning.

It’s hard to give precise estimates as there are many variables at play, like the battery capacity, the age of the battery, the drivetrain brand and type, your e-bike model, the support level used, the terrain you ride in etc. A rough estimate is that for standard e-bikes a single charge will get you anywhere between 30-150km. Our own experience with a few of the Bosch e-bikes in Melbourne is that we get to around 60-80km using support levels 2/3 where 4 is the highest. For a cargo e-bike, it may be a bit less because of the extra weight and worse aerodynamics. We achieved around 30-50 km per charge while test riding the Butchers & Bicycles tricycle.

You don’t need to worry about battery life, as our full-service novated lease packages include battery replacement. In general, the batteries of the drivetrains we use are highly sophisticated pieces of equipment, using technology similar to that found in mobile phone batteries (albeit with about 40-50 times the capacity). Bosch guarantees batteries will last at least 2 years or 500 full charge cycles, but they expect batteries to last much longer than that.

The premium e-bikes we carry in our range generate very little noise while in operation. Try it out for yourself.

Short answer: as fast as you can pedal. Long answer: the engine gives you support up to 25-27kph, but you can go faster if you want to by pedalling yourself (or using gravity to your advantage).

No, at this time we only carry 250W e-bikes complying with the European pedelec standard in our range. These e-bikes give you access to the latest technology and the best user experience.

Please let us know via the contact page which e-bike you’re interested in, and we’ll be in touch to discuss the options.