Is an electric bike right for your commute?

An honest look at whether an electric bike suits your commute, including the several cases where the answer is no.

The distance question

Assistance cuts at 15.5mph, so an e-bike does not make you dramatically faster than a reasonably fit cyclist on the flat. What it does is flatten the variance: you arrive in the same time whether it is windy, whether there are hills, and whether you slept badly. That predictability is why people who buy one for a hilly commute keep using it.

Round trip	Verdict
Under 4 miles, flat	A normal bike is cheaper, lighter and less to worry about locking up. An e-bike is a luxury here, not a solution.
4–15 miles	The sweet spot. Far enough that hills and headwind matter, short enough that battery size is a non-issue.
15–30 miles	Works well, but size the battery deliberately and plan on charging at one end.
Over 30 miles daily	Possible, but you are asking a lot of a battery every day, and the pack will age faster for it.

The arriving-sweaty question

This is the real reason most people buy one, and it is worth being precise. An e-bike does not stop you sweating — you are still pedalling. It lets you choose your effort: ride easy in work clothes on the way in, ride hard on the way home. On a hilly route in a suit, that is the entire difference between cycling to work and not.

Where you will keep it

This decides more purchases than range does.

• Secure storage at both ends? Then almost any bike works.
• Street parking at work? Think hard. An e-bike is worth several times a normal bike to a thief and takes the same thirty seconds to remove.
• Carrying it up stairs? Weigh the bike before you buy it. A 25kg e-bike up two flights daily gets old within a fortnight.
• Removable battery? If you cannot charge where you park, this is not optional. Check it before anything else.

What you will need beyond the bike

• A proper lock, or two. Sold Secure Diamond is the rating to look for. Budget £80–150, and expect to leave one locked at work.
• Mudguards. On a British commute these are not an accessory.
• Lights that are always on the bike, not ones you keep forgetting.
• A way to carry things. A rucksack is the thing that actually makes you sweaty; a rack and panniers put the weight on the bike instead.

Three reasons not to buy one

1. You need finance to afford it. We cannot offer finance or Cycle to Work, and neither can many online sellers. A shop that can may be the better place to buy, and we would rather say so.
2. You have nowhere secure to leave it. No lock defeats an angle grinder, and e-bikes are targeted.
3. You are hoping it will make you start cycling. It removes the hill excuse, not the getting-out-of-the-door one. If you are not already occasionally cycling, borrow one before you spend thousands.