Dear expats and people living in Germany.
I am living in the Netherlands and my 13 y.o. kid is not tall (146cm, with leg 70cm). As he needs to go 11km to school an e-bike is almost mandatory. Germany has many options and lower price for an e-bike, can you recommend a website to look for bikes (budget 1200 Euro max, 2nd hand e-bike is also good). I only know [kaufland.de](https://kaufland.de/) and I will go there to pick up the e-bike. Customer service is not so important because it will be impossible to bring the bike 300km back to Germany for service.
Also, I need to make sure the following requirements are met, is that an doable task ?
1- It is easy (by pressing some buttons) to ***bypass the maximal speed 25km*** to gain something above ? Some of my current e-bike has a factory default max of 25km/h (law required) but can be switched to power-mode with no upper limit (I can gain 35km/h if there is no wind).
2- To make sure that the ***saddle is reachable for his 70cm leg*** ? He is now using a 26-inch bike, he will grow up fast so 28 inch seems normal. With such a 28 inch bike the ability to lower the saddle is very important.
Now there are 4 types of battery positioning which might affect how low the saddle can go
\- battery next to the vertical frame pipe. This seems permitting the saddle to be quite low [https://media.cdn.kaufland.de/product-images/2048×2048/df1e7efbc55d284c5ab0a3b83aa50dfc.webp](https://media.cdn.kaufland.de/product-images/2048×2048/df1e7efbc55d284c5ab0a3b83aa50dfc.webp)
\- battery next to the diagonal frame pipe: This seems lowering the saddle is doable, however the frame’s vertical pipe seems normally not very low [https://media.cdn.kaufland.de/product-images/1024×1024/18e5581248773ff90ac34f472049d3a7.webp](https://media.cdn.kaufland.de/product-images/1024×1024/18e5581248773ff90ac34f472049d3a7.webp)
\- battery on top of the back wheel, under the ” Gepäckträger ” this is the most popular form, but the saddle cannot go very low because of the battery prohibiting it [https://media.cdn.kaufland.de/product-images/2048×2048/2624dd32cf1d3f381541027c8ac9b969.webp](https://media.cdn.kaufland.de/product-images/2048×2048/2624dd32cf1d3f381541027c8ac9b969.webp)\\
\- battery integrated in the diagonal frame pipe, not popular type I guess [https://media.cdn.kaufland.de/product-images/2048×2048/cc49dfebdd4726911d016e6255211437.webp](https://media.cdn.kaufland.de/product-images/2048×2048/cc49dfebdd4726911d016e6255211437.webp)\\
3) – For low requirement for maintenance, I would prefer a ***Nabendynamo*** because a **Schaltwerk** requres careful maintenance. I am afraid of the risk of having the bike chain derailed. Am I right ?
Many thanks.
by SlechteConcentratie
1 Comment
1. As far as I know there arent any Pedelecs that arent S-Pedelecs (that need insurance and a drivers license) that can go beyond 27km/h. I got one with a Bosch Performance Line CX motor, and that one stops the assistance gradually from 25-27km/h. Beyond that, its just my legs, and its very much still possible to go >30km/h with just your legs with some training.
2. Maybe you should just go to some bigger bicycle store in Germany on a weekend and try out some bicycles with your kid to make sure it fits. There are a lot of factors besides saddle height that go into if a bicycle is comfortable to ride. Depending on the geometry of the Bike, you might have to get a small seatpost first and get a bigger one later.
3. Battery: the integrated battery inside the frame is definitely becoming more and more popular, especially for higher end bikes from my experience. My bike has a Bosch Powertube, so its intergrated in the frame, and its quite nice. In your case, this is available for any fram geometry, so it doesnt affect how low the saddle can go.
4. Im assuming you are talking about a Nabenschaltung and not a Nabendynamo. A Nabenschaltung definitely requires less maintenance, even more so when it has a belt rather than a chain. If the chain derails for whatever reason, it should be a quick fix, even without any tools on the side of the road. Its a bit harder with a Nabenschaltung, as the chain is constantly under tension, opposed to an external gearing mechanism where you can just push the cage of the derailleur forward to ease tension. In both cases, it should basically not happen in the first place, and if it does, its an easy fix. No matter what bike you get, you could show your kid a few times how to fix it on the side of the road and they are good to go.