Any views on Ampere and Apache ?

[shed]

Looking for first ebikes for my wife and me. I'm 6ft (183cm) 75kg, she's 5'6" (168cm) and around 80kg (bit of a guess but I'm not brave enough to ask ). Would like to try and keep cost of each to below £1500. Pref range in order of 40miles plus (no steep hills around here in our part of New Forest) with a mix of country roads and forest / gravel trails. Therefore I've been looking at the following:

Apache Matta E6 2020 from Rutland for the wife at £1299. Specs and styling look OK for the money - 36v / 468wh, hydraulic disc brakes, front suspension (admittedly Suntour NEX 63cm), 18" frame, not too heavy 21kg. (No bigger frame/crossbar version of the E6 available for me - Apache Matta E7 2021
has similar specs and 19" or 21" frame but no availability date yet)

Ampere Tourer / Tourer S for both of us. Either 10.4ah/375wh at £1249 (prob not big enough battery?) or 16ah/576wh at £1449. Very similar spec to Apache (hydraulic discs, Suntour NEX, 20kg. Might prefer the Ampere Explorer MTB for me...same pricing and spec but with Suntour XCT 100mm forks and slightly lighter at 19kg.

Anybody have any experience/knowledge of either of these brands and/or bikes?

Also on list are -
NCM Milano Plus good specs but price (£1599) and weight (28kg ) are concerns, along with after sales support.

Ezego Commute INT 2020. Cheaper at £1199 but only 400wh battery and no suspension. I like styling but wife not so keen on height of crossbar even the sloped one in the 15" frame.

Have looked at Woosh (Camino for me, Santana 3 for wife) but lead times are against. Santana CD for both of us is a possibility as in stock and very good value but not sure whether the crank drive would suit (and also they are pretty fugly).

Any views /input on these choices (or other suggestions in that budget range..Oxygen possibly?) gratefully received as starting to suffer from analysis paralysis....

Thanks in advice

 

[sjpt]

The Apache and Ampere both have very straight handlebars; might be what you prefer, I prefer a little bit swept back. They both look sensible enough overall. They probably both have standard Chinese electrical parts, that's good as they are cheap and easy to fix/replace when needed. Specs such as 'Apache Power Silent' and 'Powerful 250W 36V brushless motor' aren't that informative.

Be careful comparing weight that you compare like with like: the Ampere has mudguards, lights and a (very feeble looking) rack, which you may or may not want. The Apache has nothing, the Santana has guards and rack (probably a much better one).

Not sure why you might not want the CD on the Santana. (Most CDs have torque sensor, Santana doesn't.) For me that would be the choice, partly because I've got to the stage I really appreciate a step-through. You don't say how old you are or how long you expect to keep the bikes; that might become more important to you at some point.

 

[shed]

The Apache and Ampere both have very straight handlebars; might be what you prefer, I prefer a little bit swept back. They both look sensible enough overall. They probably both have standard Chinese electrical parts, that's good as they are cheap and easy to fix/replace when needed. Specs such as 'Apache Power Silent' and 'Powerful 250W 36V brushless motor' aren't that informative.

Be careful comparing weight that you compare like with like: the Ampere has mudguards, lights and a (very feeble looking) rack, which you may or may not want. The Apache has nothing, the Santana has guards and rack (probably a much better one).

Not sure why you might not want the CD on the Santana. (Most CDs have torque sensor, Santana doesn't.) For me that would be the choice, partly because I've got to the stage I really appreciate a step-through. You don't say how old you are or how long you expect to keep the bikes; that might become more important to you at some point.

Thanks. Ages are 64 (me) and 62 (wife). I can still get on a crossbar bike pref with a slighter lower step over height that my current straight across crossbar , wife prefers a step through or (veryj low trapeze crossbar.

Would probably be looking to keep them at 2 to 3 years to see how much we use them and then , finances allowing, might be looking at higher spec ones if we get hooked. Hence why I'm trying to keep budget down but without comprising excessively eg not going for too small a battery / mileage and then regretting not being able to go far enough (given that replacing battery, if even poss, with higher capacity would likely be considerably more expensive than the initial increase of getting the higher capacity battery at outset).

 

[shed]

Just to update. Would have gone with Woosh Santana CD but unfortunately by the time I finished prevaricating they had nothing left. So have plumped for the Ampere Tourer & Tourer S with the 16ah batteries. Just managed to get some of the last ones through Ecobikecompany with LCD display upgrades thrown in for free thanks to the very helpful Jarrad. Should be arriving next week so will post up first impressions once we've tried them out.