e-bike under £2,500

[Patrick86]

Hi there,

I'm looking to buy my first e-bike - it has to be under £2,500 as that's my limit on a cycle to work scheme (also has to be purchasable on Halford's Cycle2Work).

Generally looking for something to mainly to use in the city - but would like to be comfortable doing stuff off tarmac (my current bike is an old steel frame city/road bike which isn't the most comfortable), going on some longer cycles (subject to range) in nature (enjoy camping) so mainly been looking at hybrids.

Bit of context, I'm having issues with fatigue and long covid, used to cycle a lot (not long cycles, but ~2 hours a day), now get knackered for a week if I cycle more than about 90 minutes in a day; hoping an ebike might help me cycle more and build up slowly; probably means I want a bike that can give a reasonable amount of assist - especially on hills (even if not super steep) as these knacker me out at the moment, which I've been told by my consultant to avoid. I'm 5'9" and about 65 kilos.

Bikes I'm considering:

• Woosh Gran Camino; clearly got a lot going for it, very cheap it seems for what you get. Lack of mid-drive is a concern, but probably silly given my needs.
• Trek Verve+1 with 500wh battery, or Verve+ 2 with 300wh (just due to £2500 constraint). Well reviewed (Verve+1 is a best buy at which). Verve+2 has powerline motor as opposed to active line on Verve+1, and imagine not having the battery on the back would be preferable.
• Carrera Crossfuse; people seem to love it, though get the impression it's a pretty cheap bike with a good motor (active line again) and battery (400wh), that is over-priced for its parts. I do quite like the aesthetic of this bike more than the two above I'd say.
• My vanity pick - the Ribble Hybrid AL e. Really like the look of it and the fact it's hard to tell it's an ebike. Carbon forks seems good. But the tiny battery, and the fact it's £500(?) for a small extender. Combined with the fact without the extender you cannot remove the battery to charge easily is a downside.

Would really welcome any thoughts, been reading a lot on the forum and clear how much expertise is here.

Thanks in advance!

Patrick

 

[TripHazard]

You'll get less voltage sag on long steep hills, with a big battery pack. Mine's a 19.2ah and worth lugging around for that reason alone - also good for longevity, because as I understand it, the individual cells are less stressed in larger cell packs (if they're not being made to discharge at too high amps). I hope.

That was my thought when I bought it, however most my rides don't come close to using much out of it. I'm just hard to please, if I'd gone smaller I'd probably be wishing I went bigger! I only managed around 40 miles of a charge, I guess letting lots of my work colleagues try it out on turbo was a mistake. It took 30 miles for one light to go off the display then the rest all went in 10 miles.

 

[guerney]

That was my thought when I bought it, however most my rides don't come close to using much out of it. I'm just hard to please, if I'd gone smaller I'd probably be wishing I went bigger! I only managed around 40 miles of a charge, I guess letting lots of my work colleagues try it out on turbo was a mistake. It took 30 miles for one light to go off the display then the rest all went in 10 miles.

My battery yields about 43 miles at very high assistance, or a couple of miles more using slightly less amps. My legs have grown to the size of tree trunks since I got the battery a couple of thousand miles ago (not really, they're now less thin twigs), therefore I might manage with a lower PAS level for longer range. In a year or several, you'll be glad when 80% of your 20ah battery capacity still equates to a useful number of miles, as capacity diminishes with recharges.

 

[Deno]

Really?? you notice lesser efficiency due to drag on an ebike going at 15mph ???

Or are you talking about absolute range? - remembering that one of the options the OP was talking about had only a 300wh battery, and most of the others were 400Wh - do you REALLY think the reaction hybrid's 'higher profile' is going to make THAT much difference in efficiency??
Oh .. and bear in mind also that about 90% of the people posting here will put on some kind of handlebar riser to make the bike more comfortable to ride if the bike doesn't already have this kind of 'higher profile' to start with ;-)

Both range and efficiency. The OP is talking about taking the bikes on longer rides and I have made an assumption that the OP will go above the 15mph limit at times. The lower profile city bike will be more efficient at that speed, if only marginally.

Do 90% of riders use riser bars? I want to get mine lower.

 

[Edwards35]

YMMV, but I'd get the Cube reaction hybrid for certain. Solid bike, motor with plenty of power to tackle ANY hill and the 500wh battery is really the deal clincher. You've ticked all the main boxes there. Most of the other options you quoted had to make some compromise somewhere. That cube doesn't.

One could say I have a bias, as my main commuting bike is actually an older model reaction hybrid to which I've added a rear rack and bag with fold out panniers, and a front mudguard. The latter being VERY cheap and easy to fit (attaches up into the crown (?) of the suspension fork where there is a large opening), and the former meaning you don't actually need a rear mudguard!
I put fat, but non mountain bike wheels on it, and the comfort is far superior for gravel and trails etc than a normal hybrid, and the slight extra weight that you pay for it being a proper mountain bike becomes irrelevant when you have a motor.
But bias is probably the wrong term, because if something happened to my Cube and I had to go looking for another bike of the same type to replace it ... I'd probably just end up coming to the same conclusion than another reaction hybrid would be one of the best options to go for, even if I was using it for general purpose use and not as a pure MTB.
I think the main reason NOT to go for the cube would just be if one was going to use it exclusively on good condition roads, and you really disliked the more chunky look of an MTB.

What is the old model you used to make a hybrid bike? Just interested

 

[GLJoe]

What is the old model you used to make a hybrid bike? Just interested

I think its something like Cube Reaction Hybrid HPA Race 29.
Probably a bit of overkill in terms of spec as a commuter as its got stuff like a fairly decent suspension fork, XT derailleur etc. But I got a really good deal on it at the time

 

[GLJoe]

.. riders use riser bars? I want to get mine lower.

You are indeed in the extreme minority.

 

[Patrick86]

Thanks so much for all your thoughts all, really appreciate it.

Alongside these comments I did a bit more research. Now choosing between:

• Gazelle Medeo T10 - bosch performance line, 500 battery
• Buying a second hand bike and a kit from Woosh.

I'm leaning towards the latter, but which bike and which motor is a whole new question... I don't mind spending up to a £2,500 if it's worth it, but sounds like for around £500 for a bike and £1000 for the kit should be plenty?

Would something like this be a decent bet? Found a slightly older used model I think for about £400.

In terms of the motor, some reading has made me think that a rear hub drive might be preferable to a mid-drive, but I really don't have much idea. It'll mainly be for getting me around London with fairly mild hills, but I like the idea of being able to go on gentle off-road things. I guess I like the idea of the motor not feeling too divorced from peddling, though at the same time do want the option of a decent assist given my long-covid related limitations.

 

[sjpt]

In terms of the motor, some reading has made me think that a rear hub drive might be preferable to a mid-drive, but I really don't have much idea. It'll mainly be for getting me around London with fairly mild hills, but I like the idea of being able to go on gentle off-road things.

Rear hub is probably better for that, simple but effective. Cadence sensor (*) won't be quite so 'natural'; but a decent controller should still give a rewarding assisted pedalling experience. With cadence sensing you can get engine power as long as you can keep the pedals turning without effort pushing them; really helpful when tired and you hit a hill on the way home.

(*) You've probably already read that typically hub bikes/kits use cadence sensors and crank drive use torque sensors, but that there are plenty of exceptions both ways round.

 

[Patrick86]

Actually, now I'm reading up on more rear hub motors, and looking at cost of donor bikes etc.. (sadly the Kathmandu one was sold), I'm now leaning heavily to the Gran Camino; the more I learn the better deal it seems. I shouldn't be surprised, given how much praise Woosh get here.

Or perhaps toe Faro , though less friendly for off-road it does seem a lot lighter, even with a 17ah battery.

I might even get a 2nd 17ah battery given the Cycle2Work budget can allow it...