The Giant Road E+ 1 looks like the e-bike for me. Your posts make very interesting reading, Gubbins - particularly your other thread on winter riding the Road E+, and the images you've posted of mudguard fitment etc. Do you have a close-up of the rear dropouts with the covers removed? - I'm curious whether there are separate threaded attachment points for a rack and mudguard.
Whilst I am very fit (for my, I suppose, advancing years and usual level of sleep deprivation), the 200-miles-per-week all-year-round commuting on my current 16kg-all-in commuter bike really takes its toll. It's all on rough hilly lanes, with belting headwinds on the way in that almost ALWAYS turn enough to seriously work against me when it comes to going home, which means come the weekend I need Saturday to recover and catch up on sleep, and any long/hard club rides/events etc on Sunday usually set me up for another week of feeling knackered at work. The rough roads, constant headwinds and hills really are a major drain on energy reserves, especially through the winter.
By using an e-bike instead on, say, 2-3 days a week for commuting, maybe all five days some weeks if sleep deprivation is getting particularly bad, I'm sure there will be a significant reduction in fatigue, and more (non-e-bike) weekend riding that can consequently be achieved. What's the view of anyone in a similar situation?
I do commute quite fast now, though (considering the bike is 16kg with all the lights and other paraphernalia) - usually averaging 14-18mph depending on headwind severity, or 19-22mph if the miracle of a tailwind ever materialises (and I can average a fair bit more riding my 7.5kg No. 1 bike without commuting luggage). So the 15.5mph cut-off of the Yamaha PW motor is of some concern. However, there are enough uphills and tough into-the-wind drags for the e-bike to make sense - but obviously the magnet-on-the-crank hack will be of particular interest, given my current averages. Of course, I can always just aim to maintain my current commuting averages, but simply achieve it with a lot less effort on a Road E+ 1.
I note nemesis's comment about having to wait for the 2018 model to get one with the PW-X motor. I think I'll wait for that, as the new motor is apparently about 0.5kg lighter and 13% smaller, and hopefully by then the frame will have been redesigned to take flat mount brakes, and any other niggles with the current model ironed out. By waiting for the PW-X, I'm hoping everything will be a bit more future-proof
Does anyone have any information on when the 2018 model is likely to be released in the UK? I seem to recall reading the next year's model usually comes out around October-November, but cannot remember where I saw this.
Now to start saving......!
