Thanks for all of your contributions so far!
seems to me that a Woosh Rambla would suit her well:
...
The bike is very quiet and feels very much like riding a good push bike. The battery is 36V 14AH, she should be able to get 50 miles out of it at her weight.
In terms of performance, I'm sure that it
would suit her... but unfortunately she doesn't like the appearance of it!
My pal
does quite like the look of the Faro but I'm thinking that since she already owns a perfectly decent bike (my old Orange Prestige MTB which is a quality steel framed hardtail with rigid forks, and large slick tyres), a conversion kit might be the best option for her, saving her a few hundred pounds (with my free labour...).
She told me that she only wants to own one bike so if she buys a new one, the old one has to go. It isn't really worth selling (unless there is an unsuspected market for 'classic' 20+ year old English mountain bikes**) so she would just give it away, probably to a local bike recycling charity.
I hadn't really taken into account how much easier a motor's job would be getting her 60-odd kg up a steep hill than my 90 kgs, or somebody else's 100+ kgs. Reading the various opinions above and browsing around, I reckon a quiet efficient motor like the AIKEMA 85SX could be ideal.
Powered by a 17 Ah battery and a reasonable pedalling effort by her some very nice local Yorkshire/Lancashire routes would be doable. Yes, I have my eye on the
Whoosh 85SX kit! (I haven't checked with her yet though.)
How much would a 26" wheel with the motor hub built in, the 17AH battery, and any cables and controls weigh? (£599, wasn't it, for all of that?) I haven't weighed the bike, but I'd guess that it is about 13 kg. If so, it should be possible to convert it to an ebike weighing about 19 kg?
** Hmm, it looks like there
IS a demand for such old MTBs.
This incomplete one went for £201 last week!!