Hello all, 1st post here (hopefully of many). Background is I'm early 70's, reasonably active (but not superfit!). Prior to this year myself and wife have used Marin Redwood comfort bikes and cycled on towpaths and mild trails around the Derbyshire reservoirs but not extreme hills or trails.
We now moved and downsized to an apartment in Worcestershire which has secure parking and, surprisingly, a couple of bike sheds within a gated environment. At this stage we will probably keep our existing (non-electric) bikes and are considering a couple of folding e-bikes which will enable us to put them in the boot of the car and travel a bit further and explore our new surroundings (particularly the Cotswolds).
Something that will affect any buying decision is that fact that I have arthritis in my hands and wrists (worse in the left) to the extent that I can't use the triple front chainwheel on my Marin but can manage the rear changer with my right hand. For this reason I would like front suspension to take the shocks out the bumps and, for the same reason, I would like to think about hub gears (mainly to future-proof myself in case the arthritis gets worse).
At the moment I am looking at 3 bikes which are (1) Woosh Rambletta, (2) Roodog Bliss and (3) Volt Metro. It seems impossible to get a folder with both suspension and hub gears - unless anyone knows otherwise.
I did contact Woosh and got a very helpful reply from Tony Lee and I do favour the style of the Rambletta with the mono-shock (is that the right term?) but the other 2 bikes have more traditional suspension. Batribikes have the hub gears but no suspension so I have ruled them out.
My riding will be on roads, trails with some bumps and tree roots and canal towpaths (which vary in smoothness). Sorry this a long 1st post but I would really appreciate any advice, particularly relating to efficacy of the different types of suspension.
Finally, my wife loves the Gocycles (and I'm mightily impressed as well) but cost and lack of suspension rules them out for now but maybe they'll be an expensive treat somewhere down the line
Many thanks for any help,
John.
We now moved and downsized to an apartment in Worcestershire which has secure parking and, surprisingly, a couple of bike sheds within a gated environment. At this stage we will probably keep our existing (non-electric) bikes and are considering a couple of folding e-bikes which will enable us to put them in the boot of the car and travel a bit further and explore our new surroundings (particularly the Cotswolds).
Something that will affect any buying decision is that fact that I have arthritis in my hands and wrists (worse in the left) to the extent that I can't use the triple front chainwheel on my Marin but can manage the rear changer with my right hand. For this reason I would like front suspension to take the shocks out the bumps and, for the same reason, I would like to think about hub gears (mainly to future-proof myself in case the arthritis gets worse).
At the moment I am looking at 3 bikes which are (1) Woosh Rambletta, (2) Roodog Bliss and (3) Volt Metro. It seems impossible to get a folder with both suspension and hub gears - unless anyone knows otherwise.
I did contact Woosh and got a very helpful reply from Tony Lee and I do favour the style of the Rambletta with the mono-shock (is that the right term?) but the other 2 bikes have more traditional suspension. Batribikes have the hub gears but no suspension so I have ruled them out.
My riding will be on roads, trails with some bumps and tree roots and canal towpaths (which vary in smoothness). Sorry this a long 1st post but I would really appreciate any advice, particularly relating to efficacy of the different types of suspension.
Finally, my wife loves the Gocycles (and I'm mightily impressed as well) but cost and lack of suspension rules them out for now but maybe they'll be an expensive treat somewhere down the line
Many thanks for any help,
John.
