Narrowed the choice down to 3 - any advice welcomed

[Volvos60s60]

Hi

I am looking for a crank drive flat bar hybrid for 90% road & 10% canal towpath use & I've narrowed my choice to 3 bikes.

1. Giant Explore + 1
2. Specialized Turbo Vado 4.0
3. Cube Touring Hybrid Pro 500

All are more than I'd like to spend but I'll have to stretch to these kind of bikes to get what I want. Do you have any advice re build quality/durability/reliability/components, also any similar quality alternatives

Thanks

Ian

 

[Raboa]

Hi, Woosh FARO

The Faro | Very Lightweight Electric Bikes from Woosh

The Faro: very lightweight road electric bike from Woosh with hydraulic brakes and in-frame 36V 8AH battery or 20AH external battery.

wooshbikes.co.uk

 

[Volvos60s60]

Thanks Raboa but the Woosh Faro is not crank mounted motor. I believe crank drive offers better balance than front or rear motor location. Also the components are not the same quality as the bikes I mentioned

 

[Woosh]

the Faro is a very good bike and not showy. I ride one myself for more than a year now.
The whole bike weighs 17kgs with mudguards,bell and lights.
The brakes are hydraulic.
The rear geared hub motor is an Aikema 13.0 weighing just 1.9kg and with the battery inside the frame, the weight is so well distributed that the centre of gravity remains like it is on a normal bike, the whole bike feels like a normal bike. That's something very rare on e-bikes.

 

[Andy McNish]

Hi

I am looking for a crank drive flat bar hybrid for 90% road & 10% canal towpath use & I've narrowed my choice to 3 bikes.

1. Giant Explore + 1
2. Specialized Turbo Vado 4.0
3. Cube Touring Hybrid Pro 500

All are more than I'd like to spend but I'll have to stretch to these kind of bikes to get what I want. Do you have any advice re build quality/durability/reliability/components, also any similar quality alternatives

Thanks

Ian

I have a 2019 Cube Touring 500 Iridium with very similar specs to the Pro.

Bought it a year ago. Have done 3000km on it to date . Absolutely bomb proof. Whisper silent. Zero resist. Stupid range.

I use it for roaming off-road - down cycle routes, canal and river paths, commuting to work and even once for 100km charity Sportive (used 60% of the battery).

Not a squeak in all that time.

Only downside is its weight. With loaded panniers my set up is about 30kg so any portage - up steps/stair/styles and going through narrow cycle gates etc. is a bit of a pain. Also the weight means it's not that easy to get it much above the resticted speed cap even on the flat, so I am thinking of getting a light gravel bike for my 20km flat commute in and out of Manchester.

Literally the only change to the Pro specced version I would suggest (as it already has Marathons on it) is swapping out the stock bell for a mini Crane bell (about £11 from Amazon - one of the most beautiful bike bells in the world) and switching it to the right hand side where it won't interefere with the Intuvia controls.

Oh and a bottle cage of course.