New Model Halfords Carrera Vengeance

[Jonno57]

I want an E-Bike for commuting, 15 mile round trip with one big hill at about 200feet. The Carrera Vengeance mountain bike from Halfords looks lovely and is in my price range at £950 but I can't find many reviews and although the reviews on Halfords website are mostly positive, there's a very recent review saying that they're now selling a 2019 model and it's not as good as the previous model with some known problems (power on hills and dodgy power cable).

Can anyone comment or suggest any alternatives. I'd also be tempted towards the 2019 Cube Acid One 400 @ £1599 but it would be right at the top of my budget and I'm wary if it's worth it.

Basically I want to commute and don't want to risk an eBike that wont stick the pace (or the hill!). I'm also in a bit of a rush and don't want to waste weeks choosing a bike and miss the summer weather window.

 

[sjpt]

Look at the woosh range for good value and good advice. Not convenient to try out unless you are near Southend, but they can sometimes arrange a quick test with someone local. http://wooshbikes.co.uk/

Looking outside, I think you have already missed the summer window.

 

[Andy McNish]

Sub £1500 Woosh (or similar British manufacturers) are good value. They use Chinese motors to build good value bikes which tend to be more reliable and better thought out than than the budget ebikes sold by the large chains.

Once you get into the price range of the Bosch crank drive motors - like the ActiveLine Plus (ALP) - then those need to be given serious consideration.

I bought a Cube Touring ebike at Xmas for £1570 (though mine had better than base spec and a 500W/hr battery).

It is absolutely bomb proof. I have done about 1700km on it so far - tours along rivers and canals, off road up into the High Peak, a daily 40km round trip commute (when weather is nice), even a 100km Sportive for charity. All without so much as a squeak or wobble or any tiredness or aches or pains.

If you really want it just for a 25km round trip commute then the Cube might be overkill. Something like a Woosh Karoo at around £900 would be more than fine if you are at least 5' 6". In fact, any ebike that doesn't have dodgy wiring should be able to cope with that commute (so definitely NOT the Halfords Carrera Crossfire!).

But like me, if you get the Cube, you might find yourself using it for all sorts of rides you didn't forsee. It can handle just about anything short of a proper MTB trail.

Just make sure you put some Marathon Pluses on whatever bike you buy for the commute so you don't have to worry about punctures.