Recommend a fast ebike with an internal gear hub (IGH) ok for light off-road use?

[Bantamug]

I'm on the market for an ebike for recreational riding on the weekends. I live in the Cotswolds (Stroud) and expect my riding to be a healthy mix of hills and flats and with about 60% on road/tarmac, and 40% light off road on bridle / canal paths, or trails with some gravel. Not sure if I should be looking for a "gravel" or "trekking" bike in the UK?

I'm 6'3", 100kg, in good shape, but want to be able to access and explore new areas near me, without getting utterly murdered by hills on the way.

When I lived in the US and commuted by bike, I had a Focus Aventura Impusle which is a flat-bar hybrid commuter with a mid-drive 28mph capable motor, 11-speed Shimano Alfine IGH, a Gates belt drive , a practical 60+ mile range, and ability to take 38c tires with a front shock for light off road duty. This was expensive (~$5k) but also justified as I was using it daily for a 25 mile round trip commute.

I'm trying to get as close as possible to the spec / utility above while ideally keeping the price below GBP 3-4k.

What am I after?

• Strong preference for an IGH and mid-drive with ability to take 35c+ tyres.
• Flexible on chain/belt drive or flat/drop bars
• High speed - I understand UK law means commercially sold bikes are limited to 16mph, so keen on bikes which can have an "off road" mode or can be derestricted. I have no intention of tearing through country lanes at 50mph but feel much more comfortable when I can better keep up with vehicular traffic at ~30mph on many roads in the area.

Some options I've considered:

- A full DIY build of core bike and ebike bit . In principle, open to this but with a family and other obligations, not sure I have the free time to take it on. I'd default to a 48v + BBS02/HD on a cross-bike / hard tail with a 3-speed Sturmey Archer or an 8-speed Shimano Nexus - keen to hear from anybody who's done this in the UK, especially if there are any good base bikes to start from.

- A Specialised Turbo Creo/Vado in a Gravel configuration with 35c tires - not an IGH but saw one in a local dealer and overall a very nice light package, but 16mph limit and regular derailleur setup for ~4k seems expensive. If I went with something like this, I'd also get one of the planet3 derestriction kits.

- There are some options from Kalkhoff e.g. Kalkhoff Entice 5B Move from onbike which check several boxes, but are restricted to 16mph and I don't know of a local dealer and have read about some reliability issues with their motors. Similar observation about Riess and Muller who do have some high speed IGH options but are all v. expensive at 5-6k+

 

[peter.c]

Built an old charge mixer 8 speed alfine up with a bbs01 as my first build and a cooker single speed tang steel frame as my second with an alfine 11 which had to have a chain tensioner. That igh 7 gear is weaker so gear changes under power became a worry the 8 is still going strong. The gates versions will not work ,cube Hyde in particular has a major problem the bb fouls the motor not found a way round it yet

 

[Liz]

I'm on the market for an ebike for recreational riding on the weekends. I live in the Cotswolds (Stroud) and expect my riding to be a healthy mix of hills and flats and with about 60% on road/tarmac, and 40% light off road on bridle / canal paths, or trails with some gravel. Not sure if I should be looking for a "gravel" or "trekking" bike in the UK?

Given your stated requirements for speed and power, I assume you have your own private land, or permission to access such, on which to use any e-bike in derestricted mode 'off road', as bridlepaths and similar facilities are part of the public highway system just as much as are tarmacked roads …

 

[joelectric]

Have a look at the MD1000 from proebikes.

http://proebike.epizy.com/hiperlacze/new%20e-bikes.htm

 

[GLJoe]

flat-bar hybrid commuter with a mid-drive 28mph capable motor, 11-speed Shimano Alfine IGH, a Gates belt drive ..

Not sure if they still are available, or what the current price is, but have a look at the Trek SuperCommuter. I think the +9 version is the one with a belt drive and IGH.
There are Spedelec versions available, or being Bosch based, you should be able to find a dongle fairly easily if its a standard UK version.
Doesn't have front suspension, however the tyres are pretty fat, so should do a good job with gravel or a little bit rougher.
Nice bike. I nearly bought one once!
(bit expensive though!)

I would say also have a look at Cube, as their model range is vast and they certainly do have non ebike models (like the Hyde) with IGH as well, but I can't think offhand of what ebike versions have this. Check their website and see.

 

[Scorpio]

I'm a similar height & weight and use my bike for a similar mix of B-roads / gravel tracks / light offroad.

My mistake was to pick a hard-tail mountainbike, it's very good for proper off-road but for my use something with a more upright riding postion would have suited me better, if I was buying again I'd look for higher bars and more reach between them and the seat. Same with tyres, the original chunky 700Cx55 were great off-road but swapping to 700Cx40 semi-slicks are better on the routes I use.
I'm undecided about suspension, I have no need for it at the rear but at the front I've used solid forks, cheap suspension forks, and good quality air forks. I'm happy with them all but I'd avoid narrow tyres (under 700Cx35) or fat tyres (above 700Cx40).

You might also want to think about a hybrid style bike, good on tarmac, also for light off road use.
Hope you find something to suit you, photos when you decide would be appreciated, we like photos