Reliable commuter machine + Sheffield Hills

[DBye]

Hi All,

I've been commuting 9 miles to work for the past two years on regular bike. After being clipped by a van, having my first child on the way, and a continuing desire to live, I've been trying to find ways of improving my commute. I don't want to get a car, and thought an ebike was worth a go as it will help me tackle the Sheffield hills when I'm half asleep so I can concentrate more on the traffic and less on slogging up the hills.

According to Google my commute has the following hill profile, I do 495ft of climbing, and descend 295ft.


I've been lent a Rayleigh Motus for a month to try, via a local scheme (http://cycleboost.org/). I can't recommend cycleboost enough for encouraging people to either get cycling or continue cycling in the Sheffield, Rotherham, and Barnsley areas. I've been really impressed with the bike, it has knocked 15-20 mins off my commute (depending on direction of travel) and allows me to sit upright so I can eye-ball any half asleep driver behind me. However, I think this bike will be out of my price range (I'm looking to spend up to £1500, preferably on a work cycle scheme).

I'm 5ft 11", weigh the wrong side of 100kgs, but am otherwise reasonably fit. Finally, I'm strongly thinking of going for hub gears or a nuvinci hub as the dérailleur on my regular bike never seems to work properly and is forever dirty/worn (my current bike uses shimano tiagra stuff so not super cheap nor expensive, and I clean it weekly).

I've got a couple of bike I'm looking at, but I'd be really interested to hear your thoughts on suitable bikes blind and see if they match my thinking!

Thanks in advance.
Frazer

 

[RobF]

The Raleigh Captus is similar to the Motus, but is cheaper mostly because of its smaller capacity battery.

Your route has a moderate amount of climbing, so the smaller battery ought to do the 18 mile round trip.

Hub gears tend to cost a few quid more, but whatever you buy, don't buy a NuVinci hubbed bike.

The NuVinci is reliable enough, but it's an energy sapper.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

You have South Yorkshire Electric Bike Centre right on your doorstep. They have the Oxygen Emate MTB, which makes an excellent commuter. It has plenty of power for climbing, excellent ride and handling and really good hydraulic brakes. It also has the advantage that it can be de-restricted to cut your journey times right down if you like that sort of thing. I heard that they have a couple of new models that I've not seen in the flesh yet. It would certainly be worth a visit, and you should be able to get a good discount on their bikes if you're good at haggling because they're also the importer. They have some other nice bikes too.

 

[JuicyBike]

Hi Frazer
Strangely, I've just met a couple of the folk from Cycleboost whilst seeing the latest in the Raleigh range in Nottingham this morning.
RobF's views on the Captus are sensible and I'm fairly certain the smaller battery will not jeopardise you getting to work.
We have one available to try out at our New Mills branch and a Motus too if you need to refresh what you already tried. You may also want to consider the new Wisper TQ. Again we have those at New Mills too alongside our latest TQ sensor prototype - production version available July (ish).
Our shops are also registered with most of the major Cycle To Work schemes.
You'd be very welcome.

 

[Dubster]

You have South Yorkshire Electric Bike Centre right on your doorstep. They have the Oxygen Emate MTB, which makes an excellent commuter. It has plenty of power for climbing, excellent ride and handling and really good hydraulic brakes. It also has the advantage that it can be de-restricted to cut your journey times right down if you like that sort of thing. I heard that they have a couple of new models that I've not seen in the flesh yet. It would certainly be worth a visit, and you should be able to get a good discount on their bikes if you're good at haggling because they're also the importer. They have some other nice bikes too.

I second this.

I also based in Yorkshire, but a bit further north than the OP.

I been riding an Oxygen cycle for a few months now, but visited the SYEB showroom for the first time last week. The team there are very helpful indeed and the new models with integrated batteries have got me thinking about a fresh purchase.

 

[(NoLongerRegistered#15675)]

Hi Frazer
I,ve got exactly same bike on loan, they are great.
Don't think your route is that difficult for most ebikes and to be fair not many are going to be any better than the motus. I do think my Haibike climbs slightly better and certainly has more range ( which doesn't make sense apart from fact Motus is 18 months old and around 1000 miles , Haibike sduro is just a month.
For use just on roads I,d stick with motus. You,ll get about £300 off price under cycle to work scheme ( no tax, ni on first £1000 )
If you intend doing any off road or harder climbs I cant recommend Haibike sduro hardseven enough.
Are you a teacher Frazer ?
DJW ???

Go to James Cycles. Rotherham branch have a massive selection of ebikes ( mainly mtb) Staff are extremely helpful and knowledgeable. They had a demo last weekend up at Ringinglow,they,ll be having another soon no doubt.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

I second this.

I also based in Yorkshire, but a bit further north than the OP.

I been riding an Oxygen cycle for a few months now, but visited the SYEB showroom for the first time last week. The team there are very helpful indeed and the new models with integrated batteries have got me thinking about a fresh purchase.

Did you get a chance to try one of the new bikes? I've only seen photos, so I'd be interested in any opinions.

I forgot to mention that the Oxygen MTB won the last World Championship hill climb in Bristol. A rank amateur on it beat the semi pro riders on Haibike and the like, that was a restricted one too.

This was the semi-final where the Emate City beat the KTM, so you can see what was involved:

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Hi Frazer
Strangely, I've just met a couple of the folk from Cycleboost whilst seeing the latest in the Raleigh range in Nottingham this morning.
RobF's views on the Captus are sensible and I'm fairly certain the smaller battery will not jeopardise you getting to work.
We have one available to try out at our New Mills branch and a Motus too if you need to refresh what you already tried. You may also want to consider the new Wisper TQ. Again we have those at New Mills too alongside our latest TQ sensor prototype - production version available July (ish).
Our shops are also registered with most of the major Cycle To Work schemes.
You'd be very welcome.

When are we going to get some details on these new bikes? I'm expecting something spectacular as it's taken you 6 years to plan the changes.

 

[D8ve]

Did you get a chance to try one of the new bikes? I've only seen photos, so I'd be interested in any opinions.

I forgot to mention that the Oxygen MTB won the last World Championship hill climb in Bristol. A rank amateur on it beat the semi pro riders on Haibike and the like, that was a restricted one too.

Now now D8veh all the bikes were legal, not restricted. Who was it tested the again?

 

[JuicyBike]

When are we going to get some details on these new bikes? I'm expecting something spectacular as it's taken you 6 years to plan the changes.

8 years Dave.
Though all our bikes have been dramatically improved during that time.
I'm not going to commandeer this thread, but you'd be welcome to visit too, or see the vital components on our prototype bike at the Spin London and Manchester shows. We first showed it at London Excell in January.

 

[(NoLongerRegistered#15675)]

I don't think aa bloke winning a road race on a particular bike says anything about wether bike is suitable for a poster. Just like the link below does not either.
Cant load video from phone but google it..( Bloke riding up a 38 degree slope doesn't mean anybody could)


Lets face it , a professional racer on a legal pedelec would have bike above legal limit on virtually any climb ???

 

[(NoLongerRegistered#15675)]

And this one proves nothing either..

Cant upload video, so again google title.
Bloke riding is is no spring chicken ( by his own admission) more representative of average ebiker..??

Haibike is best climbing ebike I,ve tried..and tried a lot !!!

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Flud, you didn't seem to get it. The bloke that won didn't even normally ride a bike. He beat the professionals. He was the guy that worked in their warehouse, who had only come to help them set up their stand at the show. It was a bit embarrassing for the Oxygen team. The owner's son, who is shown winning in that video, was supposed to win. He had been practicing for months. He's a club cyclist.

 

[tsmtih01]

Hi I own a Oxygen emate MTB it would be perfect for your commute, it has plenty of staying power on hills and shifts along nicley as d8veh says de restrict and you will cut down your travelling time easily. I have covered around 1300 miles on mine in around 10 months all types of terrain it just keeps going and never disappoints me

 

[(NoLongerRegistered#15675)]

Flud, you didn't seem to get it. The bloke that won didn't even normally ride a bike. He beat the professionals. He was the guy that worked in their warehouse, who had only come to help them set up their stand at the show. It was a bit embarrassing for the Oxygen team. The owner's son, who is shown winning in that video, was supposed to win. He had been practicing for months. He's a club cyclist.

The bloke pedalling up Chimney was an old unfit bloke...and yes I did get it...

 

[trex]

has anyone climbed Porlock Hill?
If a pensioner can climb Porlock Hill with your bike, now that will impress me.

http://cyclinguphill.com/100-climbs/

 

[DBye]

Thanks for your replies. None of the bikes suggested were one I was thinking of! But that's good, I clearly need to do some more homework. These are the bikes I was thinking of:

• Woosh Big Bear
• Ebco UCR 60
• Kudos Eiger
• Smarta Gt8

Would any of those be inappropriate?

I will definitley visit SYEBC and check out the Oxygen Emate MTB as well as Juicy.

@Flud -I'm not a teacher, what does DJW mean?

I work at the bottom of Jenkin Hill (see here:

). Thankfully not part of the commute, but I will try it on any bike I buy! I tried it on the first day I got the Motus, didn't make it, but I was still learning how to get the most from the bike. I'll have to give it another go before I have to return it.

 

[JuicyBike]

Would any of those be inappropriate?

All of them might be appropriate for you, but you do need to take a test ride as each rider is unique. Buying blind is not a good strategy, IMHO. Pleased to see Juicy on your list.

 

[DBye]

I wouldn't buy blind - too expensive to just try and fluke it. Any bike which I can actually go to a shop and see/try will be towards the top of the list!

 

[(NoLongerRegistered#15675)]

Dbye
If you aren't a teacher/ lecturer in Sheffield DJW is meaningless...Thought we might have met..

Don't just try any bike Dbye, try bikes of different types. ( Crank derailer/ Crank Hub/ Hub geared/ Hub direct...
Its a,lot to try but the differences are staggering..does depend what you want from bike.
You can make big mistakes if you get wrong one..