Seeking a budget bike for a hilly commute

Danny Mc

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Dec 27, 2015
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Until recently I had been communting the 9 miles to work on a Vespa, but after so many mechanical problems recently followed by an attempted theft that has cost me £400 to fix I am minded to see it and cycle to work instead.

I tried today on a pretty decent mountain bike and unfortunately the hills of Sheffield by and largely defeated me.

The 20 minute ride on my Vespa was an hour 11 there and an hour 25 back, but I was pushing up the hill for a lot of it. Still both are about the same time as the bus and obviously better exercise!

I am a 6'2" man who weighs about 100kg but would ideally like that to come down to 85kg with regular exercise.

My route to work has three steep hills and lots of gradual descents whilst my way back is the opposite. I have about 800 feet.

As you can see on here, either way it is a hilly commute!

http://www.strava.com/activities/456995623?fb_action_ids=10156447641940455&fb_action_types=fitness.bikes&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=[948748221880272]&action_type_map=["fitness.bikes"]&action_ref_map=[]

Bearing that in mind I am looking at getting an ebike. The thing is I don't have the cash around so ideally would like to get on a year's finance, and probably spend between £600 and £900 tops. I really liked the look of the Green Edge CS2 at Halfords however this is the one model they don't see to do finance on.

Does any body have any alternatives for me?

I guess I am looking for something that will get me 50 miles a week to and from work and get me up the hills without collapsing or having to push like today, whilst at the same time getting me fit. If I could reduce my commute to 45 minutes by bike I'd be over the moon.

Thanks in advance.
 

trex

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soundwave

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what bike do you have ?prob be cheaper to convert it.
 

Perseus

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Oct 15, 2015
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When I was youinger I tried such a route in torrential rain on what I thought was a good pedal bike. Never again.
 

Perseus

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I would be interested in what bike could handle such a route on a regular basis. I suspect none of them. Derailleurs would be a pain at that usage. They are on my pedal bike at half the use.
 

Artstu

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Aug 2, 2009
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I would be interested in what bike could handle such a route on a regular basis. I suspect none of them. Derailleurs would be a pain at that usage. They are on my pedal bike at half the use.
I could do that day in day out on my bike, half an hour each way.
 
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JuicyBike

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Jan 26, 2009
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45 minutes for 10 miles in the Peak District is realistic for a daily commute Danny. You'd be welcome to take a test ride on any of the Juicy range. Our New Mills workshop opens again on Tuesday.
 

Geebee

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Mar 26, 2010
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I would be interested in what bike could handle such a route on a regular basis. I suspect none of them. Derailleurs would be a pain at that usage. They are on my pedal bike at half the use.
I ride in similar terrain but a bit steeper (depending on route) derailleurs cope fine, human power only or electric assist hub or crank drive.
Adjusted correctly, lubed and used correctly they are trouble free, cheap crappy Xmart bikes deraileurs are a different story but even low mid range brand names work well.

Any 250w hub will take the pressure off you but something like the big bear or an Ezee will make it an easy ride due to more torque/power.
A Bafang BBS01 would make it an easy climb with the right gearing and effortless at lower speeds/gears but you need to learn to shift with the added power on a CD, its easy and doesn't take long.
 
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D C

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Deraileurs are absolutely fine when they are adjusted correctly though it seems some folk just can't get on with them at all, my other half being one of them.
You do need to make the effort to understand how they work and read or watch videos about how to adjust them, not difficult once you know how.
Having said that I think a good hub gear may suit a lot of commuters who may not be keen cyclists (nothing wrong with that) and just want to get to work as easily as possible. The trouble is that bikes aren't like that, they tend to need constant fettling so learning a bit about how they work pays off and can be quite rewarding when you can fix and maintain your own bike.
Sorry gone off subject a bit, Big Bear sounds good for the job, I've no personal experience of one but they are well thought of on this forum.
Dave.