Probably not strictly an eMTB question, but feel I might get the best answer here.
Warning long post ahead.
I have recently restarted cycling after some 30+ years and quickly realised I'm nowhere near as fit as I was in my younger years, so I bought an ebike. Another thing I have noticed is the amount of traffic isn't the same, I seem to be thinking about the traffic all the time, plus riding on roads is boring.
With that in mind I am looking to do off-road trails. The type that you can find on-line on Strava etc. Pre set out routes, but not too technical (at the moment). I have just ordered a Garmin Edge to help with this.
The question is what bike would best suit this type of riding?
I currently have two ebikes, a Woosh Fat Boy with a rear hub 250w 36v Bafang G06 motor that I have kind of tried to prep for this type of riding. The thing is it's quite a heavy bike and has 3" tyres (which I like the look of by the way, so don't want to change them), but it's lacking just a little in the performance area and too be honest I actually like the bike and it's in good condition and I don't really want to take it off road.
The second ebike I have is one I put together myself. I bought a used Trek 3500 and a used 250w 36v geared front hub Voilamart kit. This was put together for under £300 all in! The bike is much lighter and has plenty of go and accelerates very well up to the legal limit. Now this was just a bit of cheap fun for my first build, but as it is front drive I can tell that the front wheels will spin out on the off-road stuff and be challenging for the routes I want to use it on. Biggest issue is that you get full power with the pedal assist, although to combat this I added a twist throttle, but I'm guessing this will be difficult to use on bumpy surfaces as well.
With that, I want to ask what should I look for to give me the best bike for on road and off road trails? I have a small budget £300-400 for a used bike and up to £600 for a kit inc battery. Let’s say £1000 max all in.
The bike: (this is the important bit I really need advice on), I'm more interested in bike specifics here rather than make and model as I'll be buying used and limited to what comes up for sale. With that, I'm not keen on drop handle bar bikes and dedicated flat bar gravel bikes seem rare and expensive. Also do I want rigid or suspension front forks, spring coil/air, how much travel would be OK? How many gears? disc brakes or rim brakes? (will be used mostly in the dry), wheel/tyre size? (see about kits below). I'm a bit confused about what would best suit for now and possibly a bit more later.
The kit: (if you have any advice that would be great). Not too keen on mid drive to be honest as given my budget there seems to be limited chose and I'll just end up with more trouble and hassle with maintaining the thing. Rear hub is my preference, maybe the SWX02 48v 250w rear hub kit from Woosh?. One issue I have come up against is finding decent kits for 27.5" and 29" wheels, most seem to be for 26" or 28"/700c wheels. Also as far as the kit is concerned it will need to be UK road legal as well.
I think that's it? possibly more questions as (if) answers come in.
Any advice would be much appreciated and sorry for the long post, but wanted to be clear what I needed.
Warning long post ahead.
I have recently restarted cycling after some 30+ years and quickly realised I'm nowhere near as fit as I was in my younger years, so I bought an ebike. Another thing I have noticed is the amount of traffic isn't the same, I seem to be thinking about the traffic all the time, plus riding on roads is boring.
With that in mind I am looking to do off-road trails. The type that you can find on-line on Strava etc. Pre set out routes, but not too technical (at the moment). I have just ordered a Garmin Edge to help with this.
The question is what bike would best suit this type of riding?
I currently have two ebikes, a Woosh Fat Boy with a rear hub 250w 36v Bafang G06 motor that I have kind of tried to prep for this type of riding. The thing is it's quite a heavy bike and has 3" tyres (which I like the look of by the way, so don't want to change them), but it's lacking just a little in the performance area and too be honest I actually like the bike and it's in good condition and I don't really want to take it off road.
The second ebike I have is one I put together myself. I bought a used Trek 3500 and a used 250w 36v geared front hub Voilamart kit. This was put together for under £300 all in! The bike is much lighter and has plenty of go and accelerates very well up to the legal limit. Now this was just a bit of cheap fun for my first build, but as it is front drive I can tell that the front wheels will spin out on the off-road stuff and be challenging for the routes I want to use it on. Biggest issue is that you get full power with the pedal assist, although to combat this I added a twist throttle, but I'm guessing this will be difficult to use on bumpy surfaces as well.
With that, I want to ask what should I look for to give me the best bike for on road and off road trails? I have a small budget £300-400 for a used bike and up to £600 for a kit inc battery. Let’s say £1000 max all in.
The bike: (this is the important bit I really need advice on), I'm more interested in bike specifics here rather than make and model as I'll be buying used and limited to what comes up for sale. With that, I'm not keen on drop handle bar bikes and dedicated flat bar gravel bikes seem rare and expensive. Also do I want rigid or suspension front forks, spring coil/air, how much travel would be OK? How many gears? disc brakes or rim brakes? (will be used mostly in the dry), wheel/tyre size? (see about kits below). I'm a bit confused about what would best suit for now and possibly a bit more later.
The kit: (if you have any advice that would be great). Not too keen on mid drive to be honest as given my budget there seems to be limited chose and I'll just end up with more trouble and hassle with maintaining the thing. Rear hub is my preference, maybe the SWX02 48v 250w rear hub kit from Woosh?. One issue I have come up against is finding decent kits for 27.5" and 29" wheels, most seem to be for 26" or 28"/700c wheels. Also as far as the kit is concerned it will need to be UK road legal as well.
I think that's it? possibly more questions as (if) answers come in.
Any advice would be much appreciated and sorry for the long post, but wanted to be clear what I needed.
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