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new bicycle choices

just to wind this up, I had a ride on an electric bike today and was impressed,,,cube something or other, Bosch electronics, shimano gearset. The motor had 4 settings. On it's lowest it simply cancels out the extra weight of the bike (24K !) and above that you get easier and easier hills. I like the choice and Cube seem very well made

BUT
I didn't like the price!

Decent hybrid road bike £6-800. Electric equiv, !800 upwards!

Hm.
Hang on a minute..a Cube 500w e-bike with Bosch starts at £1600: https://www.freeborn.co.uk/cube-cross-hybrid-pro-500-black-blue-2017

If you ring them, as I did, you might get another hundred off, as I did.

Also, there is a touch of motor resistance when pedalling with the motor switched off. So the eco setting (lowest) is cancelling that out also.
 
You can get a 45km/h ebike in the UK however it's classed as an electric moped, which is perhaps sensible. They're not even all that expensive. I see them from time to time in London.
makes sense, so it now needs a driving licence, insurance mot and ved like any motor vehicle. Rider over 16 and helmet, too? For short trips in town that has to be easier than messing with petrol.
 
Ah, I didn't realise there was a 250w limit in the UK.

Probably makes sense to be honest. These latest Swiss ones are probably far too powerful in relation to the skills of many of the riders.
Neil I regularly get to 45kmh on my EUE-bike. And that is because it has one of these on it:https://www.ebiketuningshop.com/bad...MI--rs9ZnQ2gIVAqsYCh2MvwhnEAQYASABEgJSUfD_BwE

Get yourself to Gengenbach for the day, where this manufacturer is, and import yourself one of their bikes tax-free: https://www.linkradquadrat.de/fahrr...e2lprQ2gIVCeAZCh1_LgKAEAAYASAAEgIcX_D_BwE&p=1
 
makes sense, so it now needs a driving licence, insurance mot and ved like any motor vehicle. Rider over 16 and helmet, too? For short trips in town that has to be easier than messing with petrol.
If e-bikes got 16 year-olds interested enough to get them off the skunk and the X-box, this is the first thing they would do, as opposed to all that establishment crap: https://www.linkradquadrat.de/fahrr...e2lprQ2gIVCeAZCh1_LgKAEAAYASAAEgIcX_D_BwE&p=1

In fact, forget the age thing, the local MTB shop owner here also uses one, as do I.

I reach 25mph every day on mine. 30mph requires quite a bit of effort, and the gearing is a bit low for such high speeds.
 
Cycled into work this morning - 20 miles
and fresh as a daisy. We have no showers so I simply cannot afford to arrive in a sweaty mess.

Cycled at lunchtime to collect watch after service into bitch of a headwind on Brighton seafront - was a piece of cake!
 
Are you not referring to their normal bike range?

The tubing on that Cube above looks very thin, my Specialized Turbo has altogether stiffer stays. In fact it looks like a bike that has been converted to electric and not an electric bike frame designed from the outset.

Save for the outlay, ebikes make a compelling arguement for many.

The Trek I looked at was quite thick tubing.
Odd item with very wide, (28mm ? or wider) slick tyres.
About £2500 from memory but that was the top end Shimano
 
The Trek I looked at was quite thick tubing.
Odd item with very wide, (28mm ? or wider) slick tyres.
About £2500 from memory but that was the top end Shimano

Trek make some great road bikes, have a couple of friends who ride them. I had a pair of matching carbon composite road and mtb bikes in the mid 90’s, they seemed to be ahead of the game then in terms of using carbon.
 
I am thinking of getting an endurance road/gravel bike such as the Focus Parlane. It seems rather expensive though - one could get a Reilly bespoke Ti frame job for a similar price. X-Planet tempest looks interesting, but I am worried about buying blind.
 
I am thinking of getting an endurance road/gravel bike such as the Focus Parlane. It seems rather expensive though - one could get a Reilly bespoke Ti frame job for a similar price. X-Planet tempest looks interesting, but I am worried about buying blind.
Hi Dozey

You are just up the road from me, let me bring my Reilly and you can try it out assuming you are not massively different in size to me (5'10")
 
Hi Cutting, is it a gradient? TBH I was hoping to spend less money. Can you recommend any bike shops in the area?
 
Hi Cutting, is it a gradient? TBH I was hoping to spend less money. Can you recommend any bike shops in the area?

Yes it is a Gradient. I recommend Kinetic Cycles in WGC or Hitchin, they have a decent selection and are a Ridley dealer who do some lovely gravel bikes.

This is mine:

40810849044_d5fa6ab412_b.jpg
 
With these gravel bikes, are the bars wider than normal drop bars? I don't see how I could feel confident riding fast on broken surface without a decent pair of bars. And they look like racer bars to me. In fact that is a hybrid with racer bars, right?
 
With these gravel bikes, are the bars wider than normal drop bars? I don't see how I could feel confident riding fast on broken surface without a decent pair of bars. And they look like racer bars to me. In fact that is a hybrid with racer bars, right?

Not as far as I can tell, fairly normal width. Not ridden anything gnarly yet but have done some fast towpath/trails and they are fine. Not as precise as a wide flat bar but much less risk of snagging undergrowth either.
 
With these gravel bikes, are the bars wider than normal drop bars? I don't see how I could feel confident riding fast on broken surface without a decent pair of bars. And they look like racer bars to me. In fact that is a hybrid with racer bars, right?

I think head tube angle & fork geometry will make more difference to stability so normal width bars will work perfectly fine.

https://calfeedesign.com/tech-papers/geometry-of-bike-handling/
 
I still prefer flat bars off road. Not too wide, but wide enough to dial in a dab of oppo with confidence when the thing has a slide.
 


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