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OFOG* finally decides on E-Bike

tones

tones

Tones deaf
(*Officially Certified Old Git)

https://www.specialized.com/ch/en/t...892?color=263681-154892&searchText=93920-3102

Took one for a test ride this morning, came back and signed on the dotted line. It's pretty much like a normal bike in its weight and the way it handles, but I was surprised at how much oomph comes from the battery concealed in the down tube. I naturally showed it the dreaded cliff face on top of which we live, and it took me up without even needing the lowest gears. You can tell it's working by the whine (an excellent vintage, if I may say so) but it's not particularly loud.

The bike has had rave reviews in the specialised (as opposed to Specialized) press, and I think they're justified.
 
Nice. I've not tried one with derailleurs though. Happy with my automatic shift Gazelle too.
 
I’ve a Specialized Turbo which was the predecessor to the Vado. in fact on my second as the first one was nicked.

It’s brilliant, I don’t need an e-bike for health reasons. But it’s great for local shopping trips, the odd pub visit and my 20 mile each way commute (when I’m not working at home!). No showers there and it means I can wear work clothes, mine is racked up too.

The only downside is the 15.5mph limit. Fine for mountain bikes but as a keen rider, it’s too low. For instance, I averaged 20 mph on a local (not flat) 30 mile route on my road bike last week.

Oh, they are also way heavier. Mine is around 21kg I think, both my MTB’s are around 11kg, my road bike is 6.2kg without pedals. So heavy that I need to remove battery and front wheel to lift it into the boot of my car.
 
Eyebroughty said:
Hi,

Looks very good, is it about £4000?

How much was the extra battery for long runs?

Cheers

John
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EEK! Will have to unlike that. £4k for a push bike. If I ever jump it would only be on the proviso £1.5k was enough to get a reliable version of these types of bicycles. Gut feeling is unless one goes to £4k the battery thingy will disintegrate and degrade very quickly.
 
JezmondTutu said:
I’ve a Specialized Turbo which was the predecessor to the Vado. in fact on my second as the first one was nicked.

It’s brilliant, I don’t need an e-bike for health reasons. But it’s great for local shopping trips, the odd pub visit and my 20 mile each way commute (when I’m not working at home!). No showers there and it means I can wear work clothes, mine is racked up too.

The only downside is the 15.5mph limit. Fine for mountain bikes but as a keen rider, it’s too low. For instance, I averaged 20 mph on a local (not flat) 30 mile route on my road bike last week.

Oh, they are also way heavier. Mine is around 21kg I think, both my MTB’s are around 11kg, my road bike is 6.2kg without pedals. So heavy that I need to remove battery and front wheel to lift it into the boot of my car.
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I live on the top of a very steep hill, and I'd need mountain bike gearing to get up it. Plus, I've already had one knee operation, and I don't want another. I was after a bike that was essentially a normal bike, but which had the oomph there on command.

I am happy with the 25kph limit, because I rarely ride faster (typically 30-35kph maximum), and of course you can go faster - the motor simply cuts out. You can get 45kph e-bikes in Switzerland, but they are classified as mopeds and require a number plate. I've been passed by them on my way home uphill as if I'm standing still.

This bike is apparently only about 15kg, which was one of the attractions - no big weight to lift around.
 
tonerei said:
EEK! Will have to unlike that. £4k for a push bike. If I ever jump it would only be on the proviso £1.5k was enough to get a reliable version of these types of bicycles. Gut feeling is unless one goes to £4k the battery thingy will disintegrate and degrade very quickly.
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You can certainly get a decent ebike for £1500, it’s jist that a £4k one will be better!
 
tonerei said:
EEK! Will have to unlike that. £4k for a push bike. If I ever jump it would only be on the proviso £1.5k was enough to get a reliable version of these types of bicycles. Gut feeling is unless one goes to £4k the battery thingy will disintegrate and degrade very quickly.
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I guess prices will come down, but the cheapest I could find that would theoretically satisfy my requirements is the Ribble Hybrid Al e:

https://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/ribble-hybrid-al-e/

This would be about half the price of what I'm buying, before shipping and customs charges are factored in, which, I guess, would take the final price into the high £2000s at least. However, there's no possibility of testing a Ribble here, and travel to the UK is out for the foreseeable future. In any case, I like the local dealer (who has always cared for my 30 year-old Cannondale ST600), and I was more than happy to give them the business.
 
tones said:
I live on the top of a very steep hill, and I'd need mountain bike gearing to get up it. Plus, I've already had one knee operation, and I don't want another. I was after a bike that was essentially a normal bike, but which had the oomph there on command.

I am happy with the 25kph limit, because I rarely ride faster (typically 30-35kph maximum), and of course you can go faster - the motor simply cuts out. You can get 45kph e-bikes in Switzerland, but they are classified as mopeds and require a number plate. I've been passed by them on my way home uphill as if I'm standing still.

This bike is apparently only about 15kg, which was one of the attractions - no big weight to lift around.
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Ah sorry - I didn’t realise it was a new lightweight model! 16.4kg is very good. Understand the requirement, I’m sure it will be awesome. I actually could do with a smaller front chainring (it’s 1x10) as the gearing is too high for steep climbs.
 
I bought an Orbea Gain F40 earlier this year. Same Ebikemotion system as Ribble use. Hidden downtube battery and very light for an ebike.
You get what you pay for, but for under £2k it’s difficult to beat. And you can pay more if you want a better groupset etc.
 
doctorf said:
I bought an Orbea Gain F40 earlier this year. Same Ebikemotion system as Ribble use. Hidden downtube battery and very light for an ebike.
You get what you pay for, but for under £2k it’s difficult to beat. And you can pay more if you want a better groupset etc.
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That particular model doesn't appear to exist here.
 
doctorf said:
Orbea have 106 dealers in Switzerland. I suppose they don't do all models in every country.
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That is indeed the problem - often only part of the range is offered. And some makes are simply not available at all, such as Whyte. I was keen to try a Whyte Hoxton (with Fazua motor), and had a trial lined up with the dealer in Belfast, when next I visited my mother, but then COVID arrived and that was the end of that. I could have ordered one (there's a dealer in Sigmaringen, not far north of the Swiss border), but then it's the same problem of spending a lot of money sight unseen and taking the risk that it would do the trick. It probably would have, but in my state of ignorance, I wasn't prepared to take that risk.
 
The Ribble e bikes are rock solid, pretty much the best price/perf in UK market currently
 
sq225917 said:
The Ribble e bikes are rock solid, pretty much the best price/perf in UK market currently
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My brother (a keen cyclist with a couple of rather exotic road bikes) says that Ribbles are good, and at one point I was planning to deviate from my normal Dublin-Cherbourg route home and visit their place in Preston, but COVID again put a spoke in my wheel, so to speak.
 
tones said:
That is indeed the problem - often only part of the range is offered. And some makes are simply not available at all, such as Whyte. I was keen to try a Whyte Hoxton (with Fazua motor), and had a trial lined up with the dealer in Belfast, when next I visited my mother, but then COVID arrived and that was the end of that. I could have ordered one (there's a dealer in Sigmaringen, not far north of the Swiss border), but then it's the same problem of spending a lot of money sight unseen and taking the risk that it would do the trick. It probably would have, but in my state of ignorance, I wasn't prepared to take that risk.
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My brother has a Whyte.
Built like a tank, heavy with lots of grunt.
 
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