Approx £2k budget for an ebike

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CXRAndy

Guru
Location
Lincs
I dont know if there any bikes in the price range which incorporates the 2020 Bosch performance line CX. This has 85Nm of torque, compared to their 50/65Nm units. The difference would be substantial in climbing feel
 

Pale Rider

Legendary Member
I am going to let him decide but have read so much positive feedback on Ralieghs and that I have one as well, am going to suggest the bike I linked above.

However I dont understand why

https://www.pureelectric.com/collec...=Skimlinks&utm_medium=awin&utm_campaign=78888


is so much more than

https://www.cube.eu/en/2020/e-bikes...cube-acid-hybrid-one-500-29-bluenorange-2020/


The difference is enough to buy the racks, guards and lights

The Cube has the original shaped battery under a plastic cover.

The Raleigh has the theoretically more desirable Powertube battery.

I say theoretically because the Powertube integrates more seamlessly into the frame, but is not so convenient to handle.

Depends if the user wants to remove the battery often for charging or security reasons.

It's also easier to carry one of the older style batteries as a spare - the Powertube is longer so won't fit easily into a trunk bag or medium sized pannier.

A friend has the Cube.

The frame coloured plastic cover is neat enough.

I dont know if there any bikes in the price range which incorporates the 2020 Bosch performance line CX. This has 85Nm of torque, compared to their 50/65Nm units. The difference would be substantial in climbing feel

I've not ridden the latest CX motor, but the one I have - 75Nm in theory - is not especially more pokey than my original 2009 Bosch Classic crank drive.

No harm in buying a more powerfully rated motor, but as I said earlier, most riders use the bike on one of the lower power settings to get range.

Which in turn makes me wonder if a few extra quoted Nm of torque is worth worrying about when it comes to bike selection.

I've ridden a lot of Bosch bikes, all the motors deliver their power and torque with a class leading smoothness.

As the miles rack up, that's far more worth having than largely theoretical numbers on paper delivered on a setting you rarely use.
 

Drago

Legendary Member
Although torque is slightly irrelevant as on a geared motor as the gearing itself acts as a torque multiplier - the torque measured at the tyre will be completely different to at-the-motor measurements because of gearing, and that in turn will also differ by wheel size. It won't compensate for an utterly weedy motor, but differences of 10 or 15NM at the motor may be nil at the tyre. This is why it is a good idea to ride the machine first, and not rely on a spec sheet alone to make buying decisions.

As it happens 60NM has little difficulty assisting all 118kg of me up the steepest incline once it's been through the gearing.
 

Pale Rider

Legendary Member
Although torque is slightly irrelevant as on a geared motor as the gearing itself acts as a torque multiplier - the torque measured at the tyre will be completely different to at-the-motor measurements because of gearing, and that in turn will also differ by wheel size. It won't compensate for an utterly weedy motor, but differences of 10 or 15NM at the motor may be nil at the tyre. This is why it is a good idea to ride the machine first, and not rely on a spec sheet alone to make buying decisions.

As it happens 60NM has little difficulty assisting all 118kg of me up the steepest incline once it's been through the gearing.

Quite so - torque figures need to be treated with caution.

A crank drive will be quoted at between 70-90Nm.

A hub motor will be quoted at between 40-50Nm.

But both pull the rider up a hill in approximately the same way.

There are technical reasons for the difference in figures - torque at the crank/torque at the wheel - but rider experience is all that matters.

As another example, the Suntour hub motor on the Carrera (50Nm) felt more pokey to me than my Bosch crank drive (75Nm).

If you went by torque figures alone you would never buy a hub motor. which is daft because there are plenty of good reasons for doing so.
 
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