E-bike recommendation please

[Smudge]

Why is that?
I was mooching round a shop recently and it does appear to be the case.
I hate unnecessary suspension.
This will change in time surely as the market expands?

A few months ago i road tested two hybrid type ebikes, both with rigid forks. The Giant Fastroad and the Boardman HYB, but they didn't fit me right, i'm sure there are others out there. But i'm not going to spend £2K + on an ebike without test riding it first.
Whereas i can find plenty of rigid fork unassisted hybrids to fit me perfectly, its not the case with ebikes, because there just isn't the amount of choice in them compared to unassisted bikes.

 

[MarkF]

A few months ago i road tested two hybrid type ebikes, both with rigid forks. The Giant Fastroad and the Boardman HYB, but they didn't fit me right, i'm sure there are others out there. But i'm not going to spend £2K + on an ebike without test riding it first.
Whereas i can find plenty of rigid fork unassisted hybrids to fit me perfectly, its not the case with ebikes, because there just isn't the amount of choice in them compared to unassisted bikes.

It's really difficult to get test ride, shops didn't even reply to emails and calls resulted in offers of car park rides, what good is that to me? Out of all of them I gave serious interest to just 2, the Orbea Gain and the Giant Fastroad, but their power is not comparable, the prices neither & without a ride......I am sure the Giant is great fun though and as I said before, I can afford to buy one but I can't afford to take a £1k hit if it didn't suit.

 

[Smudge]

It's really difficult to get test ride, shops didn't even reply to emails and calls resulted in offers of car park rides, what good is that to me? Out of all of them I gave serious interest to just 2, the Orbea Gain and the Giant Fastroad, but their power is not comparable, the prices neither & without a ride......I am sure the Giant is great fun though and as I said before, I can afford to buy one but I can't afford to take a £1k hit if it didn't suit.

The problems i had with the Fastroad, was that i couldn't get the bars high enough (I like the bars just a tad higher than the seat) and it was a harsh ride. There also wasn't enough clearance for wider tyres to help with the harsh ride. The Orbea i wasn't interested in because its only a 40nm torque hub motor.
So i bought the Explore E+2 and begrudgingly accepting having suss forks. I have been really happy with it though.
I also have a Raleigh Pioneer E with rigid steel forks. This ebike fits me as well as any unassisted hybrid i've owned, its a really smooth and comfortable ride and will take up to 45 wide tyres, even with mudguards. But its a hub motor ebike and has nowhere near the torque or the spec of the Explore. But it serves its purpose for shopping and general chores.

 

[gzoom]

What kind of e-bike are you referring to? Mine will breeze up 20% quite easily

Is it, again what type of bike are you referring to, I for one could not keep a 17mph average up, in fact looking on my Swinney.net my best hour back when I was road biking it's only 16.8mph

My Boardman hyb E with Fazua motor will not get up a 20% incline easily, infact I don't think I've ever cycled or even walked up a 20% incline!! 16% is the max I've got up.

17mph on the flat is slow on a road bike, there is no point pretending otherwise. I can sit at 18-20mph all day long on the flat (-1% to 1%) with road bike, but the same amount of effort on my Boardman E bike barely breaks 15mph, I suspect the lack of aero and the e assist cutting off at 15 mph has something to do with that!

 

[sheddy]

I guess front wheel drive ebikes are a real hazard on gravel.
Do we have any anecdotes to share ?

 

[Deleted member 26715]

My Boardman hyb E with Fazua motor will not get up a 20% incline easily, infact I don't think I've ever cycled or even walked up a 20% incline!! 16% is the max I've got up.

I ride up them on my Cube in the woods some although short are steeper than that I'm sure.

17mph on the flat is slow on a road bike, there is no point pretending otherwise. I can sit at 18-20mph all day long on the flat (-1% to 1%) with road bike,

I am clearly slow then, although I no longer ride road bikes, the best I have ever managed is 16.2 for an hour record.

 

[gzoom]

I am clearly slow then, although I no longer ride road bikes, the best I have ever managed is 16.2 for an hour record.

View attachment 523345

Thats not quick for road cycling. I bettered that this weekend doing a training ride taking in some climbs, and am still about 50Watts short of my 'normal' pre kid fitness.

 

[Smudge]

I guess front wheel drive ebikes are a real hazard on gravel.
Do we have any anecdotes to share ?

I've had two ebikes with front hub motor and never had front wheel spin on any surface. I would only imagine it to be an issue if you had a real upright sit and beg riding position with the bars way higher than the seat, so all your weight is on the back wheel.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

Thats not quick for road cycling. I bettered that this weekend doing a training ride taking in some climbs, and am still about 50Watts short of my 'normal' pre kid fitness.

View attachment 523351

Do you want a medal?

 

[gzoom]

Do you want a medal?

Why? For been average and below my normal fitness?

Am an average cyclist, no where near my normal fitness. Most road cyclists will be at 200Watts when fit, the guys who do armature racing near 300Watts, and the Pro not far off 400Watts.

You made a comment about how you thought 16mph was 'quick' for road cycling, it's not. Here an example, slight drag up, a good 30 seconds off my PB but still doing over 17mph, and even my PB is the bottom 30% of all times. So you can see 16mph average on a road bike really is not fast at all by most peoples standards.

There is no need to get so defensive/aggressive.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

There is no need to get so defensive/aggressive.

Maybe you ought to look at yourself before making comments like that, anyway have a good life.

 

[gzoom]

Maybe you ought to look at yourself before making comments like that, anyway have a good life.

For point out facts? We are both slow road cyclists, 60%+ people on Strava are faster than both of us, what's wrong with that fact?

 

[CXRAndy]

Some kickstands fit on the chain and seat stays

My wife's homemade Ebike has a centre stand bracket. I fitted a double leg version, which can take upto 80kg (design for kids extra seat) I placed 3mm rubber between the mating surfaces and Loctite the bolt. So far its been ideal. My wife used to lay her bike down which I didn't like with all the weight of the battery on small bottle bosses

 

[CXRAndy]

16-17 mph is fair average pace for most riders non racing types.

My solo speeds this year are about 14 mph, with a heavy touring bike.

My fastest rides from a couple of years ago were 21mph for 80 miles in a competitive sportive.

I dont think I'll attain my fastest speed as my desire to keep weight down and train really hard is not there. I'd hoped to do some UK touring this year but that's unlikely to happen

 

[richtea]

> By road i assume you mean full on racing sports bikes?

There are some gravel bikes & touring bikes, which I'd consider the acceptable face of a road bike, i.e. an adaptable bike with mudguard and pannier mounting points + room for large tyres if needed. But you're right - they're still rare. Maybe 5 or 6 to choose from at the moment, tops.