It would be purely for leisure (no commuting as I was lucky enough to retire at 55) and mainly roads or occasional gravel/sandy trails so no need for heavy suspension. The plan would be that I would only switch the power on for significant hills/headwinds but would want to cycle normally as much as possible. I would also ideally like it to look as much like a 'normal' bike as possible if that makes any sense.
Sorry for coming late to the party! I have the Orbea Gain D30. I looked at the
Ribble but could not test ride one, nor could I actually get one as they seem to be permanently out of stock. I wanted a bike for gravel and road riding and the Orbea Gain certainly does both with ease (although you could argue it is not really a true gravel bike). It has been over some pretty rough gravel (and fields) and up some 20% incline gravel and road hills over the past 2 months of ownership. I still have to work a bit up the hills, but would never have got up them without the assistance. It is perfect for me as I am not looking for a bike to do all the work for me, rather something to give a bit of assistance, which sounds like what just what you are after.
With regards weight my Orbea Gain D30, with bottle and cage, mobile phone, 33mm all terrain tyres and tubes, garmin cadence sensor and Mio gps weighs in around the 15kg mark. I figure I could lose a few kilo in body weight before even starting to worry about the weight of the bike!
The only annoying thing is that because it is a hub motor I cannot have 2 sets of wheels with different tyres to swap out- 1 for the road and 1 for gravel. Because of this I ride 33mm all terrain tyres as a bit of a compromise. They seem okay on both road and gravel.
