Thinking of getting a emtb

[Ming the Merciless]

Canal paths can be a bit muddy - to the point of being impassable on my hybrid with road type tyres

A mtb with road type tyres would have same issue.

 

[N0bodyOfTheGoat]

I tried my first / only ever Electric bike last night at my LBS. It was a fully legal pedal assist. And in Turbo mode. I THINK it was a 45kw (?) motor. And supposedly had a 40 mile range.

I then tried a more powerful (Albeit ladies) bike with a Torque sensor. Whilst I could feel a tiny bit more oomph - as above still applies pretty much. So it wasn’t enthralling / fun / smile inducing from a power point of view……

Maybe I’ve missed the point. Maybe I’m not the intended user. Maybe I’m stuck in my now ancient ways. But that’s how it went down for me. At this point in time….

This time four years ago I didn't see the benefit of ebikes for me either. I purposely took my ~5 mile gentle rolling commute easy on the hybrid, while my usual ~60 feet per mile average routes up to the South Downs hills on the road bike usually averaged at least ~16mph.

But these days, it doesn't take much of a gradient to have me having to do a threshold+ effort on either my hybrid or road bike and somewhere very close to my easiest gear, especially on the road bike with 34/34 depsite it being ~9Kg with a bidon. ~13mph average on a very good day is rare, but I've neglected both bikes in the last 15 months since getting the ebike.

On the gravel ebike (usually used on moderate-rough tarmac), getting ~150W (~1.6W/Kg) from mid assist on lower gradients and ~250W (~2.7W/Kg) when doing steeper gradients or wanting to take it very easy on any inclines is a godsend. Turbo with a threshold effort from me gets me close to my old road bike hill segment times on a good day and since fitting the 45mm Caracal Race on the rear back in spring, my average speed has typically increased to 16-17mph ballpark from ~15mph.