Hi guys,
I need the collective wisdom of the forum to recommend me some bike options! I am 115kg and overweight but not all that unfit. Never the less this gravity’s a bitch and this mass take a bit to get going up a hill and so in order to get fit but be able to back it off a bit and not arrive to work too sweaty I am looking to invest in an ebike. I come from a motorbike background but not much more than a off road mountain bike when I was a teenager.
I have tried three bikes, here are my thoughts.
Gtech:
I like the concept, light as possible, no gears and use the motor to pull away when you need the torque which is what electric motors are perfect at, the gear set for a good cruising speed. Oddly I found the saddle quite comfortable and a 3 mile ride resulted in 10% battery loss. My ride to work is 7 miles over a similar level of relative climb so best case scenario is 23% each way or 46%. The reality might be higher than that but either way this should do me for commuting each way and the option for carrying the charger is not impossible but it would be nice to know I can go for a longer park ride of I choose it on the weekend.
Gocycle G3:
The functionality seemed good in that I can tuck it away in the hallway to store it but in practice I was not amused by it, the automatic gears just got in my way and the UI is obtuse. The slight feeling of suspension was nice but to me, its not worth £3.5k and I don’t want the GS either, it just felt slow and more of a super casual riding experience where I don’t mind carrying a bit more attack position, maybe from my head down motorbike days.
KTM Macina Force 271:
This might appear an odd one to try but its what my local cycle republic had to test and I was interested to try the Bosch CX motor to see what the power ranges of these bikes really is. Power wise it is good but it doesn’t blow the roof off, I don’t feel like I need much more than tour mode, maybe sport to loosen off in the morning. The only issue is was oh boy are those mountain bike tyres draggy and the saddle was absolute punishment. It just didn’t have that smooth feeling the Gtech’s thinner tyres gave and I found myself sticking in higher gears, doing what the gates carbon drive already does but while carrying all that extra gearing baggage.
So here is the question.
It feels like the single gear Gates carbon bike style really suites what I want but I would like to ideally carry a slightly bigger motor and slightly more battery life. The lack of maintenance on the belt drive and no grease on the trousers is another attraction and the lack of clattering chain is nice.
Is there anything out there for me (excluding the coboc one rome because it seem a bit too much on the high end) or am I better off finding a road bike frame which can tolerate my weight and sticking nice beefy hub drive kit on it? Obviously the version I end up with will get lights and mudguards stuck on it and it would be nice if these features came with the package. Thoughts?
I need the collective wisdom of the forum to recommend me some bike options! I am 115kg and overweight but not all that unfit. Never the less this gravity’s a bitch and this mass take a bit to get going up a hill and so in order to get fit but be able to back it off a bit and not arrive to work too sweaty I am looking to invest in an ebike. I come from a motorbike background but not much more than a off road mountain bike when I was a teenager.
I have tried three bikes, here are my thoughts.
Gtech:
I like the concept, light as possible, no gears and use the motor to pull away when you need the torque which is what electric motors are perfect at, the gear set for a good cruising speed. Oddly I found the saddle quite comfortable and a 3 mile ride resulted in 10% battery loss. My ride to work is 7 miles over a similar level of relative climb so best case scenario is 23% each way or 46%. The reality might be higher than that but either way this should do me for commuting each way and the option for carrying the charger is not impossible but it would be nice to know I can go for a longer park ride of I choose it on the weekend.
Gocycle G3:
The functionality seemed good in that I can tuck it away in the hallway to store it but in practice I was not amused by it, the automatic gears just got in my way and the UI is obtuse. The slight feeling of suspension was nice but to me, its not worth £3.5k and I don’t want the GS either, it just felt slow and more of a super casual riding experience where I don’t mind carrying a bit more attack position, maybe from my head down motorbike days.
KTM Macina Force 271:
This might appear an odd one to try but its what my local cycle republic had to test and I was interested to try the Bosch CX motor to see what the power ranges of these bikes really is. Power wise it is good but it doesn’t blow the roof off, I don’t feel like I need much more than tour mode, maybe sport to loosen off in the morning. The only issue is was oh boy are those mountain bike tyres draggy and the saddle was absolute punishment. It just didn’t have that smooth feeling the Gtech’s thinner tyres gave and I found myself sticking in higher gears, doing what the gates carbon drive already does but while carrying all that extra gearing baggage.
So here is the question.
It feels like the single gear Gates carbon bike style really suites what I want but I would like to ideally carry a slightly bigger motor and slightly more battery life. The lack of maintenance on the belt drive and no grease on the trousers is another attraction and the lack of clattering chain is nice.
Is there anything out there for me (excluding the coboc one rome because it seem a bit too much on the high end) or am I better off finding a road bike frame which can tolerate my weight and sticking nice beefy hub drive kit on it? Obviously the version I end up with will get lights and mudguards stuck on it and it would be nice if these features came with the package. Thoughts?
