35-40 mile round trip commute

[Vgravity]

Hello

I need a bike that’s good for a fast commute between Esher and London Bridge. About 36 miles round trip with a reasonable hill to go up in Richmond Park.

What’s the best bike to do this relatively quickly?
Ideally I’d like one you can tune the top speed if I wish to!

I’ve been looking at the Vanmoof S2 and also Specialized Vado.

Would be grateful for any wisdoms here.

 

[KirstinS]

Hello

I need a bike that’s good for a fast commute between Esher and London Bridge. About 36 miles round trip with a reasonable hill to go up in Richmond Park.

What’s the best bike to do this relatively quickly?
Ideally I’d like one you can tune the top speed if I wish to!

I’ve been looking at the Vanmoof S2 and also Specialized Vado.

Would be grateful for any wisdoms here.

Clearly you have a a very decent budget so world is your oyster

Having said that id touch neither with a bargepole. The van mood is so full of tech it just WILL go wrong but worse has a inbuilt battery. Nightmare to replacement in a couple of years and impossible to buy a spare to sling in your bag for long journeys

The spesh also has way to much proprietary gear.

Two better (in terms of actual real use ) would be either a bosch driven bike and have it dongled. Obviously any speed limit removal makes it illegal in UK roads but that for you to consider and me to inform

It would also lose your warranty but you could buy either bigger or spare batteries

Or any number of bikes with either mid or hub motors with freely available spare batteries and relatively "stabdard" setups

look at Woosh bikes for examples

I am a all weather commuter of 9 years and counting

I'd advise keep it simple, have front suspension and a ncr suntour suspension post. then either mid drive with alfine 8 or a rear hub with cassette at either 36 or 48v

Most hub motors are pretty bullet proof and you will need some battery power. to that distance at speed . Speed eats batteries very badly. Huge difference between 15 and 20 mph over your distances


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Woosh]

Woosh Rio MTB with 17AH battery?

http://wooshbikes.co.uk/?rio-mtb

Ideal for riders about 5ft11.

 

[Trevormonty]

If Bosch CX middrive go for 9spd derailleur, spares are cheap, the 300% gear should be all you need. The 10-11spd spares are lot more expensive and need changing more often.

For low maintance drive train, go for one with Alfine or Nexus 8spd already fitted to bike. Then fit enclosed chain cover from chainglide. NB wont work with chain tension. Single speed chains and spockets are long lasting and cheap to replace, should still factor in 5000km service of hub.
Will limit you to Shimano Steps or Bosch Activeline which are still good for +20mph when derestricted.

 

[SteveB1262]

I suggest you look at the Raleigh Motus range. Even the base model with the 300w battery will cover that distance with plenty to spare and at £1650 RRP it's what I consider an absolute snip. Bosch Active Line crank motor is superb and there is a dongle should you want (I don't want no do I consider it necessary) but you can do it for the cost of a single small rare earth magnet if you aren't bothered about speedo accuracy. A separate speedo or an app on a smart phone suffices.

https://www.raleigh.co.uk/motus-crossbar-23029?gclid=CjwKCAiAo8jgBRAVEiwAJUXKqB-j7YBup8e0pA1dI8tGK-19VuZqmliND8mDX7x8iCRpalyF4enHyBoCvHsQAvD_BwE

 

[Nefarious]

Clearly you have a a very decent budget so world is your oyster

Of course their budget's good - they live in Esher!!

 

[SteveB1262]

The good thing is, currently, you don't need a fantastic budget these days and I can only see it getting better? They are superb value for money and specs are going through the roof compared to three years ago.

 

[egroover]

Raleigh Strada, Shimano Steps, Di2 Alfine internal electronic auto shifting for £1250. Dongle it, and get a spare battery to put in a a rack bag, or recharge at work. Loads of change from your probably budget I guess
https://www.jejamescycles.com/raleigh-strada-e-electric-city-bike.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMImouIo5uO3gIV1_ZRCh1HOQXyEAQYBSABEgIxdPD_BwE

 

[Electrifying Cycles]

We don't sell to your area (only within 2 hours of our address). However in my experience it is worth considering a belt drive with crank drive motor. Depends whether you like hub gears, you could have enviolo (previously called Nuvinci) which is technically a CVT (continuously variable transmission). Riese & Muller do some really nice bikes including high speed bikes (they have even been through the process and registered the bike as a moped).

We have a customer who has done nearly 10,000 miles and is still on the original belt. So while the sprockets and belt are expensive the do tend to last or like someone else said go for a 9 speed derailleur.

Good luck!
Dave