I'm fed up with the traffic and looking to switch to cycling. My commute is around 14 miles each way involving a number of hills and an overall climb of 700 feet. I might need to pop in and out the office for half a dozen miles then another 14 miles home. Total therefore is around 30-35 miles a day on roads. I could cut of some of the climb but lengthen the journey slightly by using canal towpaths at the expense of more grit and puncture risk.
I'm considering a number of options based on the following criteria:
(1) charging at work may be difficult or not allow enough time for a decent top up so I'll either need to carry a spare battery to swap over (and risk damaging contacts if I swap a couple of times every day) or get the biggest capacity available, which looks like being around 500Wh or 14Ah for a 36V motor.
(2) I much prefer hub gears to derailleurs.
(3) I'm looking for a low maintenance solution.
(4) Budget could be between £1k and £3k but feel more comfortable at the lower end, not least because I don't want to buy a thief magnet.
I'm very happy with my existing bike which I got made up for a much shorter commute plus occasional touring but it's not feasible to commute on it daily without assistance (too slow, too sweaty and frankly a bit too much hard work). The specification is a bit of a mongrel but reflects my thinking for a low maintenance gentle tourer come commuting bike - steel crossbar frame with touring drop bars, dynamo lights, 7 speed Nexus hub with coaster brake (which I especially like for commuting in traffic), Brooks leather saddle, Marathon Plus tyres with slime tubes. Ideally I'd be hoping to carry across as many of those features as possible. I'm torn between a front motor (cheaper, but hot sure about oomph on hills or traction on canal towpaths) and a crank motor (particularly the potential for chain wear or snapping in a rush to get to the office).
My thinking:
(Option 1) Electrocute my current bike using a front hub motor. Clearly I won't find the same combination of features that I have on any shop bike but not sure about suitability of a hub motor or how to go about the conversion. Saves on storage space and looks like the cheapest option but some of the components are getting on a bit so might be nice to renew and start again.
(Option 2) Front hub motor e.g. Emu Crossbar with 500Wh battery for £1400. Would it have enough power to work the hills and enough juice to get me to work and home again?
(Option 3) Crank hub motor plus Nexus hub gear e.g. Motus Grand Tour or Ortler Garda (the only crank plus Nexus plus coaster braked ebike I've seen, not much more than the Emu at £1700).
(Option 4)Gazelle Orange C310 HMS - crank motor, Enviolo (Nuvinci) CVT hub gear and Gates belt. As a hub gear enthusiast I'm intrigued by the Enviolo but would I lose too much efficiency? Plus the Gates belt should be more robust - but how would it fare on a canal towpath? Also it's stretching the limits of my budget.
Hoping to to the NEC later this month to check out more options but as a starting point can anyone help advice me on whether to discount any of the above right away or explore further?
I'm considering a number of options based on the following criteria:
(1) charging at work may be difficult or not allow enough time for a decent top up so I'll either need to carry a spare battery to swap over (and risk damaging contacts if I swap a couple of times every day) or get the biggest capacity available, which looks like being around 500Wh or 14Ah for a 36V motor.
(2) I much prefer hub gears to derailleurs.
(3) I'm looking for a low maintenance solution.
(4) Budget could be between £1k and £3k but feel more comfortable at the lower end, not least because I don't want to buy a thief magnet.
I'm very happy with my existing bike which I got made up for a much shorter commute plus occasional touring but it's not feasible to commute on it daily without assistance (too slow, too sweaty and frankly a bit too much hard work). The specification is a bit of a mongrel but reflects my thinking for a low maintenance gentle tourer come commuting bike - steel crossbar frame with touring drop bars, dynamo lights, 7 speed Nexus hub with coaster brake (which I especially like for commuting in traffic), Brooks leather saddle, Marathon Plus tyres with slime tubes. Ideally I'd be hoping to carry across as many of those features as possible. I'm torn between a front motor (cheaper, but hot sure about oomph on hills or traction on canal towpaths) and a crank motor (particularly the potential for chain wear or snapping in a rush to get to the office).
My thinking:
(Option 1) Electrocute my current bike using a front hub motor. Clearly I won't find the same combination of features that I have on any shop bike but not sure about suitability of a hub motor or how to go about the conversion. Saves on storage space and looks like the cheapest option but some of the components are getting on a bit so might be nice to renew and start again.
(Option 2) Front hub motor e.g. Emu Crossbar with 500Wh battery for £1400. Would it have enough power to work the hills and enough juice to get me to work and home again?
(Option 3) Crank hub motor plus Nexus hub gear e.g. Motus Grand Tour or Ortler Garda (the only crank plus Nexus plus coaster braked ebike I've seen, not much more than the Emu at £1700).
(Option 4)Gazelle Orange C310 HMS - crank motor, Enviolo (Nuvinci) CVT hub gear and Gates belt. As a hub gear enthusiast I'm intrigued by the Enviolo but would I lose too much efficiency? Plus the Gates belt should be more robust - but how would it fare on a canal towpath? Also it's stretching the limits of my budget.
Hoping to to the NEC later this month to check out more options but as a starting point can anyone help advice me on whether to discount any of the above right away or explore further?
