Do you own a second E-MTB??

Barrio Barranco

Esteemed Pedelecer
Nov 24, 2018
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I've been thinking of late to maybe buy another bike- my KTM covers most angles but been looking at the Cube Reaction Hybrid Race 500 in 18" so it has the 27.5" wheels... I'd like another to use as a part commuter/fire road bike and the spec on this bike shares a fair bit with the KTM (- same brakes, same motor, same battery, wheel/tyre size, boost, CL rotors) which means easy crossovers of bits. I'm also thinking of the reduced chance of "downtime" should something go wrong with either...I went out on my "real" road bike the other day and hated every minute of the boneshaking experience lol... The bike is on at £2074 from £2600...I'd considered doing a hub conversion on my hardtail but that's £600 and still leaves a crappy bike all round. With this Cube the battery and motor are worth £1300 alone so it's not wasted money ?
Any thoughts??
 

vfr400

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 12, 2011
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Basildon
The number of ebikes that you need is n+1, where n is the number you already have.

Only you can decide what you want. A hub-motor conversion makes a nice commuter, shopper or all-round utility bike. They're generally much more user-friendly than a CD bike and you can have more power or speed if you want. Once built, running costs are minimal. I would always have one as my main utility bike, then you can put spare cash towards your specialist ebike, which you don't really want to use for shopping or leave parked at the pub.

You should be able to make a very nice hub-motor conversion for about £1100, including the cost of the donor, which will leave you £974 to buy a spare battery for your other one, take your friends/family for a Chinese, sponsor a leopard, and you'll still have a fair wodge of cash towards the kids their Christmas presents.
 

Barrio Barranco

Esteemed Pedelecer
Nov 24, 2018
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Don't have kids VFR400 (nice Honda triple from 1985 Freddie Spencer era...)...just a Border Collie but she's cheap to run lol....!!!!
 

EddiePJ

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jul 7, 2013
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I'm with Dave on this one.

I'd go for the more refined leisurely feel of a hub drive.

If it were me, I'd be looking at something like Dave's Rocky Mountain Element. Still my favourite conversion.

Bargains are out there though, and in fact a good friend of mine has just bought my old KTM for £800.00. I sold it a while back for significantly more, and it's still as pristine as it was when I owned it.

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soundwave

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 23, 2015
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xena

Pedelecer
Aug 31, 2017
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FWIW, I have 2 CX powered bikes, both set up for different uses. I like the flexibility it gives me, plus having a spare battery for long rides, plus being able to compare them when I'm trouble shooting! I did get a stonking deal on the 2nd bike tho, so couldn't say no really!
 
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soundwave

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May 23, 2015
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;)
 
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Barrio Barranco

Esteemed Pedelecer
Nov 24, 2018
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Just bought the Cube Reaction Hybrid Race 500 in 18" frame with 27.5" wheels..... sizes reduced today and from this morning saved 75 quid.... including Lauras KTM I now have 4 x 500wh batteries lol.....its a crap 2A charger but I can use that on multi battery days
 
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soundwave

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 23, 2015
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there the 2020 haibikes with a 625w down tube batt and frame batt option.

£5500

and dongles are on there way ;)
 

Barrio Barranco

Esteemed Pedelecer
Nov 24, 2018
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5500.....1999..... ??!!I love my Gen 3 CX.... now everything is transferable - One type of pads, same motor battery and controller. Wheels interchangeable
 

soundwave

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 23, 2015
15,971
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you get less for more money every year when the new ones come out these days it might look better but you will get the same performance for a bike half the price.

they are still way to heavy for me anyway.
 
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Barrio Barranco

Esteemed Pedelecer
Nov 24, 2018
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I'd still not received the bike by close of play yesterday and last night had a good delve into the spec on the bike (yes, I should really have done that already!). I wasn't too happy with the description of what hubs it had and whether it was thru axle+QR or what...turns out to my disbelief that the front hub was an Alivio spec cup and cone job and could get no info on the rear hub at all... This would mean new wheels probably in no time at all...
Took the mutt out for a long hilly walk this morning and by the time I returned decided that my KTM was really enough for me and this was just gonna be a distraction in many ways. Emailed them at 2pm and called an hour later to confirm receipt of the email and they will refund me in full as they haven't yet even got the bike at their place yet so must have been sourcing it elsewhere...
Running one properly and not running it into the ground is expensive enough and spent the rest of the afternoon hunting down various spares (lock ring, crush washers, retaining washers, 35mm foam rings, fork oil etc)

(Also treated the KTM to a new pair of plus size hoops and 6 bolt rotors...E bike specific DT Swiss Spline H1900 (35mm internal)... which at the moment seem too good to be true- something must be off to get them for £151 from an RRP of £370.
(It was an extra £10 off for clearance items over £75 so saved £20 by splitting the order in 2....£86 and £85 less a tenner each from CRC!)
 
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Jayfdee

Pedelecer
Nov 14, 2018
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I also have 2, a hard tail bafang conversion, and a Haibike full suspension , the hard tail has not been used much recently. My hard tail has a greater range, but I have some back problems, and that was my excuse for the expense of the Haibike, which is very kind to my spinal discs.
Always nice to have a spare, I ride regularly an do about 2500 miles per year, I get very grumpy when I cannot ride,so I will keep both bikes.
 

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