First time Pedelec

[Fleabag]

Hi,
I'm looking for an Ebike for my commute in very hilly Sheffield I like bikes with the bottle style battery and quite like these 2 (Moutus gran tour and Carrera Crossfuse) as they seem to have decent power for the steep hills.

Raleigh Motus Grand Tour Crossbar 2021 – e-bikeshop.co.uk

The new Raleigh Motus Grand Tour Crossbar electric bike is the latest Bosch powered eBike in the Raleigh electric bike range.

www.e-bikeshop.co.uk

Carrera Crossfuse Mens Electric Hybrid Bike - S Frame | Halfords UK

Shop the latest Carrera Crossfuse Mens Hybrid Electic Bike at Halfords UK

www.halfords.com

I quite like the idea of the integrated lights of the Motus but I'm not sure this really makes much difference. Are these bikes much of a muchness?
I'm open to any other suggestions of alternatives.

Edit: ......just looked through some older threads and I've seen people recommend Woosh bikes and I really like the look of their Camino/Gran Cmino/Faro models - would any of these be suitable for my needs?

Any help appreciated - I don't understand what a lot of the specs mean

Thanks

 

[Philip Copley]

I live in Sheffield and the Gran Camino looks really well spec'd for the money and they're selling the model with the 17ah battery for just £60 more than the 15ah. This translates as a 612wh battery vs the crossfuse's 400wh giving you potentially 50% more range/juice to use on hills. I use a mid-drive cube with 85nm of torque. The Crossfuse has 40nm of torque, the Raleigh Motus has 50nm of torque, I don't use it very often in turbo mode as I find I need it less and less, I'm usually in tour/eco to negate the weight of the bike. I'm not sure how many nm of torque the Gran Camino gives you, maybe Woosh can chip in here, but it says it will carry people happily up to 25 stone. I'd really go for the 17ah battery version as the hills in Sheffield will really eat the juice. A friend of mine does a 25 mile ride in London with 700ft of climb, I do an 8 mile ride in Sheffield on my lunch and I do 1000ft of climb. If you're wanting to head out into the peak district at weekends etc, then definitely get the bigger battery option. When I head out into the peaks, the metric seems to be I climb about 100ft for every mile I ride, so a 30 mile ride typically involves around 3000ft of climb, a 400wh battery at full assist on a ride coming into winter, mountainous tour on good ashphalt, moderately windy, wouldn't probably complete that, your mileage will vary depending on the assistance you use. See the Bosch range calculator here - https://www.bosch-ebike.com/en/service/range-assistant , that is a handy tool. Plus if you want to do some gravel then the Gran Camino seems to be set up for it, awesome if you get a bike rack that will take the weight and head out to tissington/peak trails. Good luck with your search.

 

[Fleabag]

Hi Philip,

That's really useful, thanks for all the info!
I think I'm sold on the Gran Cabin tbh. Do you commute through winter on the bike? I'm wondering whether to leave it until spring as it might spend most of its warranty period in the garage of we have a bad winter.

 

[Philip Copley]

Hi Philip,

That's really useful, thanks for all the info!
I think I'm sold on the Gran Cabin tbh. Do you commute through winter on the bike? I'm wondering whether to leave it until spring as it might spend most of its warranty period in the garage of we have a bad winter.

I do cycle through winter, typically not in sub zero due to ice but if it's above zero yes certainly. I find main roads usually well gritted/clear, side roads are what people live on make of them. We don't get/I've not experienced many days in England of sub zero(I'm sure people in Scotland will have!) Good gloves/waterproofs/coat/trousers/warm socks/winter mtb boots/beanie to go under helmet so I don't get brain freeze going downhill/mud guards etc, you need to be prepared but when you have an e-bike, you certainly feel more capable of tackling journeys. Make sure you get decent be seen rear light, I wasn't sure if it's a reflector on the Gran Camino picture, get a decent to see light for the front(usually rated in lumens, I think I got a half decent "to see" light with rechargeable battery for around £50(circa 1000 lumens)) so if your cycling home in the dark you can see potholes etc. A lot of companies sell be seen lights but they don't do much to light the way for you. You'll be more comfortable too if you can see clearly. But also I love rides in crisp, clear autumnal/winter weather, especially out in the peak district and provided you're sensible then you'll be fine. Like they say, winter miles = summer smiles...