Full sus for 18 mile commute on road

[Nolan]

Hello,

Appreciate there are a few other threads regarding this just wanted to make sure I am not missing anything before I commit. Test rode a Haibike trekker and what took me 1 hour and 25 minutes on a steel frame tourer took me 20 minutes less and I switched off the assist when I felt I could go over 16 miles an hour. The route is on an A road and fairly hilly, there are several points that I never look forward to. However, the haibike was amazing, the hills did not exist. Doing this commute on a non ebike I could never get past 3 days in a row, legs were like jelly. This is my rationale for an ebike to commute 5 days a week.

So I thought I wanted a tourer style ebike and like the look of the Haibike Trekker, however, some niggles. The pannier rack has very thick tubing and my Carradice panniers did not fit and it looks like a hard tail but not really any good for more than gravel roads. I looked at other bikes and for the same sort of money (£2500) well nearly, you can get a Trek powerfly 7 hard tail, droper post etc for £2800. It just seems that with the Trek or a mountain bike you get more for your money and more multi use from the bike. Then I discovered that you can get a Trek powerfly 5 fs for £3000, where you can lock out the rear and front sus for road use in the week and then use the bike for off road at the weekends. Thinking a new set of wheels and tires in the future so that I can have slicker ones for commute and off road for the weekends. There seem to be several options for taking a small amount of luggage such as saddle bags and seat post racks. I guess my only concern is the lack of mud guards for the rain on the front of the bike. Guess I can uses over shoes and water proof trousers. So to me it seems a no brainer full sus £3000 for multi purpose use or a £2500 bike just for commuting. Am I missing anything here or have not considered?

 

[Woosh]

I would say a geared hub bike is more practical and cost effective for commuting.
After all, a hub bike will still get you home even if the chain breaks.
There are plenty of choices in style, comfort, power, range to suit your requirements and almost all will fit snuggly within your generous budget.
Another possibility is to convert your old steel frame bike with my XF08C 17AH kit.

 

[Nolan]

The steel tourer has now gone to help pay for the ebike. I presume the rear hub bikes are just for road use?

 

[Woosh]

I presume the rear hub bikes are just for road use?

fair comment. But with your budget, you could probably buy a bike for off roading and convert a second hand one for commuting.
Let me be candid about a frequent issue with commuters: a lot of you derestrict your bikes to save time. crank drive bikes suffer a lot when derestricted because they are not built to withstand maximum workload 100% of the time. Geared hub bikes don't suffer anywhere as much because they are limited by their noload speed. That means they let less current through the motor when you are near maximum speed, down to zero if you are at maximum speed, so suffer practically no harm if derestricted. The problem is thus reduced to respect of the law and other fellow road users, not a technical one.

 

[Fat Rat]

Hi
A full sus at that price point will have pretty basic suspension all round
And also quite low end components
If your not to aggressive off road it should be ok but that’s depending on your riding style and skill level

I’ve had full sus bikes for years but have gone back to a hard tail as I personally prefer the raw feel of a hard tail And you have to ride it more precisely
I Also have plus size tyres
I also wouldn’t say (rider dependent) it’s slower in most trail centres if that’s your game

Choice falls with you ultimately any one can only give there opinion as they see it
Whatever you choose I’m sure you will enjoy it

 

[Nolan]

Thanks Fat Rat, spec wise what do you think of the Trek 5 FS/Trek 7 HT spec wise. I am a beginner and will never be doing anything hard core on any type of bike. Just though the FS would give me more options as to what I could ride. Forest of dean would be somewhere I would go to, have been on the blue trail on a HT.

 

[Trevormonty]

I would say a geared hub bike is more practical and cost effective for commuting.
After all, a hub bike will still get you home even if the chain breaks.
There are plenty of choices in style, comfort, power, range to suit your requirements and almost all will fit snuggly within your generous budget.
Another possibility is to convert your old steel frame bike with my XF08C 17AH kit.

If you use quality chains and change them regularly broken chains should 't be an issue and nothing chain break tool and spare link can't fix in 5 minutes.

 

[Nev]

I am a beginner and will never be doing anything hard core on any type of bike.

I'm not sure if a FS bike is what you need then. Have you thought of a hard tail bike but with a suspension seat post (costs around £65) for a bit of extra comfort. Although its obviously not the same as full suspension, if you don't intend on hammering down hill on off road routes, it might offer you better value for money.

I recently put a suspension seat post on my bike and I would highly recommend getting one.

 

[Electrifying Cycles]

Could check out Riese & Muller they do some full suspension touring bikes. A bit above your budget but perhaps you could get a deal off your local dealer on an ex demo one? We have one left (Delite) but I assume we are not in your area. Also agree with some of the comments about perhaps not needing a FS. Thanks David.

 

[Nolan]

I'm not sure if a FS bike is what you need then. Have you thought of a hard tail bike but with a suspension seat post (costs around £65) for a bit of extra comfort. Although its obviously not the same as full suspension, if you don't intend on hammering down hill on off road routes, it might offer you better value for money.

I recently put a suspension seat post on my bike and I would highly recommend getting one.

I guess when I say hard core I will not be get huge air, but would still like to tackle challenging terrain, guess I don't want to be somewhere and not be able to tackle it due to lack of full sus.

 

[Nolan]

Could check out Riese & Muller they do some full suspension touring bikes. A bit above your budget but perhaps you could get a deal off your local dealer on an ex demo one? We have one left (Delite) but I assume we are not in your area. Also agree with some of the comments about perhaps not needing a FS. Thanks David.

I do like the look of R & M bikes especially the double battery options but defo out of price range though.

 

[Fat Rat]

I guess when I say hard core I will not be get huge air, but would still like to tackle challenging terrain, guess I don't want to be somewhere and not be able to tackle it due to lack of full sus.

The treks I will have a look later spec wise (unless someone beats me to it) the phone I’m on only has a small screen
Now I can answer your worries about trail riding
I do black runs and red runs on a regular basis having a hard tail does not hinder me in the least as I said before it will tune your riding skills
they are slightly less forgiving if your going for ultimate speed but I like the challenge
To give you my reasoning I track day a rear wheel drive chevette and would rather hammer that round than a car with driver aids helping you out all the time if that makes sense

 

[GLJoe]

I guess when I say hard core I will not be get huge air, but would still like to tackle challenging terrain, guess I don't want to be somewhere and not be able to tackle it due to lack of full sus.

Does having a FS bike actually let normal people 'tackle' terrain that would otherwise be out of bounds for a hardtail?
Or is it simply a matter of allowing one to go even faster down technical descents ??

 

[chris_n]

How many people have actually broken chains? The only broken chains I know of are when someone has messed up when fitting it and left it too short. Even with a legal mid motor I doubt it is an issue as it is no more power than pro cyclists. I think damaging the rear mech off road is far more likely.

 

[anotherkiwi]

How many people have actually broken chains? The only broken chains I know of are when someone has messed up when fitting it and left it too short. Even with a legal mid motor I doubt it is an issue as it is no more power than pro cyclists. I think damaging the rear mech off road is far more likely.

The only broken chains I have seen are when out walking and coming across un-powered MTB riders in the mountains...

 

[anotherkiwi]

OP you can put 2 kits on bikes of your choice for that kind of money and have a bike better suited to each task. The saving would be in using the same battery for both bikes.

A steel framed trekking bike with rear hub motor (steel frame means no faffing about with torque arms)
A full sus MTB with mid drive so you get the full benefit of the gearing

On the road you will lose out on aerodynamics riding a MTB even if the suspension is locked out you will use more battery. From my experience 60 mm of front suspension and a NCX seat post wipe out the bumps on the road without eating up too much power.

 

[Nev]

Does having a FS bike actually let normal people 'tackle' terrain that would otherwise be out of bounds for a hardtail?
Or is it simply a matter of allowing one to go even faster down technical descents ??

Good question, I have assumed that its to allow people to go faster down technical descents, but having never had a FS bike I don't actually know for sure.

 

[Nolan]

I am finding it really hard to come to some sort of decision HT or FS I am not an experienced mountain biker. Really cannot decide between the two. Seems the main advantage is comfort and speed down hill? is this correct?

 

[soundwave]

get the fs esp if you want a dongle to remove the speed limit and go hard off road

 

[EddiePJ]

I am finding it really hard to come to some sort of decision HT or FS I am not an experienced mountain biker. Really cannot decide between the two. Seems the main advantage is comfort and speed down hill? is this correct?

If I might make a suggestion.

Have a private chat to georgehenry. His bike requirements are seemingly fairly similar to that of your own, and I believe that he has been using both crank drive and hub drive. This is one of his bikes, and the thread makes for very interesting unbiased reading. @georgehenry

http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/threads/haibike-sduro-hardseven-sl-2015-yamaha-7-month-1600-miles.22644/

I'm a passionate fan of hardtails, but will openly concede that with this dry weather, I have been enjoying the off road comfort that full suspension brings.
Whether it is worth it for about four months of the year when full advantage can be taken of the suspension I'm tempted to say not for my use, but everyone has different requirements.

I strongly suggest that you try both before making any firm decision, and that includes both crank drive and hub drive.

.