Just be careful with Ribble’s delivery promises they can be over optimistic! See owners comments on the web
E-bike buying advice wanted
- Thread starter AustinW
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FWIW I have seen a few riders out on the South Downs Way on Gravel bikes that were covering the same terrain as me (on my EMTB) with relative ease, they looked well up to the job of riding trails and single track and even a bit of mild downhill.
I quite like the look of the Merida eSilex400 and with a 2X front chainring you have plenty of gears available should the 40Nm motor not have quite the grunt on long climbs you were expecting.
ebiketips.road.cc
I quite like the look of the Merida eSilex400 and with a 2X front chainring you have plenty of gears available should the 40Nm motor not have quite the grunt on long climbs you were expecting.
Best electric gravel bikes 2024 – the best e-bikes to keep you going off-road or on your commute
In 2024, there are more electric gravel bikes on the market than ever before. They’re not quite as popular as electric mountain bikes or urban e-bikes, but increasing numbers of people are being drawn by their versatility. An e-gravel bike is great for getting a taste of trails, but, crucially...
Battery size is very important - particularly if you only have limited charging when out camping.
My Cube has a 625whr battery - more than I would use in a day, so I have no range anxiety.
It takes 6.9 hours to fully charge with the standard 4A charger.
There is nothing worse than pedaling an e-bike with a flat battery (DAMHIK)!
Cube also offer a 750whr battery, but that can't be used with their faster 6A charger.
My Cube has a 625whr battery - more than I would use in a day, so I have no range anxiety.
It takes 6.9 hours to fully charge with the standard 4A charger.
There is nothing worse than pedaling an e-bike with a flat battery (DAMHIK)!
Cube also offer a 750whr battery, but that can't be used with their faster 6A charger.
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It might be worth a visit to Merlin as well, they gave me very good service when I purchased my road bike from them.
Bikes & Bicycle Accessories at Merlin | UK Online Bike Shop
Browse our range of road & mountain bikes, bike components & cycle clothing at incredibly low prices. With FREE UK and worldwide delivery available on most orders.
www.merlincycles.com
They’re probably less than 30 minutes from you and a couple of miles from J28 on the M6.
Many e-bikes can now accept a "range extender" battery pack in place of the water bottle carrier.
Worth considering if you fancy making a few longer than normal rides.
Worth considering if you fancy making a few longer than normal rides.
I have never been comfortable on a bike with drop bars so I went for an emtb for the more upright riding position, and and mtb’s tend to have more gears than most urban bikes so I’m more inclined to pedal unassisted, honest!
Al.
Al.
Bloody hell. There’s too much choice and too many conflicting views. We’ve watched loads of YouTube reviews plus We went to wheelbase and bike treks in the Lake District yesterday. The guy at Bike treks waay more helpful and knowledgeable than the guy at wheelbase. Plus bike treks offered a longish test ride on pretty much any of the bikes they have on display in the shop. Wheelbase test rides pretty much limited to a couple of laps of Staveley yard and generally seemed not keen on us riding them anyway.
Anyway after chatting to both we’ve come away now convinced we need medium to full power motors which come with bigger batteries so of course are naturally heavier bikes. This on the basis that we are not cyclists at all and want these e-bikes to be super easy to ride. The latest lightweight e-bikes with low power motors are consistently described as “the cyclists ebike”. As non cyclists I think we might find the experience not what we were expecting. I also think we also want fat tyres both for a comfy ride and for easy riding on muddy tracks or even just across a soft campsite field.
Top of the list for now is a Specialised turbo Vado 4.0 (note not the SL version). This stretches the budget quite a bit and weighs 22kg. But very firmly ticks all our other boxes.
www.specialized.com
Good you tube review.
Next fave is from the list Pukmeister shared. A cairn BravE gravel bike. This ticks every box and would be top of the list except for being an updated bike only available on advance order by mail order, or in Sussex and even then I’m not sure you buy face to face but you can test ride. Plus I’ve never heard of them, but with £900price difference (x2of course) I might just take the chance and might even have a couple of nights away in Sussex to test them.
www.cairncycles.com
And good you tube
Anyway after chatting to both we’ve come away now convinced we need medium to full power motors which come with bigger batteries so of course are naturally heavier bikes. This on the basis that we are not cyclists at all and want these e-bikes to be super easy to ride. The latest lightweight e-bikes with low power motors are consistently described as “the cyclists ebike”. As non cyclists I think we might find the experience not what we were expecting. I also think we also want fat tyres both for a comfy ride and for easy riding on muddy tracks or even just across a soft campsite field.
Top of the list for now is a Specialised turbo Vado 4.0 (note not the SL version). This stretches the budget quite a bit and weighs 22kg. But very firmly ticks all our other boxes.
Turbo Vado 4.0
Consider Vado your high-performance transportation bike, getting you where you’re going with an unmatched combination of speed, reliability, and confide...
Next fave is from the list Pukmeister shared. A cairn BravE gravel bike. This ticks every box and would be top of the list except for being an updated bike only available on advance order by mail order, or in Sussex and even then I’m not sure you buy face to face but you can test ride. Plus I’ve never heard of them, but with £900price difference (x2of course) I might just take the chance and might even have a couple of nights away in Sussex to test them.
Cairn BRAVe 2.0 Flat Bar
It's Time to Feel BRAVe Gravel Bike, rigid mountain bike, monster cross, touring bike, back country or gravduro. Whatever you want to call it ...be BRAVe! A 21st century take on the touring bike, the BRAVe takes all the great features of gravel and mountain bikes and combines them into one...
www.cairncycles.com
If you are thinking of an ebike don't be seduced by those with 12 speed rear cassette and hyperglide. 3 chains, two 12 speed cassettes and front sprocket worn out in 4 years / 5500 miles of riding. 12 speed hypeglide is too light duty for e-bikes.
10 gears are more than enough on a ebike and the 10 or 11 speed stuff is more robust and cheaper to replace when chains and cassettes wear out which they will do given the torque of an ebike.
If you can find it on a bike in your price point the recent Shimano Linkglide 10 or 11 speed transmission that is claimed to be 3x longer lasting than the hyperglide equivalent.
My ebike is a trekking version with lights, rack, mudguards, 500W battery and 29inch wheels with semi knobbly tires. Fine when when riding but a big heavy bugger when you need to lift it. If a gate does not open, fences and styles are now a problem.
My bike is too heavy for roof rack carrying. You need to watch with a towbar mounted carrier if you plan to carry two ebikes that the carrier is up to the job.
10 gears are more than enough on a ebike and the 10 or 11 speed stuff is more robust and cheaper to replace when chains and cassettes wear out which they will do given the torque of an ebike.
If you can find it on a bike in your price point the recent Shimano Linkglide 10 or 11 speed transmission that is claimed to be 3x longer lasting than the hyperglide equivalent.
My ebike is a trekking version with lights, rack, mudguards, 500W battery and 29inch wheels with semi knobbly tires. Fine when when riding but a big heavy bugger when you need to lift it. If a gate does not open, fences and styles are now a problem.
My bike is too heavy for roof rack carrying. You need to watch with a towbar mounted carrier if you plan to carry two ebikes that the carrier is up to the job.
Thanks. Another thing to look out for 
I’ve got a Westfalia BC60 so more than capable.
I’ve got a Westfalia BC60 so more than capable.
In the UK the ebikes are limited to 250W (I think) but they have various torque ratings which assist with the ease of going uphill but only until you hit 15 to 15.5mph. Interestingly enough my Haibike must have provided enough power to neutralise the drag from the motor as it was quite easy to ride over 15.5mph but when the motor decided it it didn't want to work anymore it suddenly got harder to ride at any speed.
The chain on my haibike Sduro 3.0 (full trekking spec) was generally worn in 1000 miles but I changed it to avoid excessive wear on the rear cassette. When it had issues at 25 months and 3700ish miles I was already thinking it needed a new drivetrain, I just didn't think it needed a new motor too! Due to my "excessive mileage" Haibike wouldn't even consider a goodwill repair 1 month out of warranty!
For the all year all weather commuting I do, I didn't think I'd get another expensive ebike again, but after being without one for a while I did get the folding Estarli 20.8 as it has a potentially cheaper and easier to maintain rear wheel motor and 8 speed cassette which ought to be cheaper to replace along with the chains from time to time.
The chain on my haibike Sduro 3.0 (full trekking spec) was generally worn in 1000 miles but I changed it to avoid excessive wear on the rear cassette. When it had issues at 25 months and 3700ish miles I was already thinking it needed a new drivetrain, I just didn't think it needed a new motor too! Due to my "excessive mileage" Haibike wouldn't even consider a goodwill repair 1 month out of warranty!
For the all year all weather commuting I do, I didn't think I'd get another expensive ebike again, but after being without one for a while I did get the folding Estarli 20.8 as it has a potentially cheaper and easier to maintain rear wheel motor and 8 speed cassette which ought to be cheaper to replace along with the chains from time to time.
I’d be surprised if we do 500 miles a year so chain wear may not really be an issue for us. Are they really that expensive and difficult to replace that it is an issue? The guy at bike treks just shrugged his shoulders and said replace the chain with an e-bike specific chain when I asked about chain wear. I assumed this was a low cost user consumable by his reaction.
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When I was looking at E-bikes, I chose carefully eg I avoided the very popular Specialised Levo models (despite having owned a stump jumper) as they seemed to have high motor failure rates.
I ended up buying a Giant Trance E+2 as it was well specced but used Shimano XT so made replacing chains, cassettes and chainrings a lot less expensive than the E+1 and E+0 models with SRAM. I do a chain in about 600 miles (£30) and use two chains to a cassette and chainring (another £130). I use Praxis Works steel chainrings due to the high motor torque, alloy isn’t durable enough IMO.
Giants rebranded Yamaha motors were very reliable but reportedly noisy, something I disagree with as mine just hums away slightly in the background yet has plenty of grunt
I ended up buying a Giant Trance E+2 as it was well specced but used Shimano XT so made replacing chains, cassettes and chainrings a lot less expensive than the E+1 and E+0 models with SRAM. I do a chain in about 600 miles (£30) and use two chains to a cassette and chainring (another £130). I use Praxis Works steel chainrings due to the high motor torque, alloy isn’t durable enough IMO.
Giants rebranded Yamaha motors were very reliable but reportedly noisy, something I disagree with as mine just hums away slightly in the background yet has plenty of grunt
I like the looks of that Cairn, seems good value and pretty basic and robust with no unnecessary bells and whistles. Not having full suspension saves a lot of weight and reduces maintenance costs. The only thing I would like to see is a dropper post for the seat.
As with any purchase of that value, I would want a test ride and be sized properly for the frame before placing my order.
As with any purchase of that value, I would want a test ride and be sized properly for the frame before placing my order.
E bike specific chain is about £40 and a 12 speed cassette about £100. If you are careful in checking chain wear (get a gauge) you can generally get away with 2 chains to 1 cassette. I'm getting around 1200-1500 miles out of a chain.
My Sduro needed an e10 (I think) and I used to buy KMC ebike specific ones from Tredz. The E10 is £32.99 reduced from £40.99, whereas the KMC E8 is £27.99, and the KMC E11 EPT 11 speed comes in at £52.99! Generally, the more rear cogs you have the dearer the chain and replacement cassette will be.
My normal Tern folding bike needed a new chain and cassette and I think I got all the bits for less than I was paying for the Sduro chain at the time?
Pretty much my thoughts too Pukmeister. I think we will have a camper van trip to Sussex in the next week or so to view and ride the Cairn. I had a long online chat with Cairn today but they’ve said they will provide a full reply by email to all my questions as the guy on the other end was getting a bit overwhelmed with all my questions I think. An £1800 saving over my otherwise #1 bike is a strong pull. If it was just me I’d buy a Cairn, but the wife is very much pulled towards the specialised Vado 4.0 and I can see the benefit of having two of the same bikes. Oh, and I haven’t even started on any of them as to what discounts or incentives might be forthcoming for a. Just buying from them, and b. Buying two at the same time. I’m expecting 10%+ discounts.
There's a place in Sandleheath, South England that will overhaul and repair ebike motors. www.ebikemotorcentre.com
Not tried them myself but have bookmarked their name just in case. They seem able to do all brands of ebike motor. Website provides prices. It's not too expensive for an overhaul with new bearings vs the price of the bike
Peter Collard, top bloke very helpful and knows everything there is to know about e-bike motors, based not too far from me in Fordingbridge.
He has some good stuff on YouTube via Global EMBN including looking after your motor (never jet wash !!)
www.embn.com
He has some good stuff on YouTube via Global EMBN including looking after your motor (never jet wash !!)
What's The Best eBike Motor? | Industry Expert Reveals All
We're joined by Peter Collard, an e-bike Motor repair specialist who's been at the forefront of motor repair in the UK for a good few years, to pick his mind ab
www.embn.com
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Only one choice in your list - a Specialized Turbo Vado
That guy’s video said it’s the best out there
That guy’s video said it’s the best out there
You sound just like my wife.
And It’s only an opinion. An informed opinion I’ll grant you but it’s a £3250 opinion of not his Money. And it’s 2 years ago. The world moves on. The guys at Bike Treks are going to have to come up with something special to tempt me.
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