eBike for commuting quandry

Walowiz

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so I know I want an eBike.

I ride mtb, I really only ride on the road to get to the trails.
i also know the train service into Lahndahn is going to be utterly shite until - well whothefekknows. That's if I can even get on a train :blast to get in on time.

so I plan on commuting into central London by eBike, about 14 miles each way, about 2-3 times per week.

BUT I do really so want an eMtb Full Susser. But I cannot have a eCommuter and eMtb :blast. I know a dedicated commuter would be by far the obvious choice for this, but that'll be a bike I only ever use for commuting, never for fun - so feels a bit limited. To make a eMtb more commutable on will take some cash too, more upright stem (subject to cables reaching), different wheels to run narrower tyres etc. more cost on maintaining suspension too.

So anyone here commute on their eMtb FS ? Is it doable long term, or just too much of a pita.

Are there any alternative eBikes that mean I could commute on it AND use it on XC trails at the weekend - but also not look like a mtb wannabe knob riding into Central London on ?

The 15mph limit on assistance means I'm unlikely to get in any quicker than on a normal bike and I'm unsure how much of a PITA that will get. I guess an eBike will just mean I'm not knackered when I arrive at work.

A HT would be ok, but feels like a compromise too and I may as well get a Commuter. Going round in circles :rob
 
Hard Tail eMTB. You can commute and still have some fun on the trails. That said, I looked at a Scott FS eMTB the other day with a very fancy lockout at both ends using the same lockout lever that only they use. It was very good. I have a Trek Powerfly 7 hard tail and can vouch for the quality - non of the paint flaking that you get on Cubes :green gri
 
Thru a bike to work scheme?

It will always be a compromise if you are trying to commute and go MTBing on the same bike. I'd avoid it.
Why can't you have 2 bikes ?
I'd get a straightforward ebike commuter for starters. (I really wouldn't want to be swapping wheels regularly, been there and done that and ended up getting a dedicated commuter very quickly) Surely the money saved on fares will more than pay for it pretty quickly ? After that the money can go on towards paying for an eMTB.
 
Just get a full sus eMtb and lock out the suspension for road riding.

I have two main routes that I do for fun; one is mainly off-road, with probably 5 miles out of 40 being on road, and the other is around 40-50% on road, so about 20-25 miles on tarmac.

The Nobby Nic tyres it came with are good off-road, and not too loud on the road, so you could easily commute during the week, then hit the trails at the weekend. I wouldn't want to be pissing about changing wheels all the time, but I guess if you're only changing them at the weekend, you could have a set with just road tyres on.
 
Hard tail 29er. AFAIK you can fit normal road tyres to 29” wheels. If you were thinking about a second set of wheels just be aware the hub widths might be different between MTB and road wheels. Unless you plan on some muddy fun a set of gravel tyres would be fine on tarmac and loose stony tracks. My hard tail 29er was much better on tarmac than I ever expected, and that was on quite knobbly tyres.
 
stonehenge said:
Hard Tail eMTB. You can commute and still have some fun on the trails. That said, I looked at a Scott FS eMTB the other day with a very fancy lockout at both ends using the same lockout lever that only they use. It was very good. I have a Trek Powerfly 7 hard tail and can vouch for the quality - non of the paint flaking that you get on Cubes :green gri
Click to expand...

The Scott twin lock is good, I have it on my normal FS Genius 710. Will take a look at Treks.
 
Davey B said:
Thru a bike to work scheme?

It will always be a compromise if you are trying to commute and go MTBing on the same bike. I'd avoid it.
Why can't you have 2 bikes ?
I'd get a straightforward ebike commuter for starters. (I really wouldn't want to be swapping wheels regularly, been there and done that and ended up getting a dedicated commuter very quickly) Surely the money saved on fares will more than pay for it pretty quickly ? After that the money can go on towards paying for an eMTB.
Click to expand...

I’ll be buying the bike outright, no c2w sadly.

Can’t have 2 (more) bikes, as I have quite a few already.
 
Greenman14 said:
Hard tail 29er. AFAIK you can fit normal road tyres to 29” wheels. If you were thinking about a second set of wheels just be aware the hub widths might be different between MTB and road wheels. Unless you plan on some muddy fun a set of gravel tyres would be fine on tarmac and loose stony tracks. My hard tail 29er was much better on tarmac than I ever expected, and that was on quite knobbly tyres.
Click to expand...

OP wants a full susser ;)
 
I used to use an ebike for commuting to work, admittedly not London, 16 miles a day, but I sacked it after 6 weeks, because I could do it faster on a none electric bike, and that was from not riding to it holding me back,

And it’s rather hilly around here,

Buy the E mountain bike.
 
ianboydsnr said:
I used to use an ebike for commuting to work, admittedly not London, 16 miles a day, but I sacked it after 6 weeks, because I could do it faster on a none electric bike, and that was from not riding to it holding me back,

And it’s rather hilly around here,

Buy the E mountain bike.
Click to expand...

That’s interesting, not too hilly from home to central London office.

I would have expected you to be quicker on the ebike ?
 
Walowiz said:
That’s interesting, not too hilly from home to central London office.

I would have expected you to be quicker on the ebike ?
Click to expand...

The dealer set my Specialized wheel size to 2000mm circumference which means assistance to c18.5mph, that little bit makes a big difference.

FS is OK because you can lock them out, the other thing on an eMTB is you spend more time sitting, so less out of the saddle bouncing.

I can imagine if your fitness gets up, on a dedicated road bike on skinny wheels the speeds might be similar or even quicker - However the great thing about an eMTB is when you are feeling bushed after a long day you can let the bike do more work
 
Buy a full sus EMTB with lockout and get it chipped. The appalling state of roads in London make narrow tyred bikes down right uncomfortable, float over them on your 29" MTB tyres:D

For those who will wag their finger at removing the 15mph limit the reality is on big fat tyres and MTB gearing you will not go that fast but will easily keep up with a well ridden 'race' bike without breaking into a sweat;)

They are bloody heavy though, so if you work on the 10th floor and there is no lift I'd reconsider!
 
Go Full suspension, don't worry about the rear suspension as you wont be standing even going up the steepest hills so it really isn’t an issue.

Std you will be limited to 15.9mph which is a reasonable pace on any bike, as to comfort it will be a damn sight more comfortable than a lot of road biased bikes - go for it I say.
 
spm0912 said:
Buy a full sus EMTB with lockout and get it chipped. The appalling state of roads in London make narrow tyred bikes down right uncomfortable, float over them on your 29" MTB tyres:D

For those who will wag their finger at removing the 15mph limit the reality is on big fat tyres and MTB gearing you will not go that fast but will easily keep up with a well ridden 'race' bike without breaking into a sweat;)

They are bloody heavy though, so if you work on the 10th floor and there is no lift I'd reconsider!
Click to expand...

I thought you couldn't chip eMtbs, esp the new Bosch stuff - which is what most eBikes are powered by now ?

The other entry in the power stakes is the Frey bikes with their 1000w power on a bike :eek
http://www.frey.bike/full-suspension-eMTB/Frey-EX.htm

but as I'll need support for the motor and battery, everything else on a bike I can deal with easily, I'm not too sure about gettign a bike direct salkes only, with the bafang motor

I'd mostly looked at Cube and Scott.
 
I have a new gen 4 Bosch motor. I can assure you it can be chipped.

In emtb mode I can rattle along the tarmac around 18-20 mph with relative ease. I can go faster but you’ll Soon run out of gears.
 
Frey, as a company, are very young. I am keeping a keen eye on them and their products as they look to be very exciting. Be careful with them though, they run the Bafang Ultra mid drive motor with a throttle which is not allowed (legal) in the UK on our roads/cycleways.
 
spm0912 said:
I have a new gen 4 Bosch motor. I can assure you it can be chipped.

In emtb mode I can rattle along the tarmac around 18-20 mph with relative ease. I can go faster but you’ll Soon run out of gears.
Click to expand...

For instance with a Speedbox3. But you will invalidate the two year guarantee if you add any third party electronics and the Bosch system knows that you have. Having had a battery fail at the 18month point and observing all the service downloads and evidence that the bike shop had to supply to Bosch which where comprehensive reports from the Motor, controller and battery itself - I would not look at messing about with a Bosch system whilst in the warranty period.
 
stonehenge said:
For instance with a Speedbox3. But you will invalidate the two year guarantee if you add any third party electronics and the Bosch system knows that you have. Having had a battery fail at the 18month point and observing all the service downloads and evidence that the bike shop had to supply to Bosch which where comprehensive reports from the Motor, controller and battery itself - I would not look at messing about with a Bosch system whilst in the warranty period.
Click to expand...

Specialised dealers can set the wheel circumference to 2000mm with no warranty issue
 
stonehenge said:
For instance with a Speedbox3. But you will invalidate the two year guarantee if you add any third party electronics and the Bosch system knows that you have. Having had a battery fail at the 18month point and observing all the service downloads and evidence that the bike shop had to supply to Bosch which where comprehensive reports from the Motor, controller and battery itself - I would not look at messing about with a Bosch system whilst in the warranty period.
Click to expand...

Valid point. Which was why I bought my bike from the ebikeshop in Farnham. If they supply and fit both the bike and speedbox they will honour the warranty
 
spm0912 said:
Valid point. Which was why I bought my bike from the ebikeshop in Farnham. If they supply and fit both the bike and speedbox they will honour the warranty
Click to expand...

so they honour the manufacturer motor and battery warranty with an aftermarket "chip" box ?

That's got to be the exception.
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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