Every time I fantasize about adding a bike to the stable, I come to the same conclusion: No room for another bike. But even if there were, the 2 bikes I already have pretty much cover the riding I realistically want to do.
The old torque-sensing hub-drive commuter, my 1st ebike, is still good enough for my infrequent utility and beach rides. And given my hilly local terrain and so-so fitness, it's hard to imagine a bike better suited to everything else than my Vado SL 1 5.0 EQ.
Part of it's my age, hilly local terrain, and strong preference for riding from home. I'm frankly too old and brittle for technical MTB, and the SL (set up for gravel) handles all the other offroad opportunities available from home.
Nonetheless, I salivated over this unmotorized 8.1 kg custom flat-bar Orbea Orca for days:
But it would be a stupid purchase in my case.
I often ride the SL in OFF by choice, including on hills. But plenty of local hills that I just can't or won't climb without help, and the weight difference wouldn't change that much. These hills are tolerable on the SL but would become significant barriers to riding from home on the Orbea.
Still, we have lots of excellent road riding with good to great bike infrastructure here, and I think that Orbea would be a doable blast on roads with gradients generally under 5-6%.
With proper gearing, our rolling coast rides wouldn't be a problem on the Orbea, but many inland hill rides sure would be. And as gorgeous as the coast is, I still need some variety.
However, owning two e-bikes is very practical for me in the situation i have got rid of my car. There was a time when my big Vado was under total overhaul for 3 months but I could rode my Vado SL during that time.
