Bike for my wife?

[Homet]

A few months ago I bought a Reaction Pro Hybrid 625 and love the thing.
My wife currently has a bike with a Bosch Active Line Plus motor but while it’s good most of the time, it really doesn’t allow her to cope well with steep hills. My wife is 165cm or 5’2” in height and 58kg. As we’re both older riders (>60) we wear HRM and are careful of exerting ourselves too frequently over our maximum heart rate.
There is barely a situation where my bike will not get me, 72kg, up a hill safely but my wife’s bike regularly causes her heart rate to exceed her maximum - a situation that we’re both not too happy about.
So, I’m looking for a new bike for her and whilst I’d just get something small with a step through or trapeze with a Performance CX motor, there’s just nothing around. I have been offered one of these (see link below) for delivery in a couple of months but I’m just not sure that it will cope with hills and I really don’t want to buy again on dealer recommendations as that’s how we wound up with the 50nM Active Line Plus Bike!

Cube Touring Hybrid EXC

Do any of you guys (or girls) have this bike? Is it likely to be powerful enough to climb reasonable hills?
I know that it won’t be as powerful as my 85NM CX motor but my wife is 14kg lighter!

What do you guys think?

 

[BET]

Not what you asked but why not get her a hub motor with 55 w or 750 w or more power that gives more assisrance with less work from her.

 

[Homet]

She wants to do the work to stay fir, we both do. Anyway, we previously had a Fiido hub drive bike and it was more like riding a moped to be honest - just made us lazy because we didn’t have to pedal at all!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Why just don't buy your wife a Como 5.0? (90Nm torque)

 

[Homet]

Can’t afford to spend £4k!!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I understand that very well...

 

[PDoz]

Before replacing her bike, have you explored alternatives? ( forgive me if I'm telling you how to suck eggs)

Has your wife been advised what her target hr should be by someone familiar with her health, or are you using a generic calculation?

Can her technique / set up be improved? Different gear selection? More tyre pressure? Free rolling tyres? Even just sliding the seat forward / dropping the bars down?

 

[Homet]

Hi, we had the HR max and Target rate from the doctor and this seems to be echoed by various on-line tables. We’ve checked her ride height, knee angle etc and they’ve been verified by an LBS. I’ve moved her seat so she’s happy with it.
The gearing is a tricky one though. Sometimes she starts to go up a hill and she switches to Turbo but if she puts the bike into the lowest gear, the bike is stuttered in its movement - lt lurches forwards and then eases off, again and again. I suspect this is to do with her cadence - usually around 55 to 60. If she changes to gear 2, progress is smoother but it’s harder to pedal and her HR becomes elevated. At this point it feels like the bike just hasn’t got anything more to give.
I hope this makes sense!

 

[PDoz]

Hi, we had the HR max and Target rate from the doctor and this seems to be echoed by various on-line tables. We’ve checked her ride height, knee angle etc and they’ve been verified by an LBS. I’ve moved her seat so she’s happy with it.
The gearing is a tricky one though. Sometimes she starts to go up a hill and she switches to Turbo but if she puts the bike into the lowest gear, the bike is stuttered in its movement - lt lurches forwards and then eases off, again and again. I suspect this is to do with her cadence - usually around 55 to 60. If she changes to gear 2, progress is smoother but it’s harder to pedal and her HR becomes elevated. At this point it feels like the bike just hasn’t got anything more to give.
I hope this makes sense!

I think I understand - I wonder if she is sitting at a cadence just below peak torque , the bike accelerates in turbo but then drops over the torque curve and slows back down?

Are more gears an option so she can spin just above that cadence and keep dropping back into the torque?

Paradoxically, try a lower power setting and a lower gear?

 

[Homet]

Yup, I think that’s absolutely what’s happening but at this point there aren’t many options.

1. Pedal faster to activate constant Turbo mode - increases HR
2. Go up a gear to smooth out the lumpy ride and stay in Turbo - increases HR
3. Drop a the power to Sport and pedal even faster - increases HR
4. Stop somewhere, wait till HR is lower and carry on up the hill - not always possible and usually dangerous on the narrow roads we have around us!

 

[Homet]

Ok, found something for her, collected today and now back home - a VERY, VERY lucky find given the current stock situation!
Its in a 46cm, Xsmall size - absolutely perfect for her

New bike!

I just didn’t want to take the risk of getting a 65nm motor and finding that it just wasn’t powerful enough. This thing should climb everything!
Thanks for all the help guys!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Ok, found something for her, collected today and now back home - a VERY, VERY lucky find given the current stock situation!
Its in a 46cm, Xsmall size - absolutely perfect for her

New bike!

I just didn’t want to take the risk of getting a 65nm motor and finding that it just wasn’t powerful enough. This thing should climb everything!
Thanks for all the help guys!

Hooray!

 

[skritikos]

Hi, we had the HR max and Target rate from the doctor and this seems to be echoed by various on-line tables. We’ve checked her ride height, knee angle etc and they’ve been verified by an LBS. I’ve moved her seat so she’s happy with it.
The gearing is a tricky one though. Sometimes she starts to go up a hill and she switches to Turbo but if she puts the bike into the lowest gear, the bike is stuttered in its movement - lt lurches forwards and then eases off, again and again. I suspect this is to do with her cadence - usually around 55 to 60. If she changes to gear 2, progress is smoother but it’s harder to pedal and her HR becomes elevated. At this point it feels like the bike just hasn’t got anything more to give.
I hope this makes sense!

55-60 is quite slow for any electric motor. As PDoz suggested, the main thing is gearing. If she is eg on a 9speed transmission a larger cassette with 12speed will provide an increased range that will help finding the correct cadence. You should both start rpm on 65 or more. These motors are hugely more efficient when the rpm is around 80 up to 90.
Before the huge investment of a new bike, I would start with this change (cassette, rear derailleur and shifter is needed).

 

[skritikos]

Ok, found something for her, collected today and now back home - a VERY, VERY lucky find given the current stock situation!
Its in a 46cm, Xsmall size - absolutely perfect for her

New bike!

I just didn’t want to take the risk of getting a 65nm motor and finding that it just wasn’t powerful enough. This thing should climb everything!
Thanks for all the help guys!

the 65nm motor (Performance Line Gen3) is climbing vertical challenges of more than 16% with ease, even on Tour mode. Sport and Turbo are ridiculous, as you climb like a rocket

 

[Marci jo]

Wow Homet, is that a Cube Kathmandu?
Nice deep step thru and an extra small, super hard to find extra small.
Congrats and many miles to you both.

 

[Homet]

Yes, it’s the new Kathmandu EXC step-through with the wider cut through at the base! We were extremely lucky to find one. Just adjusting everything for my better half now but the weather is going to be awful for days so, no hurry!

 

[PedalUma]

Unmentioned so far is dropping the teeth of the front chainring.

 

[steve mercier]

A few months ago I bought a Reaction Pro Hybrid 625 and love the thing.
My wife currently has a bike with a Bosch Active Line Plus motor but while it’s good most of the time, it really doesn’t allow her to cope well with hills. My wife is 165cm or 5’2” in height and 58kg. As we’re both older riders (>60) we wear HRM and are careful of exerting ourselves too frequently over our maximum heart rate.
There is barely a situation where my bike will not get me, 72kg, up a hill safely but my wife’s bike regularly causes her heart rate to exceed her maximum - a situation that we’re both not too happy about.
So, I’m looking for a new bike for her and whilst I’d just get something small with a step through or trapeze with a Performance CX motor, there’s just nothing around. I have been offered one of these (see link below) for delivery in a couple of months but I’m just not sure that it will cope with hills and I really don’t want to buy again on dealer recommendations as that’s how we wound up with the 50nM Active Line Plus Bike!

Cube Touring Hybrid EXC

Do any of you guys (or girls) have this bike? Is it likely to be powerful enough to climb reasonable hills?
I know that it won’t be as powerful as my 85NM CX motor but my wife is 14kg lighter!

What do you guys think?

It seems only common sense that she should have a bike with the same motor as yours ...no? So get a bike with a CX and a 625 so she can use as much power as you and will not run out of range ( I am assuming she is lighter than you). Also make sure it has the gearing to climb anything you may want to climb. OOPS , I see you already did that...well done!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Yes, I agree Homet did a very right thing.

 

[skritikos]

Unmentioned so far is dropping the teeth of the front chainring.

Of course, always the best option for drastic changes, either up or down.