M. Tartiflette
New Member
Looking for advice as a newbie. I used to cycle a lot in London up to my 30s. Am now mid 50s and living in a hilly part of France, south of Geneva. I am reasonably fit but the thought of all the ascents round here without any assistance is a bit much, hence my interest in an ebike. I anticipate using it on roads, tracks and trails perhaps travelling up to 70 kms in a day; with a trip to shops in our local village (a few kilometres down and up a fairly steep hill) perhaps a few days a week. I have a budget of up to 2500 euros. A local bike store stocks Cube, which - having skimmed other brands - do seem to offer good spec for the price.
These are the bikes I'm considering at the moment (I'm open to other suggested brands/bikes but the 2500 euros is definitely the upper limit):
Cube Touring Hybrid One
The most basic Touring Hybrid One (2,200 euros with the 500w battery) seems fine, but having searched for online info on the Altus derailleur there is quite a lot of negative feedback pointing out it is a basic derailleur with some long term reliability issues. OTOH the guy at the local shop has said it is perfectly fit for purpose and he's worked on Altus equipped bikes with over 20,000kms use which were absolutely fine.
Cube Touring Hybrid
The Touring Hybrid (2500 euros) gains an apparently more favoured Deore system and an integrated rack. It also has a slightly wider, more cushioned seat with a suspension seat post. Is the greater ride comfort worth it? It also comes with the Intuvia display which is a bit more flexible/informative than the Purion (on the One) and it can be detached from the bike thereby disabling its electric motor. Though is the greater simplicity of the Purion actually preferable?
Cube Reaction Hybrid One
I am considering the Reaction Hybrid One because it is available for 1,994 euros. I also wondered if the Performance CX motor would be more suitable for the hilly terrain round here - though I would prefer the greater efficiency and quietness of the Active Line Plus supplied on the Touring bikes. In addition, I wonder if an MTB might be more suitable for some of the rougher tracks I might end up on? How rough does a track have to be for a Touring bike to be ill-advised? I note the Reaction comes with tubeless ready rims - is this of any significance for me?
One other question - can I save myself 200 euros by opting for the 400w battery? According to the Bosch range calculator, a 400w battery in hilly terrain in sport mode will last ca. 40kms. Given that I would probably mostly be using electrical assistance uphill, would the 400w suffice on the rare occasions I might do up to 70kms up and downhill? If the power does run out how useable are these bikes on flat or downhill terrain? Am I right in thinking that the Touring bikes will be better than the Reaction in this respect because of the smaller crank that the Performance CX comes with?
Any forum wisdom would be much appreciated.
These are the bikes I'm considering at the moment (I'm open to other suggested brands/bikes but the 2500 euros is definitely the upper limit):
Cube Touring Hybrid One
The most basic Touring Hybrid One (2,200 euros with the 500w battery) seems fine, but having searched for online info on the Altus derailleur there is quite a lot of negative feedback pointing out it is a basic derailleur with some long term reliability issues. OTOH the guy at the local shop has said it is perfectly fit for purpose and he's worked on Altus equipped bikes with over 20,000kms use which were absolutely fine.
Cube Touring Hybrid
The Touring Hybrid (2500 euros) gains an apparently more favoured Deore system and an integrated rack. It also has a slightly wider, more cushioned seat with a suspension seat post. Is the greater ride comfort worth it? It also comes with the Intuvia display which is a bit more flexible/informative than the Purion (on the One) and it can be detached from the bike thereby disabling its electric motor. Though is the greater simplicity of the Purion actually preferable?
Cube Reaction Hybrid One
I am considering the Reaction Hybrid One because it is available for 1,994 euros. I also wondered if the Performance CX motor would be more suitable for the hilly terrain round here - though I would prefer the greater efficiency and quietness of the Active Line Plus supplied on the Touring bikes. In addition, I wonder if an MTB might be more suitable for some of the rougher tracks I might end up on? How rough does a track have to be for a Touring bike to be ill-advised? I note the Reaction comes with tubeless ready rims - is this of any significance for me?
One other question - can I save myself 200 euros by opting for the 400w battery? According to the Bosch range calculator, a 400w battery in hilly terrain in sport mode will last ca. 40kms. Given that I would probably mostly be using electrical assistance uphill, would the 400w suffice on the rare occasions I might do up to 70kms up and downhill? If the power does run out how useable are these bikes on flat or downhill terrain? Am I right in thinking that the Touring bikes will be better than the Reaction in this respect because of the smaller crank that the Performance CX comes with?
Any forum wisdom would be much appreciated.
Last edited:
