Good evening y'all,
This year for my fiancee's 30th birthday I thought an e-bike would be a nice gift. And she loves the idea of it. So we went for it (although couldn't decide on my own so had to let her in on the surprise).
Context:
We're a couple living and working on London. We're moving to East London where there's more limited tube lines than in West London where we currently live. Hence why, the thought of an ebike. The purpose for her would be mainly to commute to work (8km one way), go shopping and from time to time (if bike allows) give me a lift or go somewhere together.
We're not yet planning to have kids (maybe in 3-5 years) and potentially will have a pet in the next year or two.
The bikes:
The idea was born out of curiosity about Cowboy bikes. Our friends has a Cruiser ST and we loved it. Done some research and concluded that I'm put off by proprietary parts + Vanmoof story. But they look beautiful. But no.
Then I went down the Gazelle route. They're nice and we both test rode Grenoble and Avignon models. She preferred Grenoble because of the lower price and couldn't perceive the added comfort of Avignon too clearly.
Then enters Tern HSD 2, completely serendipitously - we never thought of a cargo bike. Indeed, subjectively, it doesn't look too beautiful, but nor do Gazelles (they can't match the Cowboys for sure), but it has the added obvious advantages of slight foldability and the carrying capacity. Definitely a plus to be able to carry groceries but also sometimes carry each other when we need to get somewhere together. We also have a car but that's more for trips outside of town.
The only problem with her riding with me on the back is that she found it quite challenging - maybe because most of the weight was balanced towards the rear and hence with front being less stable. I think it's something that she'd learn and gain more confidence because I didn't necessarily have problems with her at the back (I weigh 66kgs and she's 54kg) but I probably am a more confident rider.
Tern started to become the main contender also because of the fact that it fits her perfectly. Even though I thought she's a normal woman's height at 159.5cm apparently the e-bike industry does not like short people and there's only a few models that would fit her size.
Almost pulled a trigger on Tern but then saw that Canyon very recently released the Precede:ON 7 Comfort model. https://www.canyon.com/en-gb/electr...fort-7/3925.html?dwvar_3925_pv_rahmenfarbe=RD. It isn't a cargo bike but looks nicer than Gazelle's and just like Canyons do has really good hardware and the price is lower.
It doesn't have the obvious capacity to ride together but it has the same motor and belt drive that Tern HSD P10 does not have (which costs £300 more for Tern with P5i).
She's drawn to it due to what the looks and perception of the brand - I've only had good experience with my Canyon Ultimate and it's an absolute pleasure to ride.
The small caveat is that it's apparently suitable for people from 160cm and with her 159.5cm I'm not too sure it'd be a comfortable size. And also, more importantly, it does not have a suspension fork which is a bummer as I think suspension seatpost won't offer as much comfort as the fork would.
So, with no kids in sight for the next 3-5 years and only an infrequent sight of us riding together, we're torn between the two bikes.
Sadly, it seems like no-one with Internet access has bought the Canyon just yet cause apart from one rather poor French review of the model, there's literally 0 information about it online. No one mentions the driving experience, the comfort (I mean you'd expect a lot given it's in the name...)
Would love to hear what people think - I appreciate it's a bit of an apple to oranges comparison but this is where we are and trying to decide what would the best choice be!
Tl;DR - Tern HSD gen 2 vs Canyon Precede:ON 7 Comfort for 159.5cm lady. The bike will be mainly used for commuting to work/grocery shopping/going around London. No kids for now (maybe in 3-5 years), no pets. Pls advise.
This year for my fiancee's 30th birthday I thought an e-bike would be a nice gift. And she loves the idea of it. So we went for it (although couldn't decide on my own so had to let her in on the surprise).
Context:
We're a couple living and working on London. We're moving to East London where there's more limited tube lines than in West London where we currently live. Hence why, the thought of an ebike. The purpose for her would be mainly to commute to work (8km one way), go shopping and from time to time (if bike allows) give me a lift or go somewhere together.
We're not yet planning to have kids (maybe in 3-5 years) and potentially will have a pet in the next year or two.
The bikes:
The idea was born out of curiosity about Cowboy bikes. Our friends has a Cruiser ST and we loved it. Done some research and concluded that I'm put off by proprietary parts + Vanmoof story. But they look beautiful. But no.
Then I went down the Gazelle route. They're nice and we both test rode Grenoble and Avignon models. She preferred Grenoble because of the lower price and couldn't perceive the added comfort of Avignon too clearly.
Then enters Tern HSD 2, completely serendipitously - we never thought of a cargo bike. Indeed, subjectively, it doesn't look too beautiful, but nor do Gazelles (they can't match the Cowboys for sure), but it has the added obvious advantages of slight foldability and the carrying capacity. Definitely a plus to be able to carry groceries but also sometimes carry each other when we need to get somewhere together. We also have a car but that's more for trips outside of town.
The only problem with her riding with me on the back is that she found it quite challenging - maybe because most of the weight was balanced towards the rear and hence with front being less stable. I think it's something that she'd learn and gain more confidence because I didn't necessarily have problems with her at the back (I weigh 66kgs and she's 54kg) but I probably am a more confident rider.
Tern started to become the main contender also because of the fact that it fits her perfectly. Even though I thought she's a normal woman's height at 159.5cm apparently the e-bike industry does not like short people and there's only a few models that would fit her size.
Almost pulled a trigger on Tern but then saw that Canyon very recently released the Precede:ON 7 Comfort model. https://www.canyon.com/en-gb/electr...fort-7/3925.html?dwvar_3925_pv_rahmenfarbe=RD. It isn't a cargo bike but looks nicer than Gazelle's and just like Canyons do has really good hardware and the price is lower.
It doesn't have the obvious capacity to ride together but it has the same motor and belt drive that Tern HSD P10 does not have (which costs £300 more for Tern with P5i).
She's drawn to it due to what the looks and perception of the brand - I've only had good experience with my Canyon Ultimate and it's an absolute pleasure to ride.
The small caveat is that it's apparently suitable for people from 160cm and with her 159.5cm I'm not too sure it'd be a comfortable size. And also, more importantly, it does not have a suspension fork which is a bummer as I think suspension seatpost won't offer as much comfort as the fork would.
So, with no kids in sight for the next 3-5 years and only an infrequent sight of us riding together, we're torn between the two bikes.
Sadly, it seems like no-one with Internet access has bought the Canyon just yet cause apart from one rather poor French review of the model, there's literally 0 information about it online. No one mentions the driving experience, the comfort (I mean you'd expect a lot given it's in the name...)
Would love to hear what people think - I appreciate it's a bit of an apple to oranges comparison but this is where we are and trying to decide what would the best choice be!
Tl;DR - Tern HSD gen 2 vs Canyon Precede:ON 7 Comfort for 159.5cm lady. The bike will be mainly used for commuting to work/grocery shopping/going around London. No kids for now (maybe in 3-5 years), no pets. Pls advise.