HariSeldon
Member
As a brief intro, myself (61) and my wife (54) are looking to get back into cycling with an Electric Bike, we live in Dorset, UK and are fortunate that we will be shortly living within 9 miles of all our regular travel destinations and the New Forest, an area full of off road trails.
Dissatisfaction with the levels of traffic, a need for more fitness, better bike infrastructure and some green tendencies, suggest that cycling is the way to go and an Electric Bike will make this all more practicable to go further, carry shopping and remove some of the disincentives…plus it’s fun!
A day’s hire of an ebike in the New Forest, a Cube step thru hybrid with a mid motor Bosch and 1.6” Schwalbe Range Cruiser tyres, was very successful, coping with roads and seeming fine on the gravel and forest trails, we were convinced! Given a fair few hills and very strong winds on the day, the bike coped well, ( riding at 15mph into a strong headwind, I turned the motor off and saw my speed drop to about 8mph despite peddling quite hard, I was impressed by the motor).
Being in the UK we are looking at the 25kmh restricted version of motors ( HS models are possible but number plates, motorcycle helmets, insurance, not being able to use cycle paths and trails make this a self defeating option) I did find with the CUBE hire bike I was getting to about 30mph ( 48 kmh) downhill with ease and averaging 15 to 20 mph ( 25 to 32 km/h) on the flat road sections.
The temptation is to buy a couple of bikes at this sort of price point £2,000 to £3,000) , I know that inevitably that we would end up replacing them in a couple of years, as I am fairly certain with being retired we have the time to make full use of bikes for longer day trips and are thinking about bike holidays in the Uk and Europe already. It makes more sense to skip the entry bike and Buy Right, Buy Once. Research and a visit to a couple of bike shops and test rides is leading me to Riese and Muller, very impressed with quality and the full suspension setup . ( The cost is high but we will significantly extend the life of our 5 year old, 40,000 mile Hybrid Toyota before replacement is considered)
I believe twin batteries, internal hub and belt drive plus full suspension are required features, and I am leaning to the Homage GX Rohloff E14 or the Superdelite GX Rohloff E14, the step thru frame of the Homage is tempting… but with an extra battery the step thru space is limited …. The bike rides great ( I tested the Vario), I am inclined towards the Superdelite 2020, the appearance, integrated batteries, the new 2020 CX motor, (a LBS was upbeat about the new motor, having seen a fair few bearing failures, but praising the excellent Bosch service).
The Homage was appealing too, less expensive, easier access, my wife at 5’5” (165cm) is just about ok with the 49cm frame but the 2020 motor improvements lead me to favour the Superdelite, where the smaller 47cm frame, with dropper seat post, might be a better fit for my wife ( probably for myself too, whilst I am 5’10” my inside leg measurement is very close to my wife at around 31”)
I am inclined towards the GX option, Bar ends, wider pedals and with the Dropper post with the Superdelite make sense. Regarding the tyres, we will be living next to an area of heath with potentially muddy trails and the Rock Razor tyres might be a plus here, with not too much downside on the road.
Thoughts and opinions are very welcome, the final question is with the Superdelite is whether to go with the Fox Suspension upgrade, by this point having potentially spent so much, I am not too worried about the extra cost, if it is of benefit. I suspect that we will ride a reasonable amount off road but are not going to be pushing the boundaries too much !
In summary, Superdite, with or without Fox suspension upgrade ? Are my concerns about the older CX model bearing issues overblown and the improvements of the 2020 model overweighted ?
Dissatisfaction with the levels of traffic, a need for more fitness, better bike infrastructure and some green tendencies, suggest that cycling is the way to go and an Electric Bike will make this all more practicable to go further, carry shopping and remove some of the disincentives…plus it’s fun!
A day’s hire of an ebike in the New Forest, a Cube step thru hybrid with a mid motor Bosch and 1.6” Schwalbe Range Cruiser tyres, was very successful, coping with roads and seeming fine on the gravel and forest trails, we were convinced! Given a fair few hills and very strong winds on the day, the bike coped well, ( riding at 15mph into a strong headwind, I turned the motor off and saw my speed drop to about 8mph despite peddling quite hard, I was impressed by the motor).
Being in the UK we are looking at the 25kmh restricted version of motors ( HS models are possible but number plates, motorcycle helmets, insurance, not being able to use cycle paths and trails make this a self defeating option) I did find with the CUBE hire bike I was getting to about 30mph ( 48 kmh) downhill with ease and averaging 15 to 20 mph ( 25 to 32 km/h) on the flat road sections.
The temptation is to buy a couple of bikes at this sort of price point £2,000 to £3,000) , I know that inevitably that we would end up replacing them in a couple of years, as I am fairly certain with being retired we have the time to make full use of bikes for longer day trips and are thinking about bike holidays in the Uk and Europe already. It makes more sense to skip the entry bike and Buy Right, Buy Once. Research and a visit to a couple of bike shops and test rides is leading me to Riese and Muller, very impressed with quality and the full suspension setup . ( The cost is high but we will significantly extend the life of our 5 year old, 40,000 mile Hybrid Toyota before replacement is considered)
I believe twin batteries, internal hub and belt drive plus full suspension are required features, and I am leaning to the Homage GX Rohloff E14 or the Superdelite GX Rohloff E14, the step thru frame of the Homage is tempting… but with an extra battery the step thru space is limited …. The bike rides great ( I tested the Vario), I am inclined towards the Superdelite 2020, the appearance, integrated batteries, the new 2020 CX motor, (a LBS was upbeat about the new motor, having seen a fair few bearing failures, but praising the excellent Bosch service).
The Homage was appealing too, less expensive, easier access, my wife at 5’5” (165cm) is just about ok with the 49cm frame but the 2020 motor improvements lead me to favour the Superdelite, where the smaller 47cm frame, with dropper seat post, might be a better fit for my wife ( probably for myself too, whilst I am 5’10” my inside leg measurement is very close to my wife at around 31”)
I am inclined towards the GX option, Bar ends, wider pedals and with the Dropper post with the Superdelite make sense. Regarding the tyres, we will be living next to an area of heath with potentially muddy trails and the Rock Razor tyres might be a plus here, with not too much downside on the road.
Thoughts and opinions are very welcome, the final question is with the Superdelite is whether to go with the Fox Suspension upgrade, by this point having potentially spent so much, I am not too worried about the extra cost, if it is of benefit. I suspect that we will ride a reasonable amount off road but are not going to be pushing the boundaries too much !
In summary, Superdite, with or without Fox suspension upgrade ? Are my concerns about the older CX model bearing issues overblown and the improvements of the 2020 model overweighted ?
Our dealer is expecting in the 2020 Superdelite bikes any day and we will be off for a test ride asap ! 
