Urban commuter with a new job

[Knolan]

Hello.
I’ve been cycling just 6km to work on my trusty Gaint Rapid 3 for several years now. However I’ve found a new job 19km across the city that I start in September.

I spun out there last week and managed it comfortably in 45 minutes on a beautiful summer day. It’s mostly flat with a gentle climb on the return trip. I could probably get pretty used to it on my current setup, however Irish winters are wet and dark with short amounts of daylight meaning dark commutes.

Additionally I don’t want to be going into a new job tired and return home to a young family exhausted. It’s an academic role so I’ll be lecturing a lot which can be physically demanding.

Buying a second used car would be prohibitively expensive (insurance costs have become obscene) and as we’re saving for a mortgage a bad idea. Parking at the University is also very difficult.

Public transport in Ireland is awful. It would take at least 90 minutes to get to work on the bus and an annual travel pass is expensive (€1500-€2000)

Fortunately there is a government bike-to-work scheme. You can purchase a bike up to a value of €1000 which you repay over a year before tax deductions saving about 50%. (Yes, our taxes are fun)

Most bike shops will give you a dummy quote for whatever amount you want up to €1000 and then your HR department issues you a voucher and you buy whatever bike you want.

So it seems to me that an e-bike is a good option. Since my Giant has been solid all these years I began looking at similar e-bikes from them. The FastRoad for example but I can’t find any real reviews. I friend who is more of a hardcore cyclist recommended the Specialized Vado 4.0.

I took a Vado 3.0 for a test spin at the awesome new Specialized store here in Dublin and it was a lot of fun. But I’m worried about the reliability after reading the Specialized forum here. The 4.0 is probably the better option. We don’t get the 5.0 or the 6.0 here and everything is limited to 25kmph.

With the bike-to-work scheme I’d have a budget of around €3k. Any thoughts on either of these bikes or other recommendations?

 

[Dewey]

Probably a good idea to test both the Giant Fastroad E+ (Yamaha), the Specialized Turbo Vado 4.0 (Brose), and then something else like a Cube Kathmandu hybrid exc 500 with a Bosch CX motor for comparison. Compared with the Giant, the other two have mudguards, rack, and lights running off the battery, which are pretty much essential features for your commute, higher level derailleurs, suspension forks - the Cube has an air fork with longer travel, and larger 180mm brake disk rotors. The Cube comes in diamond, mid-step, and step-through frame variants and it's nice to have the choice but the step-through has the battery on the rear rack vs on the downtube which is better for weight distribution.

 

[rich c]

Spend some time reading over here. https://electricbikereview.com/forums/forum/specialized/
Personally, there are a few too many issues popping up with Specialized for me to want to purchase one. Sorry, no idea of pricing in Ireland. My preference is German bikes, huge fan of Haibike!

 

[Knolan]

Spend some time reading over here. https://electricbikereview.com/forums/forum/specialized/
Personally, there are a few too many issues popping up with Specialized for me to want to purchase one. Sorry, no idea of pricing in Ireland. My preference is German bikes, huge fan of Haibike!

Yes, I’ve been reading that forum and the reported issues are a concern. But everyone in the hospital is sick and that’s a popular forum so I’d be careful about writing Specialized off completely.

I test rode a small size Quick E today but they’re almost all out of stock until late September. All the remaining 2018 stock is heavily discounted but there’s nothing in my size.

Seems a bit more punchy compared to the Vado I rode last week but was a busier looking bike overall. The sales guy mentioned that their ECO is set higher than most vendors.

 

[batmick1]

I'm with Rich on the Haibikes. Fantastic bang for the buck and they make bikes for the vertically challenged (both ways, I am 6'4" and they had a 64cm, but they also have small and step-through frames). Also the Trekking Line comes very well equipped with fenders, racks and lights.

 

[Bruce Arnold]

Yes, I’ve been reading that forum and the reported issues are a concern. But everyone in the hospital is sick and that’s a popular forum so I’d be careful about writing Specialized off completely.

That's pretty much what I was going to say. There might be -- we don't know, but there easily could be -- 1,000 happy riders for everyone who posts about a problem here on EBR. I don't overlook the problems, I just don't magnify them either.

It's great that you have a chance to try some bikes out. It gives you a basis for comparison. I'd ask around about the quality of service at the bike shop also, that could be worth knowing before sinking the money into a bike.

After all the research and comparison, most of us get the bike we like anyway. Sure, we've got our "reasons," but...

 

[ebikemom]

Personally, there are a few too many issues popping up with Specialized for me to want to purchase one...

I have no pony in the ebike brand race, but I think it's worth taking care in terms of how one measures reliability. It's possible for there to be a cluster of posts about a bike, or lack of information about a bike, without either indicating any particular high or low incidence of problems, but simply relating to who posts here. Or, to what bikes are more widely sold--if there are more out there, then there will be more problems, but that doesn't mean that more of that particular bike actually have problems. Basically, what we are seeing here is anecdotal evidence. Maybe problems posted about a bike or brand are indicative of lots of problems with that bike or brand. But, it may not indicate that all--it might just indicate that a brand is popular, or that some folks who own those bikes like to post on forums. Meanwhile, silence about a particular bike or brand, or only positive reports, may not mean a lack of problems or issues.

Another thing that I was told can be "a thing" in online communities are people who post complaints about a bike in order to draw people away from one brand and toward another (with a financial incentive). Perhaps a more experienced admin (@Brandy M ? @Court ?) could comment?

Meanwhile, I have no idea how to collect data on ebike reliability, but do think that we need such data. ... Hmmmm ..... When I buy a car, I have asked my mechanic who repairs lots of different types of cars for advice. Perhaps those who repair ebikes might be aware of what bikes seem to have repeated particular problems, and what bikes don't. Of course, this would be confounded by the fact that some bikes are much more common than others, making frequency a poor measure of reliability.

Again I will say, ... hmmmmm.... something to ponder.

I think it makes a lot of sense to test ride bikes of interest and, when possible, to deal with a local bike shop or local dealer who can handle warranty claims and do repairs.

 

[Nova Haibike]

I think it's worth taking care in terms of how one measures reliability. It's possible for there to be a cluster of posts about a bike, or lack of information about a bike, without either indicating any particular high or low incidence of problems, but simply relating to who posts here. Or, to what bikes are more widely sold--if there are more out there, then there will be more problems, but that doesn't mean that more of that particular bike actually have problems. Basically, what we are seeing here is anecdotal evidence.

On the anecdotal side, Trek probably sells more e-bikes than Specialized, yet I rarely read about issues or problems with Treks. Given that, I would be wary of purchasing a Specialized, and can understand why others would be as well.