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Family Ambrose is in the lucky position that buying an E bike for Mrs A is going to happen- but it is a blummin minefield.
Criteria are as follows:
Female rider currently riding a Kona Dawg Pro. It is the review bike that did the rounds back in the day. Purchased from Skyline Cycles as ex-Demo.
Rider height, 5'1, 157cm
Preferred riding type: trail centres, esp. Coed y Brenin, Marin, Laggan, Nant yr Arian, Glentress. Blues and reds are great, possibly the occasional easy, safe black. Ridden loads and loads in Portes du Soleil, DH reds are the limit, XC blacks too. Favorite trails are PdS blues, Welsh reds.
Local dealership suport would be preferable.
Sizing is obviously important but at the moment our LBS has nothing in stock for a very long time that suits.
Dipping her toes in this confusing new world I 'think' that Mrs Ambrose is looking for a relatively slack 150ish enduro with 27.5" FS with a 625 battery.
Bikes that might tick the boxes are Trek Rail models, Canyon Spectral On CF6 Wmn and Focus Jam 6.8 (which Mrs A has had a trial on at Glentress. It was a hit until it ran out of juice).
Can anyone suggest any advice, alternatives, criticism etc to help at all?
FWIW, MrsA is a very fit and healthy 58 y.o
Liv Intrigue is 27.5 on XS & S
Cube Stereo Hybrid 160 is also 27.5
Trek rail FTW….
I think they look amazing, and by all accounts ride brill.
Mate has one and loves it.
My MMrs has a Trek hard tail EB and again, a brill bit of kit.
I think Trek have it nailed, and the bosch motor is ace
DrP
Rail (29er) or Whyte e160 (150 is a 29er) would be my choice. IMO the Bosch motor is superior to the EP8 with more power and more range.
Something else to consider is a Spesh Levo SL and range extender. It’s a 29er but can be mulletted to slacken it off a bit.
Thanks folks. The next scheduled delivery of small Rails is 2023!!!😲
Scott Contessa, tredz seem to be having a small coming into stock soon, so guessing they'll be available via the distributor across the UK soon?
As always though, best advice is to buy as local as you can, or with a good support network.
5ft 5 male (27inchish legs) on 29 levo m, which I run 27.5 in winter for mud clearance, so might be worth trying a 29 levo s on 27.5
Thanks folks. The next scheduled delivery of small Rails is 2023!!!😲
I was told that too by my local trek dealer in June past, in July blazing bikes delivered a Rail 9.8 to my door, give them a shout as they seem to get stock in.
Another vote for the trek rail, an incredibly capable bike and I favour the Bosch motors over the shimano. As above, try blazing bikes in Shropshire, they always seem to have some stock
This looks good spec for money and can be ordered to collect at local store, only problem is 29er
After visiting seemingly every bike shop in South Wales this morning we found a small Rail. It was too big 😔.
Lunch in Cardiff cost me £80 for three burgers, a pizza and drinks. Shut Up. No Way. Yes Way!
Brought down to Earth we drove over to Don Skeenes. Is this the place that people give such bad reviews of? Because I can't see why. What a great bunch of people in a proper LBS. Loads of stock, loads of time for us, and an XS Giant Liv now paid for, collection on Monday.
All in all a good day. Now, who wants to dry line the spare bedroom for me because I am starting to hate it.
Never really heard much bad stuff about don skenes, plus when going to Cardiff or bath I nip to real Italian pizza company for lunch, great food at a good price 😁
OP you might be thinking of Don Amott, king of caravans.