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I've been mulling the idea of an e-bike for a while now. I have a 40km round trip of a commute, and while I'm happy doing that entirely human powered when I'm carrying a laptop and a change of clothes, one of the unintended consequences of stepping down from a senior management role at work in the summer was that I started needing to bring more kit into work on a more frequent basis. I did consider a bakfiets style cargo bike, but came to the conclusion that getting this, and a cargo trailer, would be more adaptable for other potential uses.
Took it for a short 16km spin yesterday; initial impressions are pretty good. I'm still recovering from a virus I've had for a week, so left in 'eco' for most of the ride to take the edge off that post-viral weak feeling, and switched into 'trail' for a couple of the hills to get a feel for the difference it made. It's the first e-bike I've ridden, so I have nothing to compare it with, but certainly first impressions are that it doesn't feel too alien to my usual meat propelled bike experience, although the riding position needs more tweaking, as it feels quite scrunched up compared to my existing Whyte S150.
Chief challenge now is trying to find an axle that will allow me to use a Burley Coho XC with it - none of the combos available on the Burley website seem to fit the bill, so a bit of research required on that front.
Looks mint. Something like that would encourage me to commute by bike and then squeeze an off road ride in afterwards.
Cool. 😊👍
Very nice👍
Nice that, good choice!
May I congratulate you on your choice sir , enjoy 👍😎
Nice one, looks great...
If I were to import the bile and spittle from the other e-bike giving in/up thread...
"Have you thought about an electric motorbike?"
You may find an axle in some of the Euro shops where there is more variety for ebike stuff. Bike discount and R2 bike perhaps?
Nice bike Mr.
One thing's for sure you'll not experience any hate riding.
Unlike the faceless anti brigade on here.
Funny how they never surface out in the real word.
dont know what your commute looks like, but before i scrolled down to the pic, i was expecting skinny tyres, pannier rack, curly bars and a discrete battery/motor. My commute is half the distance you are covering.
come back with more pics when you sort the trailer?
+1 for all the hate being online.
I’ve had mine for 7 years now, and everyone Ive met IRL has been positive about them.
Happy NBD
I had actually given up about 18 months ago after 25 years of hoolying around singletrack. Almost 60, poor lifestyle and condition that isn't honestly going to change much, knees shagged, back issues, long hours, late nights at weekends and always holding up the regular guys on the climbs had defeated me.
But I'm about to hit the button on an eMTB this week after doing a ride with the chaps from work around the Wyre Forest the morning after our Xmas bash, being sick on a climb (first time ever!), just about hanging with them on the downhills and just having the best time again. I realised that if I get some assistance with the most unpleasant part of the ride (i.e slogging up hills) I can fall back in love with it all again.
So there's an incoming Mondraker.....although that orange Orbea looks lush 🙂
Those Orbea Ebikes look really good so congrats!
My main riding mate has one and loves it so think you have made a fine choice.
I don't understand all the ebike hate I must be honest, all bikes are good right? I don't ebike (54 this year) but wouldn't hesitate to if and when I felt the need.
James
Good luck with the bike, only real difference you'll find with an ebike is that you'll want to sit down on the toilet when you have a pee now 😁
Thanks mudpup 👍
The orange version of the Rise is lovely looking!
I’m pretty fortunate as far as commuting goes, as my route is off-road along the Forth and Clyde canal the whole way, other than a short road section in Kirkintilloch, and a couple of road crossings to negotiate. I do have the option of taking the ‘long way’ home, heading out along the Kelvin Walkway, then up through Milngavie to the West Highland Way/John Muir Way. Having the e-bike opens up some interesting route choices out that way, especially in the summer months, when there are some lovely options for throwing in a cheeky wild swim as well.
Happy to put some bike/trailer pics up, assuming I can resolve the compatibility issue.
☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️
Trailer Update...
After an exchange of emails with both Burley and the Roberts Axle Project, it appears that there's no option for connecting a Burley Coho, my preferred option, to an Orbea due to 'axle incompatibility'. No idea what the problem is, as Roberts make an axle to take the Bob Yak/Ibex trailers, so presumably it's more a question of demand at present.
I managed to pick up a second hand Burley Nomad, which has a 45kg payload, so should be enough for my purposes at present. I hadn't appreciated it only had a canvas floor, so I've fabricated a removable rigid floor from 9mm ply and some 35mm pipe clips. The supplied tyres were a bit uninspiring, so they've been swapped out for a pair of 16" Schwalbe Little Jims, which should easily cope with the mild offroad bits of my commute. The only real issue I can see at present is that it juts out to rider's left, so I'll need to bear that in mind on narrow bits/when overtaking. I might take if for a test run with the GoPro strapped to the back of the trailer, to get an idea of how far over it sits when it's on the bike.
Couple of pictures from the back garden (which is sorely in need of some tlc when Spring arrives!)...
Nice to see an e-bike getting good use, glad you got the trailer sorted. Is there any way of adjusting the offset of that trailer? I’d find that quite offputting. Even if that means resorting to a pipe bender…