£3k bike2work budget - what to go for?

[nky_84]

I have a Whyte Cambridge hybrid bike that i used to occasionally commute on in summer months, but its around 15miles, quite a few hills and i'm much less fit than i was, so the appeal is low!

However, i enjoyed downhill MTBs in my younger days and wondered if i could cover a few bases with a full suspension ebike that could get me back into commuting but also enjoy the odd weekend ride on the rougher stuff.

I realise that a dedicated commuter ebike would probably be more suited, but then i'd have 2 hybrid / commuters and no weekend toy!

If i got some road tyres / wheels, are full suspension ebikes too heavily compromised for a mostly on road commute?

My other concern is that £3k budget doesn't get you much these days, so would a hardtail be a better option?!

ie would this:
https://www.evanscycles.com/brand/trek/powerfly-ht...

be more suitable than this:

https://www.evanscycles.com/brand/gt/eforce-curren...

or am i barking up the wrong tree entirely?!

[jamm13dodger]

If it were me I'd go for the Trek purely on the basis of the Bosch motor rather than the Shimano one.
That being said how important is the Full Sus to you. What does your "Rougher Stuff" mean? If its massive jumps and bike park stuff the FS may be more important - if just singletrack and bridleways the hardtail should be more than enough for the job.

[OutInTheShed]

Buy an ebike for commuting.
Sell existing hybrid and get a FS bike for weekends if that's what you want?

OTOH, a big proportion of the FS bikes I see on the moors and bridlepaths are e-bikes.
Unless you are pushing yourself on technical terrain, most people seem happy with the weight of an e-bike.

It could be easy to want two sets of wheels and tyres though?

[Bill]

OutInTheShed said:

It could be easy to want two sets of wheels and tyres though?

Or just use more assistance on the commute.

[Ken_Code]

E-bikes are brilliant for commuting.

A good one is only about 14kg, and having assistance at the end of a work day if you want it is great.

[gangzoom]

Ken_Code said:

E-bikes are brilliant for commuting.

A good one is only about 14kg, and having assistance at the end of a work day if you want it is great.

The eBikes OP is looking at don't look like the kind of bikes you want to use for commuting without having the battery support. All my eBikes are 'mild' ones, I still do most of the work, but as you say, the motor really helps when you have a pannier, lock, wearing your full work cloths and than come across a reasonable hill. On most of my rides the motor is only on less than half the time.

As usual with bikes, n+1 is always the answer. There is no such thing as a bike that does it all, better get multiple ones to cover multiple needs. I'm keen to explore some more off road riding these days, so an eMTB like the ones the OP is looking at is my wish list for this coming Xmas .

[Ken_Code]

My first e-bike was a BMW hybrid, and yes, it wasn’t much fun without assistance.

I’m looking for a new one now, purely for use in town, and really don’t know what to get; something like an Ortlieb Vibe, or a good gravel bike with a bit of assist.

[horsemeatscandal]

I bought a Cannondale Topstone Neo SL1 on C2W as an all-rounder, including the commute, and it's great. It was around £2.7k in the sale, think maybe £3.2k full price.

[mike9009]

I bought a Giant Fathom a couple of years back as a dual purpose machine (MTB and commuter).

It has turned out that I have used it three times to MTB and done almost 5000 miles commuting. I used to love MTBing as a youngster, but the thrill has somewhat gone. So, from personal experience, I would go for the Trek. Obviously very dependent on you.....



Within a couple of months I had changed to a road biased tyre, and this worked well for commuting.