Opening up a huge potential can of worms here, but I’ll be starting a new job soon and tempted to get an ebike to help on the commute.
Cycle to work is available - but would like to keep cost to a minimum.
12miles each way, so ensuring I have enough juice to last both ways.
Pros/cons of recharging? Removable batteries? Bigger capacity for the mileage preferred.
I would like the look of a gravel bike style rather than town bike design, for example, so I did look at Ribble options, but open to suggestions.
Has to be in the UK.
Basically I know very little about e bikes and capabilities. Just want to make the inclines flatter and get there not a sweaty mess
I’d go MTB, there are more options as they are more common. Plus, they are hugely fun off road and you can have bigger tyres and more travel because you have a motor to lug it around.
All the major brands sell them now and the usual caveat of some brands are cheaper than others. I’d look at what motors they are running and what is deemed the most reliable these days. When I last looked it was the Bosch with people having issues with the Specialized but that was 5 years ago.
I hadnt considered a MTB, but that could be an option. Considering the distance, I can cover this on my road bike in around 45 minutes without too much effort in order to be fresh at work, and hope an ebike would be faster but assumed a MTB wouldn’t.
I would choose the mtn option. Put on some tires with good sized knobby’s. The last thing you want on the way to work is a flat. It’s not going to be that much slower than a road bike. With a proper motor it could even be faster if you wake up a bit late.
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My wife had a Cannondale Synapse NEO for a while, cannot remember the exact model. It had a Bosch 250 watt motor, and the battery lasted plenty long enough for 25 miles (your there and back commute) even if it was done on the highest mode setting (cannot remember if it was called Sport or Turbo) with max assist.
The Cannondale was a road bike, well maybe more of a gravel bike I think we had 40mm on there. It was $3K, IIRC back in 2019 or so.
I commute on a regular Gravel bike 19 miles each way. I only do that when the weathers nice and maybe 3-4 times a week. I have a fantastic setup at work with indoor storage for the bike (my office) and a locker room with a shower. It’s the bulk of my riding now.
Don’t know your price range as Santa Cruz can be a bit high, but I’ve always thought this would make a sweet commute bike:
I’m pretty sure they meant an emtb.
Just a thought about charging is that you might have an available charging point at work, so you only need to have enough charge for 12 miles…