Hybrid electric Power assisted mountain bikes

[rannoch raider]

Hi Folks, Has anyone ever ridden one of these ? In particular the 'Cube' Hybrid types with the Bosch motor sold in the UK ? I can see that due to recently trading in for a coach built motorhome, I'm going to struggle to get close to some fishing spots that were do-able with my previous VW van. I'm thinking that one of these bikes may be worth considering to get from parked motorhome location to fishing venues quietly and without turning myself into a sweating wreck incapable of fishing! :lol: I need to know if they actually work so any info appreciated.
Cheers
Jim

[Bobfly]

Many folks in my climbing club use electric mountain bikes and some have spent more than £5,000 before adding all sorts of "extras". That said, they go on long off-road trips up to 70 miles a day.
The Cube one is really just a simple town bike and not properly up to off-road or hard going. From all that the folk I know have to say the German Haibike range is the best to be looking at.

[rannoch raider]

 It's good to know that mountain climbing and serious outdoor types are putting a bit of trust in them. That tends to confirm that they are as capable and reliable as the marketing blurb suggests. The Germans do seem to be leading the market and I see a number of German makes getting good press. The bikes you suggest look great but I doubt if the household financial manager would allow me to spend £5,000 on a bike.  :shock: The Cube bikes are also German and have the same Bosch motors and battery pack that Haibike use. They also do some highly regarded proper off road bikes like this one.......

http://www.dalescycles.com/2016-cube-reaction-hybrid-hpa-race-nyon-grey-flash-red-p12456

The performance components are the same as Haibike but the Haibike frames do look a lot sturdier. They look strong enough for downhill racing! I'll give them a proper look but I reckon I'd be looking at riding roads, forestry roads and very light non technical off road so may not need to pay for a five grand frame. Something that will take a couple of paniers for waders and some tackle will probably do me.

[Bobfly]

The people I know with top end Haibikes are real enthusiasts and happy to lash out big dosh but there are cheaper models from that maker. One guy has really fat snow wheels and tyres and the whole setup looks more like a scramble bike than any bicycle !! It is all now so heavy that it is very hard to lift it over any gate but since he uses exercise machines for four hours every day he can manage fine ! The Cube ones that I have seen in newspaper adds look to be more of the motor-assisted town bike and fairly no-frills but that would be quite enough for most users on forest roads and suchlike. Hard to find any German made stuff that is not well built.

[Bobfly]

Hey .... I have been confusing my bike brands !  :roll: :roll:
The adverts I had in mind were for a type called Gtech not the Cube ones. Gtech are very simple non-sus bikes and not good value at £995 for a plain run of the mill bike. Cube are the proper job and just the very business like the Haibikes.

[rannoch raider]

Well, went for the Cube HPA Race with the 500 battery which it is claimed, will take the bike well over 120k on its low power assistance level and about 70k on its highest power assist. Only had a wee test drive on tarmac as yet and it was very impressive. Basically a fairly straightforward mountain bike that senses when you are applying pressure to the pedals and lends you a hand ! The rider does have to pedal at all times though. It's not a free ride. No noise and doesn't tear the trails up. Might be a decent way to get to those hill lochs that seem just to far away sometimes.
I'm heading up Rannoch way tonight to give the trout a laugh and I'm going to take it to a few wee lochs here and there over the rest of the week to see how it performs off road. So far, so good !

[Bobfly]

That should really be the business !     Plenty power on tap with 70+Nm to whizz up the hills.
Did you get from on-line or from a Cube dealer ? Interested to hear how you get on with it.

[Wildfisher]

This topic has given me much food for thought. One of these assisted bikes could  be money very well spent and an asset for accessing remote lochs.

However .............  :?

I intend to hold off  at least  until we see the result of the SNP's Wild Fisheries Reform, because if the SNP  criminalise fishing as they propose there will be very little true wild loch fishing left and  2.5K might be better spent elsewhere.

[corsican dave]

I intend to hold off  at least  until we see the result of the SNP's Wild Fisheries Reform, because if the SNP  criminalise fishing as they propose there will be very little true wild loch fishing left and  2.5K might be better spent elsewhere.

you could probably spend 12 months in spain for that. if you could deal with killing all those carp, of course  :lol:

[Wildfisher]

you could probably spend 12 months in spain for that. if you could deal with killing all those carp, of course  :lol:

Indeed and if the SNP criminalise fishing in favour of rich and powerful landowners as they intend in their WFR document I will be giving up fishing in Scotland and only fishing abroad. I do not believe I will be alone in this. Fishing here is just not good enough to be worth the additional hassle the SNP's new law will create and certainly not worth 2.5K for one of those fine vehicles. Scotland is a world class venue for some things - walking, bird watching, mountaineering, but I'm afraid that fishing is not on that list.