The missus and I have cycled together for the whole of our marriage initially on touring bikes - a Raleigh Royal and Dawes Galaxy and then on MTB’s with my beloved Cotic Soul and her beautifully restored 1990’s Marin Indian Fire Trail. We’ve never been into the whole lycra clad Strava thing, we just loved being out in the countryside getting lost down bridleways or finding great trails to ride. Sometimes we would go to special mountain biking areas like Queen Elizabeth country park for more technical stuff. It’s brought us a great deal of happiness and kept us fitter than we might otherwise have been.
Unfortunately I have developed ankle arthritis thanks in part to a genetic blood condition and that combined with us getting slowly older and fatter over the past 27 years and living in the relatively hilly South Downs has seen our rides become less frequent and I think less enjoyable too. We still ride our local loops (albeit less often in winter or rain etc!) but I have noticed that we are less inclined to venture further afield or do any epic all day rides like we used to on trails like the South Downs Way. I think frankly I’m just getting less joy out of having to grind up yet another relentless hill (I’m 55 and she’s 62) and I also know that it’s probably not doing my ankles any good anyway.
Keen to remedy this state of affairs and to bring the joy of cycling into our lives again we visited a local ebike retailer a couple of weeks ago on our 24th wedding anniversary and took our first ride on a pair of EMTB’s. Within 10 yards we were giggling like a pair of ten year olds on our first proper bikes. The sensation was incredible, like being given Greg LeMonde’s legs, like being fitter than you have ever been at any age. We were both just blown away by the incredible joy of cycling again and hills felt like simply a none-issue!
I recently had a small inheritance which would give us enough to buy two nice EMTB’s but I’m slightly torn between getting us both a full fat 24Kg, 750Ah battery bike with up to 85Nm of torque or something lighter at around 19Kg with less power 60Nm and battery capacity of say 350Ah. I’d welcome views from those who have ridden eMTB’s of both types.
Our local loop of about 9 miles incorporates a mix of on road, bridleways, some singletrack and a slightly rocky and gravelly shallow descent. We love doing things like the South Downs way and getting out in the hills and as keen campers we’d love to go and ride some of the bigger hills in the North or Wales too. We also occasionally visit bike parks with dedicated MTB trails as well as bimbling along cinder trails like the Downs Link or those at Bordon ranges.
I’ve only ridden the full fat MTB’s so far at bike shops so my next move will likely be to try something lighter to compare. I’m slightly wary though of going for something just because it’s lighter and then finding that range anxiety becomes an issue if we go out for half a day off road. I’m also conscious that the full fat MTB’s I have ridden so far make going uphill as easy as riding on the flat (good for my ankle arthritis) but the lighter variants may make the hills harder work again.
There’s some good deals to be had as it’s end of the current model year. We also both can take advantage of the Cycle to work schemes offered by our employers. Mine is the priority as my Cycle to work scheme only opens from 1st-18th July whereas hers runs all year round, so I need to choose a bike quite quickly in order to make what is quite a significant saving by using the scheme. Budget is up to around £5k per bike, less ideally!
Views?
JonathanG
