Ribble EnduranceALe

[mikehen]

I’m thinking of buying the above new e- bike for £2399. Does anyone have any comments on the bike?

 

[All uphill]

Can you give us a link?

What will you be using it for?

For me it would probably be a bit too racy, but then I am in no hurry and prioritise comfort. You most likely have other priorities.

I was impressed that builds are available from 13kg. My pedal power bikes weigh that!

 

[vickster]

I’m thinking of buying the above new e- bike for £2399. Does anyone have any comments on the bike?

Have you checked the ebike forum in case there’s discussion there?
https://www.cyclechat.net/forums/electric-bikes.159/
first priority would be to test ride if at all possible

 

[Specialeyes]

In our house we've got 2 Ribble CGR Ales (long story )
One's set up for offroad, with chunky tyres on 650b wheels. The other is set up for road riding, with 700c rims, set up tubeless. (Side note - I live in fear of ever havng to change the GP5000s on that bike as they're tighter than a very tight thing).

So the closest I have is the roady CGR... and it's bloody brilliant. The Endurance obviously uses the same X35 Mahle motor, battery and controller etc so my comments are based on that.

Pros:

• Light weight. Even with the e-bits the bike is still eminently chuckable, carry-upstairs-able and lob-in-the-car-able
• Stealth-e. Visually, unless someone takes a second or closer look or (more likely) has a clear view into the rear hub as you overtake them, they won't realise it's an ebike
• Tuning. You can easily fine-tune the assist levels in the smartphone app, then not have to worry about them on the go...
• Simplicity. Literally one button. It cycles through the 4 modes - white(off)/green/orange/red and tells you the current battery level using the same 4 colours (white-green-orange-red for the quarter of the capacity it's currently in)
• No drag. When not using the assist or you're over the 15.6mph upper limit, it just rides like a bike. The back wheel is slightly heavier so unassisted acceleration is a bit slower, but if you're not Silly Commuter Racing, it doesn't really matter

Cons:

• You'll forget you have other bikes
• You'll get used to riding at exactly 15.6mph, sitting on the upper limit of assistance
• Not sure what the current lead time is
• A few users have had the 'purple IWOC problem' where the battery software gets a bit upset and the indicator lamp shows purple. But it's usually cured by riding the bike to lower the charge then recharging

Things People Think Might be Cons But Really Aren't:

• Changing the rear tyre is not a problem. You just need to carry a spanner (I carry a cone spanner rather than an adjustable as despite it being an eBike, every little weight saving helps, right?) to undo the rear axle bolts
• The battery will probably wear out at some point but don't be put off by it being in the frame. It'll come out via the bottom bracket, making a job that's already a workshop job into slightly more of a workshop job
• You can't get a workout on an ebike. Borrocks. You can still make yourself a hot sweaty mess. You may just end up further away. You can still soft-pedal home though You can also set the assist level top adjust to your heart rate if you like

Also, at that price it's a bargain - that seems less than retail?