Are Reiss & Mueller worth the extra cost?

[saudidave]

I'm retiring in about 9 months. I have a 3yr old Raleigh Motus Grand tour, 4,000 miles covered, Nexus 8 IGH, I service it myself and keep it in mint condition. The 400W battery doesn't appear to have degraded much at all. I've upgraded the seat to a Brookes B17, fitted a thudbuster seat post, Schwalbe Marathon plus tyres, fitted a chain tensioner, ergo grips etc. I think it's fantastic.

I've already bought a retirement car, I'm buying a new computer soon and I'm thinking of upgrading the bike to a step through with a much larger integrated downtube battery. I have my eye on a Cube with a 700 watt battery. Other than that in the £3k price bracket, I'll gain very little as all the components are very similar to my existing bike that I suspect will last several years more and I which know inside out.

When I retire I'll be using the ebike a lot more and I shall also electrify my mint condition Brompton for trips further afield travelling to new places by car with the bike in the boot. My dilemma is do I keep my perfectly good existing bike and buy a new 500W battery for £500.00 to augment my existing 400W one (Peak district in mind), buy a new Cube at an upgrade cost of £2,000.00 or so if I sell my Raleigh, or do I go the whole hog and spend £6,000.00+ to get a Reiss & Mueller with full suspension, 14 speed Rohloff, Gates belt, ABS brakes, dipping headlamp etc. Other than aesthetics the Cube won't really be an improvement. The R & M has obvious spec advantages but in reality will it be that much better to ride? Has anyone gone down that route and is able to offer real use advice? I would add that fortunately the financial aspect isn't a massive consideration although my working class roots do still make me consider it!

The critical aspect here is the ride quality

[Jdsk]

As it causes so much confusion in other threads... I think that those batteries are 400 and 500 and 700 Wh, not W. It's describing their energy storage capacity rather than their power output.

Jonathan

[Jdsk]

What type of cycling do you have in mind?

Do you run out of range at the moment, or get close to doing so?

Thanks

Jonathan

[saudidave]

Thanks Jonathon. For the life of me I fail to understand why W v WH should be an issue as the intent is obvious, but I take your point.

I intend to use it for day rides of up to 60 or 70 miles and taking in the peak district as I live in Poynton, Cheshire which is on the edge of it. Even in relatively flat Cheshire that sort of range is an issue with the current 400Wh battery. I rode Poynton-Marple-Whaley Bridge-Buxton-Goyt Valley and back to Poynton a couple of years ago and i just about made it back with 2 miles range left and a round trip of 38 miles. Climbing out of the Goyt Valley drained the battery alarmingly. I'm 69 now and I'm not going to get any stronger so I definitely need more grunt!

Dave

[simonineaston]

For the life of me I fail to understand why that should be an issue...

So that all readers can be completely clear about exactly what is being discussed. We may perhaps recall that useful old motto, "Assumption - the mother of all [rude word deleted]-ups"!

[squeaker]

If the OP is not familiar with them, a peruse of AtoB's online info (example here) might be of interest, especially wrt range.

[saudidave]

Thank you. I am very familiar withthe definition of Watts & Watt hours et al, having studied Physics at A level,prior to embarking on a various courses leading to Chartered status in the construction industry. When referring to the battery capacity I referred to it in Watts, and that term is the generic term, in common usage with the general public, regarding ebike batteries, rather than the technically correct Watt hours.

Anyone who misunderstood my intention would have to be a f---w-t

[jb]

Due to the rapidly advancing field of battery design I would personally keep the existing bike and maybe put a bigger battery on and then run it into the ground.
When it expires you may find yourself in another world with regards the choice of your next cycle.

I certainly glad I didn't plump for what was on offer four years ago and kept the old Raleigh going with a bigger battery. ,(lots of watt hours)

[Jdsk]

Due to the rapidly advancing field of battery design I would personally keep the existing bike and maybe put a bigger battery on and then run it into the ground.
When it expires you may find yourself in another world with regards the choice of your next cycle.

Sounds right to me.

Jonathan

[saudidave]

Thanks JB, I agree in many respects, however I'm a cancer survivor. I have an an absolutely fantastic prognosis now but having spent a couple of days in a medical coma on life support after an emergency laparotomy that was required to stem internal bleeding following a prostatectomy, then a further 4 days in intensive care, my perspective on waiting for things in the future has been flipped 180! I'm lucky to have any form of future so if there is a big gain in ride quality with a R & M I'm likely to go for it.

[stodd]

I agree with the others, keep the Motus. If you do significant amounts of off-road you may benefit from full suspension.

A step-through gets to be more and more of an advantage as you get older. We (I'm 75) really like the fact that our (older and lower spec) Motus is step through. I can still get onto our full crossbar tandem with a few ows and groans; maybe the effort is doing me good?

[reohn2]

Thanks JB, I agree in many respects, however I'm a cancer survivor. I have an an absolutely fantastic prognosis now but having spent a couple of days in a medical coma on life support after an emergency laparotomy that was required to stem internal bleeding following a prostatectomy, then a further 4 days in intensive care, my perspective on waiting for things in the future has been flipped 180! I'm lucky to have any form of future so if there is a big gain in ride quality with a R & M I'm likely to go for it.

That's a healthy attitude to life in your predicament and I'm glad you're on the best side of it all
Go for the R&M if you feel you will give it the use(from you OP I think you will).After test riding the bike you're thinking of,I'll guarantee you'll love it if you're anything like as impressed as I was!

[saudidave]

Thank you, a response from someone who has tried one. The reviews sound amazing but are often posted by the owners of ebike shops, such as Propel in America so it makes me dubious. I'm 69 yrs old and a cancer survivor so If I get another 15 years on the planet I'll be extremely lucky. I'm going to have a test ride, and I'll buy one if it impresses me.

[stodd]

You may be interested in
https://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/classi ... ondon.252/
(but perhaps you want to treat yourself to a spanking new one anyway).

[saudidave]

Thank you, however I am thinking ahead and will buy a stepthro if and when I do take the plunge. I first need a test ride then intend to buy an integrated dual battery step thro if it's sufficiently better than the very nice bike I currently have

May I ask your opinion of the Nuvinci IGH?