Hardtail for the missus

[John_A]

Looking at 2 bikes as there isn’t much available in a small. Cube reaction performance or an Orbea unrun. If I was buying for me I’d go unrun and I think the lighter bike may be better for her too. Any opinions?

The Cube is a bit more rack friendly , but there’s options for the unrun

 

[CJaMTB]

In all honesty, I'd go full-sus, 'cos she'll want one in six months anyway!

 

[steve_sordy]

Hardtail vs full suss is usually a matter of personal preference on MTBs. I have ridden and owned both and definitely prefer a FS. But for emtbs, the general trend appears to be that those whose first emtb was an HT, they usually swap it out for a FS fairly quickly. The extra weight at the back, without the benefit of any suspension appears to be the key factor.

I have not ridden an HT emtb, so I cannot offer any personal experience, only repeat the experience of others.

Edit: Having just posted this, I now see that @CJaMTB supports my view.

 

[CJaMTB]

Hardtail vs full suss is usually a matter of personal preference on MTBs. I have ridden and owned both and definitely prefer a FS. But for emtbs, the general trend appears to be that those whose first emtb was an HT, they usually swap it out for a FS fairly quickly. The extra weight at the back, without the benefit of any suspension appears to be the key factor.

I have not ridden an HT emtb, so I cannot offer any personal experience, only repeat the experience of others.

Edit: Having just posted this, I now see that @CJaMTB supports my view.

We're looking like a bit of a double act on here this evening!

 

[John_A]

She’s used to a HT and itll mostly be used for shopping and the odd ride through a forest. No desire to be a downhill hero. Yet!

 

[Stihldog]

My wife has a Powerfly 5 HT gen4. I added the cushy seat to keep her happy.
I change the tires and dropper also. We ride mostly light trails and flat areas on these bikes. This is a small.

 

[Mikerb]

Both my wife ( Cube Access) and my mates wife (Cube Reaction) use Cube hardtail emtbs and neither shows any desire or intention of riding anything other than fireroads/bridleways/farm tracks. So I guess it depends on whether she shows any intention of riding singletrack etc let alone the same trails as you. As a bove buying a comfy cruising saddle is often enough to compensate for no rear suspension!!

 

[John_A]

She’s got her heart set on the reaction. Off to buy one tomorrow

 

[Mikerb]

She’s got her heart set on the reaction. Off to buy one tomorrow

I bet she likes the colour

 

[John_A]

I bet she likes the colour

There’s a pink model coming soon, but she’s impatient! On the question of 65 vs 85 Nm she was like “don’t care”. She’ll mostly be riding with me on my rise, so don’t want her going quicker than me!

 

[Lee c]

Am I the only one who had to check the title of this post twice … and make sure I was in the correct forum … normally posting ‘hard tail for the misses’ would get a different reaction

 

[Tony4wd]

For smooth tracks my Wife's Cube Reaction Performance is an excellent bike. Nice to ride, plenty of power if you're not doing steeper hills, not heavy and the 9 speed shimano gears are easy to tune and shift smoothly and easily. I've put some slime in the tubes (new tubes) to avoid punctures. It's not sufficient for my steeper, rougher riding so I have the Stereo 120.

 

[steve_sordy]

You were warned!

 

[mak]

I bought the other half a decathlon hard tail 2 years ago. It had the privilege of doing 16 miles in total before it was sold a year later

Hold out before spending the big bucks.

 

[John_A]

Am I the only one who had to check the title of this post twice … and make sure I was in the correct forum … normally posting ‘hard tail for the misses’ would get a different reaction

 

[John_A]

We’ll we saw the cube and she liked it, I thought it looked cheap and nasty

decision is between

cube performance. Bosch 65Nm 625wh
orbea keram. Bosch 85Nm 500wh. Looks really nice imo
Haibike hardseven 7. Yamaha 70Nm 630wh

my thinking is cube will be easiest to resell if it doesn’t get used, or if she wants something better later, Orbea is nicest, but an older model and possibly not as easy a resell. Haibike is somewhere between the 2

all about 2.5k new

its easier buying for myself

edit, just thrown a Trek power fly 4 in to the mix, a few hundred more bosh 85Nm 625wh and she loves the colour!

 

[steve_sordy]

Get the one with the same battery as on your bike?

 

[John_A]

Get the one with the same battery as on your bike?

Unfortunately neither of my bikes have compatible batteries with any of the above

 

[steve_sordy]

Unfortunately neither of my bikes have compatible batteries with any of the above

Change the choices of bike for your wife. That seems perfectly rational to me. When one battery starts to show signs of aging, you can swap batteries!

 

[Stihldog]

Change the choices of bike for your wife. That seems perfectly rational to me. When one battery starts to show signs of aging, you can swap batteries!

Keeping it “All in the Family” kinda makes sense. We both have 500w Trek HT’s. Sliding my battery into her bike is easy and satisfying at the same time. Sometimes the different cover colours need explanation …but it works

 

[BobR]

There’s a pink model coming soon, but she’s impatient! On the question of 65 vs 85 Nm she was like “don’t care”. She’ll mostly be riding with me on my rise, so don’t want her going quicker than me!

Both my wife and I have Rise’ but hers is the M-Team and mine is the M10… we ride together on mostly blue and some black trails and she runs in trail or boost while I ride in eco or trail and she stays with me very good. She is even starting to catch some air on some of the table tops… as we ride together most of the time I got her a better bike than me and that way she wants to ride just as much as I do and sometimes even more. If you want her to ride as it allows you to ride more, get her something better than what you have.

 

[SteveTTT]

I was advised that a hardtail would suit my riding, so bought a Trek Powerfly 7 last October. After 4 months of trying to keep up with those mates on full sus bikes on rocky trails (eg Douth Doens Way) decided to sell it, then bought I sold it and bought a Giant Trance.p this April. Just saying….

 

[steve_sordy]

Keeping it “All in the Family” kinda makes sense. ........ Sliding my battery into her bike is easy and satisfying at the same time. ....

oooh steady on!

 

[Stihldog]

oooh steady on!

Whoops, I didn’t mean easy. I still need a key

 

[John_A]

I was advised that a hardtail would suit my riding, so bought a Trek Powerfly 7 last October. After 4 months of trying to keep up with those mates on full sus bikes on rocky trails (eg Douth Doens Way) decided to sell it, then bought I sold it and bought a Giant Trance.p this April. Just saying….

A rear rack is a prerequisite for taking little one to school soma full sus isn’t an option really, we saw a lovely Liv full suss at a great price too,.

thinking along the lines of battery shares, does a 630wh trek power fly take the same battery as a 2022 Orbea wild(Possibly my next bike)? Not that it really matters, never found the need for a second battery on any bike I’ve had

 

[Armor11]

She’s used to a HT and itll mostly be used for shopping and the odd ride through a forest. No desire to be a downhill hero. Yet!

I'll just tell you my experience with this situation. My wife was wanting a bike to come riding with me and we bought her a Giant Explore E+, and she loved it. Because most of her riding was smooth trail or road and shopping trips. Then she gotg more into riding and wanted to come other places I went as well (nothing extreme, just rougher terrain). So we sold that one and purchased a Giant Stance EX (comes with the rack and lighting). Now she is totally in love with riding and even on the smooth areas she prefers the FS and it is just a better more comfortable ride. The beauty to EMTB is that in out situation the E part of EMTB negates the extra weight. Not saying you are in the same situation but I would seriously look at FS or at least be prepared to upgrade to a FS bike shortly because she will want it soon most likely.

 

[Dago]

Got an ORBEA HT for my wife for Xmas. I’ve taken it out to ride and love the livelier rear end, and full power. I may can Specialized and my next bike will be a built ORBEA HT as a mullet, 160mm 38 fork.

 

[Barbara_Reed]

A rear rack is a prerequisite for taking little one to school soma full sus isn’t an option really, we saw a lovely Liv full suss at a great price too,.

thinking along the lines of battery shares, does a 630wh trek power fly take the same battery as a 2022 Orbea wild(Possibly my next bike)? Not that it really matters, never found the need for a second battery on any bike I’ve had

Trailer? More comfortable for the rug rat, as well. If it's big enough to not fit in the trailer get a follow on bike.

 

[jeanmarc]

Bought my wife a HT last year, changed to a comfy seat... Now have to move to FS... probably a Liv Embolden 2023. I would strongly suggest going straight to FS. Good Luck!

 

[John_A]

Bought my wife a HT last year, changed to a comfy seat... Now have to move to FS... probably a Liv Embolden 2023. I would strongly suggest going straight to FS. Good Luck!

Rutland Cycling had 30% off the Emboldens, all gone now . Think you may be right, she'll end up with a better bike than me!