Bike finder: Which high-range e-gravel bike should I buy?

High-range e-gravel bike

For: David Robertson, aged 74, from Prestwick.
Bike needs: Road/gravel bike with electric assist and a good range. Current bikes are a Boardman Elite and a Cannondale Super Six Evo Neo e-bike with a range extender.
Must have: Light weight, power assist and a range of 50 miles or more for on-road exploring with some gravel roads.
Budget: £3,000.

Richard Peace

We featured the impressive Cube Nuroad Hybrid C:62 SLX 400X in the Aug/Sep 2024 issue of Cycle magazine; the review is available online.

That was £4,499 but the range starts at £3,599, featuring the same ultra-capable Bosch SX mid-drive system with a 400Wh battery that's range-extender compatible. Quoted weight is 14.3kg without pedals. E-bike discounting is common so you may grab a bargain.

In the world of sub-£3,000 options, you will usually have to compromise. You’re unlikely to get the Cube Nuroad formula of powerful, sophisticated mid-drive and sub-15kg weight.

If prioritising weight and cost over power, then Ribble’s Gravel AL e – Sport was £2,399 at the time of writing. It has relatively subtle but still appreciable assist from the Mahle X35+ rear hub motor system. Its 14.1kg weight is impressive for an alloy-framed e-gravel bike.

You could even afford the £550, 208Wh range extender to supplement the in-frame 250Wh battery.

At the other end of the scale, Cairn’s Brave range gives the option of a ride that stretches the e-gravel genre in the direction of e-MTB geometry, while adding a powerful Shimano EP6 motor with 85Nm claimed torque and a huge 630Wh battery.

The downside is weight at 18kg – although considering all that battery capacity and motor power, it’s not bad. Cairn’s drop-bar equivalent range is styled Adventure.

At the time of writing, many models were simply out of stock. If you are struggling to find any of the above, consider the Scott Speedster Gravel eRIDE 50, Boardman ADV 8.9E and the Mondraker Dusty R.

Ribble Gravel AL e – Sport £2,399

Dan Joyce

Lightweight e-road and e-gravel bikes often use a rear hub motor such as the Mahle X35+ mentioned by Richard.

It’s a good solution for e-bikes that you’ll pedal at speeds beyond 25km/h because the motor disengages effectively when it’s not in use, so you have negligible resistance when riding without power. That means you can eke out the range by pedalling without assistance on the flat. But there are also range-extender batteries available.

Ribble’s Gravel AL e – Sport is a good example of this kind of e-gravel bike, as is the Sonder El Camino (from £2,699), which uses a different hub motor from Kynamic. As Richard notes, you could get the Ribble and an extender battery on your budget.

However, in a subsequent email you mentioned that you’d prefer to be able to take the battery off the bike for charging. The main batteries on these bikes are only meant to be removed from the down tube by a technician, not the owner.

So instead I recommend the Boardman ADV 8.9E (£2,799). This 16kg e-bike uses the Fazua Evation system with a mid-motor and a user-removable battery. Like the Ribble and Sonder, the battery is relatively small (250Wh), but a mid-motor gains the benefit of the bike’s gears, like your legs do, so it’s more efficient.

The nominal range is 56 miles in ‘Breeze’ mode (the lowest assistance level). But here too there’s negligible drag when pedalling without power. To maximise your assisted mileage, I’d suggest fitting tyres with less rolling resistance, such as 38mm Rene Herse Barlow Pass TC (£82 each) or 40mm Panaracer Gravelking Slick TLR (£55 each).

Boardman ADV 8.9E £2,799

First published in Cycle magazine, April/May 2025 issue. All information correct at time of publishing.