Niche? Flat bar, e-gravel with suspension fork?

Ok this may be a bit niche, but it is the bike my Mum is looking for. She already has, and loves, her Specialized Turbo Creo that was modified for her by Specialized with flat bars to allow for her health needs. However, she’d like to ride smooth gravel/easy bridleways more, but with more comfort than offered by her Creo (which is currently running on a set of my 43 mm Gravel Kings).

After trying various e-mtbs (she has been trying a Trek Powerfly HT this weekend) she finds them far too heavy and cumbersome, so is looking for a lightweight flat-bar e-gravel, with a suspension fork, dropper post and as wide tyres as possible. Initially, I thought such a thing would never exist, or require heavy modification of an off-the-peg e-gravel, but I see that Alpkit do an e-Camino in flat bar: https://alpkit.com/products/el-camino-apex1-flat-bar which you can spec with a 30 mm Rockshox Rudy (no dropper, but that’s easy for us to resolve) and fits 50 mm tyres.

Anyone any experience of living with the rear wheel powered hub? One of the reasons she has the Creo is the motor being in the BB, making it easier to deal with a rear flat tyre.  Our only ebike is our Tern cargo bike, so this is outside our experience/expertise.

Any other suggestions of how to achive the dream bike? She won’t be battering any bike – comfort and weight is key.

Why not 650b on her Creo – should enable wider tyres?

https://www.specialized.com/au/en/turbo-creo-sl-faq

Specialized say up to 47c on 650b

I have ridden hub motor ebikes.  The main disadvantage is on hills particularly uphill starts.  How often do we all get punctures nowadays?

another alternative is a euro trekking bike.  Not really sold here much but close to a hybrid

Why not 650b on her Creo – should enable wider tyres?

Good idea – but she also needs a suspension fork as riding her Creo offroad gives her really sore wrists, but she still also really likes going out with her road club so wants to keep that in a road set-up (the gravel kings will come off, and it go back to a road tyre once an offroad bike is sourced).

How often do we all get punctures nowadays?

Very fair point.

How much weight difference will there really be between a gravel bike with suspension and wide tyres and a hardtail?

which you can spec with a 30 mm Rockshox Rudy (no dropper, but that’s easy for us to resolve) and fits 50 mm tyres

The Rudys are surprisingly heavy. Add in a dropper and any kind of motor and battery… and it’s not going to end up that light compared to the Trek. I spent some time on a Rudy equipped e-gravel bike (Canyon) and it was lots of fun… heavy as hell… but fun.

suspension fork as riding her Creo offroad

Suspension stem not an option?

What about a Cairn with some Rudy forks added?

Cairn BRAVe 2.0 Flat Bar

Suspension stem not an option?

I’d echo that. Have the Redshift stem with flat bars on my “knocking about” bike. It helps a lot.

That is some good outside-the-box thinking re the suspension stem. Thanks.

How much weight difference will there really be between a gravel bike with suspension and wide tyres and a hardtail?

Hard to be sure, as Alpkit don’t give weight for that Camino at the moment, just saying its 3 kg heavier than the standard Camino. So if that is the case, against the non-e flat bar Apex model, that is 10.5 + 3 + 1.3 for the Rudy fork = 14.8 kg (that is not taking off the rigid fork weight, to give some allowances for the frame weight/a dropper) in a medium.  I don’t know which model of the Powerfly she hired from Dales Bike Centre, but one assumes a cheaper one, so looking at the Trek website for the Powerfly 4 625W Gen 4, they quote 23.3 kg for a medium! Ok, my Mum will have hired a small, but ~8-9 kg is a lot of weight to save; she goes to the gym and stronger than average, but she is also only 5’5″ and in her late 60s.

This is definitely outside of my expertise – are there any e-mtb’s around the 15 kg mark?

I’d say that any hub drive bike would feel like a step backwards after the Creo

The new creo 2 is a much more off road capable bike, but is also silly expensive.

The turbo Vado sl might be a good option, it’s got boost spacing so should take wider tyres and the top of the range one has the future shock headset.

Powerfly 4 625W Gen 4, they quote 23.3 kg for a medium!

Looked at that again – that is the bigger battery one. But even the Powerfly 5 Gen 4 is quoted at 23.7 kg.

The turbo Vado sl might be a good option, it’s got boost spacing so should take wider tyres and the top of the range one has the future shock headset.

Thanks. That had been mentioned before but discounted because of the tyres, but we were yet to see one in the flesh (though the Harrogate store isn’t far away). Good to know about the boost spacing. My Dad had one of the early Future Shock Diverge, so that is certainly worth thinking about, as it was good.

or just drop a set of suspension forks on it. I suspect the current forks are a fairly standard headtube, so there’ll be masses of forks that will fit?

Santa Cruz Skitch? a flat bar version is available in a number of setups, all sub 14kg.

now I may be wrong and the new gravel suspension forks may have solved this issue – but considering the riding position of someone in their late 60s with bad wrists, and isnt particularly heavy, and using it on smooth gravel/easy bridleways, are they really going to be getting a good benefit out of a suspension fork? will not a lot of weight on the front wheel they generally dont move too much except on the bigger impacts.

Or is it going to be an expensive and stiff lump on the front wheel that gives more trail buzz than a nice carbon fork and some suitably wide and soft tyres?