Carrera Subway-E 2 review: An excellent value-for-money MTB-style hybrid e-bike with a strong commuter appeal

While the experience of online shopping is undeniably fuss free and convenient, some products are better suited to being tried and tested using the old-fashioned approach of getting off one’s butt and visiting a proper shop.

That’s certainly the case when it comes to bicycles – both analogue and electric – which ideally need to be seen in the flesh and tried and tested to make sure the bike of your dreams isn’t one that turns out to be a lemon.

The sad thing is that many independent bicycle stores have struggled to compete against online retail, even though physical bricks-and-mortar shops offer something that websites don’t – namely expert advice, fitting, servicing and hands-on experience.

Despite the current downward trend in high street shopping, we thankfully still have the likes of Halfords, Evans, Leisure Lakes Bikes and Cycle King keeping high street bike-shopping alive, which leads me to the Carrera Subway-E 2 I’m reviewing today, an impressively-specced electric bike from the house of Halfords.

Here are my thoughts.

Carrera Subway-E 2 hybrid e-bike review

Price and availability

The Carrera Subway-E 2 is currently available in three frame sizes – S, M and L – from Halfords, priced at a reasonable £1,299. Halfords offers home delivery and reserve & collect, although store availability can vary so phone to check first. This bike is also eligible for Cycle2Work, which can greatly reduce the cost for eligible customers.

Specs at a glance

• Frame: Aluminium
• Fork: High-tensile steel
• Frame sizes: S,M,L
• Motor: BAFANG G020 rear hub, 250W
• Gear shifter: Shimano SL-U4000 RapidFire Plus, 9-speed
• Rear derailleur: Shimano 9-speed CUES
• Power assistance modes: Eco, Tour, Sport, Sport+, Boost
• Torque: 45 Nm
• Battery: BAFANG 378Wh, 10.5Ah, downtube integrated and removable
• Range: 25 - 40 miles (64 km)
• Sensor: Torque sensor
• Brakes: Tektro HD-M275 hydraulic disc
• Wheels: 27.5”
• Tyres: Kenda, 27.5”x1.95”
• Display: BAFANG TFT
• Waterproofness: Water resistant
• Weight: 21.4 kgs (with battery)
• Max rider weight: 120 kgs
• Frame warranty: Lifetime
• Battery warranty: 2 years

Set up

Sadly there aren’t as many bike shops in the UK as there used to be so chapeau to Halfords for continuing to sell and service bicycles alongside the company’s huge raft of motoring products. The fact that many UK towns have a Halfords on the high street means that anyone nearby can pop in and peruse the company’s wide range of bicycles, from kiddy cycles, hybrids, MTBs and gravel racers to e-bikes in every shape and form, and at a wide range of different price points.

Halfords not only sells bicycles – along with loads of spares and accessories – it also services them on the premises, and that means anyone can waltz in, choose a bike, have it assembled and set up for a modest fee of just £15, and then ride home on it, or pop it in the car. That, I gather, is how many prospective purchasers go about it.

However, since Halfords also has massive online presence, you can also have your chosen bike posted to you unbuilt with the front wheel unattached or, for a small fee of £35, pre-assembled with both wheels attached and set up by a technician just the way you’ll like it.

If ordering online and having the bike sent to you unbuilt, you will likely need to fit the handlebars to the headset (don’t worry, the brake and gear cables are pre-attached), attach the front wheel, saddle and pedals, and possibly make some fine adjustments to the rear gear derailleur. This is how I would always order a bicycle, but then I love assembling them because I’m a bike nerd and have fettled away on over 60 bikes in my lifetime.

For the purposes of this review, Halfords sent me the Carrera Subway-E 2 almost fully built with both wheels in place in a bike box big enough to sleep in.

All I had to do was loosen the four Allen bolts on the robust headset (don’t forget to buy an Allen key), swivel the handlebar, re-tighten the bolts and fit the pedals. Both wheels were already attached and the derailleur seemingly set up because the gears were smooth right out of the box. An assembly checklist was also supplied by whoever built it for me. That’s darn good service, if you ask me.

Design and build quality

Available in three sizes, the new Carrera Subway-E 2 falls under Halfords’ electric hybrid category though at first glance on the website page – and in real life – its steeply-sloping and acutely-angled frame and chunky gravel tyres give it the looks of 26-inch wheeled hardtail mountain bike, only without any front suspension. It looks pretty cool, too, in all that silvery livery.

However, there’s no mistaking the size of the Subway's much larger 27.5-inch wheels which are the new standard for most modern hybrid bikes. This model is also fitted with slightly knobbly 27.5” x 1.95” Kenda tyres which are fatter than the hybrid norm and better suited to both tarmac and gravel use.

Funnily enough, I was drawn to this particular hybrid model because the geometry of its steeply-raked top tube is very similar to that of my vintage Kona Cinder Cone mountain bike from 1995. Like most bikes back then, the Cinder Cone was cast entirely from chromoly steel and this not only helped the entire bike attain a svelte weight of just 10 kilos (22lbs in old cycling money) after being tricked out with lighter components, but the thin steel tubing gave it attractive curb appeal.

Aluminium framed bikes were already around much earlier but by the mid 1990s aluminium took over from steel and bikes suddenly started to look bloated with wide, squared tubing to give the frame extra strength. Bike purists like me were understandably miffed by it all but, hey, that’s the way the cookie crumbles.

I guess this is a roundabout way for me to describe the most obvious difference between my old Kona and this new hybrid gravel-ready bike from the house of Halfords. Although one is a vintage analogue mountain bike with 26” wheels and the other an electric hybrid with 27.5” wheels there is, unsurprisingly, a massive weight difference between the two.

Where the Kona’s weight out of the box was nearer 11 kgs (25lbs), the Carrera weighs in at a whopping 21.4 kilos (a shade over 47lbs) with battery. I have the build of a stick insect and had no issues hoisting my Kona over my shoulder when scrambling over a stile but I can’t even lift this heavyweight higher than my knees, and that means that most owners – bar those built like brick outhouses – will have a lot of trouble hauling it up a flight of stairs unaided.

I must stress that it’s not uncommon for e-bikes in this low-to-mid price bracket to weigh this much because aluminium e-bikes generally use thicker and larger-diameter tubing than traditional analogue bikes to handle the extra stress of all the weighty electrics. Add the weight of the battery and motor – in this case an integrated downtube battery weighing 2.3 kgs and a BAFANG G020 motor adding another 3.3 kgs – and you can see why electric bikes generally weigh a small ton, unless you’re prepared to stretch the budget to buy something like the Fiido Air (£1,636), which purportedly weighs a comparatively featherweight 13.75 kgs (30.3 lbs).

I should also add that weight isn’t anywhere near as much of a factor when it comes to actually riding the Carrera Subway-E 2 because its 250W BAFANG motor provides all the power and torque (45Nm ) you need to get to the top of modestly steep hills with very little physical input. Mind, as with any e-bike, the opposite is true when the battery runs out of juice mid journey.

Right, that’s the Carrera Subway-E 2’s important weight info out of the way, so let’s start at the front of the bike and work our way to the rear, starting with the handlebar which has a slight rise and measures a substantial 29 inches (74mm) in width.

This level of width is quite normal for hybrids and mountain bikes these days because it makes the bike feel more stable, responsive and confidence inspiring, especially when going down steep hills and over rougher terrain. I personally much prefer a narrower bar, partly because it makes any bike easier to handle when negotiating traffic and storing at home, and partly because I find them to be more comfortable in general. But each to their own.

The bars are connected to a short and extremely robust 3-inch (7cm) stem that further helps with agility and responsiveness, though the frame geometry and handlebar configuration definitely encourage an over-the-handlebar ride posture rather than the usual upright riding position normally associated with hybrid bikes. I like it that way but many fair-weather riders may not.

The Tektro HD-M275 all-weather hydraulic brakes, meanwhile, bring everything to a halt in seconds and I especially like the spongy feel of the brake levers, which helps a great deal when feathering the brakes to shave off speed.

The Subway-E 2’s BAFANG computer display is one of the clearest I’ve seen and one of the brightest when you boost the backlight. As per usual, the screen displays all riding data such as battery level, current speed, max speed and average speed along with trip and odometer information, making it easy to keep tabs on your rides, past and present.

The up and down buttons also let you quickly cycle through the bike’s five pedal assistance modes – Eco, Tour, Sport, Sport+ and Boost. For everyday commuting and knocking about, this model’s display does a perfect job without unnecessary complexity.

While we’re at the front, a quick shout out to the smooth Shimano SL-U4000 RapidFire Plus 9-speed shifter, paired with Shimano’s CUES RD-U4000 GS 9-speed rear derailleur. This is a great gear combo for the bike’s price band though, as to be expected, owners may need to make some fine barrel adjustments to the derailleur for smoother shifts across all nine rear sprockets.

The chunky downtube accommodates the bike’s clip-in BAFANG 378Wh, 10.5Ah battery and it’s extremely well integrated with no unsightly cabling to the rear hub motor. There’s a small rubber button near the base of the battery but this is mostly for awakening the battery if it’s been in storage.

There’s also a very dim single blue LED in the same area and this basically flashes when the battery is being charged off the bike. I personally would have preferred a five-bar battery level indicator on it so I can see the state of the charge at a glance without having to turn on the handlebar display controller.

The Subway’s battery is paired with BAFANG’s G020 rear 250W hub motor. This portly beast belts out up to 45Nm of torque which is acceptable for a city bike in this price range but less than half the oomph of the Fiido Nomads Pro, which sports a claimed 100Nm of torque. Like all decent e-bikes, this one also comes with a torque sensor and it feels very smooth in operation, kicking in early so you don’t need to exert too much pressure on the pedals to get it to activate.

The Carrera Subway E 2.0 does not include Bluetooth functionality or any kind of app integration, but I don’t think that’s a bad thing because it keeps it nice and simple. There are no GPS tracking security measures on this bike either so bear that in mind if you’re locking it up outside while you’re at work and buy yourself something like the Halfords Advanced Rock Solid D-Lock which is angle grinder proof.

If you have no choice of locking it when popping quickly into a shop, whack the gear shifter to the highest gear and select 0 assistance on the display or remove the battery entirely (it comes with a couple of keys). That way a thief will have to spend precious time fiddling about while trying to make a break for it on a bike that feels like it’s riding through treacle.

Performance and ride quality

While this bike has considerable heft – which you will most likely notice when wheeling it around, manoeuvring it into a bike rack and especially when climbing stairs – I think it delivers a reassuringly composed ride, with excellent stability that makes it feel particularly easy to control in busy towns and cities. The saddle, too, was comfortable for me though some riders may find it a bit too firm and narrow. Still, it can always be very easily changed.

Rather than feeling twitchy or nervous like some folding e-bikes, the Subway’s large, chubby tyres give it a planted feel that inspires confidence, especially when riding over uneven surfaces, navigating traffic or carrying a little more speed through bends. The steering is smooth and predictable, too, with a natural response that makes direction changes effortless without feeling overly sensitive.

On my test climb which averaged a gradient of around 10%, the Subway-E 2 proved extremely capable of maintaining a useful level of assistance, especially when I switched it to Boost mode for the steepest section.

Granted, the bike’s 250W BAFANG rear-mounted motor won’t transform a challenging hill into a completely effortless experience, but with the combination of the extra assistance modes – specifically Sport+ and Boost – and the 9-speed gears, I was given more that enough hill-climbing assistance to keep up the momentum without feeling any fatigue in the legs. Mind, had the hill been longer it might have been a different story.

The Shimano drivetrain deserves special mention because the shifts have been really polished on all my test rides, with no delayed changes and missed cogs. This was especially noticeable on a section of road comprised of varying gradients where I had to keep flitting from one gear to another.

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Carrera states a number of different ranges depending on the PAS mode it’s in. With around 70% of juice left in the battery, I flicked through every assistance mode on the display and checked the remaining range for each and here are the results: Economy – 42 miles; Tour – 29 miles; Sport – 22 miles; Sport+ – 16 miles; and Boost – 15 miles.

My guess is that you would easily attain more than Carrera’s stated maximum of 40 miles range if in Economy mode on flat city streets, around 30 miles if switching between Economy, Tour and Sport, and maybe 20 miles if riding in a modestly hilly area. That’s not too shabby in my opinion.

Verdict

The Carrera Subway-E 2 is a highly capable MTB-style hybrid e-bike that delivers a comfortable, confidence-inspiring ride, making it well suited to commuting and off-piste gravel travel. Moreover, the bike’s BAFANG motor and battery combo provide extremely useful pedal assistance without making the bike feel overly complicated. However, its 21kgs of heft requires the physique of an Olympic weightlifter to carry it.