Scott Sub 10 Belt

The Sub 10 Belt is aimed at riders who want an e-bike to do a proper job of getting them across a city or a longer commute, day after day, without much thought for chain oil or gear cables. Scott has built it around Bosch's Performance CX motor and an 800Wh battery, paired with a Gates belt and an enclosed hub gear rather than a conventional chain and derailleur. Mudguards, lights, a kickstand and a load-rated rear rack come fitted as standard, so it's ready for a wet ride or a loaded shopping run straight away rather than needing accessories bolted on afterwards.

A drivetrain built to be left alone

Instead of a chain, the Sub 10 Belt uses a Gates CDX belt running on 46-tooth and 24-tooth sprockets, and Scott points out that it needs no chain oil at all. That matters more than it sounds: no oil means no black marks on trouser legs, no chain to rust in the rain, and far less regular cleaning than a typical commuter chain sees over a winter. The gearing itself sits inside an Enviolo Trekking hub with a manual controller, keeping the mechanism sealed away from road grit and salt rather than exposed on a derailleur cage. Up front, an SR Suntour XCM34 LO fork gives 100mm of travel with a lockout, taking the edge off potholes and broken tarmac when you want it and firming up for a more efficient ride when the road is smooth. Shimano BR-MT200 disc brakes with 180mm front and 160mm rear rotors give the stopping power that a loaded commuter bike needs, particularly with a rack and panniers on board.

Classic or Wave: one specification, two frames

Scott sells the Sub 10 Belt in two frame shapes, both at the same £4,599 RRP and both built around the same motor, battery, drivetrain, fork, brakes, tyres and fitted equipment. The classic frame is the more traditional diamond shape, while the Wave is Scott's low-step design, built for easier mounting and dismounting if you're often getting on and off in traffic or carrying shopping. The two builds aren't identical in every detail, though: the classic bike specifies a Bosch System Controller and Mini Remote alongside the Kiox 300 display, while the Wave uses a Bosch LED Remote with the same Kiox 300. Scott's own approximate weights put the classic frame at 29.4kg and the Wave at 31.2kg, the extra material in the low-step frame accounting for the difference. Because the list price is identical across both, it's worth checking which frame and which set of controls a given offer actually includes before comparing prices, since the £4,599 figure is Scott's official RRP rather than a live selling price and doesn't tell you which build is currently cheaper to buy.

Carrying more than yourself

Both builds come with a Racktime SnapIt 2.0 rear carrier rated to 27kg, and Scott says it's suitable for an appropriate child seat as well as panniers or a crate. That's a genuinely useful amount of load capacity for a bike aimed at everyday journeys rather than weekend leisure riding. It's worth keeping the separate 160kg maximum system weight in mind too: that figure covers the bike, rider, equipment and luggage combined, not the rider on their own, so a heavier rider carrying a loaded rack and panniers should add everything up rather than assuming the limit is a personal weight allowance.

Adding range later

The fitted 800Wh PowerTube battery is a substantial amount of capacity for daily riding, but Scott lists the Sub 10 Belt as compatible with the optional Bosch PowerMore 250 range extender for riders who want more. It's a genuine upgrade path rather than something included in the box, so the extra capacity shouldn't be counted as part of the standard specification when comparing this bike against others, but it's a useful option to have if your commute grows longer or hillier over time.

All of that fitted equipment and the enclosed drivetrain make the Sub 10 Belt a bike built to be used hard and left alone between rides rather than fussed over, though the weight that comes with such a complete specification means it's better suited to being kept in a shed, garage or ground-floor store than carried up several flights of stairs each night.