My wife has this wild idea that if we get ebikes and use them, we will become born again in our youth. Ok, any opinions on the best ebikes? I’ve read many of the reviews but I was hoping that some of the people that I respect most(BLF folks) might have an opinion. I’m waiting……
Most expensive ones for sure.
Excuse me? I don’t understand.
Edit: Ok , now I see. The best is the most expensive. Thanks.
Anyone else with experience with Ebikes, I’d appreciate your input.
Reviews here:
https://electrek.co/guides/ebikes/
Suggestions here:
https://electrek.co/2022/03/06/here-are-the-best-electric-bikes-you-can-buy-at-every-price-level/
Where do you think you’ll ride? Mostly smooth pavement? Mostly rough trails? Makes a difference.
Mostly easy trails and gravel roads. The missus and I are getting too old for the challenging stuff. We live up in the mountains, so we have access to a lot of logging roads.
Did you check out the links i posted, i am actually interested in a few of the $1200 bikes.
Its interesting that the difference between $1000 and $1200 is a big one and worth the upcharge if you want much better specs for only a little more money.
Costco also sells a few models, here in Canada they have a $400 ebike that would be very basic but very cheap.
Not sure what the USA Costco has (assuming there is one near you or online) but even if you don’t have am membership if its a great deal get someone you know to buy you a $50 cash card then you can shop twice a year. Or if the price is very good the membership cost for one year won’t add much to the purchase price (and you get a year of Costco entry thrown into the mix).
I spent about two months researching e-bikes. It came down to the Radpower Fat Tire Bike and the Bintelli M1… Also a Fat Tire Bike. I went with the Bintelli because I know a dealer close-by. I’ve loved it!
Every one of them has its ups and downs. I didn’t want to go in on the cost of a Pedego. If I ever come out of the Bintelli I would probably move into a Radpower just to be able to try it.
We also live in the mountains… my reasoning for going with the Fat Tire Bike and more mountain-bike-like frame.
What I thought about:RadRover 6 Plus Electric Fat Tire Bike
What I went with:https://bintellibicycles.com/electric-bicycles/m1-fat-tire-mountain-bike/
While I fetched these links for you I was sad to see they have gone up in price. Two years ago when I was looking at these two they were $1,500… A $500 price increase, for what? I still make the same amount of money at my job…
If I didn't live in the middle of nowhere, I might get an e-bike to get around town.
But it's several miles to town, and I'd have to be on the side of a dangerous highway, so I choose to travel by car.
Bort, I did follow your links and many others too. I was up after midnight last night reading ebike reviews. I clearly misspoke when I asked about who makes the best ebikes—good grief, there are ebikes that cost ten thousand dollars! I definitely don’t want the best ebike or the 2nd or 3rd best either. I want a BLF version of an ebike. I haven’t been to a brick and mortar ebike store yet. I just know what I’ve seen online. I was hiking on a trail yesterday and a couple came cruising down the trail on a pair of Radpower bikes. Very cool bikes and well worth considering. I’ve also been looking at and reading about a still cheaper bike—the Lectric XP 2.0. Seems to be popular and fairly well-made bike for $1000. I will continue to do my research. Thanks much for the links and input, Bort and rjkesler. I’m pretty much starting from scratch here as far as my ebike knowledge.
From your other replies i wasn’t sure if you saw mine or perhaps didn’t like that they are long.
I have been reading Electrek for a long time and they do seem to know their e-bikes.
Right now i am not buying but do keep my ears open. The Costco one was dirt cheap last year here, $319.99. The proportions are nuts, the battery is not very big and it can only go 25km/h (16mph) but the price was amazing.
In the end bikes come down to price, the more you spend, the more you get. The super cheap though expect to be poor quality, even the Costco one i skipped i would not expect to last long term.
Also it matters how much you intend to use it, a couple times a year, monthly, weekly, daily?
I used to be into hard core cycling years ago and found a decent bike starts around $1000. As i mentioned form the reviews the $1200 ones seem to be the smart price point, better parts for just a bit more money. When you go too cheap you pay for it in the end with poor durability and short lifetime.
My brother-in-law, his wife, and daughter all have Lectrics. They love them. I’ve ridden his, with and without a dead battery. They seem worth the money. I don’t love those tiny wheels, though.
The people I know with a Radpower bikes have the cargo bike, but they both love them. I see lots of the $1.3K Radpowers on my commute, and a year ago the reviews were overwhelmingly favorable.
I hardly ever ride my e-bike, but building from a kit is another option, depending on where you are, and what your mechanical skills are. The chinese kits with mid-drive motors and torque-sensing cranks are actually quite good. It’s not quite as good as a $5k Specialized I test-rode, but for less then $1k, it’s really quite good. Mine has a plastic drive gear that is its weak spot, but a replacement brass gear is cheap, and supposedly easy to install. But, then it’s louder. It’s also nice to know I got Samsung 35E cells in my battery pack. A guy I work with put a Bafang kit on his Kona, and he loves it. It’s very similar to mine.
Where I am, there are 2 companies that will put a motor/battery kit on a bike for you for a reasonable price, or a lot of people do it themselves. Depends on your commitment and skills.
I’m a 55 year-old bike commuter, and I’ve been watching the rise of e-bikes on the roads and multi-use trails for a while. From the people I see riding them, and the people I know, I can tell you that e-bikes do get some people riding who previously didn’t. It will be interesting to see if it’s long-term, or just a flash in the pan.