Ebikes

Doug W

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Must be some ebikers here. I could post questions at some ebike forum but I don't want to. Are any of you folks riding an ebike at the moment and could you talk up or down whatever you are riding. My wife and I are getting ready to buy a couple and looking for suggestions.

Thanks
 
No. Not at the moment. It's very dangerous to read your phone while riding. Strongly recommend against.

I've had ebikes for over 10 years. I'm in a really hilly area and they make riding from home possible for me.

Recommendations are highly dependent on your use case: why do you want an ebikes and how do you plan to ride? What is your budget?

I like class 1 mid-drives for me. Mid-drive torque is essential for hills, I'm only in interested in pedal-assist, and I want to be able to ride on paths more than I need raw speed. Mine first was an OHM hub drive, and my current is a Bulls with a Bosch motor. The difference on hills is night and day. I don't remember the brand my wife has but it's also a Bosch mid-drive.

My cousin (RIP) was disabled and lived in a flat part of LA. He needed a throttle and rode a class-2 hub drive all over the place. He started with a Rad and upgraded to a Pedego.

My Dad rides streets (and hills) and has a carbon-fiber mid-drive class 3. This let's him continue riding where and how he used to on his acoustic hike as he gets older. His solo bike is a Specialized, I think. Their tandem is custom.

I recommend staying away from cheap Chinese brands and sticking with something with quality control, especially when it comes to batteries. If you can't do your own wrenching I recommend buying local to make sure you can get it serviced. A lot of bike shops won't work on brands they don't sell.
 
Must be some ebikers here. I could post questions at some ebike forum but I don't want to. Are any of you folks riding an ebike at the moment and could you talk up or down whatever you are riding. My wife and I are getting ready to buy a couple and looking for suggestions.

Thanks
What's your budget ?
What type bike do you ride now ?
Where do you ride , On the street , off road , ect...
What type of riding ? , Cargo , Commuter , ect ...
 
No. Not at the moment. It's very dangerous to read your phone while riding. Strongly recommend against.

I've had ebikes for over 10 years. I'm in a really hilly area and they make riding from home possible for me.

Recommendations are highly dependent on your use case: why do you want an ebikes and how do you plan to ride? What is your budget?

I like class 1 mid-drives for me. Mid-drive torque is essential for hills, I'm only in interested in pedal-assist, and I want to be able to ride on paths more than I need raw speed. Mine first was an OHM hub drive, and my current is a Bulls with a Bosch motor. The difference on hills is night and day. I don't remember the brand my wife has but it's also a Bosch mid-drive.

My cousin (RIP) was disabled and lived in a flat part of LA. He needed a throttle and rode a class-2 hub drive all over the place. He started with a Rad and upgraded to a Pedego.

My Dad rides streets (and hills) and has a carbon-fiber mid-drive class 3. This let's him continue riding where and how he used to on his acoustic hike as he gets older. His solo bike is a Specialized, I think. Their tandem is custom.

I recommend staying away from cheap Chinese brands and sticking with something with quality control, especially when it comes to batteries. If you can't do your own wrenching I recommend buying local to make sure you can get it serviced. A lot of bike shops won't work on brands they don't sell.
Wow, I'm not an e-bike owner but you just gave a really great mini tutorial on the considerations of e-bike ownership.
Two thumbs up!
 
I have a Aventon Level that I like. I chose it because there is a dealer nearby who assembled it for me. It was mid priced but has been reliable and has more power than I need. My friend bought a Walmart ebike a lot cheaper and he is happy with that too.
 
I live in Minneapolis Minnesota. There are plenty of places to buy local. I don't do mountain bike stuff where you have the possibility of going over a cliff or getting thrown into a tree. I no longer ride the bike in winter, because you know, it is cold and slippery and I am 70.

Once the snow is gone, I will take my bike to one worksite twice a week which is only a 7 mile round trip and another worksite which is a 24 mile round trip. I don't really feel the need to be going over 18 mph or so. My preferred riding is mostly flat trails.

For fun, I am often riding the city trails. My wife and I would probably visit a couple state parks on bike during the summer which are within 20 miles of home.

Budget is going to be up to $1500.
 
Oh and I currently have a 21 speed cheap Schwinn that I bought used 20 years ago. Ignore the hole in the basement concrete, the beginnings of a sinkhole. I changed out the handlebars and had to buy longer cables for the breaks and gears, in answer to a question - I do my own bike work. I kind of like the idea of an e-bike conversion kit but maybe buying one locally is a good idea.


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Oh and I currently have a 21 speed cheap Schwinn that I bought used 20 years ago. Ignore the hole in the basement concrete, the beginnings of a sinkhole. I changed out the handlebars and had to buy longer cables for the breaks and gears, in answer to a question - I do my own bike work. I kind of like the idea of and e-bike conversion kit but maybe buying one locally is a good idea.


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Looks like you currently don't have front shocks. Unless ya'll got much nicer roads over in Minnesota than we have in Berkeley, I would choose something that has front suspension.
 
I ride a pedal assist mostly over flat roads where I use the assist rarely... usually in a headwind or if my knee bothers me.

One consideration is that they can be very heavy. Mine weighs close to 60 pounds. So lifting up and down stairs or even into a truck bed is not easy like a road bike. Mine is large enough to not fit inside my compact SUV and it is way too much trouble to try removing the wheels, so I am limited to starting/ending rides at home.
 
@Neil_O Have never had front shocks. Right now the city street are a pothole mess.
@rainbow21 Luckily I can store my bike in our garage at home and both places I work at, have safe places to store the bikes without carrying them. 60 pounds is heavy.
 
I recommend staying away from cheap Chinese brands and sticking with something with quality control, especially when it comes to batteries. If you can't do your own wrenching I recommend buying local to make sure you can get it serviced. A lot of bike shops won't work on brands they don't sell.
There is this part of me that really wants to buy the cheapest kit I can find to see if I can make it work, but I am trying to fight that inclination.
 
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There is this part of me that really wants to buy the cheapest kit I can find to see if I can make it work, but I am trying to fight that inclination.
If you do, I've heard good things about bafang, but they're probably not on the cheapest side.

Based on the recent spate of exploding ebike batteries maybe not a good idea .
I'd definitely spend on a known good battery: cheap, no-name ones often don't have appropriate charging protection and catch fire when overcharged. Lithium fires aren't to be messed with
 
I’m and avid cyclist and have test ridden e-bikes, just for comparison purposes and to help a fellow cyclist who is in the beginning stages of Parkinson’s. I’m in the Madison, Wisconsin SMSA and we are fortunate to have lots of shops AND a city EBike program that is stocked with hundreds of Trek models. Very very dependable and a true “commuter“ bike - if that’s what you’re looking for. We also have a few Trek “company” stores that carry all of the various models of e-bikes: road, commuter, trail, fat tire. I strongly suggest that you visit a local store that carries the Trek line and ride as many different styles as they offer. Don’t worry about which battery is “best”… a competent sales staff can help do the compare and point out where things get expensive! Considering a Trek might offer some piece of mind, that of an established company. Ours offers a trade up program, too, with some models offering full trade in credit for an upgrade. FWIW, I‘m in my mid 70’s.
 
Don’t worry about which battery is “best”… a competent sales staff can help do the compare and point out where things get expensive! Considering a Trek might offer some piece of mind, that of an established company
If you buy from a major bike brand you don't need to worry about the battery. If you buy an unknown or DIY then you need to be careful.

From a search there are ebike specialist stores in Minneapolis, and a test ride is a great idea. The one I bought wasnt the one I expected before the test ride, though I knew I wanted a Bosch drive.
 
I'm fairly new to e-biking... I started with buying a used recumbent bike last February. Enjoyed riding it, but found hills (heh, "hills" in coastal FL) to be no fun, and felt that I'd enjoy riding more with just a little more speed. BUT, I'm riding for exercise, so I still want to actively pedal.

Long story short: after much research, I bought a TSDZ2 kit, installed it with a home-wired battery kit, and couldn't be happier with it!

It is a "mid-drive" (crank-mounted) unit with torque sensing that basically amplifies whatever input you put on the pedals. The controller is extremely adjustable to suit your needs. I've got mine set up with 4 levels (it can do 10) and I ride on level 2, which basically multiplies my torque by 50%. I have level 1, which is something like 30%. Level 3 is fully double my input. And if I want "all of it", that's level 4.

It's a 750W motor and I'm running it at 54 volts (when fully charged, it drops to 50-52 pretty quickly). So, on my Level 2, I find that cruising around with the level of effort that would normally have put me at about 12-14 mph, I'm more like 17-20 mph. And 24-25 mph is still fairly easy. If I want to go faster, I can switch up to level 3 and it will do 30. "All of it" will get me 35 mph. Mind you, I do have the bike geared for a wide range... I was able to hit 28 mph (downhill, pedaling my ass off) with just pedal power before putting the motor on.

Little 12Ah power tool batteries. A single one will get me something like 7 miles (depending on how I use it, of course). I carry a spare, so with the pair, I'm good for 14 miles of "assisted" travel, which is plenty for me. I went this route because the batteries are fairly cheap, easy to replace, easy to keep spares and keep them charged... and I've started collecting power tools that use the same batteries... so, that's awesome! There are TONS of battery options out there. It's all in how much range you want and how much you're willing to spend. More voltage = better power delivery, more potential torque when you need it. I'd recommend at least 48V.

Anyhow, if you're of the mind to DIY a motor kit, I highly recommend this kit from THIS seller. Fantastic service, and a great product. They'll get you everything you need and give good advice. They are very experienced with this motor and controllers, and do their own set of improvements to it to ensure that it lasts longer.


If you've been riding the same bike for 20 years, it's a quality bike, and you like it... why not just put a motor on it???

You can read about my experience here:

It's Facebook, so everything is in reverse chronological order... scroll down to the old stuff first. Apparently, I've not ridden since October. I should rectify that.
 
I rode an original Lectric XP 1.0 for a couple years. That company just released a new cargo electric bike called Xpedition. It appears to be an incredible value at about your budget price. Supposedly it crushes hills with ease. My only issue with ebikes are the lithium batteries can have significantly reduced performance in cold temperatures. Were I in the market for another ebike, I'd purchase the Lectric Xpedition. Lastly, Lectric company has a great reputation for customer service and standing behind their products. Best of luck. Ride safe.
single-essentials-bundle_224dc057-d627-4728-a768-7b9296c9c881_823x.jpg
 
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There is this part of me that really wants to buy the cheapest kit I can find to see if I can make it work, but I am trying to fight that inclination.

Might be good to order a kit through a good local bike store and let them know you’ll install it yourself. Ordering local means advice and support the same as other bike parts.

A search of YouTube for “e-bike conversion” returns many videos.

A big (biggest?) kit supplier:
 
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Be careful, all of you.


 
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