Know not a lot about E-bikes. Watched a few YouTube videos and now have a basic understanding. Now I want to see if YouTube and BITOGER"S have similar thoughts.
Recommend a E-bike in the $1500 range. TIA
- Thread starter Hermann
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One from Costco. They are about that price and easy to return if you dont like it.
I saw a dude on a trail last week. One hundred percent funky Chinese name on the thing. Under $1500. I cannot remember the name, but did cause some bile eruption.
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I bought from Velotric last September, and I would 100% buy from them again. I finally settled on the Fold One Plus because I wanted something I could easily transport without significant investment in a heavier duty bike rack. It came with a 2 year warranty, whereas others like Lectric and Aventon only came with 1 year. IP68 rating so water is zero issue. You can see videos of people tossing the batteries in a bucket of water and fire right up with zero issue.
I've only put about 150 miles on it because I'm not a winter rider. Pulls the trailer with my son in it without hesitation. Pretty customizable within their app, and it tracks rides and syncs them with my health app on my phone.
Stay away from the no name ones for sure.
I've only put about 150 miles on it because I'm not a winter rider. Pulls the trailer with my son in it without hesitation. Pretty customizable within their app, and it tracks rides and syncs them with my health app on my phone.
Stay away from the no name ones for sure.
Find a used one from a proper brand name company. Trek, Specialized, Giant, Scott, Cube, Yeti, BMC, Orbea, Felt, Salsa,Marin, Devinci, Kona, Ghost and Norco are all good choices that use proper batteries that last and don't catch fire. Hub drive can be ok, but is quite different feeling than a pedal driven motor and can be a bit abrupt. Hub drive does allow for a throttle and no need to pedal, whereas the frame mounted motor is generally only pedal-assist.
Please tell me it's for you and not your kid.
These kids ebikes are out of control in my neighborhood. Someone's kid is gonna get killed not paying attention to where they're going if this doesn't get cleaned up soon.
These kids ebikes are out of control in my neighborhood. Someone's kid is gonna get killed not paying attention to where they're going if this doesn't get cleaned up soon.
Yes, here too.
I had probably a 6 or 7 year old head right at me down the middle of the street - and I am exceptionally careful in the neighbourhood. Slammed to a dead stop and still thought she was going to hit me before she swerved around.
Same here!
If I could ever catch one of them, I'd ask them what kind it was. But clocked one @32 mph in a 25, so not a chance of me catching him!
I bought mine at Costco in October 2022 because it was $ 300 off. I think it was $ 1,150 with the discount. It is great for me. It allows me to continue riding since I can use the power to keep me going up hills. I always pedal since riding a bicycle is for exercise. Also, pedaling means not charging very often.
On road I assume? Then maybe a cheaper hub motor one should do the trick. But I would still recommend getting a good bike(from a good bike brand), that happens to be a e-bike.
Getting a decent chinese parts bin conglomeration "no name" bike is possible, but you would have to do your home work, know what frame geometry you want, and be willing to fix and/or upgrade some sketchy parts.
During covid, a buddy just bought a hub motor front wheel and battery kit for a cheap e-bike commuter on an old road bike that he likes. He's been using it for years now, maybe 3000 miles a year, and has had a couple fixes to do, but the motor and battery are the expensive parts and still work fine.
Getting a decent chinese parts bin conglomeration "no name" bike is possible, but you would have to do your home work, know what frame geometry you want, and be willing to fix and/or upgrade some sketchy parts.
During covid, a buddy just bought a hub motor front wheel and battery kit for a cheap e-bike commuter on an old road bike that he likes. He's been using it for years now, maybe 3000 miles a year, and has had a couple fixes to do, but the motor and battery are the expensive parts and still work fine.
I think in general, whoever specs the frame and parts for the Costco bikes, has some idea what they are doing. Their one fat bike has quite a following as it's pretty much all the good stuff that a $1200 name brand fat bike has, for half as much.
I would wait on a new e-bike design of theirs for a few months, as the quality of the e-parts isn't as easy to see visually.
I have known quite a few that have had issues. Consider your self lucky. I mean it's
$1,500.00. What do you expect really?
It's for me. No kids that I know of
AZjeff
$50 Site Donor 2023
When I look at a $1500 ebike and don't recognize one brand name on any part on the bike it makes me skeptical. Will it be fine for bopping around the neighborhood? Probably. A friend bought an M2S brand ebike a few years ago, he said he researched it and it had a good rep. Gone. I rode it around his neighborhood and thought the operation was really odd. A hub motor bike with a tone ring around the cranks, as long as it sensed the pedals moving it applied power with no pressure at all on the pedals. It had power levels from 1 to 10 but no proportionality to pedal effort. You could soft pedal it and it would slowly gain speed in level 1 or gain speed faster in level 10 up to the 18 mph limit. Or you could use the throttle and not pedal at all.
Better pedal assist bikes add power to the chain in proportion to how hard you pedal boosting your effort. Stop pedaling the bike stops. As it should be.
Better pedal assist bikes add power to the chain in proportion to how hard you pedal boosting your effort. Stop pedaling the bike stops. As it should be.
My gut says either a Velotric or a Lectric. To be honest they are both US based. Lectric has a good rep from what I can tell, from the non-paid inflencers. Velotric is a lot younger company from what I am gathering. Accessories to bring it up to snuff are pricier. I am sure I want a 750 watt motor as I weigh 230 lb.
@AZjeff you said
When I look at a $1500 ebike and don't recognize one brand name on any part on the bike it makes me skeptical.
In the $1500 range the Lectric xp 4 was seriously upgraded in the first half of last year. 750 watt motor hub drive is now available. Now has better hydraulic disc brakes, name brand tires and wheels. Sounds like a solid bike after the upgrade. Thing is Im not sure I want a foldable. There is a chance at a test ride 35 miles away. Might be what I do.
When I look at a $1500 ebike and don't recognize one brand name on any part on the bike it makes me skeptical.
In the $1500 range the Lectric xp 4 was seriously upgraded in the first half of last year. 750 watt motor hub drive is now available. Now has better hydraulic disc brakes, name brand tires and wheels. Sounds like a solid bike after the upgrade. Thing is Im not sure I want a foldable. There is a chance at a test ride 35 miles away. Might be what I do.
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You might want to read some recent reviews on the Lectric XP4. I know when it first launched and even up til last fall they had issues with the 750W model. The motor they used had a lot of quality control issues and people were returning them. Surely they've fixed it by now, but it's hard to say.
A 750W motor will give you plenty of power for hills and for any place that you need an extra boost through traffic or whatever. If I set mine to the highest assist, I can go from a dead stop to 25mph in just a few seconds. It's crazy how much power those little motors have lol
One more thing about most of the Velotric bikes is they have the ability to switch between cadence and torque sensors, and have 3 different PAS settings with 5 different levels each. Cadence matches your pedal speed, while torque matches your effort. Torque feels much better in my opinion, and is as close as possible to riding a normal bike.
I also forgot that most of their bikes come with brake actuated rear lights, a front light (that will need an upgrade if you ride at night), and also has rear turn signals, which was a huge thing for me. I'm not really sure a lot of drivers even know bike hand signals, so having a known visual cue is just another benefit.
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