jeremy8000
New Member
Hey everyone, hoping to gain some input, advice, and recommendations on an ebike. The way I see it is, the more info I can provide, the more accurate a recommendation can be had, so here's a few things about me and what I'm looking to be able to do...
While I rode a bike as a teenager, I probably haven't spent more than 2 hours total on a bike in the past 25 years. But I do believe in the adage 'its like riding a bike' and have very good balance, so don't anticipate it being too tough to get the muscle memory back.
50 years old, 6' tall, about 245 lbs (regrettably that's the very out-of-shape 245, not the muscular one). Aside from being overweight, only other health issue to consider is modest lower back pain. I would be unlikely to ever carry more than an additional 20 lbs of 'whatever' with me on the bike. I'm not the most nimble guy, so would prefer to avoid bikes with a high stepover required to mount/dismount.
I'm looking for an e-bike to begin getting in some exercise and more time outdoors, and am also considering riding to work (about 16 miles each way) when weather is accommodating, so would want something that would comfortable and reliably afford that round trip range at about 20mph. I certainly wouldn't object to a class 3 if budget permits and it ticks the other boxes, especially if I'm right in understanding that those are typically better built to withstand the stresses I would be putting on it at my weight. With the minor back issues, I am guessing a more upright riding position would likely be more comfortable and less likely to cause issues there.
I live in a coastal area with basically completely flat terrain, and don't anticipate doing any off-road riding other than when riding on dirt on the side of the road in some areas - about 2 miles of that work commute.
I am generally mechanically incompetent, so a bike with high reliability and low maintenance are probably going to be pretty important. I do like the idea of a throttle, but not an absolute must - but the bike should be manageable rideable without any power assist in the event I overestimate the remaining battery.
Budget-wise, I would like to stay in the $1,500 USD range. I could go a little more if truly justified.
I'm in a small market, with 2 shops locally that have more than a model or 2 in stock - they carry Bintelli and iZip respectively. I don't see much written about either of them and they seem to, from my admittedly uneducated perspective, offer a very, very steep dropoff in bang-for-the-buck compared to online offerings (though obviously they have the intangible value of being far more likely to support what they sell, and do have models to test drive).
Thanks in advance for any suggestions as far as those 2 brands and whether it's worthily to take the lesser bike for presumably greater support, and in either case recommendations of any bikes that would likely fit my needs (or, since it's really not feasible to test drive a mail order bike, if either Bintelli or iZip have a model whose frame matches to a better online model that I could gain a good expectation).
While I rode a bike as a teenager, I probably haven't spent more than 2 hours total on a bike in the past 25 years. But I do believe in the adage 'its like riding a bike' and have very good balance, so don't anticipate it being too tough to get the muscle memory back.
50 years old, 6' tall, about 245 lbs (regrettably that's the very out-of-shape 245, not the muscular one). Aside from being overweight, only other health issue to consider is modest lower back pain. I would be unlikely to ever carry more than an additional 20 lbs of 'whatever' with me on the bike. I'm not the most nimble guy, so would prefer to avoid bikes with a high stepover required to mount/dismount.
I'm looking for an e-bike to begin getting in some exercise and more time outdoors, and am also considering riding to work (about 16 miles each way) when weather is accommodating, so would want something that would comfortable and reliably afford that round trip range at about 20mph. I certainly wouldn't object to a class 3 if budget permits and it ticks the other boxes, especially if I'm right in understanding that those are typically better built to withstand the stresses I would be putting on it at my weight. With the minor back issues, I am guessing a more upright riding position would likely be more comfortable and less likely to cause issues there.
I live in a coastal area with basically completely flat terrain, and don't anticipate doing any off-road riding other than when riding on dirt on the side of the road in some areas - about 2 miles of that work commute.
I am generally mechanically incompetent, so a bike with high reliability and low maintenance are probably going to be pretty important. I do like the idea of a throttle, but not an absolute must - but the bike should be manageable rideable without any power assist in the event I overestimate the remaining battery.
Budget-wise, I would like to stay in the $1,500 USD range. I could go a little more if truly justified.
I'm in a small market, with 2 shops locally that have more than a model or 2 in stock - they carry Bintelli and iZip respectively. I don't see much written about either of them and they seem to, from my admittedly uneducated perspective, offer a very, very steep dropoff in bang-for-the-buck compared to online offerings (though obviously they have the intangible value of being far more likely to support what they sell, and do have models to test drive).
Thanks in advance for any suggestions as far as those 2 brands and whether it's worthily to take the lesser bike for presumably greater support, and in either case recommendations of any bikes that would likely fit my needs (or, since it's really not feasible to test drive a mail order bike, if either Bintelli or iZip have a model whose frame matches to a better online model that I could gain a good expectation).
