$2000 and You Wanna Buy An eBike?

dparadise22

New Member
I have spent hours and hours researching. I know I want hydraulic brakes, torque sensing, preferably mid-drive, 14Ah battery, integrated lights, and NOT fat tires, with at least an Alivio derailleur. Does anyone have any options they can suggest? I have a few that I can think of as possibilities, but would love to hear from the forum first!
 
I have spent hours and hours researching. I know I want hydraulic brakes, torque sensing, preferably mid-drive, 14Ah battery, integrated lights, and NOT fat tires, with at least an Alivio derailleur. Does anyone have any options they can suggest? I have a few that I can think of as possibilities, but would love to hear from the forum first!
 
Take a look at CL and BD for some deals on mid-drives with decent spec components. ;)


BH CROSS LITE YAMAHA MID-DRIVE MOTOR 10 Speed Shimano Hydraulic disc brakes WAS $2999 | NOW $1199
1604561225155.png



2021 Motobecane Front Suspension Electric Elite eAdventure Team Shimano Electric MidDrive $1999
1604561394945.png
 
I have spent hours and hours researching. I know I want hydraulic brakes, torque sensing, preferably mid-drive, 14Ah battery, integrated lights, and NOT fat tires, with at least an Alivio derailleur. Does anyone have any options they can suggest? I have a few that I can think of as possibilities, but would love to hear from the forum first!
The ONLY brand that meets those specs including torque sensing but not a mid drive, and be anywhere close to $2k, because quality name brand mid drive motors by themselves are at $1000 (at least) is Surface 604. The motor at that cost, rules out other quality components such as your requested Alivio derailleur. The closest ebike to that price with a Bosch mid drive was the Batch commuter when they introduced it at $1999. Shortly thereafter it increased to $2199. And going into 2021 you are going to see widespread number of ebike brands whose models around that $2000 price go further north, due to tariffs that have been lingering, (but not passed on to the consumer in full), continuing severe shortages in numerous component areas including especially batteries, and continuing exploding worldwide ebike consumer demand. So if you find something now thats near what you are seeking and it's in stock, you probably should jump on it PDQ.
 
Take a look at CL and BD for some deals on mid-drives with decent spec components. ;)


BH CROSS LITE YAMAHA MID-DRIVE MOTOR 10 Speed Shimano Hydraulic disc brakes WAS $2999 | NOW $1199
View attachment 70649


2021 Motobecane Front Suspension Electric Elite eAdventure Team Shimano Electric MidDrive $1999
View attachment 70650
Motobecane and Bikes Direct ? Oh come on. That brand is no longer what it used to be, and bikes direct is hawking some pretty heavily hyped but quite marginal stuff when you dig into the details. I would not rule out fake labels or complete knock offs on even their shimano or rockshox components. The component price math just doesn't add up. shimano and sram both have seen huge increase in counterfeiting of their derailleurs and group sets and dealers have a really hard time discerning differences unless they get the OEM to look real closely when there is an issue. The past two years has Been really bad according to my rep from sram. Usually if the ebike price is too good to be true, you can count on it being chock full of knock off components. Sadly so, and again getting more pronounced with tariffs, more competition from more ebike (white label) brands, huge consumer (and very new to ebikes) demand, proliferation of site unseen on line buying by super naive consumers, and now more recently Covid driven shortages. And if dealers have a hard time discerning the fakes, you can bet no consumer will know, even more experienced bike buying ones. This is another reason I won't touch any brand I don't sell in terms of service. 3 years ago I got burned by a fake Sram derailleur that just would not index properly. ( X5's are known to be butter smooth and super durable). Got Sram involved and it was revealed to be a knock off. Wasted a lot of hours in that situation, and it was unfortunately on an ebike not bought at my shop nor a brand I carried. Never again. ( And I'd bet large sums of money, that the vast majority of the on line brands owners or staff that have come into existence in the past 5 to 7 years could not spot a knock off component at all, and given they order from 3rd party factories and get container loads of ebikes imported in, that go into their warehouses here in US, where boxes aren't ever opened, and they are going straight to consumers with zero inspection, it could easily go on for months or years without them even knowing, even if there are warranty claims as they just send out new parts which could also be knock offs since they don't see those, or do any inspection of defective parts usually letting consumers keep and toss them. They likely don't have the staff expertise, and they all run skeleton operations that are super lean so they don't have the time to even mess with any of this ).
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Excellent point regarding the tariffs. I have the Surface 604 Shred on my list and they are coming out with a Quad priced at $2599. I am all over the place in terms of quality but here is my list on a $2500 budget but would prefer to be under $2000. I also included other brands for comments:

Sondors Rockstar - $2599
M2S R750 Integrated - $1799
Rize X - $1999
Rize RX - $2599
Rize - $1699
VoltBike Enduro - $2399
VoltBike Outback - $1799
Ride1Up 700 - $1495
Himiway Cruiser - $1399
Dost Kope - $2799
Volton Alation 500+ - $1949
Trek Alliant 7 or 8
Juiced
Biktrik
Eunorau
Haibike

I appreciate the help!!
 
REI brought out a model this year that matched your specs: the Co-op Cycles CTY e2.2, with a good Shimano Steps e6100 motor. If you join REI as a member you get a 10% annual dividend which would have brought the bike under $2,000. However it was sold out very quickly, worth asking REI if they intend to import a new batch at some point.
 
REI brought out a model this year that matched your specs: the Co-op Cycles CTY e2.2, with a good Shimano Steps e6100 motor. If you join REI as a member you get a 10% annual dividend which would have brought the bike under $2,000. However it was sold out very quickly, worth asking REI if they intend to import a new batch at some point.

Agreed that's a lot of bike for the price. @dparadise22, you can also consider the Yamaha Cross Core which is also an excellent value. The only thing I'd eventually upgrade on it is the mechanical disc brakes to hydrualics. The Charge XC has very similar specs to the CTY e2.2 as well with a decent price.
 
Excellent point regarding the tariffs. I have the Surface 604 Shred on my list and they are coming out with a Quad priced at $2599. I am all over the place in terms of quality but here is my list on a $2500 budget but would prefer to be under $2000. I also included other brands for comments:

Sondors Rockstar - $2599
M2S R750 Integrated - $1799
Rize X - $1999
Rize RX - $2599
Rize - $1699
VoltBike Enduro - $2399
VoltBike Outback - $1799
Ride1Up 700 - $1495
Himiway Cruiser - $1399
Dost Kope - $2799
Volton Alation 500+ - $1949
Trek Alliant 7 or 8
Juiced
Biktrik
Eunorau
Haibike

I appreciate the help!!
What about the Giant Roam e+?

3E351848-C53F-491A-859E-4C1A66325E27.png
 
Excellent point regarding the tariffs. I have the Surface 604 Shred on my list and they are coming out with a Quad priced at $2599. I am all over the place in terms of quality but here is my list on a $2500 budget but would prefer to be under $2000. I also included other brands for comments:

Sondors Rockstar - $2599
M2S R750 Integrated - $1799
Rize X - $1999
Rize RX - $2599
Rize - $1699
VoltBike Enduro - $2399
VoltBike Outback - $1799
Ride1Up 700 - $1495
Himiway Cruiser - $1399
Dost Kope - $2799
Volton Alation 500+ - $1949
Trek Alliant 7 or 8
Juiced
Biktrik
Eunorau
Haibike

I appreciate the help!!
Well the Allant+7 is what I own that fits all your criteria with the massive exception of cost. I love mine and it’s super reliable but it’s no where close to $2k. I like it enough that I bought a second one (a Lowstep) for my wife recently before the possibility that tariffs will go through the roof! Best of luck.
EDB22456-DC1A-44AA-8DD8-D2B19314C096.jpeg
 
Motobecane and Bikes Direct ? Oh come on. That brand is no longer what it used to be, and bikes direct is hawking some pretty heavily hyped but quite marginal stuff when you dig into the details. I would not rule out fake labels or complete knock offs on even their shimano or rockshox components. The component price math just doesn't add up. shimano and sram both have seen huge increase in counterfeiting of their derailleurs and group sets and dealers have a really hard time discerning differences unless they get the OEM to look real closely when there is an issue. The past two years has Been really bad according to my rep from sram. Usually if the ebike price is too good to be true, you can count on it being chock full of knock off components. Sadly so, and again getting more pronounced with tariffs, more competition from more ebike (white label) brands, huge consumer (and very new to ebikes) demand, proliferation of site unseen on line buying by super naive consumers, and now more recently Covid driven shortages. And if dealers have a hard time discerning the fakes, you can bet no consumer will know, even more experienced bike buying ones. This is another reason I won't touch any brand I don't sell in terms of service. 3 years ago I got burned by a fake Sram derailleur that just would not index properly. ( X5's are known to be butter smooth and super durable). Got Sram involved and it was revealed to be a knock off. Wasted a lot of hours in that situation, and it was unfortunately on an ebike not bought at my shop nor a brand I carried. Never again. ( And I'd bet large sums of money, that the vast majority of the on line brands owners or staff that have come into existence in the past 5 to 7 years could not spot a knock off component at all, and given they order from 3rd party factories and get container loads of ebikes imported in, that go into their warehouses here in US, where boxes aren't ever opened, and they are going straight to consumers with zero inspection, it could easily go on for months or years without them even knowing, even if there are warranty claims as they just send out new parts which could also be knock offs since they don't see those, or do any inspection of defective parts usually letting consumers keep and toss them. They likely don't have the staff expertise, and they all run skeleton operations that are super lean so they don't have the time to even mess with any of this ).
Well, Specialized completely shut down their phones for quite some time from what I’ve heard so staff expertise at that point was ZERO for one of the big 4. Weird times!
 
I think it's nice to hear a bike shop operator's perspective on DTC bikes and some of the potential disappointments for unsuspecting consumers. Perhaps a bit of hyperbole mixed in, as there are some good DTC companies out there making very nice bikes at reasonable prices. However, any consumer going DTC better have their LBS lined up for service in advance, or be prepared to learn to wrench. Too many are getting their bikes first, then trying to figure out who is going to be there go to repair and advice source. As said above, some LBS's won't touch these DTC bikes. I think they do that at their own peril. Bikes are not that complicated, and with YouTube videos and a few tools, there's not much a motivated consumer cannot accomplish on their own. Yes, some will get rotten bikes and waste good money, but stand-off-ish LBS's will also lose opportunities to convert these buyers of DTC products to LBS customers by virtue of providing the missing components of DTC: Service and advice. The sport is broadening in a mighty way with the confluence of Covid-driven enthusiasm for cycling, and the explosion in popularity of ebikes. I have had mine for just a month, and I get stopped by everybody to talk about it. Everybody knows someone who just got an ebike, or is shopping for one.
I have spent hours and hours researching. I know I want hydraulic brakes, torque sensing, preferably mid-drive, 14Ah battery, integrated lights, and NOT fat tires, with at least an Alivio derailleur. Does anyone have any options they can suggest? I have a few that I can think of as possibilities, but would love to hear from the forum first!
I've had a Rize RX with the narrower tires (2.75) for a month and nearly 300 miles of riding here is S.E. Pennsylvania. I strongly considered an Allant 7s+, but I found the motor to be loud, did not like the 28 mph max assist, and I thought the bike was overpriced for the components used. Having LBS service was not a factor for me. I also considered the Bolton Foxbat and the Eunorau copy of the same. Ultimately, I went with the Rize RX because it had a mix of good to better components and large battery coupled with the Bafang Ultra motor. I use it for fun, exercise, and commuting, as well as errands to shops. I have only used the throttle once to go any distance, and that was because it starting pouring rain. Normally, the bike is in ECO PAS-1 and I blip up to 2 for super huge hills, but less and less, lately. So the power capabilities of the bike are overkill, but I like that it's there to use when I want to. My typical rides are a minimum of 10 miles, and frequently up to 30 miles, all road riding. Very hilly terrain in my area, and I weigh 220, and am 55 next March. I find that the battery range and power are exceptional for the bike, and at 5'11", I find the bike to be extremely comfortable over my longer rides. I plan on doing my own wrenching and tuning, and I use YouTube to find helpful videos to speed up my learning. I was able to tune the derailleur by watching a few videos and have the bike shifting like butter. The bike looks good, rides well, and is proving to be a very good value relative to brands like Biktrix and Wattwagons - both of which can come with much better components, but at an entirely different price point. Biktrix Ultra is the closest match, but the battery upgrade pushes the price well into the upper 3k range. The Rize RX comes so complete, the lights are nice, the rack is sensational and very solid, the suspension seat post is very nice to have standard, as well as the adjustable stem on the handlebars. Fenders are solid and don't rattle....I have zero complaints and would buy the same bike again, no question.
 
Last edited:
I think it's nice to hear a bike shop operator's perspective on DTC bikes and some of the potential disappointments for unsuspecting consumers. Perhaps a bit of hyperbole mixed in, as there are some good DTC companies out there making very nice bikes at reasonable prices. However, any consumer going DTC better have their LBS lined up for service in advance, or be prepared to learn to wrench. Too many are getting their bikes first, then trying to figure out who is going to be there go to repair and advice source. As said above, some LBS's won't touch these DTC bikes. I think they do that at their own peril. Bikes are not that complicated, and with YouTube videos and a few tools, there's not much a motivated consumer cannot accomplish on their own. Yes, some will get rotten bikes and waste good money, but stand-off-ish LBS's will also lose opportunities to convert these buyers of DTC products to LBS customers by virtue of providing the missing components of DTC: Service and advice. The sport is broadening in a mighty way with the confluence of Covid-driven enthusiasm for cycling, and the explosion in popularity of ebikes. I have had mine for just a month, and I get stopped by everybody to talk about it. Everybody knows someone who just got an ebike, or is shopping for one. I

I've had a Rize RX with the narrower tires (2.75) for a month and nearly 300 miles of riding here is S.E. Pennsylvania. I strongly considered an Allant 7s+, but I found the motor to be loud, did not like the 28 mph max assist, and I thought the bike was overpriced for the components used. Having LBS service was not a factor for me. I also considered the Bolton Foxbat and the Eunorau copy of the same. Ultimately, I went with the Rize RX because it had a mix of good to better components and large battery coupled with the Bafang Ultra motor. I use it for fun, exercise, and commuting, as well as errands to shops. I have only used the throttle once to go any distance, and that was because it starting pouring rain. Normally, the bike is in ECO PAS-1 and I blip up to 2 for super huge hills, but less and less, lately. So the power capabilities of the bike are overkill, but I like that it's there to use when I want to. My typical rides are a minimum of 10 miles, and frequently up to 30 miles, all road riding. Very hilly terrain in my area, and I weigh 220, and am 55 next March. I find that the battery range and power are exceptional for the bike, and at 5'11", I find the bike to be extremely comfortable over my longer rides. I plan on doing my own wrenching and tuning, and I use YouTube to find helpful videos to speed up my learning. I was able to tune the derailleur by watching a few videos and have the bike shifting like butter. The bike looks good, rides well, and is proving to be a very good value relative to brands like Biktrix and Wattwagons - both of which can come with much better components, but at an entirely different price point. Biktrix Ultra is the closest match, but the battery upgrade pushes the price well into the upper 3k range. The Rize RX comes so complete, the lights are nice, the rack is sensational and very solid, the suspension seat post is very nice to have standard, as well as the adjustable stem on the handlebars. Fenders are solid and don't rattle....I have zero complaints and would buy the same bike again, no question.
That is SO helpful to hear. Any feedback on their customer service?
 
Trying to find a mid-drive with a throttle for less than $2k is going to be tough. That's @Taylor57's unicorn bike (but he also wants it to be full suspension).
 
I was going with the M2S Ultra but they raised the price to $3k two weeks ago due to tariffs. It really is down to a Ride1Up 700 Series for $1495 or Rize RX for $2599. Feel free to throw in another bike as an option just to make me think more haha!

The Sondors Rockstar looks incredible and I made a down payment but cancelled it. It is a brand new model and kinks will need to be worked out on it.
 
That is SO helpful to hear. Any feedback on their customer service?
What customer service? DTC isn't there to provide much after the sale service, so I have no expectations. My bike did come with through axles, and many others who got the same model at the same time received QR axles. I wrote them and asked why, and never heard back. Mind you, I didn't ask them to make mine QR or change them, but nevertheless, no answer. So, there you go. No customer service. Good bike, though.
 
Ultra at M2S looks nice, similar to the Bolton and Eunorau, but better forks, better derailleur and bigger battery (same as the Rize). I didn't want 4" tires, and I do commute, so getting lights, rack, and fenders all in for $2,599 on the RX won my $$. Ultimately, you have to pick what's best for you and your intended usage. Good luck and let me know if I can answer any other questions.
 
Back