Getting ready to buy

[donl1150]

My wife & I are getting ready to buy our first e-bikes. For that matter, it is my first bike since about age 15. I am now 66 my wife is 62. We live in northern Minnesota so our riding season is short (although I understand with the fat tire model, we can ride in the snow - ha ha). We will be staying almost 100% of the time on paved trails - old railroad beds. So that usually means no big hills but perhaps long gradual inclines. I was leaning towards the Tahoe and my wife on the Newport. Both would be step through models. I am 6' 4" 275# & my wife is 5'6" & she won't tell me; but the Newport will be just fine! Whatever models we choose, we will get the upgraded battery.

What I am wondering is this: I have read that the Newport has more of a pedal forward design which I assume will provide a more comfortable ride. Perhaps I should get the Newport as well. However, this brings up 2 concerns - first, the rated capacity of the Newport is 250# and I would be 10% over that. Secondly, with the battery position and my weight, I am concerned the overall center of gravity may cause instability/safety issues.

Living where we do, there are not a lot of options for test driving various makes/models. For that matter, I believe Trek and E-Lux are the only 2 present in the state. We like the look and design of E-Lux, thus our leanings. They however are 200 miles away. We plan to make the trip to test drive & order in the next 2 weeks.

Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[Amish David]

Have you thought about building your own bike? I built my own bike I read a bunch of reviews on the battery pack that I bought along with the rear wheel motor. It was about $700 to build including the bike, I've only had it for about 2 months but I live in the mountains and with a 48 volt 20 amp hour battery I can go 12 miles almost no peddling. However I try to Pedal as much as I can but I injured my back years ago so I'm finding climbing Hills and 45° at some point almost 1/8 mile at times. I found that the e-bike has helped me tremendously. I have added blinkers brake light parking light speedometer along with everything else due to our roads are only 12 foot wide and I do not want to get ran over. I personally went with the 1000 or 750 watt motor because here you can run a maximum of 750 watts legally at a top speed of 30 miles per hour. I generally cruise at about 15 miles per hour and with pedal-assist can get about 20 miles out of the battery bank but again remember I'm in the mountains. It was scary to build at first but very simple to build at the same time and a lot of the people in here help me along the way. Best of luck on what you choose to do

 

[pemz0r]

Hey Don,

You should look into Motiv Electric Bikes. My wife and I both have them, a 48v Spark for me and a 36v for her Sleek. We are coming up on 2 years with them, with zero issues. https://www.motivelectricbikes.com. We love them. Any way good luck with finding an awesome ebike

 

[Nova Haibike]

The Fuji Sanibel is on backorder, but it's a good deal from a national retailer and brand (Fuji and Performance Bike are owned by the same parent company). They have the Tuesday August in stock, and the Tuesday August Low Step as well.