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[christob]

I fell in love with my ebike immediately upon seeing it online. (I think I first encountered it in a "Makers" series of videos about small businesses; it was focused on the team at Vintage Electric in California - I was not looking for an ebike at that time.) It rattled around in my head for a few weeks, and not long after that first video, I'd separately decided on a change of course for increasing my exercise, losing some weight, etc. That's when I remembered the video with the Cafe model (and also recalled a fun experience of renting a colossally heavy throttled ebike many years earlier) and thought an ebike could be just the thing to jump start my new goals.

I watched a few videos about VEB and their bikes, then read the review of the Cafe, here... I sort of knew it was all over; I wasn't really interested in looking further, nor doing any kind of exhaustive comparative-shopping research that could be done in situations like this!

Still, I went ahead and visited my LBS to ride 4 different ebike models by other manufacturers, even though they weren't truly comparable -- they were all mid-drives while the Cafe is rear-hub.
Nothing about those rides and models swayed my initial gut-reaction I felt over the Cafe. So I bought it, without a test ride or in-person viewing, but following a lengthy and detailed round of email communications to address all my questions - and that was probably about 2.5 months after I had first casually stumbled across it.

 

[FlatSix911]

I fell in love with my ebike immediately upon seeing it online. (I think I first encountered it in a "Makers" series of videos about small businesses; it was focused on the team at Vintage Electric in California - I was not looking for an ebike at that time.) It rattled around in my head for a few weeks, and not long after that first video, I'd separately decided on a change of course for increasing my exercise, losing some weight, etc. That's when I remembered the video with the Cafe model (and also recalled a fun experience of renting a colossally heavy throttled ebike many years earlier) and thought an ebike could be just the thing to jump start my new goals.

I watched a few videos about VEB and their bikes, then read the review of the Cafe, here... I sort of knew it was all over; I wasn't really interested in looking further, nor doing any kind of exhaustive comparative-shopping research that could be done in situations like this!

Still, I went ahead and visited my LBS to ride 4 different ebike models by other manufacturers, even though they weren't truly comparable -- they were all mid-drives while the Cafe is rear-hub.
Nothing about those rides and models swayed my initial gut-reaction I felt over the Cafe. So I bought it, without a test ride or in-person viewing, but following a lengthy and detailed round of email communications to address all my questions - and that was probably about 2.5 months after I had first casually stumbled across it.

Nice ride... very retro-looking with pedal assist and a Class 3 rear hub motor.

Vintage Electric Cafe Review | ElectricBikeReview.com

Price: $3995.00 | Model Year: 2017 | One of the most powerful, fastest accelerating, quietest, and beautifully designed electric bikes I have ever tested, premium drivetrain and custom battery

electricbikereview.com

 

[Chancelucky2]

I'd been interested for a couple years and rode a Trek on a short demo almost two years ago. At the time, I liked it very much, but wanted to stay under $2000, so didn't pursue it for another year or so. Last September, we were in San Diego and I had a day so I went down to the Pedego store and rented an e-bike for the day. I was sold on the idea of the e-bike as soon as I found myself going up the big hill at Torrey Pines State Park in the lowest level of assist. However, I wasn't completely thrilled with the Pedego which weighed 64 pounds and was very back heavy. I could see why others might like them, but I wanted something that felt more like a bike.

A few weeks later I came across an e-bay ad for a new BMW cruise for $1499, Bosch mid drive, deore xt, 50 mile range, and 50 pounds. I noticed that it was being sold by the BMW dealer who happened to be less than 3 miles from my house. I bargained with them a little, since they wouldn't have to do shipping and wound up with a great starter bike.

I've been very happy with the BMW. 1250 miles later, it's held up really well other than having to replace the chain once and the connectors to the light having disconnected and now won't stay in. Most of my rides are in the 20-45 mile range and I usually stay around 12 mph and in eco mode. The last time I did 1000 miles in a year on my regular bike was 19 years ago.


14 months later, I'm thinking....
1. very glad I insisted on 50 mile range, because 50 is really 40 or less in real world conditions.Variables like hills, dirt roads, wind, higher speed impact range in unexpected ways. Whatever a bike's range happens to be in Tour mode is probably closer to a real world figure for range. Yes, I even got closer to 60 once on a charge, but you have to be pretty careful.
2. 50 pounds is much better than 64, but it's still heavier than I'd like for riding with the power turned off. No it's not like riding a fully loaded touring bike, because the gearing is too high.
3. my biggest regret with going Bosch is that I'm stuck with their batteries and they're really expensive in the U.S. should I want a second for long trips
4. like range, if you really want to go 20 mph, a 20 mph cutoff is actually closer to 18-19 mph