Another Newbie - Help Me Choose Post

[EZduzit]

First off, thank you to all the contributors on the EBR Forums. Your guidance and input has helped my research immensely thus far.

I am looking to buy my first E-Bike and my first bike of any kind in 25 years. I do not have a bike knowledge base, probably never spent more than a couple hundred dollars on a bike and never worked on a one other than air in the tires. However, in a world of Google and You Tube Videos I am not afraid to learn something new and am a generally capable and handy guy.

Budget = $3,500 or less
Purpose = Commuting to work in good weather (10 miles each way) - and general casual riding on paved roads and trails

I want the best bike for the buck and I want a reliable product and support. Of course I like bigger, faster, further etc...

The real crossroads I find myself at is buying a bike online or buying a brand local dealers sell and service. I worry about having an expensive bike no one wants to work on or can't get parts for.

For various reasons I have narrowed my online bike options down to:
VoltBike Bravo
RadCity
Juiced Cross Current X - Wow, but not sure I can justify the price point over the other two

My local dealers in Northeast Ohio sell:
Cannondale - Doesn't look like they have a commuter option anymore
Trek - Verve+, XM700+, Conduit+
Giant - Quick E+
Easy Motion - EVO City Pro, EVO City Nitro

$2,499 on the CCX makes it seem like I can't get as much sizzle with my steak buying locally and none of these choices WOW me like the CCX.


Am I getting last second nerves on the online purchase and should just do it or is there real reason to be concerned about being stuck out in the cold for service and support? Any input on these local brands? Not nearly as much stuff in the forums on these compared to the manufacturer direct options.


Thanks for the feedback.

EZ

 

[rich c]

Are you familiar with troubleshooting electrical issues? How about bicycle mechanics? On-line purchase will require you to troubleshoot, then wait for a part. If that doesn't work, repeat. If you buy local, you drop it off and pick it up when it works. It's up to you what that is worth. I'm a huge fan of Bosch mid drives. This time of year, you should be able to get a nice discount at the local shop if they have too much inventory.

 

[Over50]

Are you Cleveland area? I Googled and found a Velofix franchise in the Cleveland area. So if buying from a distant shop or manufacturer you might check with a local mobile bike repair to see how comfortable they are working on an e-bike. And to see how much experience they have. You might find out that they've serviced or set-up quite a few because many purchasers are in your predicament (few shops). I had a good experience with Beeline Bikes which was franchised to my LBS. I think Court did a Youtube video of Velofix setting up a Sondors for him.

Ideal would be to have a local seller who will assist with warranty work or problems if something goes bad. Probably next best thing is to buy distant but have an LBS or a mobile franchise that doesn't mind servicing a bike purchased elsewhere and who has e-bike experience. I got lucky on my long distance purchases: My LBS (mostly Trek) didn't sell me the bikes (I purchased 2 Riese and Muellers from Propel in Brooklyn) but has been great about service. This might partly be due to the fact they were Bosch bikes but nevertheless their attitude about providing service has been great. A good LBS or mobile service can help you resolve all bike issues but as Rick C mentions, it might be up to you to trouble shoot any electrical issues (they might not be able to help much with motor or electronics if it isn't a system they sell or commonly see).

Another way to mitigate some risk is to purchase from a good shop with a good reputation and have them ship to you (rather than manufacturer direct). If it is a good shop you can make sure they've fully tested the bike prior to shipping and that they have a good shipping process. For your budget and for the time of year you could probably expand your list and get some really good bikes from a shop that is trying to close out older inventory (Haibike, Izip, Raleigh come to mind as having commuter-worthy bikes within your budget...).

https://www.velofix.com/locations/cleveland/

 

[AlanDB]

The good news is that your $3500 budget gives you lots of choices. You will get opinions all over the scale on whether it makes sense to buy from a local shop and spend more VS saving some money online for what seems like a comparable or better product. Here is my opinion as a relatively new e-bike purchaser (2 e-bikes, one for me and one for my wife) in the past couple of years ... with your budget, go with the local shop. They will help you select the right bike for you, give you the opportunity for some test rides, give you support should you need it, and most important in my opinion, give you that feeling of confidence that you made an informed and correct decision. Just my $0.02 for what it's worth!

 

[ebikemom]

We love "newbie help me choose" threads!! We've all been there! Welcome to the forum!

As for a reply, I'll go with what @AlanDB said!

 

[larry-new]

Spend time here and pore over brand related owner comments, looking for successful customer service outcomes. Everything breaks, it's how long it takes to get it fixed that's important.

 

[AHicks]

Spending other people's money is always fun!

For starters, suggest you look at gear drive vs. direct drive hub motors. How they differ, and the differences in how each might perform while using your bike the way you intend to use it most often. Which is more efficient, maintenance requirements for each, etc. I know how I'd go, and I'm sure many other people will be happy to share how they'd go. Truth be known though, you need to figure this out. It's important you not be swayed by other people's personal beliefs and be disappointed with the results.

Battery capacity is also a huge factor. All else being equal, bigger is better - to a certain point anyway. My latest bike features a battery significantly smaller than my last (15ah vs. 21ah), as I felt dragging around the weight of battery capacity I'll never use was a waste (of money, and efficiency). Several hundred miles into that decision and still happy with it. Would I be happy with 10ah? Not likely.

Availability of mobile Velofix in your area, and their ability to back up your own abilities in worst case scenarios would be a big factor for me when making the local vs. mail order call.

 

[DaveMatthews]

I started off with a 2K budget, and after 3 weeks of research ended up choosing a Giant from a LBS for a little over 3K (CAD).
It just gave me peace of mind knowing I can drop my bike off for whatever reason and warranty is taken care of.
Everybody is different, and there's lots of great choices out there!

 

[MechaNut]

As a relatively recent purchaser of a couple e-bikes (a Radcity and a Ripcurrent-S), here are my suggestions based on my experiences. My personal commute is roughly 13 miles, so my situation is relatively similar.

If you are comfortable putting together, adjusting, and handling most bike related repairs yourself (or paying for Velofix to handle that for you if they are available in your area) then buying direct online shouldn't be an issue. Otherwise, I'd do your research to see which local bike shops in your area can handle e-bike repair and servicing. Velofix is not available in my area, so I've had a bit of a challenge to find a place that can handle servicing my e-bikes for the things I can't do myself. If you aren't comfortable with handling your own assembly and repair, and Velofix is not available in your area, or there isn't a local shop that can handle repairs for a bike they don't sell I'd recommend shopping locally instead of online.

The Radcity is a solid, relatively simple, straight forward e-bike. Everything about it is basic as far as e-bikes go. The only provisos I can make are that the tires should be immediately replaced because the Kenda K-Rads that come on it are loud and make a lot of vibration which makes them really hard on your backside on medium to long rides. I replaced the tires with a set of Schwalbe Big Apples and that made the ride significantly more comfortable and quieter (far less vibration). I needed to fiddle with both the brake adjustment and rear derailleur quite a bit to resolve shifting issues (turned out to be from a bent derailleur guard caused during shipping) and brake rubbing out of the box.

I have a Ripcurrent-S, but overall the experience will be similar to the CCX. Everything about either bike is "next level" compared to the Radcity. The brakes are hydraulic, the electronics are far more featured and improved, the fork is improved, the tires are far better out of the box, the battery larger and more powerful, and the motor has more torque but is slightly noisier. Basically, it is a lot more bike.

 

[Mike TowpathTraveler]

1. Get familiar with the "Discussion by Brand & User Reviews of this forum. You'll learn much about the reliability and quirks of each bike brand you are interested in by reading the posts within each Manufacturer's threads.

2. View lotsa video reviews Court and friends have done for each of the bikes you are interested in. This helps build up that file of information about each brand. Between the video bike reviews and the real life stories posted in "Discussion by Brand and User Reviews you'll have a lot of info going into a purchase.

3. "Of course I like bigger, faster, further etc..." Another important consideration is reliability. Just my 2 cents, but the major mid-drive players are the ones to lean on for long term pleasure. Bosch. Yamaha. Brose. Shimano come to mind.

4. Do some research and inquiries and you may find a major player like Haibike can be found at a price at or below your budget, especially coming into and during winter, when leftover models can likely be found at a very favorable price towards the buyer. It's how I purchased my own Full FatSix. And for near 6k miles on the odometer, the Yamaha drive system has been solid, as is the rest of the bike.

5. Of course, there will always be a leap of take we have to take when buying from a vendor, sight unseen, over a thousand miles away. Though there may be a clunker here or there, (and I surely feel for those folks!), I am not convinced a Big Time Ebike Dealer is in the business of selling junk to a customer.

Good luck!
Mike

 

[lewes5]

Although not mentioned explicitly, a major factor in the selection process is comfort and fit. I suspect these factors are not as critical in selecting an ebike compared to say a conventional road bike, they are still important. You should try out as many different bike as possible. You will be spending a lot of hours on the saddle. Make sure the configuration is right. Don’t rely on websites and catalogs. Try them out.

 

[krdugger]

Hello, Welcome! You mentioned these three bikes- VoltBike Bravo, RadCity, Juiced Cross Current X .

 

[nelzea]

I would personally buy local. I wouldn't want to buy a bike I couldn't try out and if something goes wrong I'd want local support. I think bike fit and feel/balance is really important in an e-bike, as with any bike. I bike longer distances on my e-bike than I would on my regular bike. Also to me the motor systems feel really different and I really didn't like some of them (such as the Magnum that so many people love!).