We are new to e bikes and found this community site, thought you all might be able to help us out as we are overwhelmed trying to search online. We’ve been used to regular mountain bikes, but are completely new to e bikes. We are looking for a bike that would work for my husband, he’s 6’4, 280. What are some recommendations for an off road bike, has a throttle, good for trail riding, with a frame that’s good for larger folks. Any input is greatly appreciated!
Bike recommendations for larger people
- Thread starter LeslieC
- Start date
Congrats on your search for an ebike. Lots of good info from the members on this forum.
My situations is the opposite, trying to find a small enough frame and smaller tires for a lower off-the-ground height. A few weeks ago I purchased my first throttle ebike (others are mid-drive), a small frame Aventon Pace 500. While in the bike shop I noticed other Aventon bikes. Both the Aventon Level and Aventon Aventure seemed like large bikes to me, with the Aventure having wide fat tires. I don't know the specific load limits of either the Level or Aventure, but maybe one of them might fit your needs.
My situations is the opposite, trying to find a small enough frame and smaller tires for a lower off-the-ground height. A few weeks ago I purchased my first throttle ebike (others are mid-drive), a small frame Aventon Pace 500. While in the bike shop I noticed other Aventon bikes. Both the Aventon Level and Aventon Aventure seemed like large bikes to me, with the Aventure having wide fat tires. I don't know the specific load limits of either the Level or Aventure, but maybe one of them might fit your needs.
AHicks
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Snow Bird - Summer S.E. Michigan, Winter Gulf Coast North Central Fl.
Is this bike going to spend most of it's time off road, or is there going to be a higher percentage spent on paved surfaces with just some occasional off road?
Will you be in an area with large hills that will take several minutes to climb, or are the hills just occasional and short? Something that could be in just a few seconds?
Budget?
BIG question! Will you/are you planning on having a dealer do most of your maintenance, or will you be handling that work yourself?
Will you be in an area with large hills that will take several minutes to climb, or are the hills just occasional and short? Something that could be in just a few seconds?
Budget?
BIG question! Will you/are you planning on having a dealer do most of your maintenance, or will you be handling that work yourself?
Bike will be used off road most of the time, on gravel and dirt trails. There are a lot of hills on the areas that we ride, gradual inclines and some steep hills, but not majorly prolonged steep hill climbs. Gradual inclines could be prolonged. It would be nice to have something that could be used both off road and on road when needed, but I know that may not be possible.
Budget, would like to keep below $5000 range for my husband’s bike, but if needed, could go a little higher. He’s 6’4, 280 so I know we’ll probably need to go a little larger on the motor. Any input on what we need to look for or what’s recommended is welcome. I’m 5’7 and only 130 so I see the smaller motors probably being ok for me?
Maintenance-would be ideal if we could find a local shop that worked on these, but after reading online, I am seeing that a lot of bike shops don’t work on these types of bikes.
Budget, would like to keep below $5000 range for my husband’s bike, but if needed, could go a little higher. He’s 6’4, 280 so I know we’ll probably need to go a little larger on the motor. Any input on what we need to look for or what’s recommended is welcome. I’m 5’7 and only 130 so I see the smaller motors probably being ok for me?
Maintenance-would be ideal if we could find a local shop that worked on these, but after reading online, I am seeing that a lot of bike shops don’t work on these types of bikes.
AHicks
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Snow Bird - Summer S.E. Michigan, Winter Gulf Coast North Central Fl.
Leslie-
I'm 6'2" and 300 to 315lbs. 70 years old, but I ride daily. The reason I was wondering about the hills was about what type of drive to suggest. The geared hub drives are the easiest to ride, but the mid drives will have more climbing power. Geared hubs are fine for short climbs, but mid drives are the plan for longer or steeper climbs. The only down side to the mid drive is that they demand more from the rider - you need to keep them in the right gear, or something close to it. The hub drive isn't near as picky in this regard. I call the geared hubs brain dead as generally you can just get on and go.
Fat tires are kind of "in" right now, but not everyone is real keen on them. Even serious mountain biker's won't always recommend them. That's going to be a tough call.
Here's 4 bikes, nearly identical except for the size of the tires, and the type of power. I wanted to try out the fat tires (RX PRO), but they didn't work out well for me, and I'm in the process of converting the bike for a more "medium" size. Bigger than you will see on street bikes, but way smaller than the fatty. The RX bike is pretty much the same bike, but uses these "medium" size (also known as 27.5+). The last bikes are the geared hub version of the first 2
rizebikes.com
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Thrown in for good luck, mostly because it's a good compromise regarding power and hill climbing ability with it's mid drive type-
rizebikes.com
I'm 6'2" and 300 to 315lbs. 70 years old, but I ride daily. The reason I was wondering about the hills was about what type of drive to suggest. The geared hub drives are the easiest to ride, but the mid drives will have more climbing power. Geared hubs are fine for short climbs, but mid drives are the plan for longer or steeper climbs. The only down side to the mid drive is that they demand more from the rider - you need to keep them in the right gear, or something close to it. The hub drive isn't near as picky in this regard. I call the geared hubs brain dead as generally you can just get on and go.
Fat tires are kind of "in" right now, but not everyone is real keen on them. Even serious mountain biker's won't always recommend them. That's going to be a tough call.
Here's 4 bikes, nearly identical except for the size of the tires, and the type of power. I wanted to try out the fat tires (RX PRO), but they didn't work out well for me, and I'm in the process of converting the bike for a more "medium" size. Bigger than you will see on street bikes, but way smaller than the fatty. The RX bike is pretty much the same bike, but uses these "medium" size (also known as 27.5+). The last bikes are the geared hub version of the first 2
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Thrown in for good luck, mostly because it's a good compromise regarding power and hill climbing ability with it's mid drive type-
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dodgeman
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Macomb, Illinois
I’m a fan of the common brands that are sold in your area. Trek, Bulls, Specialized, come to mind plus a couple of others. Me and my wife just bought e bikes a couple of months ago. We bought Trek Verve+3 step through . About $3200 each but by the time we bought a hitch bike carrier and other accessories you can add more than another $1000 to that. These are probably listed as a hybrid but are really a road bike or smoother trail bikes. I weigh about 240 lbs and am 6’ 1” and an right at the listed weight limit for my bike . It’s rated at 300 pounds but that includes the weight of the bike which is 50 pounds. You just want to keep an eye on the specs for your husbands bike. It’s easy to spend 5k on a nice e bike.
Decide on what’s most important.
For mostly off-road, frequent or long hills - mid-drive motor, which will use the bike’s gearing effectively.
Try to ride a hard tail (no rear shock) and full suspension bike and consider where you ride. I like FS for all purpose, but others will say they’re good including off-road without a rear shock.
Power of motor. This is somewhat an unfortunate mess IMO. Europe has been a bigger market for ebikes, but they limit power to 250W nominal, and 25km/h or so…close enough to US ‘class 1’ general ebike definition, including no throttle option. Each state has its own regulations so it’s worth checking if there are restrictions where you plan to ride.
For reasonably fit people, a Class 1 ebike can be fine to ‘ok’..depending on where and how hard challenging the terrain. On the road and flat they’re certainly fine. Hills and off-road is where they can really make you work. Assistance stops at 20mph, which isnt terrible off-road and for some on-road.
The US more or less (state dependent) recognizes class 1, 2 and 3, with 3 being 750W nominal power and may have a throttle but assistance stops at 28mph. Some states don’t have power limitations or limit to 1000W.
Assistance by the motor can be cadence based or torque-based. The former to me is more like a binary switch and you can wind up ‘ghost pedaling’ unless you go to higher gear and/or reduce the assistance mode (most bikes have 3-5 levels of assistance, easily changed while riding). Bikes/motors with torque sensors feel much closer to normal bicycle pedaling, adding power based on how hard you are pedaling along with the mode level.
Even being out of shape currently, I much prefer torque sensing systems, but YMMV.
For an ‘all arounder’ you could look at a ‘fat tire’ bike with a Bafang M620/Ultra motor or M600 (both torque-sensing), or lower power but likely smoother power delivery one oof the EU style/class 1 or 2 ebikes from Trek, Giant, and others with Bosch, Shimano, Yamaha or Brose motors. If you can find a local ebike shop or REI - these are the types they usually carry. You can choose across fat tire, mountain bike or road tires fore the Bafang-powered bikes, or anything but fat tire for the others.
It’s worth finding a shop carrying ebikes if you can, or renting one, regardless of type, just so you can sort what you did and didn’t like about it.
Good luck! If you give more specifics, I’m sure it will help with more specific recommendations..
For mostly off-road, frequent or long hills - mid-drive motor, which will use the bike’s gearing effectively.
Try to ride a hard tail (no rear shock) and full suspension bike and consider where you ride. I like FS for all purpose, but others will say they’re good including off-road without a rear shock.
Power of motor. This is somewhat an unfortunate mess IMO. Europe has been a bigger market for ebikes, but they limit power to 250W nominal, and 25km/h or so…close enough to US ‘class 1’ general ebike definition, including no throttle option. Each state has its own regulations so it’s worth checking if there are restrictions where you plan to ride.
For reasonably fit people, a Class 1 ebike can be fine to ‘ok’..depending on where and how hard challenging the terrain. On the road and flat they’re certainly fine. Hills and off-road is where they can really make you work. Assistance stops at 20mph, which isnt terrible off-road and for some on-road.
The US more or less (state dependent) recognizes class 1, 2 and 3, with 3 being 750W nominal power and may have a throttle but assistance stops at 28mph. Some states don’t have power limitations or limit to 1000W.
Assistance by the motor can be cadence based or torque-based. The former to me is more like a binary switch and you can wind up ‘ghost pedaling’ unless you go to higher gear and/or reduce the assistance mode (most bikes have 3-5 levels of assistance, easily changed while riding). Bikes/motors with torque sensors feel much closer to normal bicycle pedaling, adding power based on how hard you are pedaling along with the mode level.
Even being out of shape currently, I much prefer torque sensing systems, but YMMV.
For an ‘all arounder’ you could look at a ‘fat tire’ bike with a Bafang M620/Ultra motor or M600 (both torque-sensing), or lower power but likely smoother power delivery one oof the EU style/class 1 or 2 ebikes from Trek, Giant, and others with Bosch, Shimano, Yamaha or Brose motors. If you can find a local ebike shop or REI - these are the types they usually carry. You can choose across fat tire, mountain bike or road tires fore the Bafang-powered bikes, or anything but fat tire for the others.
It’s worth finding a shop carrying ebikes if you can, or renting one, regardless of type, just so you can sort what you did and didn’t like about it.
Good luck! If you give more specifics, I’m sure it will help with more specific recommendations..
AHicks
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Snow Bird - Summer S.E. Michigan, Winter Gulf Coast North Central Fl.
Regarding bike "classes" I agree you should know the difference between them, but just as important, is if anyone in the area you'll be riding most of the time gives a darn what class bike you're on. MOST often, nobody cares what class as long as you aren't creating an issue. I will acknowledge that some areas are a pain, with just enough local enforcement to have you paying attention.
I think most will agree current regs. that apply to e-bikes are poorly written. Taken a step further, those poorly written rules are extremely expensive to enforce.....
Florida has it right. While there, any e-bike is able to go anywhere a bike can.... I think that there's one other state that's done that as well - Utah maybe?
I think most will agree current regs. that apply to e-bikes are poorly written. Taken a step further, those poorly written rules are extremely expensive to enforce.....
Florida has it right. While there, any e-bike is able to go anywhere a bike can.... I think that there's one other state that's done that as well - Utah maybe?
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