Can I get people's thoughts on this bike for my wife?

kojack

Member
Region
Canada
I am looking to get my wife a classic looking ebike for scooting around town with me. I have been looking at this bike but I am wondering about if a single speed will still be ok to ride up hills without to much effort with a bit of cargo on the rack and front basket? any other thoughts would be welcome too.

Raliegh Dobson step through bike.

TIA.
 
They don't list the teeth on the rear and front gears, I guess those could be changed if you find the hills too steep.

My wife never shifts gears, but the ebikes she rides have the wheels and gearing appropriate for flat midwesternbike paths and rail trails,
 
Looks like a standard 42 to 18 sprocket ratio. Fine for flat Houston where there is no wind. If you get a windy day rider may have to stand on the pedals. Plus that tiny motor will be overwhelmed. Not even as big as a brake rotor. Looks like there are no brake rotor on the rear either. When I shifted the rear derailleur 4 times out of every stop sign, I developed a 10 cm x 1 cm cyst over my right thumb joint. I do not do that anymore, but I do downshift 2 times every trip to the grocery + bank to get across road crowns within the green light. Electricity is no help below 55 F, the battery capacity halves. You cannot charge at freezing or below. I still ride the bike to the grocery down to 6 F, but the battery stays in the garage under a heating pad.
Really swinging around cargo in a front basket is annoying. Cargo in a rear basket loaded on a cruiser takes weight off the front wheel and makes steering unstable. 5 times I fell on my chin 2008-2017 riding MTB & cruisers. 2017 I bought a stretch frame cargo bike, that slowed down to once in 7 years (last September). Front wheel would snap sideways on a pavement separator, gravel ridge, a stick, and over I would go on my chin.
Look at the blix cargo bike, which was $1600 last time I looked. www.blixbikes.com/products/packa 750 w motor, 2 brake rotors, Bosses in the frame to mount a front basket that stays put when the front fork swings. Stretch frame puts rider's weight on front wheel, cargo loads rear wheel. Better steering stability. 24"x2.4" 60 PSI tires to even out the potholes without fat tires (25 psi) dragging like a boat anchor when one rides without electricity. Welded cargo rack that does not shift side to side and scrape the tires or bend the fender struts as bolt on racks can do. Blix had one complaint on "known problems" thread on the brand forum last time I looked. They are 7 years old.
 
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Nice-looking bike, but not at all sure that it'll work for your wife on hills with cargo. Better prove that with a test before you buy.

If @indianajo is right about the 42/18 gearing, that's a single speed of 64 gear-inches on a bike of almost 50 lb. I think many would struggle with that on a grade over 3%.

By nature, hub-drives deliver little mechanical power at the lowest ground speeds, and this is a low-power bike to begin with. Once she gets bogged down to 6 mph or slower on a hill, her legs will be doing most of the climbing, and they're going to want gears a lot lower than 64 gear-inches to finish the job.

No one here can tell you that this is a smart choice for your wife. Much will depend on your hills, her strength as a rider, and the cargo you have in mind. Testing is the only way to know for sure.

And while you're testing, try some bikes with torque-sensing assist. She may well find the power delivery a lot more natural than the cadence-sensing assist this bike offers.
 
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