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

[kojack]

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.

 

[harryS]

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,

 

[indianajo]

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.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

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.

 

[kojack]

We just talked about it and we are going to get one with the 500w motor like my cargo bike has. It also has gears, throttle etc as well. Thanks for confirming my suspicions with it.

 

[kojack]

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.

Just circling back to this. The cargo I am talking about is lightweight stuff. Like her purse, maybe a laptop, some munchies. etc. I will be carrying the cargo on my Kodiak. If we go grocery shopping on them, she will carry the bread, cereal, and chippies! I will carry the milk, Diet Coke and heavy food on mine.

I like the fact that I can get it locally, it looks nice and has the rack already to go.

 

[6zfshdb]

If you're still looking at the Raleigh Dobson, keep in mind, it has an integrated battery, which may or may not be replaceable. Batteries can have a fairly short lifespan, depending on how they are treated. It's capacity isn't listed but judging from its size, your range will be limited. This is especially true when carrying weight uphill. The listed range is 15 to 60km, but yours will likely be on the lower end of that rating. The battery capacity will decrease with age / use and cause the range to further deteriorate over time.

Also consider where you plan to store the bike. Since the battery isn't easily removed, you will need an AC outlet nearby.

 

[DDBB]

The best ebike for your wife is one that she will actually ride, regardless of specs. A buddy of mine bought himself a very expensive pedego bike and one for his wife, she rode it one time, fell off and won't get back on it. My wife's GF bought one and is afraid to turn the motor on when she rides it so she's pretty tired after riding around the block

 

[Biplaneguy]

The best bike for my wife was the one she researched and chose (in her case a Zugo, one of the few bikes suitable for someone of her short stature).

 

[PCeBiker]

The best ebike for your wife is one that she will actually ride, regardless of specs.

The best bike for my wife was the one she researched and chose

Testing is the only way to know for sure.

^^^ What they said.

Let your wife pick out her own ebike.
And that should definitely include a test ride. She needs to be comfortable riding it.
I think Canadian Tire will let you take a least a bit of a test ride in the parking lot?


Remember, she's allowed to like whatever the hell she decides to like.
Just bite your tongue then say "I like that one too".


(There was a guy that stole a bicycle from a local Canadian Tire about ten years ago.
He actually got the manager of the store to help him carry it to his car. )

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

The best ebike for your wife is one that she will actually ride, regardless of specs.

Amen to that!

Wife's 1st ebike was a very nice 65 lb step-thru commuter with a torque-sensing hub-drive and throttle. But she never got used to the weight and steering, and her creaky hips sometimes kept her from pedaling hard enough to get the assist she needed. Result: After the first few rides, it just sat.

For the 2nd try, we thought long and hard about what a bike she actually enjoyed riding would look like. Important clues came from a cadence-sensing cruiser we rented on vacation.

So we got her a much lighter cruiser switchable between torque- and cadence-sensing assist on the fly. And now she's the one saying, "Let's go for a ride!"

Wouldn't have nailed it this time without testing and screwing up the first time.

 

[PCeBiker]

Just circling back to this. The cargo I am talking about is lightweight stuff. Like her purse, maybe a laptop, some munchies. etc.

You can buy a relatively inexpensive rack or basket for almost any ebike, if you find an ebike she likes that doesn't have a rack or basket.

 

[kojack]

Amen to that!

Wife's 1st ebike was a very nice 65 lb step-thru commuter with a torque-sensing hub-drive and throttle. But she never got used to the weight and steering, and her creaky hips sometimes kept her from pedaling hard enough to get the assist she needed. Result: After the first few rides, it just sat.

For the 2nd try, we thought long and hard about what a bike she actually enjoyed riding would look like. Important clues came from a cadence-sensing cruiser we rented on vacation.

So we got her a much lighter cruiser switchable between torque- and cadence-sensing assist on the fly. And now she's the one saying, "Let's go for a ride!"

Wouldn't have nailed it this time without testing and screwing up the first time.

What was that bike?

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

What was that bike?

Velotric Breeze 1.

The early impressions posted here still hold.

 

[PCeBiker]

What was that bike?

Velotric Breeze 1.

View attachment 193975
The early impressions posted here still hold.

There ya go @kojack !!

I'll bet that if @Jeremy McCreary 's wife likes it, your wife would like it too ??

The only problem with it is that it comes to $2,500 CAD, and with tax, shipping, duties, and the new tarrif crap, it might be $20,000 by the time it gets to your door.

It's not available on Amazon.ca

Perhaps there's something similar available on Amazon.ca?

Maybe @Jeremy McCreary @6zfshdb @harryS & @indianajo can help you find something with similar specs that's available on Amazon Canada ?

I'm thinking the two key factors are total weight of the ebike (as light as possible, like a regular bike) and adjustable, natural feeling, power delivery?

Your wife wouldn't want something that could get away from her and cause her to crash, but it's got to have enough power to help her pedal without her noticing that the bike is helping by making her work too hard?

 

[PCeBiker]

I'm gunna hazard a guess, and say that the Velotric Breeze is being marketed to women, because it's a girls bike and the first picture on the website shows a mauve ebike.

Perhaps that marketing approach also includes the programming of the power delivery system?

My first ebike came with a cadence sensor and probably over 1000 Watts of peak power, that was so bad that I installed a KT controller and display.

I could have just gotten used to waiting 2 seconds for the power to kick in at FULL Power, but it irritated me so much that I replaced the controller.

I'm pretty sure that the industry has moved away from all that time delay programming crap since my first ebike a few years ago, and the Velotric (or maybe any ebike now that's being marketed to women?) might have better programming?

Both cadence sensors, and torque sensors need to be programmed for their sensitivity and timing.

I think that the industry has recognized the need for ebikes that don't need to go from 0-45 mph in 3 seconds flat.