Choosing $1500-$3000 Commuter first Ebike

[quickasfoxes]

Hi there. I'm moving to Palo Alto CA and have sold my car in hopes of fully committing to commuting with an ebike (full disclosure: my wife still has a car so we'll be able to handle some tasks with an SUV). My commute is about 10 miles round trip, mostly flat and all on paved roads. I am 6'0" 200 lbs. I have spent the past several weeks researching multiple ebikes, and went to Crazy Lenny's in Madison to test ride a few. What I've learned so far:

- Budget: I'd like to keep my budget from $1500-$3000. I could reach up to $4000 if needed (Costs in parentheses are what I've either been quoted or how things are listed, whichever is cheaper)
- Buy: Not interested in DIYing
- Rear-hub: I'd actually prefer a rear-hub motor. I enjoyed the feel of them more than the mid-drives
- Class 3: I much preferred the extra speed of the Class 3, even if it means I can't ride on bike paths in CA.
- Looks: I am a bit of a sucker for good looking bikes. That means I give Stromers and VanMoofs a little extra credit

After doing plenty of research (on this forum and others), I've come to a few potential options:

Top tier:
- Stromer ST1X: ($3000): This is a beautiful bike, that appears to be excellently constructed with quality components. Definitely more pricey, but seems like the quality should account for that, at least partially.
- BH EasyMotion Evo City Nitro: ($1980): Seems like a little step down, both in terms of price and quality, but still excellent, especially considering the warranty.
- Aventon Pace 500 ($1400): Another step down in terms of price and quality, but still well rounded and excellent bang for the buck.

Other options:
- Wing Freedom S ($1400): I know I said Class 3, but this thing seems both beautiful and relatively well-speced for the price.
- Juiced Crosscurrent S2 ($1800) vs X ($2200): Seems like tremendous bang for your buck, but I'm not sure quite what to make of the quality control issues.
- Magnum Metro+: ($1880) I enjoyed the ride but wasn't a huge fan of the looks. Quality seems good, but overall a middle of the road bike.


Questions:
Any bikes I'm majorly missing in the rear-hub Class 3 category?
Of the ones listed, what am I missing in terms of evaluation?
In the top tier, is it really just a question of quality vs price?

Thanks!

 

[Cassidy]

I was going to suggest the Juiced ccs2 but I see it's on your list. After doing some research (my range was up to $2500), I settled on the Juiced Bikes company, either the CCX or the CCS , but they discontinued the CCS and the CCX was out of stock (size), but then they introduced the CCS2 for $1799 with free fenders and rack. It had mostly everything I was looking for at a great price. Torque/cadence sensor,750 w rear hub motor, hydraulic disk breaks, throttle plus it uses a 52 volt Battery. But the unique thing about these bikes is that they come out as class 2 But you can change the setting to class 3 and even off road a higher speed (im keeping mine a class 2 for now). I am going on my first test ride this morning but so far looking at it and putting the wheel on etc, it looks great and feels great. By the way the CCX is back up to $2499 not $2200 (was a sale price).

 

[Katysax]

I spent a couple of weeks at a class at Stanford and rented a bike (not an ebike)while I was there. Palo Alto is a fabulous place to ride a bike. You are going to have a great time.

 

[Marci jo]

Strommer. For no other reason than they are so darn pretty.

 

[ChezCheese:)]

I have a BH Atom Diamond Wave (a class 1) on the way, but my friend has a Giant Quick e+ (a class 3) which is a fantastic commuter. He commutes 5 miles each way to downtown Seattle, including coming up the Magnolia bridge, which ain't no joke.