Commuter Ebike - Reliable

[karmap]

So after owning a Juiced Crosscurrent S a year and change ago I am back in the market for an Ebike. I loved the Juiced when it worked but the battery is disconnecting a few times during the commute and I never know if it is going to be the last time. Juiced is no help and I will never do business with them again.

Now I need a new bike because I fell in love with electric bikes. I have a 16 mile each way commute with a good amount of hills. The CCS did well andI really enjoyed the power it had. It was a bit too big and bulky but the power response was great.

Because of the terrible warranty and customer support I have mostly decided to go local with my purchase.

requirements.
1. Class 3
2. Can do 40 miles on a charge
3. Has ability to have a good rack system for storage. I use this bike for everything not just commuting.
4. Reliable.
5 Torque Sensor



Now I test drove a Giant E+ Quick which I could get 10% off the 19 model. Also test drove a Specializled Vado. They honestly seemed pretty similar. Very quite. Very natural. No throttle. Tough to get above 25 MPH without feeling like I am spinning really fast. Both very light and natural feeling

what other bikes should I look at ? Seems like the big manufacturers focus on the mid drives. I am wondering what I should look at for hub drives as I hear they have less maintenance.

 

[rich c]

For serious commuting, I recommend higher end. You get the quality components that have the durability engineered in. Stromer, Bulls, and Haibike are 3 that come to mind.

 

[Ravi Kempaiah]

requirements.
1. Class 3
2. Can do 40 miles on a charge
3. Has ability to have a good rack system for storage. I use this bike for everything not just commuting.
4. Reliable.
5 Torque Sensor

If you are in California, I would suggest you to go to New Wheel in SF and get their demo Stromer ST5. it is on sale for $6999.
Add a Kinect body float and sturdy rear rack (the new rack is designed for 45lbs), you're good to go.

Jotform - Form is missing

Jotform - Form is missing

form.jotform.com

 

[Solom01]

If you're concerned with reliability and low maintenance it would be nice to have a belt and not a chain and a hub gear instead of a derailleur. It would be nice to be able to correlate price with reliability but there's no real data on that just a bunch of annecdotes from experts. They can talk about German engineering, for example, but in areas that do have real data such as cars German cars do poorly on reliability and maintenance costs.

 

[indianajo]

My home conversion has been dead reliable. I made the connections myself, crimped .157" bullett connectors from Dorman (oreilly's auto supply). Used a Klein crimp tool. Battery was from luna, their solder joints are superb. They soldered the pigtail to their battery connector and my crimps came after that.
Use the juiced motor and find a controller & battery you can 1. crimp to direct or 2. screw on crimped spade down on crimped terminals .
Was really suspicious of those snap in batteries that come on all the factory built bikes. A little shaking, a little plastic sag, those push tite connectors are ****. Besides having to buy your replacement battery from the same company at a big markup.
15 months, the only failure was in a drenching all day rain on a 35 mile trek: the throttle got water in it and quit working. A day to dry out an a blast with the hair dryer, it is fine.
Note in picture left, my controller is hung under the seat, with wire exit pointed down. So any splash on it tends to drip off instead of penetrating the controller. Also I bought a kit with no display. The display on my first kit got water under the bezel. Unnecessary failure point.
I'm getting 30 very hilly miles in about 66% of the battery charge on 17 AH. Use the battery only up the hills. DD hub motor used more electricity.
Per solom01, my sram derailleur has required 1. oiling 2. adjustment of the stop screws 3. replacement of the rear shift cable. 3000 miles down. It is not a mid drive motor, so no undue chain stress. The chain & shifters have 5000 miles. I will not brag on the 7 speed shimano axle that comes in cheap bikes. I've had one of those 7 speeds the race came unscrewed & dropped balls on the road. Long push home. Stupid design, the race needed a locknut or welding to the axle shaft. This shimano axle & sprocket cluster is the 8 speed, and presumably they weren't under the cost constraints of the 7 speed. No trouble so far.

 

[karmap]

I just got offered a 2019 Giant Quick E+ 20% off which makes it come out to $2,510 which seems like a good deal. Should I jump on it? Still worried about the lack of throttle and mid drive reliability but it was indeed fun to drive.

 

[tomjasz]

I just got offered a 2019 Giant Quick E+ 20% off which makes it come out to $2,510 which seems like a good deal. Should I jump on it? Still worried about the lack of throttle and mid drive reliability but it was indeed fun to drive.

Trek.

 

[planetbike]

I just got offered a 2019 Giant Quick E+ 20% off which makes it come out to $2,510 which seems like a good deal. Should I jump on it? Still worried about the lack of throttle and mid drive reliability but it was indeed fun to drive.

Curious how/where you got the offer? I’m interested in 2019 close outs. Wondering if ebike supply is meeting the demand?