Consumer Reports - 'Is an E-bike right for you?'

[Coolbob]

Consumer Reports has put together a pretty basic rundown of the different classes and types of E-bikes. It's a good place to start for those just learning about E-bikes.

Is an Electric Bike Right for You? - Consumer Reports

Is an electric bike is right for you? Consumer Reports explains what you need to know about e-bikes for recreation and transportation.

www.consumerreports.org

 

[retiredNH]

Interesting that their classifications are the same as for analog bikes. And not a word about hub vs mid drive.

It's pretty clear that the author has no idea what ebikes are about, and how they've evolved away from analog bikes. Statements like "Experts say fat-tire bikes—which can be difficult to get going on pedal power alone" show the author's ignorance.

Articles like this are why I dropped my subscription to CR about 5 years ago. It went from an organization and magazine about buying "good stuff" to a life-style magazine, and they fired most of their engineers in the transition.

 

[Coolbob]

@retiredNH agreed that it's very basic and incomplete, 99% of the folks on these forums won't learn anything from the article. The intended audience is folks who are new to E-bikes.

 

[Doggyman1202]

"Experts say fat-tire bikes—which can be difficult to get going on pedal power alone" show the author's ignorance."

Really? I owned one for a short time, and that's the primary reason my time with it was short. Some love fat tire bikes. I wasn't one of them, and happily sold mine.

I thought it was a useful article as a starting point for those that are curious about e-bikes, but not ready to commit. I'm sending it to a few friends. Thanks for posting, Coolbob.

 

[Gordon71]

"Experts say fat-tire bikes—which can be difficult to get going on pedal power alone" show the author's ignorance."

Really? I owned one for a short time, and that's the primary reason my time with it was short. Some love fat tire bikes. I wasn't one of them, and happily sold mine.

I thought it was a useful article as a starting point for those that are curious about e-bikes, but not ready to commit. I'm sending it to a few friends. Thanks for posting, Coolbob.

I like the fat tires and agree they are hard to get going from a stop if your in a higher gear but one second of throttle use fixes that.

 

[GenXrider]

Nothing about mid dive, nothing about torque vs. cadence. I skimmed over it quickly - maybe some useful bits for a beginner.

 

[Deacon Blues]

It's obvious that this article is geared towards someone who is thinking about purchasing an ebike, but knows nothing about them. Any article that promotes riding an ebike is a good article. The more people who exercise by riding (any type of bike) the better.

 

[retiredNH]

It's obvious that this article is geared towards someone who is thinking about purchasing an ebike, but knows nothing about them. Any article that promotes riding an ebike is a good article. The more people who exercise by riding (any type of bike) the better.

The article talks about kinds (styles) of bikes. In that, it's good, but it does nothing to tie the various bike styles with motors to make ebikes. As GenXrider said, it says nothing about the critical decision points for an ebike, like throttle, pedal assist, weight and so forth.