E-Joe Epik Lite for hills?

[Alisha]

Howdy!
Well this will be my first ebike purchase so I've been doing a lot of research to see which would be best for me in the long run. I'm a female college student at the University of Kansas (if anyone has been then they know Kansas is known for hills especially the university.) The hills aren't super steep but on my mountain bike I would really have to pedal to get up. I wanted to know would this bike with the pedal assist be able to make it up the hills? I'm also 5'5 and 135 and pretty fit so I don't mind the pedaling, I just dont want to have to break a sweat making it to class.

Also was considering the iZip e3 Compact if this would be a better bike.

Thanks!
-Alisha

 

[Vandon]

@Alisha - I bought my bike for the same purpose, which is to make it to school (teacher) without sweating. Sure your pedal assist will help you plenty if you can already pedal a hill without it but the real feature for hills is the throttle. I have 35 lbs on you and I can say that the throttle gets me up some heavy inclines without issues. I am working on losing 20 lbs and know that the throttle will be even more effective. Assuming that you aren't going more than 20 miles, your battery will take you there and take you home. The iZip E3 is more expensive for a reason and that is because it is a Dahon frame, which is well known for quality and Currie holds some cred too. However, you will lose a little bit of power with the iZip E3. The E-Joe's are going to come with lights and fenders too, in case it happens to rain every once in awhile in Kansas. (Of course it does.) I considered both of these and went with the E-Joe but no one will fault you for going with the iZip E3. I have never ridden an iZip E3 but it would be silly to think that it couldn't handle a hill.

 

[Alisha]

@Vandon

Thanks so much! I've been heavily leaning towards the e-joe, it looks like a fantastic bike from the research that I have done. Both the Lite and the SE have my attention. Have you ridden both? I plan to lose an additional 5-10lbs ( I run track for KU so getting leaner will not be a problem). Also I was thinking of getting the optional Shimano rear 7 speeds on the Lite if i choose that, would that be a better chose since I plan to zip thru campus and town as well to do small errands/get food?

 

[Vandon]

@Alisha - I own the SE and haven't ridden the Lite. It isn't hard to figure out the differences though because the parts are not different. The motor is now a 350 on both with the Lite being a pound lighter -- meaning no difference there when you consider that the weight differential between you and I is almost a whole bike. Here is what you do lose: You lose a front shock, which is supersweet if you like shocks. It can get you in trouble when it comes to lips and edging but the advantage of a smoother ride all day outweighs that. I needed to learn to cut into any lips and railroad tracks to make sure not to stick the wheel. This is the main dealbreaker for me when it comes to the Lite but I haven't heard any complaints about the Lite in that area. After that, you need to know that the current version of the Lite has classic brakes. The majority of bikes out there have standard breaks but the disc brake on the SE is a nice touch. Based on what I hear about the SE's future upgrades, these are the ONLY differences. What does that mean? That means you can upgrade gears for some more money and maybe still save a little money, so long as you don't care about the shock and traditional brakes are good enough for you. The five to ten pounds you anticipate losing will balance out the five pounds or more of security you will want to transport with you so you can park this thing on a big campus.

 

[Alisha]

@Vandon Would the brakes on the Lite suffice for going downhill? I love going down the hills around here but I do want to make sure I can actually stop. My mountain bike has a nice shock in the front so I may lean more towards the SE if it means I'm not gonna bounce around the place haha.

 

[Vandon]

@Alisha - Yes you will be able to stop with v-brakes going downhill but I personally like more stopping power than that and I hate squeaking. Based on what you are saying, the SE should be your choice. My understanding is that the bike is improving but the price is going up a little bit, unless you buy a current version from a shop right now. E-Joe won't actually have an SE to sell you until the end of the month. It will be worth it but if money is a factor, you will still want to keep the Lite under your radar. However, since you were considering the iZip also, it shouldn't matter to you. Go with the SE and expect everything to be more positive except for the cool fenders on the Lite. These two bikes are so similar that I can only imagine them morphing together in a years time. For me, my plan is to wait for some rain to decide if I need to upgrade my fenders, which I can do for forty dollars. I live in San Antonio so I have yet to have a chance to test my bike in the rain... as there is none.

 

[Alisha]

@Vandon I think the SE is the choice I'm gonna go with thanks! Where would I get better fenders? I was concerned with this. In Kansas we can get our fair share of rain, just last week it rained 4 days in a row!

 

[Vandon]

Check out CrabEnemy's thread on what he did with his. He posts photos of parts there. He also posted photos on the Epik SE Rider Page I started on Facebook.

 

[Alisha]

@Vandon Great! Thanks so much for your help!