First E-Bike - $3,000 (or less) budget

[Greyrider]

Well designed web site so kudos to the IT guys.

I am looking for a hard tail mountain bike. Our home is at 6,550 elevation and all trails are up from here. In the summer, when the snow is gone, I ride between 10 and 25 miles depending on what is on my wife's honey do list. A combination of single track and forest roads. My current ride is a Cannondale Lefty, and it rides well. My reasoning for wanting an E-bike is to be able to ride further in the same amount of time, when needed. I am 5' 9" and weigh 165. I am a calm rider, no hard core trick stuff for me.

I have been doing a lot of reading and watching YouTube EBR reviews and the more I learn the more I want to know. So far the features on my short list:

Mid drive
Cadence sensor with throttle
27.5 wheels
Mid fat tires
Hard tail
Integrated battery (into the frame)

Would be nice to have a local bike shop but some of the bikes I am looking at are only sold direct. I have seen some bikes that look acceptable in the 2,000 to 3,000 range but have no real knowledge of build quality, except for ones like Haibike.

GR

 

[rcdanner]

FLX Trail is about $2250. I bought FLX Roadster last month. Easy to assemble using included tools and their youtube videos.
https://flx.bike/products/trail

 

[Ravi Kempaiah]

Mid drive
Cadence sensor with throttle
27.5 wheels
Mid fat tires
Hard tail
Integrated battery (into the frame)

Here you go: http://egbike.com/EGUSA/index_files/Page4424.htm

 

[JRA]

I usually agree with Ravi's recommendations but this time I am going to have to go with rc's suggestion. The FLX M600 mid drive is about the only performance, 120nm torque, mid drive that has a throttle feature but instead of cadence sensing it is torque sensing which is a plus in my book, especially for use on trails.

 

[PDoz]

. My current ride is a Cannondale Lefty, and it rides well.

GR

You have a cannondale lefty? If at all possible, get yourself a ride on a 2019 conventional / big brand emtb before you decide how important the throttle is and if you really are willing to sacrifice the ride quality for a throttle. The big brands have made huge leaps in geometry in the last 2 years, and last weekend I gave a test ride to a lefty rider and he wasn't impressed with the geometry of my 2018 giant! Find somewhere to hire , say, a norco for the day....

 

[Greyrider]

The FLX trail looks like a possible. The M600 does not appear on the FLX web site. Reconsidering the torque sensor.

 

[DaveMatthews]

I have the E+2 version of this.
https://www.giant-bicycles.com/us/bikes-fathom-eplus

Love it!
Doesn't have a throttle though... sorry, missed that.

 

[JRA]

The FLX trail looks like a possible. The M600 does not appear on the FLX web site. Reconsidering the torque sensor.

It is shown on the site listed above on my computer? Not a well known system compared to the big name brands but Bafang is the largest manufacturer of electric bike systems in the world and the M600 is there integrated legal wattage mid motor system that has all the bells and whistles of the "big name" motors. You should also view this sites review about the bike.

I am not sure what a throttle has to do with a bikes geometry and the Trail has decent enough geometry for a bike in this price range as far as I can see. There is alot of resistance to throttles in general but they are handy to have on board for the minimal amount of weight and complexity they add to the bike. With a torque sensing PAS like the trail has you won't be using it much but there are times when it will come into play and there is no shame in having one as much as some would make it seem so.

 

[MikeDD]

You may want to check out this web site https://www.emtbforums.com/community/ . This is an electric mountain bike site. I have two bikes one with and one without a throttle. I do not miss having a throttle on the Specialized Turbo Levo when riding.

 

[PDoz]

Another vote for emtb forum if you are a mountain bike rider looking at going electric rather than someone just looking for an electric bike. The sites offer two very different perspectives / communities - I enjoy the scientific / community / less hard core petspective this site provides, but if I was looking for advice on how a bike handles, or what components / suspension etc , I'd be looking there. If it helps you understand where I'm coming from , my oldbike is a norco optic 2017 , a giant trance before that , most of my riding is single line intermediate trails - so the guys at emtb forum think my giant full e pro handles badly, most people here would consider it amazing, I'm satisfied with it but wish I'd waited for a 2019 or perhaps bought a specialized levo. I only really notice the giants quirks for about 10 mins after riding my norco.....but your canondale is even better than my norco....

 

[Greyrider]

Appreciate the responses.

Yes, the Cannondale really eats up the bumps and I am not one who rides to the limit. I will not give up riding it but there will be times an E-Bike will be handy, and fun perhaps. The more I read here and elsewhere, plus where and how I will be riding, it seems a torque sensor would be best.

Next step will be to link to the emtb forum.