My wife and I are both in our 50's and looking to move from Giant Roam bikes to e-bikes. She is having trouble with hills and could use the power assist, and I just want to be able to keep up if she has an e-bike. We live a rural area with significant hills nearby. We would probably use the bikes 70% on local roads, some of which are stone, and 30% on dirt and gravel bike trails. While I like to think I might go "off-road" on occasion, if I'm being realistic, this is certainly not going to be a frequent occurrence.
I'm open to both direct to consumer and dealer models. Most dealers are not convenient except for Trek/Specialized about 25 minutes away and Giant dealer 45 minutes away. My thoughts are that I want mid drive motor and torque sensors, but am open to other suggestions. I test drive a Giant EXPLORE E+ 4 GTS and this is definitely on my short list and I've talked myself into the $2500 price tag. I'd go as high as $3000 which opened up my search to the Giant Fathom E+ 3 at $2700 and the Specialized Turbo Vado 3.0 at $2700. For the wife, we'd probably get a low step version of the EXPLORE E+ 4 or the LIV equivalent or and same for the Turbo Vado 3.0.
Any other suggestions are welcome, but I'd really like comments on these three models. The EXPLORE E+ 4 is nice and is a style that I like with a good mix of on and off road capabilities. The Fathom E+ 3 is certainly more of an off-road design and it looks like it has some slightly better components like front fork. In doing online research, I also think the Turbo Vado 3.0 would be a good fit although more commuter oriented with fender and a rack. I kind of like that because I definitely want lights for safety and the fenders could be useful. However, I also worry that that this bike is little too oriented for the road, with those tires, front fork, and "street tuned" motor.
The Ride1Up LMT’D is still on the short list (some days), but has a rear hub motor and doesn't ship until August. It seems the D2C model has a dearth of mid drive motors with torque sensors. The LMT'D at least checks off the torque sensor check box.
Thoughts appreciated.
I'm open to both direct to consumer and dealer models. Most dealers are not convenient except for Trek/Specialized about 25 minutes away and Giant dealer 45 minutes away. My thoughts are that I want mid drive motor and torque sensors, but am open to other suggestions. I test drive a Giant EXPLORE E+ 4 GTS and this is definitely on my short list and I've talked myself into the $2500 price tag. I'd go as high as $3000 which opened up my search to the Giant Fathom E+ 3 at $2700 and the Specialized Turbo Vado 3.0 at $2700. For the wife, we'd probably get a low step version of the EXPLORE E+ 4 or the LIV equivalent or and same for the Turbo Vado 3.0.
Any other suggestions are welcome, but I'd really like comments on these three models. The EXPLORE E+ 4 is nice and is a style that I like with a good mix of on and off road capabilities. The Fathom E+ 3 is certainly more of an off-road design and it looks like it has some slightly better components like front fork. In doing online research, I also think the Turbo Vado 3.0 would be a good fit although more commuter oriented with fender and a rack. I kind of like that because I definitely want lights for safety and the fenders could be useful. However, I also worry that that this bike is little too oriented for the road, with those tires, front fork, and "street tuned" motor.
The Ride1Up LMT’D is still on the short list (some days), but has a rear hub motor and doesn't ship until August. It seems the D2C model has a dearth of mid drive motors with torque sensors. The LMT'D at least checks off the torque sensor check box.
Thoughts appreciated.
