First e-bike purchase assistance

[Stefan Mikes]

All great choices. Go ride them all and decide from there.

The major problem now Chris is the poor availability of e-bikes in the U.S. market at the moment.

 

[Browneye]

The major problem now Chris is the poor availability of e-bikes in the U.S. market at the moment.

Increasingly more difficult. Giant is pretty much sold out for model year 2020, '21's due out within a month or two. Explore and Amiti may be hard to find. The usa site does list inventory location relative your own locale - a place to start if Giant is the first choice.

Specialized cost more, so they tend to sell out slower, same for Trek - their newest models were late to the game, and still have some inventory. At least for mountain bikes. I mentioned elsewhere that I had stopped at our local TREK dealer and there was a semi-truck trailer there that was being unloaded of it's entire load - all Electra bikes. They had bike cartons stacked everywhere, pallets of them.

 

[Captain Slow]

If you're on a Roam now and test rode the Explore and like that then I'd recommend staying with Giant. So I'd say go Explore or maybe consider the Fastroad. Maybe that's beyond your budget though. For the riding you do the Fastroad's tires are more than wide enough and it doesn't sound like you need suspension.

It's a personal preference but I find suspension adds weight and cost, so unless you're mountain biking where it's needed I tend to not like suspension and have the money put elsewhere on the bike. I also like the ride feel of a rigid fork better if I'm not on MTB terrain. The Fast Road has 2.4" wide tires, that is all the suspension one generally needs unless riding off-road. Very few gravel bikes have suspension, though some models are starting to be introduced.

 

[stevelion]

I would not recommend Trek e-bikes because the Allant+ 7 basically belongs to the same tale as the Vado. What about Bulls?
If you could extend your budget to US$3500, the Bulls Lacuba are available in both high-step and step over versions. And these are available. Benefits:

• Brose T motor (similar to Specialized 1.2), which is silent
• 650 Wh battery and that's up to the standard of very expensive e-bikes, ensuring long range
• Thick 2" tyres very good for roads and easy off-road
• Air fork: Most of e-bikes come with inferior steel-spring fork
• Fenders, lighting, rack.

LACUBA EVO E8 DIAMOND

It has the look, feel, and ride position of a high-end eTrekking bike because that’s what it is- LACUBA EVO E8 DIAMOND! To travel farther and ride longer.

www.bullsbikesusa.com

LACUBA EVO E8 STEP-THRU

The Lacuba EVO E8 STEP-THRU is not just the next eTrekking in a long line of best-selling Lacubas. Strong, Powerful, Graceful, & Silent it is more than an eBike!

www.bullsbikesusa.com

If I were in your position and faced with the difficult market situation, I would certaintly look at the Bulls Lacuba e-bikes.
@FlatSix911, your opinion?

I like this bike. Crazy Lenny had the 2018 BULLS LACUBA EVO 45S on it's crazy deal for $2100. I spoke to them today and was talked out of it for two reasons. 1) no large and 2) no Brose repair center around me (assume Specialized only works on Specialized branded Brose).

Any comments on the servicing of these bikes? e.g. If I were to buy a brand like Bulls with no service center around me, but it uses the Bosch system, will any Bosch certified repair center make warranty repairs on this bike? If this is how it works, I can't even find a Brose U.S. service center locator and would have no idea where to go with it.

 

[hokienutzz]

I like this bike. Crazy Lenny had the 2018 BULLS LACUBA EVO 45S on it's crazy deal for $2100. I spoke to them today and was talked out of it for two reasons. 1) no large and 2) no Brose repair center around me (assume Specialized only works on Specialized branded Brose).

Any comments on the servicing of these bikes? e.g. If I were to buy a brand like Bulls with no service center around me, but it uses the Bosch system, will any Bosch certified repair center make warranty repairs on this bike? If this is how it works, I can't even find a Brose U.S. service center locator and would have no idea where to go with it.

Today's Crazy deal is for the Bosch performance CX powered Haibike Trekking 7.0 - similar to the Bulls but there are more Bosch service LBS's probably. Seems like a good deal.

 

[Grison]

We tried to get a pair of Haibike Trekking 7.0's about two weeks ago, but the ones we found online turned out to be unavailable. We opted for the Giant Explore E+ 4 and Liv Amiti E+ 4 instead, and with about 10 days of periodic riding under our belts now, so far we are very happy. I thought I might miss having a throttle, but I actually don't care at all in practice. The auto-assist is amazing for varied terrain or stop-and-go downtown, although we usually opt for the fixed assist mode for sustained riding on the flats.

 

[stevelion]

We tried to get a pair of Haibike Trekking 7.0's about two weeks ago, but the ones we found online turned out to be unavailable. We opted for the Giant Explore E+ 4 and Liv Amiti E+ 4 instead, and with about 10 days of periodic riding under our belts now, so far we are very happy. I thought I might miss having a throttle, but I actually don't care at all in practice. The auto-assist is amazing for varied terrain or stop-and-go downtown, although we usually opt for the fixed assist mode for sustained riding on the flats.

Thanks for the feedback on the Giant and Liv since those bikes are the same two bikes my wife and I rode for a quick test drive and enjoyed. My wife is now balking at the price and so I'm kind of on hold right now. We bought new bikes 3 years ago and rarely use those and it's not clear that eBikes will really make the difference.

In any case, I've had time to do a lot of research and am convinced that, if we buy something, I'm going to stick with a brands that can be easily serviced by my LBS. So Trek and Specialized are very convenient, Cannondale is not bad, and Giant is the farthest, but doable at 45 minutes away. Giant/Liv seems to offer the best bang for the buck, but really like the Trek Dual Sport and Cannondale Tesoro Neo X 2, but I'm not even sure the latter is available in the U.S.

Anyway, if she's balking at the Giant/Liv prices, the Trek and Cannondale are definitely not better!

 

[BlackHand]

Crazy Lenny's has the Haibike SDURO Trekking 7.0 listed for $2699 shipped. HERE
Knowing what those were on sale for recently, I bet you could get a hi step and mid step shipped for <$5000.

Pretty similar to the Explore E+ you're considering but better equipped and with the Bosch CX instead of Yamaha.
You gain:
-Nice fenders, decent lights
-500Wh battery
-2.5" Super Moto-X tires
-rear rack

 

[BlackHand]

Crazy Lenny's has the Haibike SDURO Trekking 7.0 listed for $2699 shipped. HERE
Knowing what those were on sale for recently, I bet you could get a hi step and mid step shipped for <$5000.

Pretty similar to the Explore E+ you're considering but better equipped and with the Bosch CX instead of Yamaha.
You gain:
-Nice fenders, decent lights
-500Wh battery
-2.5" Super Moto-X tires
-rear rack

Huh, I guess I didn't refresh the posts all day, I see someone already pointed you towards Crazy Lenny's.

 

[Browneye]

Thanks for the feedback on the Giant and Liv since those bikes are the same two bikes my wife and I rode for a quick test drive and enjoyed. My wife is now balking at the price and so I'm kind of on hold right now. We bought new bikes 3 years ago and rarely use those and it's not clear that eBikes will really make the difference.

In any case, I've had time to do a lot of research and am convinced that, if we buy something, I'm going to stick with a brands that can be easily serviced by my LBS. So Trek and Specialized are very convenient, Cannondale is not bad, and Giant is the farthest, but doable at 45 minutes away. Giant/Liv seems to offer the best bang for the buck, but really like the Trek Dual Sport and Cannondale Tesoro Neo X 2, but I'm not even sure the latter is available in the U.S.

Anyway, if she's balking at the Giant/Liv prices, the Trek and Cannondale are definitely not better!

We bought new Specialized pedal bikes 3 years ago as well. They didn't get much time on them.
Discovered the Ebike thing, started off with a hub-drive conversion, then a nother new one, and they definitely do make the difference. Good cardio if you feel like it, full drive assist if you don't.
Eight grand later and the rest is history, as the saying goes.

Ebikes lets you go 50% faster, ride twice as far for the same effort, which is three times as much fun so you go ten times as much.
How's them stats??

 

[stevelion]

We bought new Specialized pedal bikes 3 years ago as well. They didn't get much time on them.
Discovered the Ebike thing, started off with a hub-drive conversion, then a nother new one, and they definitely do make the difference. Good cardio if you feel like it, full drive assist if you don't.
Eight grand later and the rest is history, as the saying goes.

Ebikes lets you go 50% faster, ride twice as far for the same effort, which is three times as much fun so you go ten times as much.
How's them stats??

If we get more exercise, it's worth it. I'll share those stats with my wife. The math doesn't lie and 3X fun is very compelling!