Help chosing Crusier Style bike with enough motor

[Roz14]

I'm searching for an upright cruiser style bike. I find leaning over uncomfortable and am unable to find any seat I can handle in that position. My goal is to ride with my hubby who runs 20 mile treks 4 days a week on a combination of paved and dirt roads. The last half mile of our trip home involves a 290' climb. Its seriously steep for most of that climb and has always kept me from riding with him.

I will say that I've borrowed a friends Sun Electro Lite bike for a trial run. It sits upright and is very comfortable. It was fine on a dirt road. It does use the hub drive and cheaper components. When riding hard with hubby I felt as if I was pushing the bike to it's limits. The biggest annoyance was when we were going down hill, the peddles basically just spun and wouldn't connect until the bike slowed way down. Being forced to slow down kept me way behind hubby. Of course going up hill I was way ahead of him. I would love to find something that will let us ride together.

So it seems like all of the cruisers I've looked at use the smallest Boshe Active motor. (Trek Verve, Electra Loft Go) Should I stick with this? Does it make sense for me to consider the ladies PowerFly with the largest motor and just change out the handle bars? Any suggestions on other bikes to consider? We are willing to go $3500 for a quality bike. Would love to have the 28 mph Performance Line motor. Would also like to look at bikes with the Active + motor.

 

[AlanDB]

You might look at the Gazelle Arroyo. It is a very comfortable bike and uses the Bosch Performance Line motor. It is in your price range (unless tariffs have raised the price recently).

 

[Nova Haibike]

Have a look at the Juiced OceanCurrent. It will be comfortable like the Sun bike you rode, but it has a much more powerful hub motor (500 W vs. 250 W) coupled with a 48 V battery. You can order the larger 12.8 Ah battery and still be under $1500.

 

[ymarty]

I had much of the same requirements as you when I was looking for my first ebike. You will need to look for class III bike. There are not very many class III in a cruiser bike but you can find a good selection in a commuter or mountain bike. As you mentioned, you can always change out the handle bars. For me, I ended up choosing EProdigy Magic, which is a class II bike because in my area, the bike laws for class III bikes have lots of restrictions and they are not allowed in public parks, trails and even in some bike lanes. I would rather have the freedom to go where I want without worry being ticketed or have my bike taken away. You might check out the class III bike reviews to see if there is something that appeals to you. https://electricbikereview.com/category/speed/

 

[chriskmee]

I was seriously considering the Specialized Como 3, which I think will fit your needs perfectly. At $3,200 It has a 500Wh battery like the biggest Bosch one, so should have plenty of power for a 20 mile ride if you don't stay in max assist the whole time. It should get you up to 25+mph with its gearing since it's designed to assist you up to 28MPH. It does use a Brose motor instead of a Bosh, but the Brose does have more torque than the Bosh. When I test rode the Como 2 (no 3 in my local shop) I could tell that the Brose motor had more torque than the comparable Bosch one I tried.

Check out this thread if you want to see a lot of discussion and experiences with the bike. It come in both a Women's and Men's style. The seat has some built in suspension for your dirt road needs, but even If you add a nice Bodyfloat seatpost for extra suspension you will still be under your $3500 limit.

edit: Unfortunately Court hasn't reviewed the Como 3.0 yet, but he has reviewed the 2.0 which is a very similar bike. Biggest difference is the 2.0 is a 20mph bike and the 3.0 is a 28mph. His 2.0 review should give you a good idea about the 3.0, he even mentions the 3.0 a couple times as a comparison.

 

[Calicoskies]

Maybe a Electricbikecompany, think a new review was posted recently including a tour of the business in CA that was interesting. These bikes would not be affected by tariffs. It is a Class 3 with 500 watt motor that peaks out at 1300. I have no trouble with hills. They use a single speed but the bike does have the mount points to add gears if you want. I would say the single gear is about speed 12 so difficult to get going but no issue when using the motor. Think I asked Sean the owner about this and he said they would adjust this from 18T to 16T in back for higher speed, so they will work with you. Just a another option for you.

 

[CodyDog]

As previously suggested, check out the Specialized Como 3.0 - plenty of power.

 

[Bruce Arnold]

I'm searching for an upright cruiser style bike. I find leaning over uncomfortable and am unable to find any seat I can handle in that position. My goal is to ride with my hubby who runs 20 mile treks 4 days a week on a combination of paved and dirt roads. The last half mile of our trip home involves a 290' climb. Its seriously steep for most of that climb and has always kept me from riding with him.

I will say that I've borrowed a friends Sun Electro Lite bike for a trial run. It sits upright and is very comfortable. It was fine on a dirt road. It does use the hub drive and cheaper components. When riding hard with hubby I felt as if I was pushing the bike to it's limits. The biggest annoyance was when we were going down hill, the peddles basically just spun and wouldn't connect until the bike slowed way down. Being forced to slow down kept me way behind hubby. Of course going up hill I was way ahead of him. I would love to find something that will let us ride together.

So it seems like all of the cruisers I've looked at use the smallest Boshe Active motor. (Trek Verve, Electra Loft Go) Should I stick with this? Does it make sense for me to consider the ladies PowerFly with the largest motor and just change out the handle bars? Any suggestions on other bikes to consider? We are willing to go $3500 for a quality bike. Would love to have the 28 mph Performance Line motor. Would also like to look at bikes with the Active + motor.

Some bikes are built so the motor stops providing assistance at some pre-set speed, like 20 mph. If you get a class 3 speed pedelec, it will provide assist up to around 28 mph, maybe as high as 30. These are made in all kinds of styles, including cruiser. Someone else mentioned the Ocean Current and that's a good example of what I mean. Sounds like you're interested in a mid-drive, but the type of motor makes no difference in this context.

 

[ebikemom]

What percentage grade is the climb? I have a 250-ish foot elevation gain over the last mile to my house. The %grade ranges up to about 20% but most of it is around 10-15%. My hub drive cruiser style bike handles it all well, though above 20% it is slower going.

Can you rent a bike to try before purchasing?

Also, my bike’s manual says it handles grades well up to 14%. I wonder if other Ebike manuals have this kind of information? Manuals are often downloadable so could be a good source of information on hillclimbing ability.

 

[ebikemom]

Specialized Como 3.0 - plenty of power.

Beautiful bike!