help me pick!

[headed for knee replacement]

I am a 50 year old woman who will not be able to commute by bike but does want to be able to run errands and pick up some groceries. I would probably be doing about 10-15 miles on the weekend. Unfortunately, I live at the top of a rather steep, long hill. And, I weigh about 200 pounds. I want a comfortable bike (sitting more upright). I can swing my leg over. I don't currently ride a lot. I want to bike for exercise and errands (or lunch), but I also need to be able to get back up that darn hill.

I've been looking at the izip e3 path plus and the vibe. What do you think?

I would love to treat myself to a new bike this year. My current mountain bike is 30 years old!

 

[Al P]

Either of those two bikes would probably work for you. They are both upright style for comfort, both have step-through design and both have motors strong enough to get you up that hill. The Path comes in two sizes and the Vibe+ comes in three. You can read Court's reviews on them by following the links below.

https://electricbikereview.com/izip/e3-path-plus/

https://electricbikereview.com/izip/vibe-plus/

 

[mrgold35]

You might want to think about a bike with a throttle also like the Vibe. PAS is good if you can pedal all the time. My Radrover has both and I had plenty of situations where the throttle was a much needed feature like:
- moving across intersections faster (zero need to adjust PAS levels since throttle can add full power at anytime with Radrover)
- assist in acceleration/power up short steep hills
- use the throttle in a walk situation if you need to push the bike up a steep embankment or over obstacles
- sore leg/knee from pedaling and you need to rest it a bit
- in tight turns or limited space or ground clearance where the pedals in the lowest position would hit if you use them

I would also think about a bike with a front suspension, comfy cruiser seat, and adding a suspension seatpost (Suntour, Bodyfloat, Thudbuster). All those road imperfections vibrations have to go somewhere and they will end up on your backside, legs and arms without some type of suspension to soak them up.