I need a reliable e-bike

[Bedi bedang]

Really,for me,the real question where is the e-bike that can ride 12,000 kms a year for 3 years (40 kms a day,5 days a week) all year round on the Canadian west coast without costing me a fortune in maintenance. Anything else in my world is a toy not a mode of transportation

 

[Marci jo]

Really,for me,the real question where is the e-bike that can ride 12,000 kms a year for 3 years (40 kms a day,5 days a week) all year round on the Canadian west coast without costing me a fortune in maintenance. Anything else in my world is a toy not a mode of transportation

Good luck. Maybe decide your definition of “maintenance.” 12,000 kms for 3 years will require some level of maintenance.

 

[tomjasz]

Really,for me,the real question where is the e-bike that can ride 12,000 kms a year for 3 years (40 kms a day,5 days a week) all year round on the Canadian west coast without costing me a fortune in maintenance. Anything else in my world is a toy not a mode of transportation

Those are some pretty high marks to make. WOW! Maybe an eBike isn't for your needs. That said, several of the Grin kits or a MAC with some Grin components would come very close. All is how you treat the bike and preventive maintenance.

 

[Alaskan]

Really,for me,the real question where is the e-bike that can ride 12,000 kms a year for 3 years (40 kms a day,5 days a week) all year round on the Canadian west coast without costing me a fortune in maintenance. Anything else in my world is a toy not a mode of transportation

One man's fortune is another man's pittance. Given your criteria, I would stick with Bosch powered bikes as they have a very good warranty on e-parts, good parts distribution, solid dealer tech support. Once the electric part is decided your have a bicycle. Figuring out how well it is equipped as far as group set (derailleur, brakes, cassette, hubs, suspension parts, etc is pretty straightforward. Getting a good bike from a solid manufacturer at a good dealership with a good warranty will be key to minimizing high future costs. Pay me now or pay me later.

 

[Roland]

I want to commute to work but not sure if I want a throttle bike like pedego or Stromer but I also want reliability and support and I have pedego stores near me. I will be in Boston and 6ft talk 190-pound guys. I was thinking of getting pedal assist from the trek or specialized but not sure which model. I do like the reliability of these companies. The last option I was thinking of getting was the tren vetron. I want to spend less than 5k and I tried the trek super commuter 8 and was amazed at the speed but it’s seems too expensive with the verve plus being half the price but only max speed of 20 mph. I hope someone can Help. Thank you

 

[Roland]

Check out our E-Glide Members FB page and the many posts/comments about the E-Glide ST. 500w Dapu motor, 48v Panasonic battery. Throttle, 5 PAS speeds, 10 gears, Hydraulic discs, suspension, suspension lock-out, lights, rack and much more. I run at 24mph on throttle only when I want to have fun. You can't go wrong with this bike and it's under $2k delivered. Comes out of Santa Monica at a wholesale price as no retailers. You would not be sorry. I head up a group of 18 men and women all with the same E-Glide ST. Fantastic bike and quality. Has all you need. I've had mine 15 months and have ridden 1800 miles. Averaging over 45 miles per charge. I'm 77 years old and weigh 185lbs. Call Dave At E-Glide bikes for more information. Tell him Roland sent you. I live in No. California.

 

[tomjasz]

Find a bike with a top motor builder. One you can find support and parts after, if like so many before, the company takes a powder.
MXUS, MAC, Leaf, eZee, Crystalyte, and very few others. Bafang is nice too. But make sure it's a version that has parts support.
I take several calls every day from desperate riders looking for parts. THIS is my frustration with many low-end eBikes. Yes a good value on the face, but what happens when we need a repair?

As always, just an opinion, YMMV

 

[TrevorB]

Really,for me,the real question where is the e-bike that can ride 12,000 kms a year for 3 years (40 kms a day,5 days a week) all year round on the Canadian west coast without costing me a fortune in maintenance. Anything else in my world is a toy not a mode of transportation

Drive train being highest maintenance item a middrive with belt drive and IGH eg Nuvinci, Rohloff, Nexus would be best option. A class 2 bike with 20mph and 500wh battery will do 40km round trip, assuming there aren't to many big hills and you go easy on turbo. With charge each end you can use turbo all time.

Any bike with belt drive isn't going to be cheap, really depends how much you value your free time spent servicing chain and cassette once a week.

 

[ebikemom]

Have you considered a geared hub? They are very reliable. No maintenance. Great commuters. I thought I wanted a mid-drive till I tried the hub drive and learned that it needs no maintenance, whereas chains break if a chain is used on a mid-drive bike, and belt-drive mid-drives need maintenance.

Folks say geared hubs don't feel as "natural". What that means to me is that the PAS (my bike has five levels of PAS) kicks in you can feel the little "push", but it feels like riding a tandem when one's partner starts pedaling. I find it a nice feeling. (Some cheap bikes with PAS just have one level of PAS which is more like sudden accelleration, so not pleasant).

 

[Alaskan]

chains break if a chain is used on a mid-drive bike, and belt-drive mid-drives need maintenance.

Amy I have to differ with you on this statement. I have a mid drive speed (28mph) pedelec with no throttle. I weigh 210 lbs and ride an average of 500 miles a month. I have put just over 5,000 miles on my Bosch powered bike since it was new in July. I keep the chain clean and well lubricated and measure the stretch periodically. I don't let the chain "stretch" get more than .5%. I am riding on chain number 3 at this point. My chain has never broken. A good KMC chain is a $11 item that takes about 10 minutes to replace. I do carry a quick link for repair on the bike but have never needed it. I would still prefer a belt over a chain as all that maintenance goes away. The 2018 bike had everything else I wanted but not the belt. Of course this year's model includes the Gate carbon fiber belt. My point is that a properly kept chain that is cleaned, oiled and checked for stretch regularly is not likely to break on a mid drive bike.

Also, what maintenance are you speaking of when you say "belt-drive mid-drives need maintenance"? I have not seen any reliable information that says mid drives need more maintenance than hub drives and frankly, to say that hub drives need no maintenance is just not true. All electric motors are subject to failures for various reasons regardless of how they are used. I think the best that can be said of geared hub motors is that they are so low cost that it is usually cheaper to replace them than try to fix them. For that matter, this is what happens to a Bosch motor when it has a warranty issue.

 

[JohnJ]

Alaskan: Intrigued that you measure the chain stretch to the .5% level. Just curious as to how you do this? Good point on maintenance, however.

 

[Alaskan]

Alaskan: Intrigued that you measure the chain stretch to the .5% level. Just curious as to how you do this? Good point on maintenance, however.

 

[tomjasz]

Have you considered a geared hub? They are very reliable. No maintenance. Great commuters. I thought I wanted a mid-drive till I tried the hub drive and learned that it needs no maintenance, whereas chains break if a chain is used on a mid-drive bike, and belt-drive mid-drives need maintenance.

Folks say geared hubs don't feel as "natural". What that means to me is that the PAS (my bike has five levels of PAS) kicks in you can feel the little "push", but it feels like riding a tandem when one's partner starts pedaling. I find it a nice feeling. (Some cheap bikes with PAS just have one level of PAS which is more like sudden accelleration, so not pleasant).

I have run 5 mid drives. I have more than 20,000 miles on them without a chain break. I’m afraid this is one of the fears that have been over emphasized. Kinda like the plastic gear failure. Geared drives have a gear and clutch mechanism and they do fail. Usually with high mileage. But there are premature failures.

Hopefully we won’t repeat things we’ve heard or read from isolated cases. One should do occasional checks on chain condition, but unless you’re running off road in rough conditions it’s an over emphasized issue. This should be done on any high use bike.

 

[Johnny]

Amy I have to differ with you on this statement. I have a mid drive speed (28mph) pedelec with no throttle. I weigh 210 lbs and ride an average of 500 miles a month. I have put just over 5,000 miles on my Bosch powered bike since it was new in July. I keep the chain clean and well lubricated and measure the stretch periodically. I don't let the chain "stretch" get more than .5%. I am riding on chain number 3 at this point. My chain has never broken. A good KMC chain is a $11 item that takes about 10 minutes to replace. I do carry a quick link for repair on the bike but have never needed it. I would still prefer a belt over a chain as all that maintenance goes away. The 2018 bike had everything else I wanted but not the belt. Of course this year's model includes the Gate carbon fiber belt. My point is that a properly kept chain that is cleaned, oiled and checked for stretch regularly is not likely to break on a mid drive bike.

Also, what maintenance are you speaking of when you say "belt-drive mid-drives need maintenance"? I have not seen any reliable information that says mid drives need more maintenance than hub drives and frankly, to say that hub drives need no maintenance is just not true. All electric motors are subject to failures for various reasons regardless of how they are used. I think the best that can be said of geared hub motors is that they are so low cost that it is usually cheaper to replace them than try to fix them. For that matter, this is what happens to a Bosch motor when it has a warranty issue.

$11 for a kmc chain ? Are you using an ebike specific one or just a regular mtb chain ?

I would be very interested to hear your experience if it is a normal chain(a kmc 10-11.93 maybe ?)

 

[Alaskan]

$11 for a kmc chain ? Are you using an ebike specific one or just a regular mtb chain ?

I would be very interested to hear your experience if it is a normal chain(a kmc 10-11.93 maybe ?)

It's a kmc x1 single speed chain on an intermally geared Rohloff rear hub similar in heft to an 8 speed chain

 

[Johnny]

It's a kmc x1 single speed chain on an intermally geared Rohloff rear hub similar in heft to an 8 speed chain

Ahh now it makes sense.

Unfortunately when you go 10 and above the chains get quite weak(because they are narrower) and ebike specific chains claim to address that weakness, that's why I was curious. I don't see a test where a normal chain is compared to an ebike specific chain so I don't know if these chains are indeed significantly better. Ebike chains are $50+ and it is not fun to replace a chain every 1.5k miles.

Btw I believe for single speed chains the change wear threshold is %1(at least 0.75) so you are probably changing these chains a little too soon.

 

[Alaskan]

Ahh now it makes sense.

Unfortunately when you go 10 and above the chains get quite weak(because they are narrower) and ebike specific chains claim to address that weakness, that's why I was curious. I don't see a test where a normal chain is compared to an ebike specific chain so I don't know if these chains are indeed significantly better. Ebike chains are $50+ and it is not fun to replace a chain every 1.5k miles.

Btw I believe for single speed chains the change wear threshold is %1(at least 0.75) so you are probably changing these chains a little too soon.

I would rather change out chains than sprockets. Preventive medicine. Old boaters habit... Trying to stay ahead of it.

 

[tomjasz]

Ahh now it makes sense.

Unfortunately when you go 10 and above the chains get quite weak(because they are narrower) and ebike specific chains claim to address that weakness, that's why I was curious. I don't see a test where a normal chain is compared to an ebike specific chain so I don't know if these chains are indeed significantly better. Ebike chains are $50+ and it is not fun to replace a chain every 1.5k miles.

Btw I believe for single speed chains the change wear threshold is %1(at least 0.75) so you are probably changing these chains a little too soon.

Careful with “Ebike” chains, they may not run on narrow/wide chain wheels. Lunatic and Lekkie, both are a problem with Connex/Wippermann eBike chains.

 

[tomjasz]

are probably changing these chains a little too soon.

Not if you want to guarantee getting home. <wink>

 

[ebikemom]

I keep the chain clean and well lubricated and measure the stretch periodically. I don't let the chain "stretch" get more than .5%. I am riding on chain number 3 at this point. My chain has never broken.

Chain replacement is a regular maintenance need, I've heard, to prevent broken chains. I've met folks with broken chains and heard the problem discussed here. I just met a guy at my local bike shop that sells conventional and ebikes who was super frustrated because he needs to replace his chain so often since he uses his bike heavily--he was on his third chain in a matter of months. And, the hub motor on my bike, at least, has nothing to open up and maintain. If it has maintenance needs, I don't know about them. Maybe someone can educate me on what I should be doing to maintain my geared hub motor?

As for maintenance on a belt-drive bike, when I was looking into them, bike store sellers at two different shops (one multi-brand store, and one single-brand store) told me that there is maintenance that needs to be done (cleaning maybe?? I don't know) and that a plus of hub drives was that such maintenance wasn't necessary. Maybe they misinformed me, or I misunderstood?

I've never owned a mid-drive bike--just sharing what I have heard. It's great that @Alaskan and other mid-drive owners are sharing their experience in the trenches!