It is currently the wild, wild west of e-bikes. Sellers are salivating at the number of people willing to plunk out the cash for these WONDERFUL machines. I'll be as brief as I can below with my story. Use it to inform your story. It will be YOUR story that counts. Remember that.
Late 2017 -- I test road my friends new e-bike (Rad Power). I did NOT like it. It felt out of control, like I had to learn to ride a motorcycle. I love technology, but I prefer it to be user friendly. I felt surge was an issue. My friend already had a fender support come undone and it was less than a couple months old.
2018-2020 March -- I primarily used this web-site and mostly Court's videos to research many brands and bikes. I was floored at the $7K and above e-bikes. I was impressed with the fat tire bikes. I am an urban, mountain bike rider in the Pacific Northwest, but used to ride in NYC and upstate NY. I had to decide if I would prefer hub motor or mid drive. It took a little while, 6-10 months, but mid drive was what seemed to work best for my needs/desires. Look online for the difference. There are some British guys that even do an uphill test of the two with CHEAPISH bikes. Although I understood why and what I wanted, I resisted the higher price of the mid drive. In order to maybe address this, I began to look at the BAFANG, "direct-to-consumer" models online. Again, Court's (EBR) information is very good. I also began to see the difference in quality of the various brands and their components. Do your research, you will not regret it.
Even as recently as February 2020, I began to feel overwhelmed again. Not to worry because in March when I was ready to pull the trigger, just shopping online, I always had a vast amount of knowledge to know what was good and what was NOT a good buy. Fat tire vs. plus size tire vs. regular tire also had me OVERTHINKING. Like a car, these things depreciate the minute you ride your first 50 miles. I just wanted to make a wise choice.
End of March, 2020 Finally, I did a google SHOPPING search and found the 2018 Fuji Ambient 1.3, reviewed here, for $2K. I immediately bought it. The big three are Giant, Specialized, and Trek, the latter two out of my price sensitivity, BUT prices have just (last 6 months) begun to come down with the latter two also. Next, I went to my local bike shop and what did I see? I saw a $2,400, 2018 Giant Explore 3.0 on sale for $2K. I immediately bought that for my casual path, gravel trail rides and it has been used by a friend to do some fire roads on mountains with NO problems. That's two good quality e-bikes for $4K. And they're mid drives. Hub motors are fine. I was very close to buying the Ride1Up, Juiced, or Aventon models.
I feel so blessed to have gotten what I wanted, mid drive quality, at decent prices. If you can hold off for even the summer and just take your time and do the research, I assure you, you will feel prouder of yourself for making a sound choice in e-bike. Not to worry, it's okay to make quick decisions and get to the joy too. Whatever you do, I am thrilled that you'll soon have that big goofy grin on your face that almost ALL e-bike neophytes describe about their first purchase/ride. Good luck!
