Looking at E biking

[Brian10956]

I’m retired and I am not able to ride a standard bike easily as I get winded especially in hilly areas which is the norm where I go. I can ride all day when I travel to some parks that are level with no hills to speak of but I find that boring. My doctor recommend I do this as he feels the exercise will help improve the shortness of breath problem I’ve been watching a lot of YouTube videos on e bikes and I think that they will give me that extra boost where I won’t be over exerting myself and I can explore other areas for one of my other hobbies photography.
I’m 6’ tall and weigh 210 lbs. I’m in pretty good shape other than that endurance problem . i would like to keep my initial costs under $2000. The 2 bikes I seem to like are the Lectric XP ( not sure which version) and the Rad rover 5. i will also probably spend around $450 on accessories for the XP and maybe $350 for the Rad. Initially I would only get a minimal amount of accessories consisting of the following.
bar end mirrors, helmet, Tire Slime, tool kit with tire repair, inner tube, phone mount, bottle holder, small frame bag.
Later if needed I would add a better saddle and a suntore sp12 seatpost, 11-34 free wheel, better lights, better grips, possibly a spare battery.
i drive an Outback so I know the XP will be no problem to load. With the Rad I can put it in the back on its side with the back seat down or I can get a carrier for my trailer hitch. The majority of my riding will be in a state park where they have trails and bike paths. Being that I have a handicapped veteran card I’m not to concerned about be bothered by NY laws which aren’t the best for EBikers. I will probable camo my bike so not to flaunt the fact that it is electric.

i am not locked in on the two I picked So if anyone can Please recommend other EBikes or accessories that would work please let me know. If there are vendors that offer Veteran discounts let me know, I read that Lectric give 5%.
Thanks!!!

 

[indianajo]

Welcome to the site.
The lectric XP looks as if it may be a little small for you. 24" reach is not bad but the seat post may be short.
Rad rover is a step over frame, which I got away from age 62 as I started having difficulty lifting my leg over the seat. Remember falls are a major threat to retired people. Rad has another step through model that may be better.
Both these bikes are fat tire bike, which adds to the comfort. Some people find it difficult to get fat tires off the rim to change a tube, which can happen at any time with all the trash on the roads. Both bikes are internet only bikes, which means you are the repair department if a flaky problem occurs. Most local bike shops won't work on electric bikes due to the risk of a flaky electrical problem occuring right when they change a tire or adjust a shifter or something. You live in the Hudson Valley, I think it should be possible to find a bike supported by a dealer with a warrenty. On the base electricbikereview page there is a zip code box which will show you dealers that pay court for access. Store bikes are more expensive, partly because stores don't carry brands that have a lot of quality problems like Rad, that has 34 entries for loose spokes on the known problems thread. You could stop by Court's shop Propel down In brooklynn; he has a large selection. But I don't know about NYC sales taxes. I do know about the tolls. In a good shop you can try the frame on for size.
If you want an 11-34 freewheel, buy it on the bike. It takes a special tool to change freewheels, and even with one I could only get one off an absolutely new bike. Once it rusts a bit,they won't come off IMHO. Also it takes more chain and a longer derailleur takeup to fit the 34, and neither shimano sun or sram specify their parts very well. The only way i could find out how thick freewheels were was to buy them - there were no dimensions on the website or pdf file. On takeups you need to know the length and how many speeds they are designed for.
Both bikes have a throttle. NYC was known for confiscating bikes that had a throttle. I don't know how forgiving park police are but you run a risk of losing your bike having one in NY.
Both bikes were geared hub motors, which means no drag if you decided to pedal yourself unpowered. I use electricity to overcome the effect of headwinds, which have gotten much more common since 2017 between May & September. I pedal myself a lot unpowered & have gotten my rest pulse down from 88 to 66 in 12 years of frequent riding.
A more natural feel in hub motor bikes are ones with a torque sensor instead of a cadence sensor, which cuts on suddenly after 1/2 turn delay, and usually too strong and too fast on inexpensive bikes for bad pavement. One early torque sensing hub motor bike was the Xtreme Catalina but they are also an internet only bike. The feature has gotten more popular this year. Before it was limited to mid drive bikes, which eat chains. One mid drive that can be pedaled without power without drag is the Yamaha. Others are brose & shimano.
Happy shopping and later riding.

 

[percymon]

I've no experience of either, but am a distant admirer of the Lectric XP - it seems to be well regarded, pretty robust and reliable and those who have them love them both in stock form and modified. Neither version has a particularly high step over height so its down to personal preference on the frame style and colour. Looks currently to be on offer at $899 via the website.

I'm sure you've watched plenty of videos on them, but perhaps some mods worth considering are a suspension front fork and a suspension seat post - both will improve comfort on less than ideal surfaces, allowing you perhaps to venture a little 'off-piste' for your photography hobby.

Local laws should always be considered of course - take advice from local bike retailers and or local cyclists / forum members

 

[Taylor57]

I’m retired and I am not able to ride a standard bike easily as I get winded especially in hilly areas which is the norm where I go. I can ride all day when I travel to some parks that are level with no hills to speak of but I find that boring. My doctor recommend I do this as he feels the exercise will help improve the shortness of breath problem I’ve been watching a lot of YouTube videos on e bikes and I think that they will give me that extra boost where I won’t be over exerting myself and I can explore other areas for one of my other hobbies photography.
I’m 6’ tall and weigh 210 lbs. I’m in pretty good shape other than that endurance problem . i would like to keep my initial costs under $2000. The 2 bikes I seem to like are the Lectric XP ( not sure which version) and the Rad rover 5. i will also probably spend around $450 on accessories for the XP and maybe $350 for the Rad. Initially I would only get a minimal amount of accessories consisting of the following.
bar end mirrors, helmet, Tire Slime, tool kit with tire repair, inner tube, phone mount, bottle holder, small frame bag.
Later if needed I would add a better saddle and a suntore sp12 seatpost, 11-34 free wheel, better lights, better grips, possibly a spare battery.
i drive an Outback so I know the XP will be no problem to load. With the Rad I can put it in the back on its side with the back seat down or I can get a carrier for my trailer hitch. The majority of my riding will be in a state park where they have trails and bike paths. Being that I have a handicapped veteran card I’m not to concerned about be bothered by NY laws which aren’t the best for EBikers. I will probable camo my bike so not to flaunt the fact that it is electric.

i am not locked in on the two I picked So if anyone can Please recommend other EBikes or accessories that would work please let me know. If there are vendors that offer Veteran discounts let me know, I read that Lectric give 5%.
Thanks!!!

Brian, a lot also depends upon how long you are willing to wait. There aren't many bikes available in your price point with you requirements that will ship right away. Everybody wants an Ebike these days.

 

[pawtoki]

I'm enjoying my Rad Rover ST. In 5 months I've riden 1000 miles. Your scenerio sounds exactly like me. I was 6' and weight 185 now. The stress reduction in my knees has made riding very enjoyable. I can range from 20 to 35 miles depending on how I control my speed/assist level.

 

[Bigal1463]

I wouldn’t rule out the Aventon Level lots of bike with plenty of power and under $2,000. Great support and even better if you can buy from your local bike shop. I have the model below because the Level didn’t come out till this year. Dollar for dollar this is an excellent buy.

 

[Mike TowpathTraveler]

Hi Brian. From one military retiree to another fellow veteran, I want to thank you for your service. It was a long road that went by faster then we thought at the time, but here we are!

This site also features a ton of video bike reviews that Court had done, if you've not found those videos yet. Worth a shot to look around at the video reviews as well as the discussion by brand of pretty much every ebike out there. That is found down here, in the forums, a tick or two below the General Discussions forum.

I'd like to focus on that shortness of breath thing you talked about. Maybe longer then I wanted to acknowledge, what with being an active person all my life, but I too noted shortness of breath while out walking The Beagle. That and a few aches in my upper left shoulder and arm kinda gave me the signs to have it checked out by a cardiologist.; despite my best intentions to just ignore it. Well, a few stents later, and things have never been better. As you don't appear to be overweight at all, it's best to maybe consider a second review of the shortness of breath, to consider if there are other factors going on, just to be on the safe side.

Good luck in that ebike search. I have to tell you, ebikes are a game changer like no other!

 

[kmccune]

Beware the XP,I had one and couldn't get rid of it fast enough( it just seemed too small, I liked my daughters ecotric 48v better) the XP seemed to have short battery life, these Hills burn pretty fast.I will say one about the XP though ,I have never had a bike that rolled easier.
I am not throwing off on the XP( thousands of happy purchasers cannot be wrong) its a bargain for the price point. The thing is it seemed small, if you could rent some of the others for a month, you could get your feet wet so to speak.
Check out the "Maxfoot-MF 17" step through- its a lot of bike for the money the 750 watt version for around $1300 is well equipped and it has the 4" fat tires and its big( really the only bad thing) its comfortable with a suspension on the front, will do 25 mph plus, has lights,I had a MF-18 Cruiser, good range and more than adequate power, fenders rack 180 disc brakes, etc. The only thing I didn't like was its weight( its among the heaviest I have seen) good luck during your search,
As the old song went"don't get hooked on the very first one" and believe me I have researched this subject far and wide,I changed the "freewheel on the "Maxfoot" I had and on a slight downgrade it was too fast,There are plenty of bikes below $ 2000 out there and most vendors will give a Veteran a discount( have you considered a trike- very handy thing in my opinion)

 

[PatriciaK]

As mentioned above, take a look at the Aventon brand, and also Espin. The Espin bikes come nicely equipped, and their owners really like them! There are threads for both brands here, so you can get an idea of owner experience, and also any issues they're encountering.

I love my Giant La Free E+2 - you might take a look at that. It's a mid-drive, and very intuitive to ride. No throttle, though - hasn't been a problem for me.