Looking for the holy grail of Ebikes!

[StevenC123]

Hi all

I’m looking for an e-bike that may not yet exist, but figured that if anyone may know of such a bike, it will be a member of the EBR community!

Here’s are my thoughts:

Must Have:
* Aesthetics - an attractive, integrated, understated and minimalist appearance
* Suspension - a suspension of some sort that softens the urban landscape
* Weight - is light enough to carry up and down stairs and maneuver into storage areas/racks
* Speed - is fast enough (ideally 28mph) to carry me long distances in a timely manner
* Lighting - integrated lighting, front and rear
* Pant friendly - has a belt drive (preferred) or a real way to fully protect my pants
* Gears - automatically change so that I don’t have to worry about what gear I’m in, upshifting or downshifting (I realize this preference may be in conflict with the next..)
* Is a bike first - and rides well unassisted…

Would like to have: an ability for the electric motor to provide a boost off the line to help me get going (as I experience a lot of stop and go’s in an urban environment).

Bonus: if it has a throttle only mode for the times when I run out of energy ;-)

Some other notes that may be relevant…
* I live in San Francisco so it would have to be able to perform well on hills
* I will almost exclusively be riding in urban / suburban environments (on road)
* Does not cost $9,999 like the Stromer ST5

I would welcome any thoughts, suggestions, etc. and look forward to becoming a e-bike rider soon!

Steven

 

[rich c]

You forgot you want to ride 150 miles on a single charge and absolutely never form a drop of sweat on the way to work.

 

[Alaskan]

And the price would be? You don’t get automatic shifting for $1599...

I beg to differ. You can definitely get automatic shifting for less than $1,600....you just have to next go out and buy the bike

 

[Chris Hammond]

Ummm...yeah that bike doesn't exist.

 

[Drew]

Light enough to carry up/down stairs ... depends on how much you work out!

 

[Dmitri]

* Gears - automatically change so that I don’t have to worry about what gear I’m in, upshifting or downshifting (I realize this preference may be in conflict with the next..)

Actually, this is rather rare. I assume you're talking about Nexus Di2/NuVinci Harmony type stuff. I've never even seen it in the real world.

 

[Nova Haibike]

Alfine Di2 shifts automatically. I had rental bikes with this system. It’s difficult to set up though as it’s cadence based, and if you have a lot of terrain variations it isn’t that effective. In the end, I found the manual buttons to be much easier to use.

For a novice cyclist, the good thing about the Alfine Di2 system is that it will automatically shift to a lower gear when stopping; no problem with being in the wrong gear when starting up again.

 

[Rakku]

For a novice cyclist, the good thing about the Alfine Di2 system is that it will automatically shift to a lower gear when stopping; no problem with being in the wrong gear when starting up again.

Doesnt even have anything to do with being novice, even me cycling since Im like 6 years old forgets to shift into the lower gears for starting up, lol.
I have a throttle though, that eliminates the problem if I forget it.

 

[Dmitri]

I think automation will fail in mixed terrain, like partially muddy trails or when you are cycling into snow or up a hill. Cars can afford it because it's assumed that pavement is uniformly good. With bicycles I wouldn't make such assumptions.

That said, return to low gear when stationary (Rohloff E-14 and the like) is genius. I do it manually anyway, having it done automatically is very useful.

 

[Nova Haibike]

I like the Desiknio Pinion Urban. No suspension, but this seatpost and stem would not detract from the aesthetics of the bike. Because it is a European bike, it does not support 28 mph, but a mere 16 mph. Lastly, while it is not $10K, it is still very expensive.