MAN I NEED HELP choosing bike

[raiderrich]

ok i been looking for last week ,about getting a e-bike ever time i think i have it figured out ,it seems like something else pops up in my decision .
1. to buy mid drive
2. rear drive
3. fat tire
so was likeing Rambo 750
rad runner
city cruiser
I will be 80 percent time riding on payment and 20 percent dirt trails ,using it for fishing so will need racks and baskets on it to carry my gear
4. one more thing batterie
36V 13Ah
Samsung Lithium-Ion Battery is that enough or what is important about what to look for in batterie.
sorry i am new to this and what to make the right choice

 

[J.R.]

I would suggest buying a bike for the most of your riding. For instance, I've known people that purchased folding bikes and never folded the bike. There are a lot of great folding bikes, but there are tradeoffs to owning one.

If you don't need a fat bike for sand, snow or mud often, there are tradeoffs. Fat tires cost more, weigh more, are capable of picking up more flats due to a larger contact patch. There's more drag. Those are things you'd want to put up with if you needed them.

80% road and 20% hard pack trail, a mountain bike or a hybrid would easily handle that. A hardtail MTB allows for rear rack.

If it's about a certain look, and that can be a really important thing, but that's a visceral thing and hard to quantify.

If you don't have ebikes to test ride, test unpowered bikes similar to the ebikes you like. See how they feel to you. As for battery size, a 36v, 13ah pack is 468 watt hour. You should figure 15 to 25 watt hour per mile. Depends on speed, terrain and load.

Good luck!

 

[rich c]

You'll have to give us an idea about the distance you want to ride at what speed before getting comments on a battery. The rest is usually just rider preference. I'm not a fan of fat bikes. I have one with 1,700 miles on it. But after getting a full suspension ebike with 2.4" wide tires, I prefer them much more.

 

[raiderrich]

yes u i think a regular street bike would be best option , i am retire and spend a lot of time fishing riding maybe like 10 miles max back and forth in a day

 

[Svaldes]

There are so many options and decisions to make. I recently went through the same thing. In my case I did not want to spend more than $1,500 because I feel like the technology (especially on battery) is still evolving. If in one or two years I want to upgrade I would not feel so bad but if I spent more it would be a harder choice.

There are also so many suppliers to choose from that it can be overwhelming.

I was deciding between a street bike which is what I ride on a non-electric and a fat tire bike so I could do sand, snow and gravel (I tend to camp a lot on forrest roads). I went with a fat tire and so far I am really enjoying it.

If you are looking for something under or around $2K, I suggest you look at Juicedbikes.com. You get good value for you money. For example, for $1600 I got hydraulic disc brakes, 750W motor and 52V battery - I did not find anything else with these specs for that price.

Good luck to you and enjoy the ride.

 

[AHicks]

What about service? Do you plan on doing it all yourself, or do you plan on having it done for you? Do you have any local dealers selling e-bikes? If so, a couple of test rides on different type bikes might teach you enough to start narrowing down your choices, while at the same time getting to know the dealer, who you may or may not get along with. One thing for sure, when working with a dealer, make sure you verify some of the stuff you hear from them. Keep them honest in other words. They don't always speak the gospel truth....

 

[TForan]

I prefer a mid drive powerful fatbike for where I live because of road conditions and hills. I've tried bikes with thinner tires and if the roads were in good shape, it would be fine but they are not. Also, eliminates the need for suspension .The drag is no concern with mine and I can easily hit low 30s. Ride as many as possible is always good advice.

 

[Cassidy]

I too was looking for an Ebike a couple moths ago. After researching, I bought the Juiced ccs2 with free fenders and rack and 52v battery. I decided I wanted a rear hub drive as the bike will still get you home should the chain break or fall off etc (and that did happen about half mile from home, although I could have put the chain back on, but it was great to throttle home). I also liked that the CCS2 had hydraulic disc brakes. It has a fork hydraulic suspension. But what really convinced me to go with Juiced CCS2 was the class availability. In California you cannot ride on bike paths with a class 3. Juiced makes the CCS2 class 2 compliant BUT you can change to class 1 or class 3 if you like. I looked at rad bikes but comparing the two was a no brainer. So far I have over 300 miles on it and it is awesome to ride. I ride mostly bike paths and city streets.

 

[raiderrich]

thank you all i just looked at TREk 2020

Verve+ 2 | Trek Bikes

Discover your next great ride with Verve+ Men's. See the bike and visit your local Trek retailer. Shop now!

www.trekbikes.com

 

[ElevenAD]

I would go with a fat bike 48v 12Ah battery minimum,since your only 20% offroad i would go hub motor(750wattMinimum) over middrive, less wear and tear on your drive train,easier to use for a first timer and you save some cash.
i would check out the Juiced bike ripcurrent,The Sonders MXS and the Volt Bike Yukon

 

[GregGritton]

thank you all i just looked at TREk 2020

Verve+ 2 | Trek Bikes

Discover your next great ride with Verve+ Men's. See the bike and visit your local Trek retailer. Shop now!

www.trekbikes.com

The Trek Verve+ might be an excellent choice. One important thing is what happens if things go wrong. If you get a bike from a dealer they should be able to fix any problems. As a bonus, people seem to have positive experiences with Trek and Trek dealers on this forum. On the other hand, if you buy a Juiced bike you will likely have to do much more trouble-shooting on your own and have to rely on Juiced customer service. You might search the forums to see what people say about customer service of various brands as there seems to be significant differences.

 

[Alaskan]

Most of the advice you get from on line forums is not in your interest. Many "advisors" are trying to justify their own choices by urging you to buy what they bought.

If you are like most of us you will ride your ebike more often and further than you ever imagined possible. Spending more on a better bike will be one of the best decisions you ever made.

If you are like most riders, you are not a mechanic, don't have the know how, tools or interest in maintaining your bike and will need help from a local bike shop. Don't expect them to care about keeping your bike running smoothly if you bought a cheap bike on line. The only support you will get from an on line seller, if you are lucky, is they will send you parts to replace yourself or you will pay a local shop to replace for you.

Best to spend a little more and have a dedicated local shop standing behind the sale in who's interest it is to keep you happy and rolling along.

My advice: test ride lots of bikes until you find the one that puts the biggest grin on your face and the people selling it you like the best. Then, if you can afford it, pay more than you first thought you were willing to pay. In a month you will have no regrets.

 

[Cassidy]

As a new Ebike rider I would like to add that there are great deals online and that does not mean they are inferior to those sold at LBS. People will tout going locally BUT if your local bike shop is not in riding distance and you don't have a hitch mounted rack, then how are you supposed to get it there? In addition an LBS might not carry an array of Ebikes. There are "uber" types of services that come to where your bike is. I used one for a quick tuneup and it cost $27.00

I purchased a Juiced CCS2 bike and so far have been totally satisfied. But I must say it is really the ebike experience that I enjoy. I use it for exercise mostly on bike paths (road cycling) and the experience is awesome. I think the experiences im having would be consistent with most Ebikes. So the Juiced ccs2 was only $1700.00 but it is a blast and holding up well. I have had it for about 5-6 weeks and am almost 400 miles.

 

[raiderrich]

i ended up buying the TREK VERVE IT HAS MADE M bike riding so much easier ,im real happy with it only one thing ever little bump i go over is very hard sometimes i thing dam frame going to fall apart, so i try spending so much time trying to stay on smooth path which is very hard in east bay .So i am hoping i can see about getting a new front forks that might have shocks to take away some of the banging.

 

[Alaskan]

i ended up buying the TREK VERVE IT HAS MADE M bike riding so much easier ,im real happy with it only one thing ever little bump i go over is very hard sometimes i thing dam frame going to fall apart, so i try spending so much time trying to stay on smooth path which is very hard in east bay .So i am hoping i can see about getting a new front forks that might have shocks to take away some of the banging.

You should spring (pun intended) for a Kinect Body Float seat post. It will really make a difference in your ride. Take the time to be sure you have the correct springs for your weight and get the preload set properly. The best money you can spend on a hard tail bike. https://cirruscycles.com/

 

[raiderrich]

thanks so much

 

[mbouck]

As far as mid-drive vs. hub drive - if you're riding mostly flat ground and/or moderate hills then a hub drive is just fine. If you have a lot of hills then you might want to consider a mid drive (for the greater drive train efficiency) but truthfully either will get you up the hill - just make sure to get at least a 750W motor.

 

[Alaskan]

As far as mid-drive vs. hub drive - if you're riding mostly flat ground and/or moderate hills then a hub drive is just fine. If you have a lot of hills then you might want to consider a mid drive (for the greater drive train efficiency) but truthfully either will get you up the hill - just make sure to get at least a 750W motor.

A few weeks ago I climbed 5,000 feet in 24 miles with a 250 watt Bosch mid drive ebike. I'm a 210 lb. 69 year old. With a good mid drive you do not need more than that unless it's a hub drive or you're not doing enough work.