Most powerful ebike ~$3k for groceries and in-town errands?

[ripman]

Hi everyone,

I've greatly appreciated this forum and site in my recent quest to find a powerful ebike for grocery shopping and lunch breaks.

I'm 6ft 135lbs male 30 years old with 32in inseam. Was considering the motorcycle route but when insurance + classes+ license + motorcycle + gear + maintanence + gas plus plus plus, I started to realize that I don't need to go on freeways and don't need to go over 30 or 35mph really. Why risk the added danger and expense? So thus began my ebike research.

I currently have a Wald oversized 21 x 15 x 9 inch front basket - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0012DQAM6/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1 that perfectly fits a cooler liner bag which holds two lined whole foods bags.

My plan is to use that big basket plus a set of panniers and even a backpack to hold roughly 4 whole foods bags of groceries. I live 4 miles away from the store and would go every couple days to limit the amount.

So I started going down the Magnum Metro+ route when I discovered Biktrix and Roshan via this forum and others commending his great service, etc. My price range is around $3k-$4k.

What interests me in the Juggernaut is the 1000w power with the ability to go over 20mph as I also live near trails about 8 miles away (Red Rock Canyons). I live in Vegas so it's 110 degrees outside. I'd rather not sweat to death or have my groceries melt, so I'd prefer to have extra power and not need it than have to pedal harder or have it take too long to get home and wish I had more power. I never knew there were ebikes over 500w in this price range and when looking at radwagon, or magnums, etc I can't help but feel like I might be disappointed in the power or speed. In my naive mind, I am thinking the beefier the better.. especially with the added weight of the basket and groceries etc. I like that you can upgrade the battery and customize everything with Roshan to get what you want. Can even swap the fat tires, etc.

So really two questions:

1) Does a 1000w Biktrix juggernaut with added basket and panniers sound like a good choice? If you had $3k-$4k to spend and needed to get around town and haul groceries in desert heat, would you go for this option and essentially make a mountain bike into a powerful makeshift cargo bike or go with something else entirely?

2) Has anyone customized their Biktrix to haul groceries and use it in the way I'm describing? 90% of the time will be flat pavement with slight slopes, 10% of the time will be having fun on trails. So my main priority really is on utility and power/speed.

I am waiting to hear back from Roshan on some questions but would love feedback from the community as you guys have experience that I don't and I'm very new to all of this, yet want to make a decision ASAP so I don't have to keep ubering for groceries and errands and getting food delivery services for meals. Just want to make the right decision as thousands of dollars are thousands of dollars at the end of the day, and I want to buy once and be happy with it. Right when I was going to pull the trigger on the radwagon or metro+ I thought wait... this might be too sluggish and there are more powerful options out there still within my price range. Why not go for more power if you can afford it?

Big thank you in advance!
-Levi

 

[Bruce Arnold]

Levi, the range of ebikes that would meet your criteria are far greater than you know. Not that the Biktrix would be a bad choice. But I weigh twice what you do, I do regular grocery runs (among other errands) with Wald folding baskets, and can run => 25 mph for up to 50 miles on a charge. My bike is the Juiced Bikes Crosscurrent S. Not saying that's what you should buy, but it's an example of the many choices you have. If you like fat bikes, there are plenty of them. One piece of advice: whatever you buy, get the biggest battery you can afford. Much more important than the size of the motor.

 

[rich c]

I'm confused. You're title is about an urban bike for getting groceries. Then you talk about trails that are 8 miles away. For urban that bike has the wrong tires, no fenders, no rack. Also, any bike will easily handle 4 bags of groceries at 20mph. My Trekking Haibike will handle that at 28mph.

 

[Gator]

Here is a picture of my first grocery run. I ride a Giant Quick E + and it is a lot of good bike for around $3100. Plenty of torque and power. But,... it's not a fat bike.

 

[ripman]

I'm confused. You're title is about an urban bike for getting groceries. Then you talk about trails that are 8 miles away. For urban that bike has the wrong tires, no fenders, no rack. Also, any bike will easily handle 4 bags of groceries at 20mph. My Trekking Haibike will handle that at 28mph.

I would be fine with an all-urban bike, but I was under the impression they are all limited to 20mph unassisted due to legal restrictions etc, but that you get around that with the off-road ones with more torque, bigger motors, 35mph+. Also the Biktrix I am considering (juggernaut classic HD) does have a rack and includes fenders. I was thinking I would want more speed/power than 20mph, thus me searching in the off-road categories for the beefier bikes which I could then put my basket and some panniers on. The plus side to having the off-road capabilities would be that I could actually take it out on the trails which are nearby, but like I mentioned, my priorities are about 90% in-town and 10% the "weekend fun" aspect. Thanks for your input!!

 

[ripman]

Levi, the range of ebikes that would meet your criteria are far greater than you know. Not that the Biktrix would be a bad choice. But I weigh twice what you do, I do regular grocery runs (among other errands) with Wald folding baskets, and can run => 25 mph for up to 50 miles on a charge. My bike is the Juiced Bikes Crosscurrent S. Not saying that's what you should buy, but it's an example of the many choices you have. If you like fat bikes, there are plenty of them. One piece of advice: whatever you buy, get the biggest battery you can afford. Much more important than the size of the motor.

Great suggestion, have definitely seen lots of people with the juiced bikes and i really love those Wald folding baskets... how convenient to be able to fold them in when not on grocery runs. Looks like it would fit quite a lot of groceries and if I combined that with the front basket, I would have my 4 bags covered.

 

[Bruce Arnold]

I was under the impression they are all limited to 20mph unassisted due to legal restrictions etc, but that you get around that with the off-road ones with more torque, bigger motors, 35mph+

That explains your remark about 20 mph. I wondered about that. Any Class 3 ("speed pedelec") can run at 28 mph - higher if your legs are up to it.

 

[Mr. Coffee]

I know its hot in Vegas, but even a 20mph bike would let you cover that four miles easily in 12 minutes. A 30mph bike would cover that distance in 8 minutes, so the question is how much more your groceries would melt and how much more you'd sweat in four minutes.

The limiting factor probably isn't going to be the speed of your bike but how many traffic lights you'd encounter on your route. Even if you had two traffic lights in those four miles go badly for you it would likely eat up more time than you'd save with the 30mph bike.

I don't live in as hot a climate as you do (high of 85 at my house today) but getting from the grocery store back to my house takes about an hour (ten miles and change with about 1500 feet of elevation gain and pretty low level of pedal assist) and everything survives just fine. Well, if I bought ice cream or chocolate it might be problematic but for what I normally purchase everything does fine.

 

[Nova Haibike]

Personally, I would ditch the front and rear baskets. Having those permanently mounted to the bike would be annoying when you take the bike out on the weekend offroad fun rides. I would get a trailer instead; it can carry a heck of a lot more, it doesn't affect the handling of the bike, and the bike is relieved of permanent weight.

 

[ripman]

Personally, I would ditch the front and rear baskets. Having those permanently mounted to the bike would be annoying when you take the bike out on the weekend offroad fun rides. I would get a trailer instead; it can carry a heck of a lot more, it doesn't affect the handling of the bike, and the bike is relieved of permanent weight.

This is actually something I was thinking about as well, and was wondering how stable they are... my journey to both Sprouts and Whole Foods is only about 4 miles each way and the pavement is quite nice and new here in Vegas, so that makes me think it would be a good option. Could really load it up too. Especially if it had a quick release function where I could easily pop it off the bike and take it into the store to use as a shopping cart and that way never buy more than I can carry... anyone have suggestions for these?

I was also thinking I could go with the slimmer tires, so not the 26x4 fat tires as those are a bit overkill for my needs, but I'm still wondering if a 1000w bafang 48v 20ah motor and battery setup is better to get (regardless if it's Biktrix or another manufacturer that uses the same components), especially if there's the extra weight of the trailer and groceries compared to going for say, a CrossCurrent S setup with 650w bafang 19.2ah setup (although it looks really really nice) or something even less in the 500w range. Even if I didn't use all the power, a part of me thinks I would rather have it and not use it than the other way around. Maybe that's just me thinking in motorcycle CC terms of not wanting to feel limited if I can afford more. And perhaps going faster than 28mph with groceries and a trailer attached, etc is just dumb with blueberries flying everwhere hitting bumps at those higher speeds.. wish I could test them out and know for myself! Very helpful hearing all your experience though.

Thanks again everyone for your responses, I want to reply to all of them but don't want to bog this thread down too much. So many things to consider, no easy task choosing the right configuration!

 

[ebikemom]

I agree that traffic lights are the big slow-down for urban cycling. I enjoy grocery runs on my bike with two Wald back/side baskets (it's great how they fold away, and I use a bungee cord to keep them from rattling), and a front basket. I take home 2.5 sacks of groceries, one in each side basket, and a few things in the front basket. No front basket yet in this photo. I also bought a dishwasher on my ebike!

 

[ripman]

Thank you everyone for your help! At this moment I am strongly thinking of CrossCurrent S + cargo trailer like this for groceries - https://www.amazon.com/Schwinn-Trip...low/dp/B01N260A8D/ref=dp_ob_title_sports?th=1

Great advice, Nova Haibike !

That way I only need the trailer for grocery trips and can quickly remove it and use it in the grocery store as a shopping cart (as long as the store is cool with that), that way I never buy more than I can carry. And when I'm doing other errands and lunch breaks and joy riding on weekends, I don't have the added weight and annoyance of the baskets and racks. Also since I really don't need fat tires, I have no need to get them and slow myself down even more or be uncomfortable for the smooth pavement I'll be riding on.

It seems like the CrossCurrent S would be plenty powerful enough to transport the trailer and myself (especially as I'm only 135lbs). Thanks Bruce Arnold for the great feedback there. I will buy all available upgrades to battery, tires, and anything to boost performance and possibly thudbuster, etc as well if the seat isn't agreeing with my back and spine. Also as the CrossCurrent S does have off-road mode, enabling more power usage, I'm thinking that should suit just fine.

Thoughts from you experienced riders? Any reason I should keep shopping for something different or reconsider? Can't thank you guys enough for the guidance, this process has been way more complex than expected going into it but I'm excited to get started and this site and community has made ALL the difference.

 

[vincent]

i would recommend this trailer


https://burley.com/product/travoy/

 

[TForan]

Here's my Juggernaut Ultra. The baskets go off or on in five seconds. Can hold plenty of weight with ease and has power for any situation. First picture in its present state. Rack is easily removed too.

 

[Mr. Coffee]

I wouldn't knock baskets:

 

[LS3Miata]

I own a CCS and plan to purchase a Juggernaut ultra to use as a trail/winter bike.

Keep in mind you couldn’t use the CCS on trails like you could the Juggernaut and the CCS is hub drive whereas the Juggernaut is mid drive.

One more consideration, the Juggernaut HD (I believe) is cadence sensor only, whereas the CCS and Juggernaut Ultra also have a torque sensor.

 

[TrevorB]

Test riding a lots bikes is good place to start. Don't get hang up power, bigger is not always better especially don't want end up with 70 pound tank.

 

[TForan]

Test riding a lots bikes is good place to start. Don't get hang up power, bigger is not always better especially don't want end up with 70 pound tank.

I agree but when you have fat bike, big power just works. I tried a Felt with a Bosch motor and it felt really weak trying to move that big bike. Mine always has as much power as you would ever need.

 

[LS3Miata]

...Don't get hang up power, bigger is not always better...

More power is always better, it’s a guy rule

 

[Nova Haibike]

I wouldn't knock baskets

I'm not knocking baskets as a whole, just the giant newspaper basket on the front, and the folding Wald's in the back, because they are permanently bolted to the bike. I personally would not want them to be on the bike if I was out mountain biking. Also, a big basket up front with a lot of weight in it makes the steering want to flop at a stop/low speed.

I like the removable folding soft baskets; I've recommended those for years.