Stefan Mikes
Gravel e-biker
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Mazovia, PL
To @Chibbie:
That's the whole point! I still own a "classical e-bike" of a similar weight as your Cafe. I had to keep it in my apartment and carry it down/upstairs for my daily rides. When I got my Vado SL, my life has improved since. (I lent that heavy e-bike to a friend).The other motivation was the much lighter weight of the Dutch. While the Cafe is relatively light, especially for a bike with a pretty powerful motor (53 lbs *with* the battery installed), and I can lift it if need be, getting it up and down the stairs of my house is sometimes enough of a pain in the butt that it’s a deterrent. On those days, I can sling the Dutch up and down the stairs with no problem. On days when I’m tired, achy, only have a few minutes to ride, etc., and I think: “Is it really worth it for me to have to haul this thing up and down the stairs?,” - especially the *up* the stairs part after a long, intense, and/or sweaty ride - the answer with the Cafe is sometimes yes, sometimes no. With the Dutch, the answer is never in question, because it truly takes me no real effort to lift it.
My thoughts exactly! Only I can use my lightweight Vado SL on more demanding rides, too. It handles so well in the rough terrain! The only downside of that e-bike is its low power. It achieves the same at 80% assistance what the heavy e-bike can do at just 35%! Good I do not live in the mountains...But if I could only afford to have one, or only had space for one, I’m actually not sure which I’d keep: the heavier but much more powerful one, or the lighter but much less powerful one. The Cafe, once out the door and on the road, is far more versatile in the sense that its more powerful motor means I can ride it anywhere no matter how much (or how little) pedaling effort I feel like putting in on a given day. But the Dutch is more versatile in the sense that I can ride it every day simply because its extremely light weight makes it so much manageable for daily life. (And that’s not even counting the difference in the ease of transporting it on a bike rack or whatever: I haven’t had to do that yet. While I’m capable of lifting the Cafe onto a bike rack, I’m sure it’ll be a pain when I do.). Honestly, while the lighter bike has a great deal of appeal, if I truly only could keep one, it would probably be the Cafe. Its weight is manageable, particularly with the battery removed; and I could move my car out of the garage and park the Cafe there so that I wouldn’t have to carry up and down the stairs. (And I’d just deal with the moderate aches and pains: it’s nothing debilitating, just annoying.) If I didn’t have this option, though (or if the aches and pains were debilitating) and had to decide between power vs weight, it would be a very hard call.