Narrowing down e-bike purchase

[Josh973]

Hi all,
I am a 42 year old 6'0" chubby guy pushing 280 lbs and I need to get back on the bike to commute for health and sanity sake. I ride 16-22 miles round trip to work over some hilly roads. Right now on my commuter bike I take about an hour to do the trip when I am feeling good. I want an e-bike to speed things up a bit for the commute. I have narrowed down my choices between the Izip E3 Dash or the Bulls Lacuba Evo for a commuter e-bike and need some input. Price wise the Izip is a little easier to digest where as the Bulls looks like a better motor and battery. So looking for suggestions and input?

 

[mrgold35]

I'm 51, 6'3" and 270 lbs (down from 287 lbs before I purchased my ebike +6 months ago. I commute to work about 45-75 miles per week and trail ride after work and on weekends.

I'm just going to muddy the waters a little bit; but, I went with the Radrover 4" fat tire bike for $1500+shipping (Class II ebike, 750w rear hub, front suspension, 20 mph max speed, 7 speed, full power throttle at any PAS level, PAS 0-5, and comfortable upright riding position.

I ride mostly at an elevation between 5000-6500 feet in ABQ, NM. My commute is mostly paved roads and bike paths. There are a lot of single track or double-wide trails and they are at least 10X more fun to ride compared to the straight bike paths around town (especially at night near the Rio Grande river). I've gone as far at 36 miles on a single charge and average around 23-28 miles depending on PAS, wind, and inclines.

I added a rack, rack bag with panniers, extra headlights, rear tail light, Bodyfloat v2.0 with orange springs suspension seat, and Sunlite Cloud-9 12.5X11.5 cruiser seat. The fat tires can transition from almost any terrain from smooth/broken pavement, dirt lots, trails, mud, or sand very easily. The 750w rear hub has plenty of power for me to get up hills and short inclines (you can apply extra throttle power if you need more). Very stable bike at full speed and smooth because to fat tires when the road get a little rough.

I wanted to see how much weight I was pushing around with my full commuter gear in the very cold of winter and everything came out to 387 lbs on my bathroom digital scale.
- ebike
- rack/rack bag with panniers with extra battery (took the wife's Radrover battery for double the range)
- Osprey commuter back pack with work cloth, lunch, extra cloths
- cold weather gear
- Bar Mitts
-- accessories (lights, battery, flat stuff, tools, warmer weather stuff, bodyfloat, etc...)

The Radrover has been excellent for commuter duties and plenty of power with the weight I'm pushing around.

 

[vincent]

I know the bulls is more money but between the 2 of those i would definitely get the bulls

That lacuba is a nice bike

have a rover too and although not in the same class as the bulls lacuba it is fine for the price
The fat tires are very comfortable to ride

 

[pxpaulx]

Bulls 100%. I'm bigger than you are and have no issue with the motor strength, it is my favorite electric bike by far...I've owned two easy motion bikes, a rad rover and an sduro haibike (the latter two are still in the garage). The battery range is great and the brose motor is an excellent ride.

 

[Kelly @ CitrusCycles.ca]

I think you'll find that it is worth the investment in the Bulls. The very low-maintenance aspect of the belt and IGH combination is great, plus as a commuter being able to shift while stopped is a huge benefit.

 

[Lost]

Another vote for the rover. Free shipping, $1500 to the door. Great for tubby folks like me. (270lb). The GEARED hub has 80N of force, so great acceleration. Excellent, almost overnight parts/warranty support also.

 

[jazz]

I consider Rad Power, Juiced, Volt, M2S, Magnum, Biktrix to be very similar in offerings, lower end pricing, warranty etc. but free shipping is always good!

 

[Lost]

The rover has twice the power for bigger boys too.

 

[Lenny]

Hi all,
I am a 42 year old 6'0" chubby guy pushing 280 lbs and I need to get back on the bike to commute for health and sanity sake. I ride 16-22 miles round trip to work over some hilly roads. Right now on my commuter bike I take about an hour to do the trip when I am feeling good. I want an e-bike to speed things up a bit for the commute. I have narrowed down my choices between the Izip E3 Dash or the Bulls Lacuba Evo for a commuter e-bike and need some input. Price wise the Izip is a little easier to digest where as the Bulls looks like a better motor and battery. So looking for suggestions and input?

BULLS Lacuba EVO 45 or the belt drive version EVO are really high-quality bikes built for heavy duty use. BULLS also has bigger battery (650Whr compared to 418whr on the izip) which means you can do a complete roundtrip commute without recharging at office. Lower the capacity, more charge cycles for the same distance. If you are going to be putting 20 miles everyday, we suggest you go with the higher capacity version. There are lots of benefits to this. One day if you just want to use the highest level of assist for your commute, you won't have worry about running out of charge and you won't have worry about upgrading your batteries for 2 more years.

BULLS is slightly on the heavier side (although not so much compared to izip).

I would also recommend you look at Six50 E2 street. This would be a better commuter bike than the 2 you mentioned.

(Link Removed - No Longer Exists)

 

[RoadWrinkle]

You will not be happy with the 250/350w 36v systems available with the large manufacturers, a rider your size should have minimum 500w/48v, IMO.

 

[pxpaulx]

You will not be happy with the 250/350w 36v systems available with the large manufacturers, a rider your size should have minimum 500w/48v, IMO.

Considering they currently ride a non ebike the same distance, I think the suggestions so far have been spot on. Not everyone who buys an ebike is looking to do zero work! Based on the original post, I think they want something that still rides like a bike, just gets them home faster. A couple of the bulls bikes fit that bill perfectly.

 

[Jax]

I recently bought the 2016 Dash on sale for $1499 and wish I had sprung for a higher quality motor like on the Bulls bikes. The TranzX motor on the Dash uses a cadence sensor, which is way less fun to ride than a good torque sensing motor. Court just posted on the 2017 IZIP Peak, which uses a Bosch mid-drive. He said it compares well to the budget Bulls option.

 

[art newcomer]

Hi all,
I am a 42 year old 6'0" chubby guy pushing 280 lbs and I need to get back on the bike to commute for health and sanity sake. I ride 16-22 miles round trip to work over some hilly roads. Right now on my commuter bike I take about an hour to do the trip when I am feeling good. I want an e-bike to speed things up a bit for the commute. I have narrowed down my choices between the Izip E3 Dash or the Bulls Lacuba Evo for a commuter e-bike and need some input. Price wise the Izip is a little easier to digest where as the Bulls looks like a better motor and battery. So looking for suggestions and input?

Josh, I bought the Lacuba EVO 8 with the gates belt drive. Love it. I am just slightly thinner than you. My bike climbs the hills just fine with me onboard.
I highly recommend it!