New idea/system for choosing an E-Bike.

[Kaldeem]

Personally, being decisive with money isn't my strong point. I agonise over every purchase I make. Wondering if I should have waited, or looked longer for a better deal. So when choosing to spend around 2000$ on a bicycle with a motor entered my mind, at first it was all "HELLZ YEAH!!" Then I had my bubble bursted by Volton experience and it's taken it's toll on me, but not ended me.

I have been reading, riding and reading some more since then to truly gain a some knowledge about ebikes and world surrounding it over the last year I've been a member here. Some days, today being one of them, I think I've just read and watched too many damn articles and videos for my own good.

So I decided to do what any un-decisive logical number crunching geek would do.

I assigned a point value on major components of eBikes I'm interested in and then carefully ranked each of those components with a rating of 0-5. With 1 being the lowest numerical value given and 5 being the best, I graded each of the 4 bikes.

In the images presented above, you can see that I marked important areas I am considering in choosing an ebike.

The components are listed in order: A)Price, Bike class, B)Warranty, C)Motor type, D)Nominal output, Battery Voltage, charge time, Min range, Max range, Display accessories, Drive mode, top speed and lastly battery location.

Riide: 5,1,1,4,4,4,2,4,4,4,0,0,0,4,1,5,5 = 48 pts.

Emotion: 3,5,1,5,4,4,4,1,4,5,3,1,0,5,1,1,5 = 52 pts.

Interceptor: 3,5,1,5,5,5,5,2,3,5,2,1,5,5,1,1,1 = 55 pts.

Koda: 4,5,1,5,5,4,5,1,5,5,2,1,3,5,1,1,5 = 58 pts.

So in my 4 bike comparision, the E-Joe Koda comes out ahead, given this is only a point based comparison the final decision will come down to a test ride. However this does make things a bit clearer for me.

In conclusion, we can see just how close these numbers are. From the lowest score of 48 pts to the highest score of 58 points, there is only a 10 point difference. This ranking in my opinion is far more clear, when used by an individual to judge which eBike stands out among a few choices with no clear advantage. Because it's individually based, and everyone will base these components at different values, the eBike for that person should shine through.

For example: With the 4 bikes I was rating, they all have rear hub motors. So that is the base for starting, second is two of them are 350 w, and two of them are 500w. I rated the 500w as a 5 and the 350 as a 4. Had there been a 500w mid-drive in the mix, the 350's would have be pushed down to a 3. That's my preference, yours will vary, but I'd like some people who are looking at eBikes and not 100% sold on one bike or the other to try this method out, and let me know if it made the decision any clearer for you.

You would also have to use the same components list and the same grading scale of 1-5, but you will have your preference as to what component has or gets what value, and then add the score to see which eBike comes out with the most points.

PS. Ignore the non-circled numbers, I was messing around with some other figures but it was super late in the night, and today I realize that some of them are off. Don't do math when you're falling asleep!

 

[admccrea]

My take is buy the bike you like to ride the best, and can still afford, a year from now you will not care how much you spent. all this analyzing time could be spend riding your new bike!

 

[JoeinJP]

Even though I created a spreadsheet to compare bikes, I did it to narrow down my selections. This system may work for you, but I feel a numerically-assigned factor for one bike may not be equal to two other factors related to another, ie, a combination of likes/dislikes may not be accurately expressed in a sum of its assigned numbers. I'd suggest when someone is close to a decision, go with your gut feeling. But whatever works.

 

[Deleted member 803]

Your post is quite disturbing. Do you have someone you can talk to? Not meant to be rude or harsh....only concerned.

 

[Kaldeem]

LOL, good feedback guys. I was test riding some bikes, but then I got busy. My LEBS won't order any new bikes until they sell some of their 2014 inventory. So I can't test ride the E-Joe Koda, I have test road the Pedego and I like everything but the handle bars. I still need to test the 27.5 easy motion, and I'm having a friend who lives in DC, test ride the Riide bike for me...other than that, my chart is fairly simple. It actually only took me like 30 mins to decide and place a value on the specs I found most important and calculate everything...

 

[Kaldeem]

@JayVee Have you found a way to get an accurate measurement of distance a rider can go on an particular AH/Watt?

For instance @Court weighs like 130 lbs, and the average bike is tested at what an adult should weigh, which is around 175-180? If these 20 mile ranges are with this rider weight, what kind range can a heavier rider expect? I'm 279 lbs. that is almost ~100 lb difference. What is the decrease in mile range per rider weight? If that formula or equations exists.