New to Electric Bikes, need advice / info.

[Rich Baum]

Hello everyone, thanks for the add.
I have no idea how to start but I’ll just put it out.
Told my wife I’d like to get a new bike for my “Latter Years” to help stay in shape and she suggested maybe an E Bike.
No idea about E Bikes and it seems the more I learn the less I know so I’m starting down the road to my first E Bike.
My plans are to use this bike on our bike path with slight hills. I’d like to plan to go 15-25 miles and thinking electric assist might really help and also be soooo much fun to ride.
As far as desired speed I can only think 20 mph would be more than enough.
Don’t want to spend a fortune and thinking about $2000 a $2500 max should get me a pretty good solid bike but I also know Its smarter to get the bike I really want rather than get the wrong one and loose a bunch of money selling a few months down the road.
I’m 60 year old, 172 lbs 5’ 10”
Living in Sacramento, Northern CA
Ok physical condition for biking but have several issues including bad left shoulder and bad right elbow so looking for a semi upright bike to take stress off my arms.

So please help guide me towards what to read, where to learn and any other resources.
Feel free to recommend any bike you think I should check out. Web sites too.

 

[Dewey]

Welcome! This electricbikereview.com website has reviews organised by category, price, also Court Rye's top recommendations by category - he has a YouTube channel and the videos are embedded in each bike review he posts here. The Reddit Ebikes discussion forum has a list of helpful links on the right side of their webpage including an introductory Wiki and links to the Ebike School website and Endless Sphere DIY discussion forum. Use the search box on these forums to find out if your questions have already been answered, and if not ask away. There appear to be dozens of bike shops in Sacramento and it's great to take test rides of several models before you commit to buy, equally important is a local bike shop's ability to provide services, diagnostics, and electrical/mechanical maintenance. There's a tempo to ebike sales that follows the changing seasons and if you time it right you can pick up a great deal on a previous year model. Or you might prefer to go with one of the bigger bicycle retailers who all have introduced Class 1 pedelec (20mph, no throttle) models in or just above your budget such as the Giant Explore E+3, Specialized Turbo Como 2.0, Trek Lift+, and Electra Townie Go! If you choose a direct-to-consumer brand like Sondors, or Voltbike, or discounter like Crazy Lenny's, consider employing a local bike shop or mobile bike mechanic service like Velofix to assemble a mail-order ebike out of the box as they will have the right tools and can check everything is tight, safe, and working on the bicycle side e.g. the brakes, chainline, gears, and accessories.