Newbie

[Vicki]

Hi .I am from Lubbock - TX and thinking to buy an e-bike for my self and for my mom. My inital plan was to go with a Pedego but the price tag is little high for me to buy 2. I see lot of good comments about Rad Power and Juiced. Can you share me how the after sales and warranty works with them ? As buying online seems only option.

 

[bob armani]

Hi .I am from Lubbock - TX and thinking to buy an e-bike for my self and for my mom. My inital plan was to go with a Pedego but the price tag is little high for me to buy 2. I see lot of good comments about Rad Power and Juiced. Can you share me how the after sales and warranty works with them ? As buying online seems only option.

Hello-Sounds like you are new to ebikes. Things you might want to consider before purchase:​

• First, we would need to know what you will be using the bike for (ie: commuting to work, trail riding, leisure, etc).
• It is usually recommended that you find a dealer nearby that offers demo bikes to try so you can get a feel for the bike and see if the power of the bike is something you are comfortable with.
• There are many component options available and price points to consider.
• If you buy online without a test ride, you may be blind to some unforeseen issues you may have overlooked when choosing your bike.
• Can I suggest that you view some of the videos on this forum for the Rad Power and Juiced to become familiar with components and options available.
• Perhaps there are others that can chime in with their thoughts that I may have missed. Good Luck and please keep us all posted!

 

[Over50]

Hi .I am from Lubbock - TX and thinking to buy an e-bike for my self and for my mom. My inital plan was to go with a Pedego but the price tag is little high for me to buy 2. I see lot of good comments about Rad Power and Juiced. Can you share me how the after sales and warranty works with them ? As buying online seems only option.

Howdy. I was born in Lubbock but living in Michigan these days. How about total budget in addition to intended use?

One option you might consider if you want to have the support of a local shop: most towns have a Trek dealership and I believe Trek owns Electra. The Electra Townie line has some nice options. If you have confidence in your local Trek shop and they have a good reputation for service after the sale, it might be worth it to consider a slightly higher priced bike. I'm in a larger metro area and my local Trek shop stocks quite a few of these Townies.

Maybe worth a pre-arranged trip to Austin as well to try out some bikes? Pre-arranged in that maybe an Austin dealer could have quite a few bikes lined up for you all to test out on a given day. Ann who is the moderator of this forum could probably help you there. I used to live in Amarillo and I doubt they would have much in the way of e-bike sellers. Midland or Hobbs? Probably not.

But yes it will help us to know total budget and intended use in order to make some better recommendations. Here's a link to the Townie line:

http://www.electrabike.com/bikes/townie-go/townie-go-8i?g=stepthru

 

[John from Connecticut]

Howdy. I was born in Lubbock but living in Michigan these days. How about total budget in addition to intended use?

One option you might consider if you want to have the support of a local shop: most towns have a Trek dealership and I believe Trek owns Electra. The Electra Townie line has some nice options. If you have confidence in your local Trek shop and they have a good reputation for service after the sale, it might be worth it to consider a slightly higher priced bike. I'm in a larger metro area and my local Trek shop stocks quite a few of these Townies.

Maybe worth a pre-arranged trip to Austin as well to try out some bikes? Pre-arranged in that maybe an Austin dealer could have quite a few bikes lined up for you all to test out on a given day. Ann who is the moderator of this forum could probably help you there. I used to live in Amarillo and I doubt they would have much in the way of e-bike sellers. Midland or Hobbs? Probably not.

But yes it will help us to know total budget and intended use in order to make some better recommendations. Here's a link to the Townie line:

http://www.electrabike.com/bikes/townie-go/townie-go-8i?g=stepthru

Vicki,

I really like what both 'Bob Armani' and 'Over 50' wrote. In my opinion Bob's thoughts on the 'big picture' are spot on. 'Over50s' are as well
should your eBike riding be of the cruiser style. The Townie-Go eBike is a great and safe choice. The frame design was intended for cruising on level ground ( or very slight hills ) . With the eBike version hills are a non issue. The Townie It is an extremely safe bike
as in tipping over or falling because of it's unique frame design.

When riding and coming to a stop the riders feet can be placed directly on the ground. The pedals and crank are
positioned forward of the rider as they are seated, thus allowing for a safe secure stop/start.

Trek thought so much of the design ( my guess ) they bought Townie and used the existing bike design for the Townie -Go e-Bike.
Should the Townie-Go be your choice and being a Trek product you'll have great support. The bike uses the Bosch Performance
Line motor / battery system with an Intuvia controller. I have two Trek bikes with the Bosch System which I think is the best on the market.
It's very powerful and silky smooth.... I hope this was helpful.

John from CT

 

[harryS]

When you buy online, warranty service consists of getting a part in the mail, if you're lucky, and then you install it or have a shop do it. Sometimes, the seller will offer to cover some or all of the the shop costs. Then you have the problem of finding a local shop that will deign to work on an ebike.

Mostly from what I've read, I have good feelings about Juiced and Rad. Rad's skinny tire bikes have direct drive motors, but I prefer the geared motors in the Juiced line. In particular, their new Ocean Current line looks like fun.

In my opinion, the Juiced and Rad bikes are good component bikes. In the worst case, the motors and electronics are easily replaceable with third party parts, because they're built with third party parts. If you have two of the same bike, it's a lot easier for a tech to debug them. He/she just swaps a part from one to the other. There's really only three parts to an ebike, motor, battery, and black box. As an owner, you can easily swap a battery and isolate a battery problem. A shop or a hands-on person could do the rest.

Hope you find a pair of bikes that work out.

 

[Vicki]

Thanks a lot. It helped me a lot. I will check all those brands . Maybe i will go with the best deal and the bike i like most.

 

[bob armani]

I agree about one point about Harrys . Direct drive motors seem to create higher torque but have lower max speed also will drain your battery much faster.
You can try Rad bikes, Luna has some interesting models. Ariel Rider has a discount these days. Juiced i hear positive and negative comments. Maybe it depends on person. I tried once and i liked the Juiced. Didn't love but liked .
For warranty i advice you to check with shops if you decide to buy from shops. I heard several big stores even charge for labor (discounted labor fee) such as motostrano and Greenpath . I don't know if its a common practice. So if you buy online the brand will send you replacement and i am sure you can fix most of problems on your own or ask a nearby mechanic to handle it at a very low cost.

My 2 cents-Easy Motion is a pretty good brand with one of the best warranties in the ebike biz. I have 2 and they are quality built bikes and they usually have good components from the least expensive all the way up to their premium offerings.

 

[lilrich]

Vicki, having experience with all three lines you are considering, you are comparing apples to oranges. While the Rad and Juiced are good bikes the Pedego is in a totally different level of quality. The fit, finish and quality of components on the Pedego are far and above the other two as well as a nationwide dealer network, compared to online only sales. The first step is to determine the type of riding you are going to be doing and finding a bike that has all the features you need. If you are needing a pickup truck a compact car is not the answer. Also expecting to find Rolls Royce quality in a Chevrolet will only disappoint.

 

[tomjasz]

All but one of my bikes are townie or townie style. I could never go back to being hunched over a handlebar. All of what has been written is spot on. Not having to jump onto, or off of a seat and being able to put feet flat on the ground when fully mounted, well, its a real joy. BTW for anyone that didn't know, Electra had a long standing lawsuit against Trek for their seemingly copy cat Trek Pure. They solved it buy purchasing. Now my two favorite companies are one!

 

[Barry S]

All but one of my bikes are townie or townie style. I could never go back to being hunched over a handlebar. All of what has been written is spot on. Not having to jump onto, or off of a seat and being able to put feet flat on the ground when fully mounted, well, its a real joy. BTW for anyone that didn't know, Electra had a long standing lawsuit against Trek for their seemingly copy cat Trek Pure. They solved it buy purchasing. Now my two favorite companies are one!

Thus the old adage, "If you can't beat 'em, buy 'em."

 

[Barry S]

@Vicki I definitely like the suggestion from @Over50 that you check out your LBS (local bike shop) or even a road trip to Austin where there may be more choices to do a test ride. If you're not mechanically inclined, or just don't want to bother with any repairs that may arise, stick with a brand that your LBS can and will work on. Otherwise, there are a lot of inexpensive online options but nothing beats a test ride.

 

[Vicki]

@PCDoctorUSA thanks. I will do like that . Maybe that will also help me to understand what is important in the e-bike i am looking for.

 

[JoePah]

Dont buy anything until you AND your mom have spent a couple of afternoons renting ebikes and riding around.. If there's nothing near you make a day of at a larger town than rents ebikes. Have fun!

You and your mom have to decide what you're comfortable doing, and if riding several days a month is realistic.

After you both had some experience you will know what you like and don't like, what a realistic budget is, and if owning them is a good idea at all. You will end up spending around $4000 for both ebikes, and that is a chunk of change. These bikes weigh over 50 lbs each so carting them around is no fun. Resale on used ebikes starts at 50%

AFter that others can offer their advice and you would know what it helpful.

 

[John from Connecticut]

Dont buy anything until you AND your mom have spent a couple of afternoons renting ebikes and riding around.. If there's nothing near you make a day of at a larger town than rents ebikes. Have fun!

You and your mom have to decide what you're comfortable doing, and if riding several days a month is realistic.

After you both had some experience you will know what you like and don't like, what a realistic budget is, and if owning them is a good idea at all. You will end up spending around $4000 for both ebikes, and that is a chunk of change. These bikes weigh over 50 lbs each so carting them around is no fun. Resale on used ebikes starts at 50%

AFter that others can offer their advice and you would know what it helpful.

Vickie,
I strongly agree with 'JoePah's ' post.. I looked for e-bike dealers in Lubbock, but stuck out. Even still I'd go to the largest
bike shop and ask who's selling name brand e-bikes.... Not counting those 3-$400 ish Discount Store bikes. Those 'scare' me. : )
Good luck and keep us posted how things are going.

All the best,
John From CT

 

[harryS]

I still like the Juiced/RAd and also the Voltbike line. Our first ebike for my wife listed at $1899 MSRP, but the bike shop couldn't sell beach cruisers in the midwest, so we got it for $1300. It's a good bike, with front shocks, disk brakes, and lights, but I think the bikes from the first three makers are probably better. By the way, the dealer is three hours away and we've never needed to go back, although I'd like to attend his annual picnic.

After I got to know our beach bike, I realized there's no advanced technology in a bike that I really need, other than good bike technology like brakes, shifters, seats, etc. And since we're not as concerned about weight, good bike parts that works for an ebike are quite affordable.

For my own bike, I went with a inexpensive kit. It;s basically the same parts that were on the beach cruiser. I've built a few more kits and enjoyed it.

 

[lilrich]

Test riding an eBike is in my opinion essential to getting the right bike for you. Beware of IBDs that carry a limited selection of makes and models. Many bike shops that have established themselves with acoustic bikes jumped on the bandwagon recently. While initially disparaging Ebikes due to lack of knowledge or experience they now see the light when the traditional (acoustic) bike industry stagnated and deteriorated while the Ebike market exploded. Many traditional bike shops carry only few models from a couple of manufactures. Of course they will steer you toward what they carry. Look for a shop such as our which carries many makes and hundreds of models.

 

[Barry S]

Good advice from @lilrich and this describes perfectly the situation in Honolulu. Specialized and Trek shops carry a couple of token ebike models to make the brand happy, but their money is made in non-ebikes. The ebike-only shops either sell white box or high-end bikes leaving no middle ground for someone like myself. And what they do have they're not well-educated on. This week, I contacted one of these ebike-only shops to see if they had a rental that was closely matched to one I was looking at buying. I explicitly told him I was only interested in a 500W (nominal) geared rear hub and he gives me a list of 500W (peak; 250W nominal) direct drive motors and adds, "These will climb big hills." Moral of the story, have some basic knowledge of ebikes before you walk in a LBS and if they give you the same feeling like buying a used car....run don't walk. The salesman should be able to tell you everything about the bike INCLUDING how to work the display if so equipped.

 

[LupeHerring]

Hi, I have recently joined this forum. Happy to get such good advice from all.

 

[John from Connecticut]

Hi, I have recently joined this forum. Happy to get such good advice from all.

Hi 'LupeHerring', Welcome to the Forum and come back often.

John from CT

 

[Ann M.]

@LupeHerring, welcome to our EBR family! If you already have an ebike, feel free to create your own post in the "Garage" forum and tell us all about it and add pics . If you don't you will find lots of good info here along with Court's super reviews.