Hi, everyone! EBR was such a great resource in helping us pick the right ebike for my short/round partner, and the process left me with a spreadsheet full of picture and data she used to find the best options for her. So, I want to "give back" to all of you, with my heartfelt thanks, by sharing the spreadsheet and some notes on how you might use it to find the right ebike for the short rider in your life! Before I go on, let me say, while I am very well informed regarding bikes (was a mechanic and racer in early life), ebikes are new for us, so there may be some naive statements and I will not claim everything here is 100% verified or correct, but certainly, it's a good effort and you can change anything you like in your own copy.
Here you go: eBikes for short . Note that I've set this URL to anyone can access but read-only. To make changes, you would simply save this to a local file for yourself and then modify that.
An explanation of what some things mean:
I hope this helps someone! If you need any help working with it, post here and I hope that means I'll get a notification so I can respond. I'll do whatever I can.
Best wishes and lots of thanks for all the help from EBR and the EBR community in choosing her eBike! - Bee
Here you go: eBikes for short . Note that I've set this URL to anyone can access but read-only. To make changes, you would simply save this to a local file for yourself and then modify that.
An explanation of what some things mean:
- Background colors: Generally, Red = "problem", Yellow= "may be a problem", White = "OK", Green = "Good" and Blue = "Best in class"
- In the Make/Model column, a light green background means we did a test ride on this one. These should mostly be hyperlinks that will take you to a manufacturer's page where possible, or a secondary page from a dealer or reviewer otherwise. Just click it to go to the site.
- For us, "Comfort" means an upright riding position, padded saddle, handlebars swept back at least to the stem. "City" means a forward position, lightweight saddle, handlebars forward of the stem. "Cruiser" means a very relaxed to upright position, padded saddle and handlebars swept back beyond the stem.
- Geometry: priorities for us were making sure she could reach the handlebars with elbows appropriately bent, reach the pedals with knee appropriately bent and not hyper-extended, stand over the bike safely when stopped or in emergencies, and get up onto the saddle safely without falling. Where possible, numbers were taken from geometry given at the manufacturer's website; however, in some cases they were not available there and I either got them here, at other sites/reviews, or even by downloading their 2-D diagrams and making measurements based on the ratio of measured to actual length on a major part of the bike, usually the seat tube or minimum seat height. Her inseam is 27", reach 21", height 4'11", so this guided our determination of what would fit and would not prior to test riding. Step is Ultra-Low if standover is less <=10", Low if < 19", Mid if <=26". You can certainly change these to match your riders target geometry and comfort (may depend on their flexibility or motor impairment, if present).
- Weight is important to us, not only for carrying and riding, but for the potential momentum and impact in a wreck. We wanted an ebike not TOO much heavier than a regular, steel frame bike of similar size. I don't think we achieved that perfectly. Everything is a compromise.
- Pedal Assist: PAS = pedal assist, TO = throttle only available (class 2), OB = motor off during braking, WAS = Walk Assist mode
- Tire Brand: I gave green to tires I knew well, like Schwalbe Big Apple that provide great ride and puncture protection. I highlighted in yellow tires I'd have to replace if buying this bike.
- Gears: Green is a known quality manufacturer like Shimano or Microsoft, even if lower end, but not bottom end (like Shimano SIS, IMHO). Yellow is one at least I can not say is a good and might have to upgrade.
- Throttle: Added this because I believe that a full length, or even half-length twist throttle is a safety risk for accidental throttle when climbing curbs, mounting the bike or during a wreck or emergency.
- Brakes: Known manufacturers like Shimano, Tektro, Magura are green, lesser brands yellow, and v-brakes I treat as a serious no-no for safety on anything other than a bike that doesn't go more than 15-16mph.
- Display: Need to be able to see it at night, so either backlit LCD or LED. USB port a big plus, as well as app integration/bluetooth, and hi-vis color.
- Lights, fenders, rack, kickstand are noted as integrated when they at least appear to be part of the frame or custom for the bike (lights integrated into the main battery and display). Included means a 3rd party component added that does not integrate with any other bike functions. For fenders, this can be the difference between painted/matching and non-matching.
- Chainguard: included this because it would be a difficult aftermarket add in some cases and nobody wants to be covered with grease, especially typical when walking the bike, lifting it into a rack, etc... .
- Price/Adj. Cost: Manufacturer's list if given and total cost of ownership, including $200 for things like helmet and lock, but then cost of items (usually in yellow) that we considered necessary but were not included or integrated.
- Recommendation: My notes for her to review, to help her set a rating for the bike.
- Rating: Any number she wanted to use that would be used as the primary sort key on the spreadsheet, so that we would always have a list of the best bikes to buy, but also the bikes most important to test ride.
I hope this helps someone! If you need any help working with it, post here and I hope that means I'll get a notification so I can respond. I'll do whatever I can.
Best wishes and lots of thanks for all the help from EBR and the EBR community in choosing her eBike! - Bee
