Hi all, first time posting here and looking for advice.
A little about me and my riding in general; I'm 35, male, physically fit, casual triathlete, live in Chicago (flat) and typically bike commute to work or to just get around the city for my everyday life (not riding gravel/mountain trails etc). I ride along the lake shore trail as much as I can help it, and then go into the city via streets when needed. I currently use a Giant Contend AR 3 2020 model year as my every day rider equipped with a rear rack, a pannier and folding wire basket for extra storage when needed, fenders, and one sided clipless pedals. I quite like having the drop handlebars to switch between hand/riding positions, and generally ride about 6-9 miles one way and enjoy the workout. I'm looking into an ebike solution since there are times when it's very windy, or I'm in a rush, or I'm tired after other physical activity, or it's late at night and I just wish I didn't have to work as hard to get home. This leads me to think about ebikes or ebike conversions.
For ebike conversions, I'd only really be interested in mid drive torque sensing motors, but dissuaded by the look mostly and lack of confidence in parts working/needing repair/placement. I'd also love if the Bimotal add on would be less than 2k USD; or the competitor, Skarper, would be producing and selling in the US as those seem like great solutions for me. One downside is I believe they are cadence sensing rather than torque. Another limitation for me is my Giant has thru axels, so most of the front/rear wheel hub conversions wouldn't work for me. I believe the All Axle Grin hub motor conversion would be my only option in this regard.
For ebikes, I'd really like the following:
- Belt drive / internal gear hub; never used before, but would love to get away from chains/cleaning/derailleur adjustments and also still have the ability to change 'gears'.
- Easily removable battery; since often I'll ride and leave the bike outdoors for a few hours which doesn't seem like a good idea for batteries to sit when it's 20 degrees F - so would remove the battery when leaving it outdoors.
- Lightweight; so I won't need to use much pedal assist or could ride it without the assist easily.
- Mid drive torque sensing motors
- Under $3k
-Drop handle bars; how much I need this is a good question, though I do like to have a somewhat forward riding position. The issue I'm finding is there aren't drop handlebars on ebikes with belt drives. From research I've done it seems like swapping from flat handlebars to drop bars costs a reasonable amount for a bike shop to do, thoughts on this?
Basically I'd like a similar riding style to what I have currently using clipless pedals/tri-shorts for the workout/fun, but also with a little assist to arrive places faster and or with less effort. This has led me to think the Priority Current or Vvolt Proxima would be a good bike for me. The Proxima seems to have a more aggressive riding position, though the Current seems to have an adjustable handlebar stem.
Any helpful advice is greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
A little about me and my riding in general; I'm 35, male, physically fit, casual triathlete, live in Chicago (flat) and typically bike commute to work or to just get around the city for my everyday life (not riding gravel/mountain trails etc). I ride along the lake shore trail as much as I can help it, and then go into the city via streets when needed. I currently use a Giant Contend AR 3 2020 model year as my every day rider equipped with a rear rack, a pannier and folding wire basket for extra storage when needed, fenders, and one sided clipless pedals. I quite like having the drop handlebars to switch between hand/riding positions, and generally ride about 6-9 miles one way and enjoy the workout. I'm looking into an ebike solution since there are times when it's very windy, or I'm in a rush, or I'm tired after other physical activity, or it's late at night and I just wish I didn't have to work as hard to get home. This leads me to think about ebikes or ebike conversions.
For ebike conversions, I'd only really be interested in mid drive torque sensing motors, but dissuaded by the look mostly and lack of confidence in parts working/needing repair/placement. I'd also love if the Bimotal add on would be less than 2k USD; or the competitor, Skarper, would be producing and selling in the US as those seem like great solutions for me. One downside is I believe they are cadence sensing rather than torque. Another limitation for me is my Giant has thru axels, so most of the front/rear wheel hub conversions wouldn't work for me. I believe the All Axle Grin hub motor conversion would be my only option in this regard.
For ebikes, I'd really like the following:
- Belt drive / internal gear hub; never used before, but would love to get away from chains/cleaning/derailleur adjustments and also still have the ability to change 'gears'.
- Easily removable battery; since often I'll ride and leave the bike outdoors for a few hours which doesn't seem like a good idea for batteries to sit when it's 20 degrees F - so would remove the battery when leaving it outdoors.
- Lightweight; so I won't need to use much pedal assist or could ride it without the assist easily.
- Mid drive torque sensing motors
- Under $3k
-Drop handle bars; how much I need this is a good question, though I do like to have a somewhat forward riding position. The issue I'm finding is there aren't drop handlebars on ebikes with belt drives. From research I've done it seems like swapping from flat handlebars to drop bars costs a reasonable amount for a bike shop to do, thoughts on this?
Basically I'd like a similar riding style to what I have currently using clipless pedals/tri-shorts for the workout/fun, but also with a little assist to arrive places faster and or with less effort. This has led me to think the Priority Current or Vvolt Proxima would be a good bike for me. The Proxima seems to have a more aggressive riding position, though the Current seems to have an adjustable handlebar stem.
Any helpful advice is greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
