Purchasing advice 50+ miles per charge

hammerct

New Member
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USA
Looking to purchase an ebike, ideally less than $2500, that will allow me to ride with my partner in crime who regularly rides 50-70 miles per outing. I am a casual cyclist and looking for something totally comfortable and cruiser-like for a 60 year old woman riding paved trails. TIA!
 
She's asking for a casual cruiser ride, not a cargo bike. But still I get it the range requirement she's asking for is so out of line with the norm this is the sort of solution you have to look at.

And its a very tall order; especially with the budgetary constraint thrown in. An upright cruiser-style bike with the kind of extreme REAL range (not claimed... all ebike companies lie like a rug as to their range) desired is just not going to happen unless the rider puts in a LOT of the effort and uses minimal electric assist to stretch the battery. People who ride cruisers just don't ask for marathon levels of range. That style of rider doesn't do that often enough for such bikes to be available in the marketplace to meet that demand.

Don't even think of being able to hit 50-70 miles while working fairly hard to supplement the input with your legs - with anything less than a 20ah battery pack. More is more likely to be what you need. Two 15ah batteries (put one on a rack and plug it in as a spare) is more likely to be a realistic solution. but honestly... your ass is going to wear out long before your battery does unless you work your way up to a distance like that with a lot of practice. That is the much more typical limiter for older cyclists getting into distance.
 
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21700 cells 36V 25Ah ought to fly. I easily get 50 miles with a 20Ah battery and 350W mid drive at 15mph. Controller is putting out 15A.

BUT I wonder has the OP ever ridden 50 miles? Maybe on a Day6!
 
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Bought 2 Ariel Rider Xclass 48v. For $1,499 each, added 2nd Uppbattery and blender for about $600 each.
Unfortunitly 48volt discontinued. Have at least 50 mile range. Yet to run down the batteries to zero.
 

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21700 cells 36V 25Ah ought to fly. I easily get 50 miles with a 20Ah battery and 350W mid drive at 15mph. Controller is putting out 15A.
Yeah but she has to build that solution as a conversion. I get the feeling she is wanting to buy something off the rack. The only thing I see that you can buy is a dual battery bike. Super73 makes one ($3500 with 2 packs) but I doubt that seat will work for a 60 year-old for 70 miles, and while you have an upright posture on it, its not a bike that lends itself to pedaling as you know. The remaining bikes I see are gimmicks unless we get into a Riese & Muller and now we've completely blown the budget.
 
while you have an upright posture on it, its not a bike that lends itself to pedaling as you know.
No, I don’t agree. I’ve only ridden crank forward aka flat foot bikes since 2008. When still completely able I found no issues pedaling. But I concede there’s nothing on the market with sufficient batteries to meet the OPs demand. At the desired price. I wonder how far the OP has ever ridden?
 
Range, Speed, Price. Pick 2.

I have an e6100 cruiser and if I put it in eco mode, it says I can get 76 miles range. But it's above your price point. I also have a Giant, and a Specialized. Same thing!

IMG_3829.JPG
 
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21700 cells 36V 25Ah ought to fly. I easily get 50 miles with a 20Ah battery and 350W mid drive at 15mph. Controller is putting out 15A.

BUT I wonder has the OP ever ridden 50 miles? Maybe on a Day6!
How about one of these?

 
Worth noting maybe, is my wife's bike will make 50 miles easily (60 would be more common). Same thing I'm riding but she's less than half of my weight (315 lbs). These are nothing real fancy and no thought here of the need for dual battery setups. These are plain vanilla e-bikes. Nothing special about them. We went with them initially because of their weight. At 55 lbs, they're one of the lighter bikes in this class/price point. 500 watt gear driven rear hub with 14ah batteries. I get something in the mid to high 30 miles ranges. This is figuring a range where the battery is charged when it drops to 46 volts or so. Throttle rarely used after getting the bike moving.....

Hers:

Mine (same thing in a step over)
 
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Bought 2 Ariel Rider Xclass 48v. For $1,499 each, added 2nd Uppbattery and blender for about $600 each.
Unfortunitly 48volt discontinued. Have at least 50 mile range. Yet to run down the batteries to zero.
First day out ( after not biking since I was 15 years old) did 30 miles on a regular hybrid bike. 50 miles with assist seems quite do-able 😊
Yeah but she has to build that solution as a conversion. I get the feeling she is wanting to buy something off the rack. The only thing I see that you can buy is a dual battery bike. Super73 makes one ($3500 with 2 packs) but I doubt that seat will work for a 60 year-old for 70 miles, and while you have an upright posture on it, its not a bike that lends itself to pedaling as you know. The remaining bikes I see are gimmicks unless we get into a Riese & Muller and now we've completely blown the budget.
Yes, something off the rack is definitely preferred. Recent transplant from Metro NY so familiarity with DIY and retro fittings are not in my wheelhouse :)
 
How about one of these?


Those bikes terrify me. I prefer being upright and eye to eye with most cages.

That and getting up and out of the seat for a gimp is difficult. As always, YMMV.
 
Buy bike for comfort not range as 70miles is long day in saddle. Just budget for 2nd battery down track which you can throw in pannier. You may find 30-40miles is you in which case joint rides will be shorter.
 
Worth noting maybe, is my wife's bike will make 50 miles easily (60 would be more common). Same thing I'm riding but she's less than half of my weight (315 lbs). These are nothing real fancy and no thought here of the need for dual battery setups. These are plain vanilla e-bikes. Nothing special about them. We went with them initially because of their weight. At 55 lbs, they're one of the lighter bikes in this class/price point. 500 watt gear driven rear hub with 14ah batteries. I get something in the mid to high 30 miles ranges. This is figuring a range where the battery is charged when it drops to 46 volts or so. Throttle rarely used after getting the bike moving.....

Hers:

Mine (same thing in a step over)
I second the idea of the Flow - quite happy with mine, after a year of ownership!
 
Claim is 20-70 miles
Good call. But if you are in NYC Metro there are 5 starts from a dead stop per mile. That is what takes energy. 5X20=100. What she is asking for won't happen in that context. Then when up to speed there is the added wind resistance of an upright riding position. This request is against physics and economics.
 
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