Recommendarions Welcome

[EastCoast JS]

I'm hooked! I recently retired and I am now on the hunt for an ebike. I live in Pennsylvania (not a hot-bed for ebikes); but there are many areas to ride on trails and open roads. After doing considerable research, I realize I need to include local support as a key to my decision. That said, there are local dealers for TREK, Specialized, and Pedego. I have narrowed my research to TREK, and Specialized since their local support seems to be the best for my area.

Now for the type of ebike to meet my needs. I like the TREK Dual Sport+ but they are no longer available and the replacement will not be available until December 2019. However, further research suggest upgrading to the Trek Super Fly+. Unfortunately, the cost of the Super Fly+ is beginning to surpass my targeted budget. Alternatively, I like the Specialized Turbo Vado 5, on paper, since none exist in the area to try. I am also concerned the Vado 5 is a class 3 ebike and this may become a problem and limit my rides.

I am eager to hear from others with more experience as to what ebike might be something else to consider, or whether or not my current choices are valid.

 

[Marci jo]

Congrats!
In your area, do the shops carry other brands? Here in the upper Midwest our shops carry 3-4 brands. Seems like Trek dealers also carry Giant. And some of them carry Cannondale. I rode a Cannondale Quick Neo that was fabulous but I need a sub 17” frame.

 

[EastCoast JS]

Hi Marci jo
The shop that has Specialized, also carries Cannondale (no ebikes in storck). However, like many shops in the area few, other than the Trek store, have any inventory on ebikes. As inexperienced as I am, I feel I have more knowledge than most shops. Scary!

 

[TurboComo5.0]

I was in the same boat that your in, not many ebikes at my LBS . I did ride a como 2 and a Vado 1.0. I ended up going with a como 5.0 , my local specialized dealer ordered it.... got it in less than a week. I liked the Vado 5.0 but they were more$$$. The como for me was much more comfortable riding. I ride mostly roads, so being able to cruise at 22-23mph on the flats is nice. I don’t think that I would like being limited to 20 mph. So far, I love the bike.... changed the seat (from my road bike) and got the body float suspension seat post. Almost perfect.... may change the pedals?
Specialized web site is showing a big discount on the Vado 6.0 right now....small frame only...

 

[EastCoast JS]

Great info; thanks TurboComo5.0

I am going back to my Specialized dealer, but before I do, I am going to check out the Giant Explore E+ and the ToughRoad E+. They seem to be comparable.

 

[EastCoast JS]

Congrats!
In your area, do the shops carry other brands? Here in the upper Midwest our shops carry 3-4 brands. Seems like Trek dealers also carry Giant. And some of them carry Cannondale. I rode a Cannondale Quick Neo that was fabulous but I need a sub 17” frame.

 

[EastCoast JS]

Hi Marci jo

I took your advice and looked up a Giant dealer. Fortunately, there was one not too far away. Tested the 2020 Explore E + and I was pleasantly surprised. It didn't have all the features I had been looking for but it was a much better deal than the TREK and Specialized. The shop was also very professional and offers great service. After a few tweaks to the base model, I concluded the deal.

Again, thanks for the suggestions.

 

[Johnny]

Trek Duals+ is one of the worst offerings of Trek price/performance wise. I have expressed my opinion in other threads. An active line system is not worth over $2500.

If you like to stay with Trek the following offerings at a similar price are far superior. Police (speed motor , good clearance for wider tires , good front fork), powerfly. If you want to go active line get Verve+ nice bike and the solid fork is better than the low end coil fork on ds+.

Giant's explore E seems to be a direct competitor of DS+ at 1K less. I think it is a good option and a just as capable if not better than the ds+.\

Good luck

 

[EastCoast JS]

Trek Duals+ is one of the worst offerings of Trek price/performance wise. I have expressed my opinion in other threads. An active line system is not worth over $2500.

If you like to stay with Trek the following offerings at a similar price are far superior. Police (speed motor , good clearance for wider tires , good front fork), powerfly. If you want to go active line get Verve+ nice bike and the solid fork is better than the low end coil fork on ds+.

Giant's explore E seems to be a direct competitor of DS+ at 1K less. I think it is a good option and a just as capable if not better than the ds+.\

Good luck

Thanks for the good advice. I actually went to the Giant dealer and you are 100% correct. I decided to go with the Giant Explore E+. It had the features I was looking for on a good starter ebike similar to the Dual Sport from Trek at 1k less. Thanks again!

 

[Marci jo]

Congrats, keep posting how you like your new bike.

 

[Marci jo]

Trek Duals+ is one of the worst offerings of Trek price/performance wise. I have expressed my opinion in other threads. An active line system is not worth over $2500.

If you like to stay with Trek the following offerings at a similar price are far superior. Police (speed motor , good clearance for wider tires , good front fork), powerfly. If you want to go active line get Verve+ nice bike and the solid fork is better than the low end coil fork on ds+.

Giant's explore E seems to be a direct competitor of DS+ at 1K less. I think it is a good option and a just as capable if not better than the ds+.\

Good luck

Johnny,
Please remember we all have different needs and we all don't have perfect bodies. My Dual Sport fits my number one criteria which is weighing below 45 lbs. I have a slight disability on my left arm so the lower weight allows me to haul it easier. As far as the front fork, I found it to be quick and responsive, even though it is spring. In fact is a more forgiving than my big ponderous Vado 6.0 which also has a spring fork and that bike is over 55 lbs.
Thanks for keeping an open mind.

 

[Johnny]

@EastCoast JS:

Congratulations, you made a good choice, enjoy your ride for many thousand miles.

Johnny,
Please remember we all have different needs and we all don't have perfect bodies. My Dual Sport fits my number one criteria which is weighing below 45 lbs. I have a slight disability on my left arm so the lower weight allows me to haul it easier. As far as the front fork, I found it to be quick and responsive, even though it is spring. In fact is a more forgiving than my big ponderous Vado 6.0 which also has a spring fork and that bike is over 55 lbs.
Thanks for keeping an open mind.

Dear Marci,

I understand what you mean but I also believe that people has to be informed before making a decision. These bicycles are expensive and sometimes paying 1k-1.5k more for a similar products is a significant strain on one's budget.

I have always given my reasoning on why I believe the bike is overpriced. If you can look at similar offerings with active line motor I am sure you will see that too ( they all weight around 45lbs, actually the listed weight of the new Verve+ is lighter than DS+). My bicycle with CX motor weights around 46-47lbs not 55lbs and if it had the active line it would have been around 45lbs too.

I am not saying DS is a bad bike, it is a nice bike, it looks nice too but from what I am seeing on the market I am sorry to say that it is significantly overpriced moreover people who are looking into that bike are most of the time people who are new to ebikes and they don't know the market or their options.
BTW I have the fancier "air" version of the fork on DS(supposed to be lighter and better) and it is not good compared to even mid range forks to say the least. A good mid range fork takes a lot of vibration hence stress off of your wrists unfortunately these cheap forks are not capable of doing that. Also $3600 bicycle putting $80 is a very bad practice.

Your Vado is using a larger, heavier battery and a different motor so I don't think it is a fair comparison in this case. The market actually has many other options with Bosch motors, for example Haibike had a full carbon hard tail Bosch CX motor offering that was less than $3000 on sale (Haibike Sduro hard7 carbon) and I believe that bicycle is around or slightly lighter (stock ) then 40lbs.



In this forum we are all here to voice our opinions and most of us are actually trying to help others. I am grateful to many people here for their guidance before my first purchase, otherwise I would have spent some of the money I actually needed afterwards. Also the criticism we make here is actually good for the bicycle companies to move forward and bring better products at more affordable prices to the customers.


Finally I am very sorry to hear your slight disability and I am very happy that you are happy with your bicycle. I hope my opinion about the "price" does not take away your enjoyment from the bike, it shouldn't.