Hi - My sons and I are avid mountain bikers on Vancouvers North Shore & Whistler, but my wife had a knee replacement and wants and e-bike. We had ordered from Biktrik but they did not deliver as scheduled, so now are looking for a replacement. My wife would want a comfortable seat, shocks, and for nostalgia sake to do no more than a green run. My problem is that I don't want to buy older bulkier battery technology, or cheap no brand drive trains & non Shimano components that would render the product disposable. Amazon and Costco have lots of options but just looking at the no name shocks I suspect they would be poor quality. Any recommendations?
Recommendation for Bike that will Last
- Thread starter Fowler
- Start date
indianajo
Well-Known Member
Short list of known problems, pricey, Trek, Cannondale, Gazelle, Reiss & mueller, Orbea. Lots of people like their Specialized & Giant, but they have more problems reported on the brand threads than Trek.
Nearly all ebikes now have the flammable LiIon battery. Look for watthours greater than miles*18 for range.
SRAM makes a quality shifter now too. I've had a 7 speed shimano rear axle unscrew the race & drop the balls on the road. Cheap unreliable design for cheap kiddie bikes. The 8 speed shimano I ride now has gone 6500 trouble free miles. 8 speed chain lasted 5000 miles with a hubmotor. Expect less miles from 9 or up speed chain, and 1/2 or 1/4 the life of chain on a mid-drive. Belts are good for maybe 10000 miles but can be kinked by impact, and make it more difficult to change the tube after a flat.
You can't ride a geared hub motor up mountains >1000' in an hour, they overheat. Otherwise, better chain life, inexpensive, and not as likely to drag unpowered as mid drive. Mid drive with torque sense is more controllable over rocks etc on real mountain biking. Torque sense can now be bought with a hub motor.
I suspect cheap air suspensions myself. If the seals leak, will there be a replacement available. If the bike has a standard fork it can be changed. I ride hard suspension, but not much off road.
There are plenty of dealers in Vancouver. If you buy from one, you are no longer the repair department. Calling a phone number about some flaky electric problem is not a pleasurable experience. Then you have to put the part on yourself. Most dealers won't work on an electric bike they don't have a franchise for.
I handled the problem by throwing 2 batteries away and buying something else, but then I didn't ride electrically for 8 months.
Lots of chatter now about hydraulic disk brakes. If you race downhill and wear the pads in one or two runs, the self-adjustment feature is important. I have cable pull brakes, the pads last 4000 miles and changing them took 30 minutes with an allen wrench & a plier. 140 mm cable pull brake stops me fine at 330 lb gross weight on 15% downgrades. I adjust the pad about every 1000 miles. Takes 5 minutes with an allen wrench except for taking the pannier off & replacing.
Happy shopping.
Nearly all ebikes now have the flammable LiIon battery. Look for watthours greater than miles*18 for range.
SRAM makes a quality shifter now too. I've had a 7 speed shimano rear axle unscrew the race & drop the balls on the road. Cheap unreliable design for cheap kiddie bikes. The 8 speed shimano I ride now has gone 6500 trouble free miles. 8 speed chain lasted 5000 miles with a hubmotor. Expect less miles from 9 or up speed chain, and 1/2 or 1/4 the life of chain on a mid-drive. Belts are good for maybe 10000 miles but can be kinked by impact, and make it more difficult to change the tube after a flat.
You can't ride a geared hub motor up mountains >1000' in an hour, they overheat. Otherwise, better chain life, inexpensive, and not as likely to drag unpowered as mid drive. Mid drive with torque sense is more controllable over rocks etc on real mountain biking. Torque sense can now be bought with a hub motor.
I suspect cheap air suspensions myself. If the seals leak, will there be a replacement available. If the bike has a standard fork it can be changed. I ride hard suspension, but not much off road.
There are plenty of dealers in Vancouver. If you buy from one, you are no longer the repair department. Calling a phone number about some flaky electric problem is not a pleasurable experience. Then you have to put the part on yourself. Most dealers won't work on an electric bike they don't have a franchise for.
I handled the problem by throwing 2 batteries away and buying something else, but then I didn't ride electrically for 8 months.
Lots of chatter now about hydraulic disk brakes. If you race downhill and wear the pads in one or two runs, the self-adjustment feature is important. I have cable pull brakes, the pads last 4000 miles and changing them took 30 minutes with an allen wrench & a plier. 140 mm cable pull brake stops me fine at 330 lb gross weight on 15% downgrades. I adjust the pad about every 1000 miles. Takes 5 minutes with an allen wrench except for taking the pannier off & replacing.
Happy shopping.
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Comfortably Numb
Well-Known Member
Why not just go see OHM e-bikes in North Vancouver? They have a decent lineup of e-bikes that just might suit your wife, but they do not offer a eMTB.
They use Shimano middrives and decent components.
They're at 930 Harbourside Drive. https://ca.ohmcycles.com.
CN
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Comfortably Numb
Well-Known Member
Well, as long as OHM offers what your wife would be happy with. It all depends what type of bike she wants.
I will also suggest Voltbike in Coquitlam. https://www.voltbike.com/
I am not sure a Voltbike will fit your criteria, however, but it won't hurt to look.
CN
I will also suggest Voltbike in Coquitlam. https://www.voltbike.com/
I am not sure a Voltbike will fit your criteria, however, but it won't hurt to look.
CN
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Any idea about the reliability between the Shimano drives? I appreciate that the Shimano inventory model is to provide the bike repair shops parts to service bikes for many years, which of course would not be the case with a disposable bike with Chinese drives that are not well supported in the super small US market. I want to avoid versions from Shimano that exhibit their learning curve on this relatively new and smalll volume tech. Often Shimano releases variants of essentially the platforms. Between the EP8, E700, E6100 is there anything to stay clear on?
I'll toss out the name NCM for bikes. They sell nationwide but have a location in BC I think.
We picked up a new Moscow+ and put over 1000km so far without issues, but purchased a used bike with 4500km on it and also have experienced no problems beyond the freewheel being worn (still rideable but we are replacing it for $25).
As for batteries they use the Dorado case style. It's available in Nickel Manganese Oxide chemistry or Nickel Cobalt Aluminum Oxide, both of which I like. I prefer a frame mounted battery but don't want a battery format that is proprietary to one bike manufacturer so was pretty sold on the Dorado format.
NCM uses Shimano and name brand components that are easily sourced and they have a good reputation for motors and controllers. The Freewheel and spokes seem to be the more difficult things to buy and both are still easily sourced on Amazon, ebay, etc.
Hope that helps. I am sure there's many other great bikes to also consider!
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