ST1T vs. ST2 choice

[Nikolai]

Finally I've got tired from Seattle traffic and lack of parking and decided to buy e-bike for my office commute

I narrowed my choice with Stromer bikes and tested ST1's and ST2's today and yesterday. I do like better ST2 controls and feelings but I don't like sitting position. ST1 and especially ST1-T is more upright touring position and handle bar can be raised up easily to make it even more comfortable. ST2 have all cables and tubes so short that is not allowing to rise handle bar more than ~ 0.5" which is useless
ST1-T feels good too. Not as refined as ST2 but it's a very nice bike anyway

This forum was extremely useful and I much appreciated everyone sharing they experiences here.

Please let me know if I missing something in my assumptions. I would appreciate your opinion and if you let me know what king of upgrades I need to do from the very beginning to make it even more enjoyable.

It was my first e-bike encounter and I have a very enjoyable and nice experience on these test rides. I'm looking forward to start riding it when wind and rain will be not entirely crazy (Seattle

 

[Nikolai]

Thanks for the reply Rincon. Bike shop owner mentioned this possibility but he wasn't very enthusiastic about it
It's about 8mi one way, so it should be fine. I'm thinking to buy a second charger for the office.

 

[KidWok]

Nikolai! Did you get over the shame?! I have no experience with the ST2. Love my ST1 Limited Edition. I don't think you could go wrong with the ST1 T, which is pretty similar to my LE.

Let's grab a drink sometime and I can go over what changes I made.

Tai

 

[Dunbar]

Another option on the ST2 to raise the bars is install the optional suspension fork.

I'm not sure what cables are too short. If it's just the derailleur cables those are pretty easy to change out. The brake cables/tubes are a bit harder but very doable. If there's an electrical wire that's too short obviously that's going to be a little bit harder to source. Surprised the shop wouldn't be willing to make you happy on a $7k bike purchase!

 

[Nikolai]

Another option on the ST2 to raise the bars is install the optional suspension fork.

I'm not sure what cables are too short. If it's just the derailleur cables those are pretty easy to change out. The brake cables/tubes are a bit harder but very doable. If there's an electrical wire that's too short obviously that's going to be a little bit harder to source. Surprised the shop wouldn't be willing to make you happy on a $7k bike purchase!

The owner of the shop was saying it's too much labor and it was understandable that he is not looking forward to do that ...

 

[Nikolai]

Nikolai! Did you get over the shame?! I have no experience with the ST2. Love my ST1 Limited Edition. I don't think you could go wrong with the ST1 T, which is pretty similar to my LE.

Let's grab a drink sometime and I can go over what changes I made.

Tai

Sure Tai and thanks. Most likely I'll pick it up by the end of this week

 

[KidWok]

Sure Tai and thanks. Most likely I'll pick it up by the end of this week

SWEET...You're going to have a blast. Some recommendations for when you pick it up:

- Get a bigger bell! The stock bell is too quiet. With a high speed bike, you want to be heard from further away. The Crane Suzu is loud enough. Spurcycle is nice, but pricy...don't fall for the knock-offs.
- Get some nice BMX pedals with steel pins for grip.

And when you get it home:

- If your seatpost feels like it goes in too easily with the QR collar loose, it will likely slip while you ride it...even if you tighten the heck out of the collar. You can cut a soda can shim and put it in between the seat tube and the aluminum insert to help fill up the space. I would highly recommend ordering the Hope 38.5 non-quick release clamp...try ebay.
- I would also replace the stock seatpost. I've owned several seatposts with curved clamp heads and none of them have ever resisted slipping back and tilting up. The Stromer stock post is worse than the Ritchey version. Get a two bolt clamp model of some sort. I ended up with a Truvative Stylo T20 because I wanted more setback since the ST1 has a much steeper seat tube angle than I prefer.

The rest I can tell you about when we meet up.

Tai

 

[Nikolai]

I ended with ST2 because of the range and overall better feelings.
ST1 range is simply too limiting.

 

[KidWok]

Sweet! Let's ride soon!

Tai

 

[smitty]

I ended with ST2 because of the range and overall better feelings.
ST1 range is simply too limiting.

I think you made the right choice, I started with the Limited Edition and loved it, but after doing a ton more research, including many posts on this Forum, I moved up to the ST-2. Somewhere on this Forum, I did a comparison feature by feature between the two. The easiest summary I think is that there is an elegant difference between the two models and the price difference clearly indicates that. My continued thinking is that it was worth it to go with the ST-2; best of luck with it...one note of caution, my daughter in Seattle has an e-bike and unfortunately dropped a front wheel between the trolly tracks downtown and took a pretty bad spill off of it. Apparently it was a freak accident caused by trying to be polite in heavy traffic...I'm thinking that the tires on the ST-2 are probably larger width-wise which could mitigate the problem if one were to run into it...

 

[Nikolai]

I think you made the right choice, I started with the Limited Edition and loved it, but after doing a ton more research, including many posts on this Forum, I moved up to the ST-2. Somewhere on this Forum, I did a comparison feature by feature between the two. The easiest summary I think is that there is an elegant difference between the two models and the price difference clearly indicates that. My continued thinking is that it was worth it to go with the ST-2; best of luck with it...one note of caution, my daughter in Seattle has an e-bike and unfortunately dropped a front wheel between the trolly tracks downtown and took a pretty bad spill off of it. Apparently it was a freak accident caused by trying to be polite in heavy traffic...I'm thinking that the tires on the ST-2 are probably larger width-wise which could mitigate the problem if one were to run into it...

I feel like it's a better choice too
Seattle roads are not the most friendly and even, I'm accommodating to it...