Noobebiker
Member
- Region
- USA
Hello folks. As my name suggests, I am a newbie to the electric bike world. First off I am ecstatic to have found this site and forums as I have learned quite a bit already (and am sure that I have plenty more to learn). I wanted to start documenting my journey to select an electric bike so that I could solicit some advice along the way and perhaps help someone else in the process. Please forgive the length of this first post as I am doing as much documenting for myself as for this forum.
I used to ride a road bike years ago but that went by the wayside as I got busier with life (and got older, fatter, and creakier). I am 57 now and retiring to a small town in the central coast area of California. It is rural and has hills and plenty of places to ride bikes. My wife (same age but much prettier and skinnier) was thinking about how to make going up and down our driveway and our street more fun and considered a golf cart or some other vehicle but changed her mind after riding a neighbor's Super73. Although neither one of us wanted to have a fast moped-like ride, we both felt that having an electric bike would get us out more and be far more fun. So now starts the journey.
Like many others, I started by searching the web for resources (and found this wonderful place). I learned about mid drive vs. hub motors, mechanical vs. hydraulic brakes, cadence vs. torque sensors, batteries, controllers, and of course all of the things that ebikes share with standard bikes. So here were my basic requirements:
Again sorry for the long post but any thoughts or suggestions are welcome. I will continue to update my journey and hope that it helps others and is not an annoyance to the community.
Noob out.
I used to ride a road bike years ago but that went by the wayside as I got busier with life (and got older, fatter, and creakier). I am 57 now and retiring to a small town in the central coast area of California. It is rural and has hills and plenty of places to ride bikes. My wife (same age but much prettier and skinnier) was thinking about how to make going up and down our driveway and our street more fun and considered a golf cart or some other vehicle but changed her mind after riding a neighbor's Super73. Although neither one of us wanted to have a fast moped-like ride, we both felt that having an electric bike would get us out more and be far more fun. So now starts the journey.
Like many others, I started by searching the web for resources (and found this wonderful place). I learned about mid drive vs. hub motors, mechanical vs. hydraulic brakes, cadence vs. torque sensors, batteries, controllers, and of course all of the things that ebikes share with standard bikes. So here were my basic requirements:
- Lower cost would be better (less than $2K)
- A step-through so we could get on and off the bike easily
- 500W or higher hub motor as I thought it would be easier to get use and for hills
- Throttle for starts from stop and hills
- Cadence sensor
- Disc brakes - mechanical or hydraulic did not matter
- Decent components
- Electric bikes are heavy! I found them difficult to maneuver when not riding especially after being used to bikes in the 20 pound range. Perhaps I want a lighter bike?
- I need gears! Peddling an electric bike without gears with or without assist is too tough for my muscles at the moment.
- I don't know how to use a cadence sensor based bike very well. I would not coordinate the speed and my cadence and everything felt unnatural to me.
- I need to learn how to use a throttle effectively - I often forgot it was even there. I may or may not want a throttle.
- I might want to try a mid drive with a torque sensor as I am reading that they feel more like a standard bike but with extra oomph. Perhaps that is really what I want?
- These bikes felt a bit wobbly - was that my inability or do I need the stiffness that a standard frame provides?
- Making sure that a local shop would service the bike should be the top of the list. A bike needs service during its life and I will not be able to do it all myself.
- Reliability should be next on the list. Less hassle and more fun.
- Cost is relative - you can spend a ton on bike maintenance if you cheap out on components but there is a balance here that I need to find.
- There is more to a motor than power ratings.
- Take a bunch more test rides before making any decisions.
Again sorry for the long post but any thoughts or suggestions are welcome. I will continue to update my journey and hope that it helps others and is not an annoyance to the community.
Noob out.