Suggestions for mid-drive, step-through, w/ throttle?

[scottsdalecommuter]

Thanks for the congratualtions!

I'd encourage you to at least go test ride one sooner than later.

I'm truly amazed at how much more fun it is to ride with the torque sensor, vs. cadence-sensor--and also how much more control that engenders. It feels a lot safer, really. Also, it's responsive enough for some non-pavement situations, if that's of interest to you. (I tried taking a cadence-sensored bike on some of the many logging roads and single track trails around here, and it wasn't a good scene; I turned around after about half a mile in the interest of keeping body and soul together. With the level, I put in mile after mile on gravel and dirt roads, and mellow single track, and feel in control of the ride the whole time.)

I guess I'm thinking that the fact that it's more fun might make you want to upgrade sooner rather than later...and the fact that it's actually safer could help justify doing so. (You know: Safety first!)

Lol love it. That might help me sell the $2k purchase to my wife. Might be a springtime purchase. I don’t ride on trails much but have been kicking around getting more into it since there are some good trails here in western Illinois.

 

[Otterishly]

I love trail riding. It's a fun way to be out in nature, it requires a bit more focus than road riding (which makes the time fly by)--and, best of all, you don't have to worry about some texting motorist knocking you off your bike!

 

[tomjasz]

I could sell a step through single speed belt drive 28mph flat lander ebike by the dozen. Yet I can’t find one. Mid, DD, or GD all good.

 

[CSH]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experience, Kayakguy (Bikeguy, too, apparently!).

I ended up finding all the things on my "must have" list (and one of the two things on my "would like to have" list) quite unexpectedly at a local bike shop: namely, an Aventon Level.2. I test rode about a dozen bikes there, priced from $1995 to over $5k, with and without CVTs, etc., and picked the one that--specs aside--was simply the most fun to ride, and by quite a big margin, actually. To my great good fortune, the "most fun to ride" bike also happened to also be the lowest-priced of the lot! It does have a chain and derailleur--which, when I was in the online research phase, I thought I wanted to avoid. But, when I got to the test-drive stage, I found that I agreed with Ahicks, who wrote the following about CVTs in his post above:

"Gone is the clean, precise, quick, snick snick, of the derailleur shifts, to be replaced by a much more vague type shifting. Nothing terrible, but I do miss the quick exact shifts of a well maintained derailleur."

So, I stuck with the "snick, snick" and am feeling content with that choice (especially considering the savings, and most importantly, that the gestalt of this bike, for me, was just that it felt the most fun, easy, and natural to ride of all the ones I tried.) I'm really happy with the Level.2. Love the torque sensor, front suspension, 27.5" wheels, step-through frame, throttle, front suspension, and several other thoughtful details (metal fenders, really nice tail/brake lights, high-capacity rear rack, USB on the color display). I added a Kinect suspension seat post in deference to my lumbar fusion, and I'm off to the races!

P.S. About a month after I bought the Level.2, I got a chance to ride an Evelo Galaxy, which had been my front-runner during the online-research phase, during which I started this thread. Other than being lighter, which was nice, I liked the Evelo less in every way than the one I ended up with. Test rides are really key, it turns out!

Hi Otterishly,
Please let us know about Hill Climbing with your Level 2, once you've got some behind you !
I had money down, and Test rode the Level 2, but backed off out of concern about Hill Climbs. Otherwise I liked the bike a lot, it felt tight (in a good way).
I'm not too athletic now days, so I am looking for as much help on hills as is reasonable. Plus I just want to indulge myself with as much Cadillac vibe as possible.....
I now have an Evelo Omega on order and hope for the best (to justify the price leap ).

Please let us know about Hills, cause if the Omega is for some reason not what I dreamed of (site unseen as it were), I may just go back for a 2nd look at the Aventon Level 2.

CSH

 

[Otterishly]

Hi, CSH--

So far, so good! On one of my first rides, I took it on a really, really steep hill (sorry--I don't have actual stats on that. But, it was steep enough in places that I was surprised it was actually legal, and about two miles long). I was very pleased with how it performed. Slowest it went was 12 mph, briefly, on the very steepest part; was able to maintain 14-16 mph for the rest of it. (Note: although I pedaled for some of it, I was mostly trying to see what the bike itself could do in a worst-case scenario, so most of the test was using throttle only.) Pertinent info: I weigh quite a bit less than the average bear. (As, in fact, do most of us! But, at 115 lbs, I also weigh less than the average human. Of course that effects the hill performance, but don't know how much. I will say that I felt a had a lot of margin on the hill-climbing capability--it wasn't just adequate, it was ample.)

It's too icy around here to bike right now, but when things thaw out, I want to try hooking up my Burley trailer and loading it up with a 50 lb. dog or two, which would provide more data about how it does under load. I'll post an update here once I've had a chance to do that.

After I bought my Level.2, I finally got a chance to ride an Evelo with the Automatiq. (It was a Galaxy.) I disliked the Automatiq very much, as it turns out. So then I tried it in manual mode...and still found that it was just really no fun to ride...felt like power-assisted pedaling, yes--but through molasses. (I'm hoping that bike had some kind of a repair issue, because I can't imagine they would even take something to market that rode like that bike did. However, it only had about 30 miles on it...so if it DID have an issue, that doesn't speak very well of it, either.) Anyhow--with luck, your Omega will perform better than that! And if not, I don't think you could go wrong with the Level.2. It's just fun, fun, fun to ride. (Only improvement I'd like to see: less assist on the lowest level of assist. I don't like to ride it with no assist, because it's a heavy bike, so no assist feels like a slog. But the lowest level provides so much assist that it's hard to go less than about 12 miles/hour, and there are times--e.g. some off road settings, or maybe on a slick road, or a crowded situation in town--when I'd like to go slower than that. So, it would be nice if that lowest level was just sufficient to compensate for the heaviness and make it feel more or less like an acoustic bike, with the wind-at-one's-back sensation only kicking in at settings 2-5. I set the speed-governer at 25, which is as high as it goes, and enjoy going fast in most situations. But I'd like to have the option to go slow when I need to, w/out having to turn the motor completely off. I've been meaning to write to the company about it. I'm wondering whether it's something that could be addressed in a software update. I had another electric bike once that would actually let you go in and program the amperage for each level, which was great.)

 

[CSH]

Hi, CSH--

So far, so good! On one of my first rides, I took it on a really, really steep hill (sorry--I don't have actual stats on that. But, it was steep enough in places that I was surprised it was actually legal, and about two miles long). I was very pleased with how it performed. Slowest it went was 12 mph, briefly, on the very steepest part; was able to maintain 14-16 mph for the rest of it. (Note: although I pedaled for some of it, I was mostly trying to see what the bike itself could do in a worst-case scenario, so most of the test was using throttle only.) Pertinent info: I weigh quite a bit less than the average bear. (As, in fact, do most of us! But, at 115 lbs, I also weigh less than the average human. Of course that effects the hill performance, but don't know how much. I will say that I felt a had a lot of margin on the hill-climbing capability--it wasn't just adequate, it was ample.)

It's too icy around here to bike right now, but when things thaw out, I want to try hooking up my Burley trailer and loading it up with a 50 lb. dog or two, which would provide more data about how it does under load. I'll post an update here once I've had a chance to do that.

After I bought my Level.2, I finally got a chance to ride an Evelo with the Automatiq. (It was a Galaxy.) I disliked the Automatiq very much, as it turns out. So then I tried it in manual mode...and still found that it was just really no fun to ride...felt like power-assisted pedaling, yes--but through molasses. (I'm hoping that bike had some kind of a repair issue, because I can't imagine they would even take something to market that rode like that bike did. However, it only had about 30 miles on it...so if it DID have an issue, that doesn't speak very well of it, either.) Anyhow--with luck, your Omega will perform better than that! And if not, I don't think you could go wrong with the Level.2. It's just fun, fun, fun to ride. (Only improvement I'd like to see: less assist on the lowest level of assist. I don't like to ride it with no assist, because it's a heavy bike, so no assist feels like a slog. But the lowest level provides so much assist that it's hard to go less than about 12 miles/hour, and there are times--e.g. some off road settings, or maybe on a slick road, or a crowded situation in town--when I'd like to go slower than that. So, it would be nice if that lowest level was just sufficient to compensate for the heaviness and make it feel more or less like an acoustic bike, with the wind-at-one's-back sensation only kicking in at settings 2-5. I set the speed-governer at 25, which is as high as it goes, and enjoy going fast in most situations. But I'd like to have the option to go slow when I need to, w/out having to turn the motor completely off. I've been meaning to write to the company about it. I'm wondering whether it's something that could be addressed in a software update. I had another electric bike once that would actually let you go in and program the amperage for each level, which was great.)

Thanks for that very informative report on your ride. And it is interesting what your experience with the Evelo was like. I will be bummed if the Omega doesn't live up to my expectations, but Evelo is very sympathetic to Buyers Remorse, with their 21 Day Trial and Free Shipping both ways !
So that is why I'm going for it. Oh........ and, I am The Average "BEAR" . I equal almost Two of you. Oh.... I do miss the Skinnier Days

 

[Kayakguy]

Thanks for that thought, AHicks. I'm starting to lean pretty heavily in the last day or so toward the Evelo Galaxy SL, which doesn't have a derailleur. It weighs 54 lbs with battery in, and a manageable (liftable) 46 lbs with it removed. And I can add a belt drive later, and still come in under $3k, as they bike is currently $200 off, plus I found a coupon for another $100.

Wow, Rexlion--I had completely missed those options, both of which seem like a really good value. I got a chance to ride another bike that was rear-hub drive, with a torque sensor, and I thought it felt pretty good. (It was an Aventon Level.2.) I'd prefer both of the bikes you suggest to that, one, though, on the basis of both wheel size and price. Thanks for bringing them to my attention! Especially after finding the Evelo Galaxy SL on sale, though (for $2600, after the two discounts), I think I'm going to go that route due to its comparatively light weight, mid-drive (I plan to pull a trailer full of dogs uphill pretty frequently), and the fact that I think it would be fun to go derailleur-less for a change. And maybe, down the road, as a reward for wearing out the chain it comes with, I'll upgrade to a belt drive, as the frame is set up to handle one.

Thanks to all for adding to the fun of researching these fascinating beasts, and helping to steer me toward some interesting ones to consider!
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With an IGH you probably won't wear out that chain very fast. (Yes, I realize this is an old thread).