Trek Allant +7s owner having the itch to buy a 2nd ebike

[Bill_12831]

I don't really need another ebike so maybe I should be talked off the ledge.. I like my Trek Allant +7s albeit it was very expensive. Since I bought my bike last year I have been perusing the forums and the Ride1up Lmt'd had caught my attention.
I really like the idea of having a throttle in addition to pedal assist. I had times along a bike path where an intersection comes up abruptly and you don't have time to downshift and having a throttle to give you that extra boost when crossing a busy street from a dead stop would really be nice.

I haven't ridden many ebikes aside from the Trek Allant and my own homemade front wheel hub drive trek mountain bike. I'm a casual rider not up on all the latest bike jargon. I am really interested in that Ride1up Lmt'd as I like the look, style, integrated battery and 28 mph pedal assist and 20mph throttle that works regardless if you pedal.

Being I have the itch to make a purchase and < $2,000. Do you think there are better options? I also like the Aventon Level however I understand that throttle only works once the bike is moving. Not a fan of the looks of Rad Rover. Or can a trigger throttle be added to my Trek Allant +7s?

 

[Saratoga Dave]

The battlefield is a great ride, isn’t it? I do it several times a year.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

You wouldn't like to add a Yugo to your stable if you already own a Ferrari. Aim at equal - but different - e-bike. Another e-bike with a Bosch motor would let you reuse the battery.

 

[Bill_12831]

The battlefield is a great ride, isn’t it? I do it several times a year.

Yes,, I like it there. I believe you had suggested it to me somewhere else in this forum. I have also done the one up to lake George the Warren County bike path and the Zim Smith Trail.

 

[Bill_12831]

You wouldn't like to add a Yugo to your stable if you already own a Ferrari. Aim at equal - but different - e-bike. Another e-bike with a Bosch motor would let you reuse the battery.

Is the Ride1up really a yugo compared to the Allant or is the Allant just overpriced? The Battery for the Bosch motor on the trek though has a faceplate attached which you would have to remove every time, I’m not really sure what that entails I’ll have to take a closer look.. Also the battery on the Ride1up is less than half the price.

 

[EmotionLynx6Pro]

I posted a lengthy write-up on the Limited and the 700 (I own both now) in the R1U forum. Perhaps it will help you in your decision. I bought the Limited in part because I already owned a 700 from Ride1Up, but also because it seemed to be a lighter bike with a stronger motor than its competitors. I haven't found either of those things to hold true.

Another bike to consider in the same style is the Rize bike. I have no personal experience with it, but it looks nice and has a lot of features for similar/less money than the Limited.

Hope you have fun in your search.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Is the Ride1up really a yugo compared to the Allant or is the Allant just overpriced? The Battery for the Bosch motor on the trek though has a faceplate attached which you would have to remove every time, I’m not really sure what that entails I’ll have to take a closer look.. Also the battery on the Ride1up is less than half the price.

This is First World vs. Third World. You money, your choice.

 

[Bill_12831]

This is First World vs. Third World. You money, your choice.

I understand your point. I'm just looking for advice on if these lesser expensive internet bikes are worth the money. I don't want to spend another $4,000 on a bike. But I would buy another bike at half the price if it is good.

 

[Bill_12831]

I posted a lengthy write-up on the Limited and the 700 (I own both now) in the R1U forum. Perhaps it will help you in your decision. I bought the Limited in part because I already owned a 700 from Ride1Up, but also because it seemed to be a lighter bike with a stronger motor than its competitors. I haven't found either of those things to hold true.

Another bike to consider in the same style is the Rize bike. I have no personal experience with it, but it looks nice and has a lot of features for similar/less money than the Limited.

Hope you have fun in your search.

thank you, I'll seek out your review.

 

[Alaskan]

Another factor to consider in you choice of second bike is that you are your own mechanic. Maybe the guys at the Trek shop will work on it for you but maybe not and getting parts, especially warranty parts will require you to be the parts manager, making all the arrangements or paying someone else to do that part as well. In terms of support, right now you have one of the best at your beck and call. A serious chunk of the money you save, they save by have phone only service, in some cases barely adequate if at all. Lesser quality equipment + lesser service = more headaches. I am fond of this quote by the 19th century English author John Ruskin and have cited it in EBR before. It is too on point not to do so here as well.

"There is hardly anything in the world that someone cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price alone are that person's lawful prey. It's unwise to pay too much, but it's worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money – that is all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do. The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot – it can't be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run, and if you do that you will have enough to pay for something better."

 

[Bill_12831]

Another factor to consider in you choice of second bike is that you pare your own mechanic. Maybe the guys at the Trek shop will work on it for you but maybe not and getting parts, especially warranty parts will require you to be the parts manager, making all the arrangements or paying someone else to do that part as well. In terms of support, right now you have one of the best at your beck and call. A serious chunk of the money you save, they save by have phone only service, in some cases barely adequate if at all. Lesser quality equipment + lesser service = more headaches. I am fond of this quote by the 19th century English author John Ruskin and have cited it in EBR before. It is too on point not to do so here as well.

"There is hardly anything in the world that someone cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price alone are that person's lawful prey. It's unwise to pay too much, but it's worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money – that is all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do. The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot – it can't be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run, and if you do that you will have enough to pay for something better."

Good point, these are things to consider. I heard good things about smaller Ebike companies in the United States and some that they provide good customer service.. However there is chance these smaller companies may not be around in a few years. My Homemade Trek Ebike pictured above has lasted me three seasons so far but the parts are pretty generic I can find anywhere on Amazon on the cheap. Do it yourself ebikes are not as nearly as ellegant as my Allant with the integrated battery into the frame and the controller and wires hidden out of sight. The only thing I wish I had on my Allant was a throttle.

 

[Ebiker01]

Only UPgrade not downgrade ! I would wait one or two years until they get the 4680 batteries or newer tech. overall.

 

[Asher]

Good point, these are things to consider. I heard good things about smaller Ebike companies in the United States and some that they provide good customer service.. However there is chance these smaller companies may not be around in a few years.

What I'm seeing is less of companies going out of business, and more of a hype lifecycle to each brand. Early on, they get good reviews - maybe the service/quality is better, maybe early adopters are less apt to complain, or maybe they just paid off a lot of influencers. Then their production expands, they spend much more on marketing, their profit margin targets increase, they don't scale service to match production, etc. I suppose this shouldn't be that surprising given that this is basically the model created by crowdfunding.

 

[Captain Slow]

I agree with Stefan.

Not sure why you'd ride a cheap ebike if you have the Allant.

I did have two ebikes at the same time as I had a Juiced CCS and a Creo. But they were quite different bikes. One was an electric commuter and the other was a road bike. Very different uses for the two bikes.

 

[linklemming]

Is the Ride1up really a yugo compared to the Allant or is the Allant just overpriced? The Battery for the Bosch motor on the trek though has a faceplate attached which you would have to remove every time, I’m not really sure what that entails I’ll have to take a closer look.. Also the battery on the Ride1up is less than half the price.

Nothing wrong with having multiple ebikes at all different pricepoints.

The Ride1Up appears to be a decent bike with decent components and a throttle. Do you need top end components for the projected use of this bike? Will a hub drive work? (most likely if you already have one). Ride1up seems like a good up and coming company with decent bikes at good prices. If they did go out of business its likely you could retrofit a different hub motor and have the battery rebuilt as its likely not proprietary

Its hard to say what smaller bike companies will endure, I see alot of speculation here but in the end, this market is just too volatile and new. If you really are concerned about this, stick with the big brands with the big 4 mid drives although there are no guarantees there either. Specialized has abandoned support for some of their older ebikes and didnt bosch make the gen4 motors imcompatible framewise with the older motors (how long will bosch support the gen3 motors?). I had actually ordered a focus(nice euro brand) jam 2 in late 2018 and decided to cancel the order. In the end, focus pulled out of the US market a month later as they were not seeing the expected sales.

My first ebike, a bulls Evo 3 Brose motor hardtail eMTB is by far the best and nicest ebike I own and I was a ebike snob until I started trying other bikes (DIY TSDZ2, Juiced CCX, Izip Moda E3 brose speed pedelec, DIY GMAC surly troll). Each has their niche. FWIW, I have a $5k Carbon acoustic FS MTB in my stable as well and love riding it.

If you really like the feel of riding a nicely integrated bike like the allant, nothing wrong with that either. I like that too but I only have so much $$.

CCX was my least refined bike but it was also the fastest bike I owned(until my DIY GMAC build). Nobody ever passed me on that bike, especially with the aero handlebars I had on it. It also had the best range. $2400

Bulls Evo 27.5+ as I said before is the nicest and always a pleasure to ride but is limited to strictly offroad MTB trails these days. If I could only have 1 ebike, this would be the one although I would derestrict it. $3600

Moda E3 is a nice minimalistic brose speed pedelec that is a pleasure on many gravel rides when I want to get a really good workout(small battery). $2400 on sale

DIY TSDZ2 - an experiment...RIP, fun while it lasted $$??

DIY GMAC troll build - FAST, yet fun to just sit back and get a workout on. If I was to own only 2 bikes, it would be this bike and the bulls. This bike is also the most future proof. $3600

 

[Johnny]

@Bill_12831 Here is my input.

For your case fortunately @EmotionLynx6Pro owns the bike you are thinking of moreover he also has a high quality full suspension bike hence his comparison should be very valuable here. Linklemming also built and owned similar bikes. I would focus on those inputs first rather than other (this includes my own) mundane arguments like being cheap/expensive/prestigious etc.

Unfortunately I don't have any experience with ride1u, it looks decent on paper. However I would be looking for the following in a value offering around $2k range.
1. It is worth paying more for a high quality foc based controller like ASI's offerings. They will be reliable, smooth, efficient. A high quality controller will deal with voltage sag better hence you will not observe a significant decrease in performance as you drain the battery.
2. A safe, good quality battery.
3. For a bike around $2000, deore 10speed derailleur is as good as it gets. It is a good enough derailleur for mid/high end mtb's, can take wide range cassettes, shifts crisp yet cheap to maintain/own.
4. Through axle on both front and rear if possible.
5. 4 piston brakes if possible (or a 4-2 setup)
6. I would pass entry level coil forks. A decent air fork on the other hand should work nicely. Also having a tapered headset will give you the flexibility to change the fork if needed in the future.
7. A well programmed torque sensor(you shouldn't expect perfect smoothness at this price range though).
8. If possible go for a better quality hub like tdcm, dapu, gmac etc. (although these will increase the price).

Take your time. Good luck.

 

[Alaskan]

Any Bosch powered ebike bike is relatively future proof in that they have publicly committed to tech and parts support for all their ebike components for a minimum of 10 years after introduction.

 

[linklemming]

Any Bosch powered ebike bike is relatively future proof in that they have publicly committed to tech and parts support for all their ebike components for a minimum of 10 years after introduction.

Thanks for the clarification on that, I should have done more research

 

[Dallant]

Good point, these are things to consider. I heard good things about smaller Ebike companies in the United States and some that they provide good customer service.. However there is chance these smaller companies may not be around in a few years. My Homemade Trek Ebike pictured above has lasted me three seasons so far but the parts are pretty generic I can find anywhere on Amazon on the cheap. Do it yourself ebikes are not as nearly as ellegant as my Allant with the integrated battery into the frame and the controller and wires hidden out of sight. The only thing I wish I had on my Allant was a throttle.

You clearly have buyer’s remorse from lack of throttle and spending beyond your desired level.
I think you just don’t appreciate the Allant and should sell it to me cheap. BTW, what size frame is it?

Seriously, you started with a home built bike and clearly don’t appreciate what you have. I think you'd be better off just building yourself another bike. Some folks just seem to have that itch to scratch. Just please put an equivalent set of hydraulic disk brakes on your next home-built!

 

[Bill_12831]

You clearly have buyer’s remorse from lack of throttle and spending beyond your desired level.
I think you just don’t appreciate the Allant and should sell it to me cheap. BTW, what size frame is it?

Seriously, you started with a home built bike and clearly don’t appreciate what you have. I think you'd be better off just building yourself another bike. Some folks just seem to have that itch to scratch. Just please put an equivalent set of hydraulic disk brakes on your next home-built!