What are some of the less expensive bikes with torque sensors?

[Deleted member 4210]

Thanks Mike... Those are all good ideas. I just ran across the Redshift suspension stem the other day and thought it might be a possibility... and I’ll almost definitely be sticking a cushy suspension seat post on it.

Though I don’t own an Aventon yet, I did start a Facebook group dedicated to their Pace eBikes if you’re on Facebook and interested. It’s brand new so there are only a few people in there. The founder of Aventon joined though. Ride1Up, Rad, Juiced, and other brands have really helpful Facebook groups so I thought Aventon should have the same community support.

The room name is: Aventon Pace - Electric Bikes

But still haven’t decided what I’ll actually buy. The iZip’s my wife and I rented rode so nice.

Good to know. Aventon is doing some rather innovative stuff to keep quality and performance high, but price low. They aren't doing it by cutting corners. It may seem subtle on a ton of little things they do, but when you've been around a lot of ebikes, built conversions, dealt with packaging, assembly, dumb stuff that causes damage, or recurring quality issues, it's easy to see how Aventon is setting themselves apart from the crowd. A FB page will have a lot of interesting things to share in the coming months. Cool stuff will be coming down the pike from them in the next year.

Some of the 'little things' I love :
Wires wrapped very nicely and well protected.
Seat post doesn't have those stupid cheap brackets that fit between seat rails that come lose,but rather solid supports that allow very precise and tight tilt adjustment for the seat.
Very clean and minimal external wiring.
Extremely easy access to controller that's also robust and not jammed into the frame housing too tightly as many are, so it's easiky serviceable. And it's not external like on a Rad where it can get easily damaged, and broken wires, or covered with mud and water.

Clean frame design that is also easy for future service and makes for easy access to all components. Enclosed cadence sensor. Very sturdy kickstand that is also adjustable. Nice and very strong rim design. Unlikely to get out of true. Very strong adjustable stem that won't come loose. Bike is lightweight compared to nearly all brands which is significant for those who lift these onto car bike carriers. Also makes it easier to maneuver. Very nice grips and pretty comfortable seat on a low price point bike - seats on most brands are too hard, and uncomfortable and so I have a large collection of seats that had to be changed out prior to sale from other brands. It's useless waste for me as a dealer. It's pathetic when things like that have to be removed from a brand new ebike. (That includes crappy kickstands, crappy grips, low grade stems, etc). These are just a few of about two dozen things I've made a list of for myself that if a competing brand doesn't offer, it's not coming in my shop to sell. Aventon is setting some tough to beat standards and it's only a matter of time before word gets out. Amazingly they do so little marketing as compared to a Rad or Pedego. The organic growth will be more gradual, but I suspect it will eventually surpass expensive marketing, due to higher quality ebikes, less unhappy consumers, more enthusiastic dealers, and getting so many little things right about the bike from the start. It's so refreshing to not have to deal with fenders that come from the factory and rub the tires, and have to be removed and 'bent' outward just to fit, that 3 years of feedback have failed to get the OEM to do one darn thing about it. Consumers are protected from seeing such garbage. Dealers deal with it daily. Thank you Aventon !

 

[Andropolis]

I noticed many of those quality characteristics and think Aventon has a great, high quality, yet very reasonably priced bike. I’m really looking forward to my wifes 350 arriving so I can check it out... though I will feel a little silly riding a metallic purple step through, I think I’ll get over it enough to do a few long test drives.

I’m looking forward to seeing how a 350 will do on the hills.

Mike... you may be able to respond to this... but if the Pace’s preset pedal assist is faster than desired (even in level 1)... changing the preset tire size to something smaller (without physically changing the tire size) would reduce the speed correct? I know this would throw off the speedometer and odometer... but it’s one way to slow the pedal assist down hopefully. I wish they had spaced the assist levels on the 500 out a little more and started at a slower speed.

 

[tomjasz]

Some of these more expensive bikes’ battery packs cost upwards of $800...

Is it possible to somehow just replace the 18650’s with new cells? It seems like a shame to have to buy a whole new housing/BMS just because the cells are spent.

There are a couple of good rebuilders and more every few months. As always some to watch out for but there's a lot of knowledge on forums to help sort.

 

[tomjasz]

Being a kit builder and supporting bike shops and individuals with technical advice I'm a fan of kits. Many shops these days are installing them. The advantage is an old friend and a favorite ride can be converted. These days there are enough choices to get a decent fit, but often not as good as that frame geometry I'd ridden for decades. Kits range, like eBikes from cheap Chinese with Chinglish instructions, to highly developed and engineered kits like eBikes.ca. I've been involved with Bafang mid drives since they were introduced. However, I am known for shocking buyers and suggesting the mid isn't their best buy. NOT for someone with no mechanical sense or willingness to watch youtube and learn. But as I mentioned more and more shops are working with us to install mid drives and maintain them.

One school of thought and seller suggests hub drives can do enough to satisfy all but the most vigorous off-road MTN biker. MAC, eZee, BMC, and a few Bafang hub drives are great performers. Some decide to run direct drives at 60 or even 72V. There are cooling strategies that can make them workable. BUT above 60V is new territory as safety and handling the electrics goes.

JRA here and a couple more of us have a lot of experience with a style of drive many immediately discount. A front-wheel-drive can be a fine alternative and a really easy kit to install. 99% of the complaints are just repeats of some forum post by a fellow that became a high-speed rider or found they wanted to go off road not just commute, ride trails, and run errands. 6 bikes to choose from her and my go-to on flat city streets is a 1000W DD front Trek Pure. The bike Electra sued Trek over. My busy trail bikes are 350W. I tried a TSDZ2, and ran BBS02, BBS02B, and 3 BBSHD drives. I sold the BBSHD drives as I just didn't need that much motor. 35MPH capable, but WAY out of line for ANY bike brakes.

Bottom line? I live my eBikes. If I were to do it again, I'd have researched and found a finished bike. I sold my Vespa GTS250 to fund the fun. But after visiting a dozen shops within 100 miles back then, there were NO bikes to try or even see. AND NONE available were flat foot.

 

[tomjasz]

But still haven’t decided what I’ll actually buy. The iZip’s my wife and I rented rode so nice.

Why not the iZip's?

 

[Andropolis]

Why not the iZip's?

Thank you for all the good information. I still have some time to decide. I’ll see how my wifes Aventon 350 behaves when it arrives, and decide from there.

I may go with the iZip... but replacement batteries are in the neighborhood of $700 which, for me, is a ton of money to fork out for a battery.... whereas Aventons replacements are $400.

 

[Bigal1463]

Ditto for Aventon. I have a Pace 500 and the parts are quality products and the torque is powerful. the hills are a breeze and the battery is priced right. In my second year with almost 700 easy miles and look forward for the ride every time I go out. And BTW, It’s a class 3 bike. All for 1,400.