What are you looking for in a new ebike?

[nomlinz]

Hi everyone!

My name is Nalin and I'm a consultant working with a brand to launch a new ebike.

We're looking to bring to life an ebike that is designed and created with direct feedback from the community. We'd be interested to know what it is you're looking for in an ebike and how you're using your ebike now.

You can tell us more in this quick survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/YN9JG7Q

Thank you in advance for your help!

Nalin

 

[Dmitri]

> USB Charging Ports - charge your electronic devices on-the-go.
You will only stand out if you have 1000Mah output because, guess what, Bosch already gives uss 500Mah. If you doo 1000Mah you win and people can port their GoPro/VIRB/whatever. If you do 500Mah you're not convincing anyone.
Bonus points: have hot-swappable USB/USB-C connectors. I know keyboards that do this. It's an advanced feature but will help you stand out.

>48V High-Capacity Battery - long range riding up to 100 miles on one charge.
Sorry, but unless you invented a super-efficient drive, 500Wh will only give 100 miles on a bare minimum of assist. If you want to compete, you have to come up with something better. 1000Wh is the state of the art (see Bosch DualBattery and such).

>Rear Rack - sturdy place to carry goods or attach child seats
Won't say no to that, so long as the mounting options are clear and available. Once you do anything proprietary, you've lost.

>Downhill Suspension Fork - get better handling, cornering capabilities, and a smoother ride.
Absolutely unnecessary. A 203mm suspension fork is only suitable for actual downhill travel, unless you've misunderstood what downhill is. The only thing you want to be using from the downhill discipline are rims and tubes. But this doesn't apply to fatbike components.

>SHIMANO M360 8-Speed Derailleur - smooth gear shifting for any terrain.
Derailleurs are evil and need to be replaced with IGHs on all ebikes. NuVinci isn't that expensive if you don't want to go for Rohloff.

>Front Light - visibility in darkness to keep safe.
Quality varies though. A cheap front light is not worth it. Lupine SL is where the it's at (affordable) or Supernova M99 Pro if you want to go top-tier.

Flashing Back Lights - visibility in darkness and turn signaling to keep safe.
Just keep them on but don't flash them. Too annoying.

4-inch Fat Tire - riding comfort while navigating on rough terrain.
This by itself guarantees absolutely nothing if you cannot drive the wheel properly.

Torque Transducer - allows the right amount of peddle assist.
It's called a torque sensor. Does not negate the need for speed and shift sensors.

Waterproof Cables - protects components of the electric bike from weather and wash.
Umm, they are waterproof by default on all ebikes. Imagine if they weren't!

Integrated App - provides real-time bike information and GPS positioning.
That's good if you can power the bike consistently. But the situation when the rider forgot their phone (or it's broken) needs to be accounted for.

Quick Charger - charge the electric bike in 2 hours, 50% faster than other electric bikes on the market.
This means your charger is 2x as big as chargers offered by what's on the market, right? Because you cannot cheat physics.

Travel Charger - portable charger to charge the electric bike anytime and anywhere.
I'd be OK with a charger that takes 8-10 hours to charge but is really small. Why? Charging at night while I sleep makes perfect sense.

 

[Barry S]

In regards to @Dmitri comments and some of my own:

• USB Ports - place one at the top of the battery so there's no risk of leg contact, and put another one on the mount for the display.
• Rear Rack - don't weld it to the bike. It should mount like any 3rd party rack in case I want to change it.
• Display - make it a quick connect/disconnect from its mount so I can take it with me.
• Branding - don't see any on your picture, but avoid advertising on the bike that screams, "LOOK HERE...I'M ELECTRIC!"
• Color - Last I checked, Crayola offers more than Black and White in their boxes (Red in your case). Give us some options.
• Post-Sale Service - It's easier to build on return customers than look for new ones. Honor your warranty and constantly improve your product.
• Brakes...Throttle? - Don't see them in your picture, and neither are they mentioned in your product description.

As for the components, frame style, motor type, tire size, etc., they become more personal and will vary with a buyer's needs and preferences, which is why there are so many different ebikes out there. What I've noticed in my buying research is companies either hang their hat on one style and offer several variations of that style or they have one of each: Commuter, Folding, Fat Tire, Cruiser, etc. Is the bike in your survey the only one you plan on offering? IMO, it's easier to find a single style that "checks a lot of boxes" as Cort would say and build from there once you've got a better feel of the marketplace.

 

[Mr. Coffee]

I'll agree with most of what came above and add my own pet peeves.

Don't use custom parts for things like the seat post, grips, and brakes where a customer might reasonably might want to upgrade or replace.

I nearly always use a rando bag or a basket so the front headlight is usually more of a liability than an asset.

Nearly every e-bike I've tried had a 7 or 8 speed. What you always ended up with in rugged terrain (where I ride) is that the high gears aren't high enough to really get a cruise on and the low gears aren't low enough to get you up that hill. I'll heartily recommend an IGH simply because all of them greatly extend the range of gears you get.

Derailleurs easily get fouled by snow or mud. One more argument for IGHs.

Finally... PRODUCT TESTING. Get a bunch of fussy cyclists to try your product out for a week or two and get their feedback -- and listen to what they have to say. There are so many good bikes out there that fall short of being truly great because of ergonomics. If you are doing day-in day-out 20 mile commutes or a ten-day 750 mile tour those little irritating misfeatures can become genuinely debilitating and ruin a perfectly good trip. As an example of this one relatively well-thought of bike (that from the fora here is really popular) had a piece of bare metal (from the bell) on the left handlebar just inside the grips and another piece of bare metal (from the shifter) on the right handlebar, again just inside the grips. The problem is that especially when you are riding fast (at least for me) my hands tend to "drift" inwards and my pointer finger rubs against the bare metal. A little nubbin of plastic or a guard on the grips would prevent that from happening. The moral of the story is that little details matter.

 

[e-boy]

... if you build a quiet , reliable , rear hub drive eBike , with a long range battery , wide 700c tires , step-thru frame, and an upright riding position , able to carry rear and front cargo , at a reasonable price , I will buy it .