School me on e-bikes

Lunch Box

Lunch Box

Useful idiot
Folks, I've been pondering getting an e-bike for quite some time now. Primarily, I would use it to commute: 4 miles from home to BART, 3 miles from BART to work, and back. Ideally, it would be able to handle some trail riding / light mountain bike stuff. Standalone throttle capability would be nice, but pedal assist is all that I really need. I'm hoping this bike would help get me out on longer rides as I work towards getting back in shape.

I'd love to hear any advice you have regarding new vs lightly used, and regarding specific makes/models/features to look for or to avoid. Let me know about your personal experiences with these bikes, too. Let's see what you've got, BARF.
 
spdt509

spdt509

Well-known member
I'd looked into it and found them still too pricey, but hoping it will catch on and become more affordable in the near future....
 
Hoho

Hoho

Ride to Eat
Check with Kornholio, they make some pretty nice ones. Pedal powered with 3 modes, throttle, pedal assist and just plain pedal power. The bikes look pretty good too... I wouldn't mind having one of those. :)

http://www.genze.com/e-bikes/
 
sanjuro

sanjuro

Rider
Your commute is exactly what an e-bike is meant for.

However, given you are riding just a few miles, you can likely pedal it normally if you can make time. My commutes typically are 4-5 miles to and from the train, which I can do in about 30 minutes on each ride.

The comparison between regular and e-bikes leads into cost. A decent hardtail mountain bike will be around $1000. You will have add $2000 to get an e-bike with the same spec.

As for the ride, it is a nice boost. I did a test on a cruiser with a motor, and I didn't pedal and did about 20mph, pedaled hard and did about 30.
 
Lunch Box

Lunch Box

Useful idiot
Good input so far, folks. Keep it coming. I test rode a couple of ebikes yesterday. I REALLY liked the Stromer ST1, though it would be pretty limited with respect to terrain. I also rode one of the more mountain bike style Haibikes. I liked the suspension, but didn't like the way the mid drive felt. The computer display on the Stromer was quite a bit better, too. I want to try a few more before I really nail down what I'm looking for. I will say that my first ride on an ebike did not disappoint. Holy crap those things are cool. :cool
 
Lunch Box

Lunch Box

Useful idiot
sanjuro said:
Your commute is exactly what an e-bike is meant for.

However, given you are riding just a few miles, you can likely pedal it normally if you can make time. My commutes typically are 4-5 miles to and from the train, which I can do in about 30 minutes on each ride.

The comparison between regular and e-bikes leads into cost. A decent hardtail mountain bike will be around $1000. You will have add $2000 to get an e-bike with the same spec.

As for the ride, it is a nice boost. I did a test on a cruiser with a motor, and I didn't pedal and did about 20mph, pedaled hard and did about 30.
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My trip to BART and back would be VERY hilly. This is where the ebike will shine. From BART to work and back is pretty flat, so not a big deal.
 
Falsus Nomen

Falsus Nomen

Lane-splitting Mafia
Ridden everything electric offered.

Zero, Zero SR, and lots of others are great options for commuters, great for short mileage. Super light, easy to throw around. But the mileage shown on the battery and the mileage a real person would use are not compatible. You can realistically expect 45-60 miles with no charging. If you commute 8 miles a day, you could probably do a week on a bike. Not for me. I do 120 miles...... a day. Not a realistic option. So I will stick with my gas powered bike for commuting.

Personally, I was wondering when they would make a real person sized bike. Double the battery size, and make it a 550+ sized bike, and something you could ride, not like an electric dirt bike.
 
Lunch Box

Lunch Box

Useful idiot
Falsus, we're talking pedal bikes with electric assist. I'm pretty sure that the nice folks at BART would get a but upset if I were to try to bring a Zero onto the train....
 
Hoho

Hoho

Ride to Eat
Lunch Box said:
Falsus, we're talking pedal bikes with electric assist. I'm pretty sure that the nice folks at BART would get a but upset if I were to try to bring a Zero onto the train....
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:laughing But I would like to be there when you try this.
 
Cookie Monster

Cookie Monster

noob
Lunch Box said:
Falsus, we're talking pedal bikes with electric assist. I'm pretty sure that the nice folks at BART would get a but upset if I were to try to bring a Zero onto the train....
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Attach pedals to the pegs of the Zero and tell people that it's a pedal bike with a big battery?
 
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