Bikes and e-bikes

[ghostrunner]

Starting another thread since "people in cars" is mostly a lot of fussing about cars and bikes.

Just ordered an e-bike after thinking about it for about 2 years and can't wait. Tried the model I'm buying out on Saturday and ordered right after. Plan right now is to make it my default work ride, as I'm heading back to the office 2 days a week starting in June. The ebike ought to cut my bike commute roughly in half, and end up only being about 10-15 minutes longer than the car commute. Also hoping to avoid changing clothes or worrying about sweating, which was a minor concern before when I biked in.

Got one of these -

https://www.radpowerbikes.com/products/ ... -step-thru

There's a throttle which lets you move without pedaling. Tops out at 20mph which is roughly as fast as I get going down a steep hill. Or there's a pedal assist function that has 5 levels. When I tried it out I was doing almost nothing at level 3, but that would change depending on rider weight, hills, etc...

How are you liking this ebike after a few months?

It's great. Don't get to ride it every day I go to work due to the occasional errand where I need to pick up a kid or have Dr appt after work or if there's heavy rain and thunder predicted, but it's been the bulk of my commutes since I got it.

Works pretty much as expected with the benefits I expected. Little to no sweating on the way in. I ride to work in normal clothes - fenders are a must for that to work. In my case it's 90% trails. Slower than a car, but I'm not stuck in traffic. I see wildlife all the time now. It's a nice commute.

I got a basket for the back to carry my stuff. Backpack with the laptop in it, rain jacket, coffee thermos, bike lock.

Commute to work is about 50 minutes, vs 30 in the car and 75 minutes on the normal bike. I get off at 3, so for me it works out fine. Seems long to some people, but I look at it as a time to get some exercise and it's also a nice way to unwind.


If I had to come up with downsides -

It not as much exercise as the regular bike, so that benefit is diminished. It's more like a long, leisurely walk. Lately I've been knocking the pedal assist function down a notch on the way home, even though it's hot.

I'm a little self-conscious about riding so fast. I'm at or below the trail speed limit, but I worry about surprising people. Or their dogs. I'm using the bell more often than I used to. Most people wear headphones though and there's only so much you can do. I figure one day a walker is going to U-turn in front of me and won't know I'm coming.

It's heavier than a normal bike, and with the basket and my stuff you feel it and hear it going over bumps.

Had to buy a huge bike lock because the frame on this one is thicker than a normal bike. Sometimes it's a bit tricky to lock up, but I always manage.

Thanks. I currently ride my regular bike to work as much as possible and will probably keep using that for my commute so I can get the exercise. But I was thinking about getting an e-bike that both my wife and I could share and use just for fun, or if I don't want to be drenched in sweat when I get to the office. I currently do show up completely drenched in sweat but since my office is so small and nobody cares if I wear shorts or show up sweaty it's not a problem for me. But there will likely be days where I want to be more put together and could use the e-bike instead.

My main concern about the e-bikes is the weight. If you turn off the pedal assist is it super heavy to pedal? I have a bike room in my building's basement but have to go down about 6 steps to get in there. Looks like this weighs in about 65 lbs, which might be kinda heavy for that. Have you ever had to get it up and down stairs?

By the way, the video review on the rad bikes website where you linked to that model is insanely detailed. Whoever that guy is an an absolute e-bike nerd.

I think riding with the first level of pedal assist is roughly equivalent to riding a regular bike. Maybe a bit easier on a perfectly flat road. In general, I don't think you want to ride it with no assist.

Getting up or down stairs might be a job. You should shop around though. There are lighter models, especially other brands. Some of them fold up too. Price probably starts to go up a little. That's true in general with Rad, which run relatively low for ebikes. If you go with them, there's also some assembly required. They ship to you in a flat box and you have to put the handlebars on, the pedals, and the front wheel. It's not hard but it's better to have tools and you might want a bike shop to do it for you.

I'll say if I was single and I made the same money or more, I'd have gone with something more expensive. This was in my budget.

Forgot to mention I've found the throttle is great for getting across intersections. On a normal bike you've got that second or two where you get the bike going again with the pedals, but the throttle lets you jump out there right away. Have to look out for that too if you want it. Many ebikes are only pedal assist.

[G. Keenan]

Yeah, the throttle looks like a great feature. I like these Rad Bikes because they seem like a good value. I genuinely enjoy riding my bike and the exercise I get from it, so I'm not looking to spend a whole lot for an e-bike that would not get everyday use. Plus, we have a bikeshare network here that already has e-bikes available and there is a dock literally across the street from our house. I can always grab an e-bike out of that and not have to commit to buying one, maintaining it, etc. so I don't see a need to spend like $3k on a toy.