Originally Posted by jawramik

I'm considering buying an ebike to use as my primary mode of transportation around town (going to and from work, grocery shopping, errands, etc.)

The bike that seems, according to my research, to be best-suited to my needs is the Juiced Rider U500. I like that it seems to have longer range and ride time than many ebikes available, as well as the rear rack and extra power for transporting stuff. It also seems to be a pretty good value, and it seems like it's gotten very positive reviews.

I also have a single-speed road bike that I've considered converting. I figure I can always put front and/or back cargo racks, and I also have a bike trailer I could use for hauling crap.

Are there any other ebikes I might want to consider? Also, would converting my road bike be a better value? I know kits are often less expensive than pre-built ebikes, but what would get me the most bang for my buck?

Here are the features that are most important to me:

-Range of at least 20 miles and ride time of at least one hour per charge (and more is always better)
-Ability to transport stuff, whether it's with trailer, built-in racks, or ad-on racks
-Top speed of at least 15mph
-Throttle
-Less than $4,000

And here are the features that are not important to me (I'm not against them or anything, I just don't care one way or the other):

-Pedal-assist mode
-Multi-speed gearing
-Fancy LED display/computer
-Shock absorbers



I realise that what constitutes the "best" ebike is highly subjective, but I'd appreciate some extra input about what ebikes or kits you think are best-suited to the job.