mlpokn

Hey there guys,


I'm looking to invest in an electric bike as my primary transportation device! about 8 miles to work from home daily. Lunch break to my favorite restaurant 5 miles away every now and then and 8 miles back to home and that's all I need. ( I can of course charge the bike/batter at work ) I will admit that I'm not a bike pro. I'm primarily looking into this because it would be cheaper than a car in the long run? and I just like the idea of riding a bike to get around town. So I was looking for something reliable that I can just buy and forget and not worry about too much maintenance down the road.

I'm near Portland, OR. So I'm assuming if I need any major repairs or issues fixed, at least I'm sure I can find a shop to get it done since Portland is kinda like the bike capital. There are couple of electric bike stores in Portland but I'm not sure which bike to invest in? I'm not opposed to buying online also. Anyone here with experience buying online recommend a place for me to take a look at?

I'm on the shorter side at 5'4 and 137lbs. I would like to stay under $4000 ( lower the better of course but I hear you get what you pay for when it comes to electric bikes )

Any help regarding this would be awesome! Thank you

EBikeFL 

Portland is hilly. What's the grade and terrain you'll be riding on? Mostly flat? How fast do you want to go? What's the posted speed limit on the roads you will be riding on? Is there a bicycle lane? What about picking up groceries? Would you like to never have to use your car again? Would you like to tell your car insurance you no longer need their services?

mlpokn

Thanks for the reply. Most flat with one tiny hill. Speed limit posted on the roads are mostly 40mph. Bicycle lane for about 90% of the route. Depending on how stealthy the bike looks, I can probably just pedal along the sidewalk for that 10% if it comes to that. Light groceries but I have like a grocery store literally right across the street from my house.
That would be lovely if that's doable. hehe

EBikeFL 

A hub motor would work for you. I'd go with a 48v 1000w rear hub motor like the one I have with a 48v 15Ah Ping battery. If you take a look at the last five pages of the link you'll find everything you need to build a 30+ mph e-bike. You'll be able to cover your eight miles to work in 16 minutes assuming there's no stop lights. The 5A charger would charge the power used in the eight miles in about 1.5 hours or less.

Of course, you could get a 250w or 500w motor which would also work.

You'll need to get a good mountain bike to put the entire kit on. A MTB such as Kona, Cannondale, etc. in the $500 range will work with disk brakes front and rear. Make sure you have the eyelets on the back for the bicycle rack as well. A rigid frame with or without the front shock works best.

Klassicbike

Id recommend some of the pedal assist big brand stuff such as Mid drive Yamaha, Panasonic, Bosch, Shimano or a rear hub motor such as Impulse II (These mentioned are the best and most reliable in my opinion).
Just visit some of the shops and try some of the bikes out, as you still have only little knowledge about bikes or E-Bikes they will be able to provide you with the information you need.

350htrr

High Performance E-Bikes - Hi-Power Cycles Pick one...

tds101 

Pedego makes a few nice commuter bikes: Electric Bikes | Electric Bicycles | Pedego Electric Bikes

350htrr

Electric Bikes - Electric-Bikes.com Here's a bunch of different choices...

HGR3inOK

Visit your local bike stores and test ride, test ride, test ride. Let the shop person know your intended use, the road surface(s), etc.
Raleigh USA has introduced some ebikes for 2015. See: Raleigh Bicycles - Ebike. Currie Technologies (Currie Technologies - Hybrid Best Electric Bikes and Bicycles E-Bike) has several different models. Raleigh and Currie are both part of the Accell Group. My understanding is that Currie did much of the design/development work on the Raleigh ebikes.

-HANK RYAN-
Norman, Oklahoma USA

InTheRain

Go see Wakefield Gregg at the ebikestore in Portland. Its about 3 blocks east of I-5 on Rosa Parks. He has all types of electric bikes, front hub, rear hub, mid-drives. If it was me and I had $4000, I'd buy a bike with the bosch mid-drive system. Myself, I loved my current bicycle and had ebikestore put a bionx rear drive conversion kit on it... $2400 with install. I have been extremely pleased with it. I can't say enough about how appreciative I am for "Wake" (as he calls himself) for spending time letting me try different bikes and talking to me about the advantages/disadvantages of each bike. You can even rent an ebike from him for a few days (up to a week, I believe) to help with your decision. I think the rental price comes off of the purchase price of the bike you end up buying. You have absolutely the very best resource for your decision right there in your city.

fietsbob

Clever Cycles has the Stoke Monkey kit and the Surly Big Dummy Long tail Cargo bikes to put them on.

as a mid drive to a crossover crank they have all the gearing advantages of a Mountain bike final drive.


Hub motors are Low torque , they are OK for flat land speed though, Mid drives can take advantage
of the gearing ratio offered by a rear wheel

The Stoke Monkey (they and the OP are in Portland OR) is a crossover drive running the crankset
from the left side so you have the whole gear ratio range.

bikenick172

I would recommend the Gocycle G2 but then again I am a bit biased as I own one. It was designed by an ex McLaren F1 engineer especially for commuters and has a range of about 40miles which is pretty good and it's one of the lightest electric bikes weighing in at only 15.4kg. It also looks amazing (it just won the Red Dot Design Award). However it is pretty pricey but the problem with going with cheaper ones is that the frames are often terribly designed or the batteries are rubbish a good battery costs at least £350 straight off and thats before you've even built the bike.

njt07

newbie here, just bought my BionX D500 and new bike yesterday. I know BionX isnt in favor here, but for me its perfect so far. I can still pedal and get some exercise if I choose to (by turning it off or on level 1 which equals 25% boost) and it has a throttle that allows me to just go without pedeling if I so choose. It doesnst have the greatest range with just throttle (I think max is about 20 miles?) but I have only used it (in the one day I've had it so take this with a grain of salt) to go up some inclines and once to start up an incline.

InTheRain

Congrats on your bionx! I've had mine a few months... I love it! I have the 350 DV. I didn't ever get the throttle installed. Pedal assist level 4 gets me wherever I've needed to go. I also get the feeling that there isn't a lot of love for Bionx in the ebike forums. I guess it's the proprietary nature of the product and the high price. However, it seems to deliver as promised and I haven't had any issues. It's been as simple as "get on and ride" for me. What bike do you have it on? My only regret is not having disc brakes... I'm getting my bike modified now to add tabs for disc brakes.

njt07

The only kit that was available here on post in korea was a 27.5" and 29" kit, and bith were the disc brake versions. My hybrid (2012 diamondback insight) didnt have disc brakes so i had to buy a new bike. Ended up buying a Merida Big.seven 500, its a great bike all by itself. It also opens up the possibilities of powered mountain biking!

donheart2015

I just got my Equalizer Fat Tire Electric Bike and it gets up to 70 miles on a charge 48v 15ah lithium ion battery. I put a rack on the back and bags for grocery shopping and errand running. Seems that OP wants the same thing as I wanted. This bike had lots of power ultra high torque motor, if you load it down it will get you where you want to go. I have hills around me and I am 220 lbs so I know that it will have plenty of power to haul what you want. Had a great buying experience give them a call. Just did a review on the bike on this forum "Buying a Fat Tire ebike" merckx_rider did a review also.
electric-fat-tire-bike

Chellspecker

Choosing an e-bike is tough. I was lucky that I was very happy with the first one I got, and it mostly fits my needs. I have a five-year old BionX 350W on a Dahon folding bike. I actually brought it down to Portland in the back of my car for a week in March of this year, and rode from Irvington down to Hawthorne a couple times. The bike scene is great in Portland. I noticed that routes tend to be quiet residential streets, with lots of stop signs, but that might have just been where I was riding. I'm used to picking up more speed on some of the dedicated bike lanes here.

I live in Vancouver and commute about 5 miles each way to work, up a pretty steep hill. I'm a wimp when it comes to rain, and tend not to use my bike much from November to February, roughly. I would recommend regularly charging your battery during times when you are not riding it much, every month or so should be fine. After five years, my battery is starting to not hold as much of a charge as it used to, but I can still get to work and back easily. A new battery would solve that. My understanding is that regular charging is super-important, across all e-bikes, regardless of manufacturer. The 350W has been fine for me, and I'm 6'2" and 240 lbs.!

My best friend is almost exactly your size and is a dedicated all-season cyclist. You can blame her for my folding e-bike enthusiasm. A small frame bike is ideal for her size. It's only recently that I've been yearning for a larger framed bicycle, mostly because of my height and weight, and wanting larger wheels for better momentum. Here in Canada, e-bikes are speed-limited to about 30 km/h (18 mph), which is plenty fast enough, imo.

Some advantages of folding e-bike: you can throw it in the back of a car or taxi easily (like when I brought mine to Portland in my hatchback), which is useful with our Pacific coast unpredictable rainfall.
Small frame stores easily inside, takes up little space.

Disadvantages would be smaller wheel size means more pedalling, which isn't a huge issue with an e-bike. Mine is a seven-speed, and I literally ONLY use the 7th gear. I would almost be fine with a fixed-gear bike. I use the pedal assist all the time, mostly at level 4 or 3. I am pedalling the whole time, it just makes going up hills effortless. If you wanted to ride sometimes without electric assist, you might need more gears, but more gears also means more grease and more things that can go wrong.

For your needs I would recommend either a city-style, cruiser or a folding e-bike. If you like the look of a cruiser and want the super-comfy ride and extra shock absorption, go with that. You don't need a mountain bike. The treads on mountain bike tires create a lot of drag for the motor, and are only necessary if you really need them for serious off-road riding. I ride through Stanley Park on gravel trails on my bike and have never felt unstable.

This is essentially the set-up I have, just newer, and this website has great reviews of just about every e-bike, and a section specifically on folding bikes. Dahon Formula S18 Review - ElectricBikeReview.com

With your commute, I would concentrate on range and battery life over time, and maybe disc brakes for riding in the rain, if you intend to, though I don't have them and it hasn't been a problem. A pannier rack that fits on your frame and a good set of water-proof panniers will make all the difference in how much you use your bike. Going for a picnic? No backpack, no problem. Summer dress, flip-flops, pannier, and you're good to go. I've packed an ice-cream maker on my bike.

Safety: wear a helmet ALWAYS, even if it wrecks your hair. Bike hair is sexy. Proper lights for night riding. Have fun!

Reddy Kilowatt

I bought an Optibike Pioneer Allroad last Fall. It has a 24-speed drivetrain and because it's a mid-drive, it's a climbing fool.
I tried a rear hub drive bike first and it couldn't even begin to think about climbing the hills on my work commute.
I too am pretty lightweight (118 pounds) so this bike climbs anything in my neck of the woods without even dropping down to the smallest chainring up front.
The bike is a solid value at $3K; the only drawback is the lead time to get one. Optibike has specced this whip out with nice components. I swapped the pedals, grips, and saddle out immediately but that's because those things really matter to me. I've always ridden Brooks saddles, so the Grey Ghost had to have one.
Check it out:


Allen

tds101 

The Pioneer Allroad is excellent. Did you get the second battery for free? And what's the range you're getting?

I doubt I'd get the same climbing ability you do though,... I weigh 225lbs.

Reddy Kilowatt

Hey tds101:
Yeah, I did get the 2nd battery for free. Optibike had some kind of a back to school special ten months ago when I ordered mine.
When I get home, I put the battery on charge and put the other battery on for the next day. That way I'm not adding too many charge/discharge cycles to either of them. That's what kills batteries with this technology.
I commute to work almost every day and this eBike has really rocked my world. I get to work in a better mood than I'm in when I leave my cottage in the morning.
I't wasn't cheap and I had a too-long wait to get it but it's truly a keeper. I call him the Grey Ghost.
Best/Allen

charvalino

I have some questions about folding electric bikes, and I noted one forum member who is very happy with his Dahon bike with 350 watt Bionx motor. I noticed a similar set-up currently offered by a NYC vendor, and it looks great. My concern is that my hometown, Little Rock, is very hilly, and there is no question that any e-bike I would seriously consider would have to be an excellent hill climber. I am 5'11" and 175 lbs. Many thanks!

2old

I've heard that the BionX 500w system is an excellent hill climber, but haven't had the opportunity to ride one. It would seem to make sense to procure the larger system if possible.
Edit: Just looked at the NYCE bike; small wheels should make for an excellent climber.

charvalino

The NYCE bike is made with the 350 watt hub motor. The folks there said the hill climbing ability was great. I would hope they are right!

350htrr

I suspect it would depend on what amount of "assist" you are expecting... In my experience a 350 watt hub motor is not going to move you up most hills without you putting in most of the effort...

IndustrialEBike

Just my 2 cents: I would pick the frame you want and start with a bare frame. Powder coat it just the color you want and build your dream bike, picking out all the specific parts for your individual needs.

If you build something yourself (I recommend hiring professionals to do the work that you are not trained to do), it will be much easier to troubleshoot problems down the line because you will be familiar with every inch of the bike.

The factory offerings don't offer as much power as you can obtain with a custom build, and some factory offerings may have cut corners to bring down the selling price.

Having done this twice and currently doing two more builds, I would suggest the following:

(1) Don't cut corners for any reason. Do it well and you will save time and money in the long run.
(2) Don't be ashamed about hiring a professional to work on your bike. Getting it done correctly is the objective.
(3) Be very picky about what mechanics you use. If an LBS or electronics tech gives you trouble, find another ASAP. And be willing to move on again if you feel the need to. Same with parts suppliers: if they come up short, go to their competition.
(4) Use more than enough motor and battery. If you use too small of a motor you will have heat issues. If you use just enough battery, your battery won't be enough after the battery ages a little and loses capacity.
(5) Obviously research everything to exhaustion. Ask questions and listen to varying opinions.
(6) Redo something if it needs improvement. I have had to do things up to three times to get it right.
(7) Ignore (as in "do not engage") the haters. No matter what you do, you will get haters.
(8) Be prepared to spend a lot of time and money for a project that will be worth it when you finish.
(9) Invest in a very good padlock and chain and always keep a good security protocol.
(10) I met the whole spectrum of people while doing my projects from downright scoundrels to geniuses. I never expected that people would try to rip me off. Take precautions against the scoundrels and keep great relations with the many helpful people that you meet.