Rob Mustang

Would like some input as to what kind of electric bikes have a decent consumer rating. Thanks for your commenrs

late

That depends a lot on what you want to do, and what the budget is.

What are your plans? Do you want to commute, carry cargo, cross the country?

I like my wifes bike, it's a Trek Verve 2. It's about $2600. If I could afford it, I'd get a Riese and Muller, but they range from $5K to $10K. Unless I win the lottery...

veganbikes

It is hard to tell, you really haven't given much information but there are plenty of bikes of quality. Things to look for in a quality bike is a good mid drive motor from Bosch, Brose, Shimano, Mahle, Fazua, Yamaha, hydraulic disc brakes, 10 speed or higher drivetrain (unless using something else of quality or some internally geared hub) and good parts coming on it in other places. There can be other factors involved of course but that is a general kind of how do I find something decent enough. Known components from known brands likely means good support and good support can equal a good e-bike in a lot of cases.

Riese and Müller are expensive bikes but really nice, there is no way I could have afforded to order mine without financing it. However if you want the top end with a lot of really neat features and a lot of quality that is a good place to look. Not too many people who are unhappy with their R+M stuff and usually if they are it is before they get it because they have to wait a while. I am preparing myself by getting parts and things I want for upgrade (because I don't leave well enough alone) and reading up on the new display and playing with it at work. Plus having listened to Lewis Black's Anticipation a good number of times it has taught me good patience and to enjoy the wait because that can be the best part nothing will be more exciting then the prospect of my attainable dream bike (my real dream bike would be titanium but otherwise pretty much the same with some swapped out components so not really a significant difference)

A Tern GSD and a Specialized Creo SL are both excellent bikes with good ratings but are vastly different so it would be helpful to let us know what you are looking for or what kind of riding you are doing.

Bob S

Specialized makes a number of nice electric assist bikes. I have the Specialized Creo SL that has three levels of assist that you can adjust to your needs. It is under 30 lbs which is light and beneficial compared to other e-bikes that can be 50 - 70+ pounds.
After riding road bikes for years I bought the specialized after wearing out all the cartilage in my right knee. Even though it is 10 lbs heavier than my road bike I can ride it at the same speed on the flats or use minimal assist to go a little faster and farther. I use the medium assist to go up hills. Now I don't have any knee pain during or after my rides while getting the same workouts.

KPREN

That depends on what you consider quality. Keep in mind that on a regular bike that could be anywhere from $400 to $12,000 and e bikes are no different.
All bikes are built to some kind of price point, intended use and expected maintenance. Buy the wrong bike for the job and you are likely to complain about the quality.

In regular bikes the lower the weight is the higher is the quality in general. That is up to a point. E bikes can be different. The weight of the motor is a good indication of its quality. The higher the weight the more robust is the motor (not written in stone)

Hub motors are cheaper than mid drives and work fine for most applications. The exception is higher loading such as off road, cargo or steep hills. There are so many options out there that its very hard to look at a bike and guess what the quality of the electrics are. Motors are generally solid but have their own know weak points. Controllers vary widely and e bike manufacturers often save money on the cost of a controller. If the e bike motor whines, especially at low speeds and high pitch, the controller is likely rock bottom.
Batteries is one area where cheeping out is not advisable. Individual cells should be made by Panasonic, LG or Samsung and be at least 2,600 mili-amp hours for an 18,650 cell. Battery size reflects the amount of range and also in the weight of the bike. You generally pay for what you get but proprietary battery systems cost a lot more per amp hour. Possibly justified through better construction standards. Batteries on off road applications, on mid drive hard tail bikes, take a lot of abuse.

Generally I am going to say the bottom rung for me would be $3,000 USD, stateside. Below that you have to do a lot more research for your application.

An example: RAD bikes. My neighbor went out and bought a RAD Fat Cargo bike after riding my fat bike. He is quite satisfied with his purchase. Now I have $6k plus into my bike and he bought his for $1,7k delivered. To me, that was nuts but I looked the bike over good and did some research. RAD put the money into the battery, controller and motor. The rest of the bike is rock bottom. I was a bit more impressed. Here is a bike that is cheap but is not as likely to break down electrically. The cheap stuff can be dealt with in most LBS or upgraded with online off the shelf stuff as time goes on. This is not a bike that is robust enough to crank on off road but he uses it on bike paths, pavement, dirt roads and grass. He has used it in limited excursions onto hard sand beaches and does not ride in snow. He has had good luck with it because he has not abused the bike beyond its design criterion. Had he bought it to ride rough trails fast off road his impression of the bike would be entirely different.
Quality for him is transporting his RAD Fat bike on the back of his 2018 Corvette. Me carrying my titanium mid drive fat bike on the back of my 2011 four banger standard shift Ford Ranger is quality.