Hello everyone, me again...now seriously considering buyin a new Class 1 ebike versus putting a kit on one of my bikes.

I'm set on Class 1 for various reasons, weight, laws on trails and my first ebike being an avid cyclist

Want something "all road" that can do light to moderate touring.

These are two bikes that have caught my eye so far:

Reasonable price, and not too heavy. Hub drive. I have inquired about getting an extra battery, which is pretty expensive. The one size fits all is a bit concerning but I'm 6 foot tall so probably would be OK.

FLINT | Lightweight City Electric Bike for Urban Commuters | Mokwheel

This is a new bike soon to be released by Walmart. Good specs, weight and mid drive, which is a plus if I want to use another set of wheels.

Ozark Trail 700C Rebel+ Drop Bar Electric Gravel Bike, Class 1 Mid-Drive, Large Frame, Fits Riders 5'9"-6'3", Black, Adult, Unisex, Online Only - Walmart.com

On paper there are a lot of things I like about the walmart bike, including being able to buy a three year all inclusive warranty. The components are very good for this price point.

There is one positive review on the new walmart bike on youtube, It will be released in April.

Any other suggestions are appreciated.

I guess all of those would be the absolute hardest pass I could ever make. If I was looking at a good quality but more budget minded bike Gazelle would come to mind more often than not. Really high quality not only from them but also from Bosch and excellent support all over. That support is crucial. The money you save in that tiny little initial purchase is gone quickly with a lot of this online stuff and low initial cost stuff because their goal is to sell you product once they don't need a customer for life they just need you to buy their crap once review it as soon as you get it and never contact them again. They aren't long term machines or machines built to last in any capacity just to hit a price point and those price points go way up after sale when the support is long gone and so is your money.

We have a customer with a Fakénamé hub drive having tons of issues and he asked 6 different shops if they would look at it and they all said no before he came to us and we said yes. If he had a Bosch equipped bike we would never have seen him. The company is barely answering emails and is not really looking to help and this is a story I have been through before many times with many of these manufacturers. It is an attractive price, LISTED features that blow everything out of the water, seemingly great customer service before you buy it to deceive and then they buy it and the problems come and the company slowly shuffles out or is not really helpful or there is no shops who want to deal with it because they know the massive migraines it will cause. Looking at bike shops in Harlingen, TX it does not bode well for something that is not Bosch or Shimano (or similar) that has excellent support especially for shops who don't really deal in e-bikes.

Also fit is super important and the one size fits some model is the worst because it fits the middle of that range OK enough and everyone else is a C fit at best and a C fit is worth about $100 to me or it would have to be some super special bike that was ridden by Eddy Merckx or someone who is an absolute hero of mine or something so unbelievably cool that I gotta make it work. If I am going to get a bike it better fit pretty well especially if I am on the taller side.

A review of a bike that is not even out yet is never good. It might be positive in terms of the tone but pretty much all e-bikes are a blast on one ride. I haven't ridden one yet that wasn't fun in that initial ride but initial rides aren't really useful when it comes to an e-bike especially. Longevity is the key, tell me how that bike is after a year, after two years or more. Ride it use it than give me a review. How was maintenance on it, how was the company when you had your first issue... A first look is certainly cool and I cannot knock them for doing it I read them, I get excited but usually when it is a brand I know and trust and have used their products before and can say hey this is good reliable stuff.

TLR: get something with a Bosch or Shimano motor, a known quantity and quality and you spend a little more initially to spend a lot less down the road.

^^^
What he said.

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If I were buying a Class 1 bike, I wouldn't (I'd procure Class 3). If Class 1 was mandatory it would be a bike that was comfortable (preferably from a reliable dealer within ten miles - adjust for how far out in the sticks you are), on sale (easy to find now) and Bosch motor.

The Ozark Trail does look like a lot of bike for the money, that said, I'd still be wary for a few reasons. Being sold by Wal-Mart, you would be getting a bike quickly slapped together by someone who may or may not have any idea what they are doing. Proper installation and adjustment of everything on the bike plays a big role in how well everything works, and how long the parts on it last. Chances are, even if the person slapping it together does have an idea of what they are doing, they won't have the skills to identify any issues with the frame, whether it be alignment issues, disc tabs not properly faced, one dropout sitting higher than the other, etc. A bike built at a real bike shop will be noticed if such issues are going on, and will either be fixed, or set aside for warranty before it would have reached the sales floor.

Wal-Mart bikes and cheap ebikes often have poorly built wheels. If you want something that will hold up to touring, I'd expect to replace at least the rear wheel on the Ozark Trail, or have the rear hub relaced into a new wheel on the Mokwheel. Doing so would drive the price closer to what a higher quality bike would have cost in the first place.

Since you plan on touring, I'd figure out what kind of handlebar setup you want before picking out a bike. Drop bars offer multiple hand positions so you can change things up as you ride, helping with comfort over longer distances. Some people can't really handle the more leaned forward position drop bars put you in (Including me), and it would be wise to figure out if they are even what you want before buying a bike. Go test ride some bikes, figure out what works with your body, then decide what you wanna get. Consider using the money you would have spent on an extra battery to instead go towards a higher quality bike up front.

If Ozark is a walmart house brand, they will honor the warranty, I have read that the extended warranty allows battery replacement w/o much drama I think you can get a lot of ebike for $1000 these days, I wouldn't worry that much,

Some mechanical work like adjusting brakes, tuning derailleurs, and greasing parts should be expected as part of bike setup. If you have the skills, then online buying should be lower risk.The last walmart I bought had flat tires and they had to be reseated to hold air. No big deal for me, but it might be a deal breaker for many,

Since you never had a throttle, you;ll never miss it, My thumb reaches in vain for that mssing knob when I ride my regular bike, I want them on all my bikes.

Having a warranty and having people who will work on it are quite different. Wally-mart will throw a bike together 100% it will be thrown together with the lowest quality parts and the support will be zero maybe they can replace it but I doubt they will do that more than once if at all.

Anytime you have a lot of bike that means added price or lowered quality and lowered quality is never good. For a bike from a box store that isn't a bike shop you want the simplest machine possible or you want that price to be sky high and to be matched in quality and support.

Everryone, I appreciate the comments, just a few notes/clarifications. So I'm still shopping, will see.

When I said I was an avid cyclist, I meant it I know my way around bikes and cycle a lot. In the last 14 plus years I've cycled over 100,000 miles on normal bicycles.

All my bikes are drop bar, which I greatly prefer.

Anyone that says LBS and major brands stand behind their products...well that's just not true in my experience. I spent significant money (over 12K total) on two specialized road bikes to have specialized deny major warranty claims. I MADE a big mistake buying a second bike from Specialized after they denied my claims on the first bike... (wheels) Shame on me. An expensive bike should not have the wheel issues I had just because I ride too much. The LBS just shrugged this off.

Another local LBS (different shop) that I purchased my salsa from was no better when I had some issues with wheel truing, spokes and shifters on a brand new Journeyman. I reached out directly to Salsa and they did send me some parts and were very helpful but I had to get it fixed a local mechanic I trust. The LBS was just not worth dealing with and no longer sell Salsa.

I would be curious to know the actual situation. Specialized is usually pretty good with WARRANTY claims and even crash replacements so I have a feeling the shop could have been the issue or the issue was not actually warranty. If actually warranty I would have helped you out and I have been working warranty for 10 years and most of that at Specialized dealers.

I am also curious on that Salsa warranty issue but a shop that won't stand behind a new bike is either a bad shop or it is a customer issue but not knowing you not knowing the shops it is going to be tough to really get to the heart of that matter. Usually when I hear two shops one customer I look to the common denominator unless I can get a full picture of everything and see something different.