Help me with my first ebike purchase

joshlevinson

joshlevinson

10 µW
Joined
Mar 11, 2017
Messages
5
Location
San Francisco, CA
I'm looking to get into ebikes!
I have fairly short last mile commute: ~4 miles, 5 days a week, in hilly/busy SF. I'm 5'10" 145lbs.

I''m looking to spend < $1k (budget but also just want to get my feet wet this go-around). My preferences are:
- pedal assist and dedicated/pure throttle
- suspension fork
- lightweight (lift on and off train)

Right now, I'm looking at a used
- kalkhoff agattu impulse 7
- public d8 electric

which I've found preowned within my budget.

Any advice on one vs the other, or any general advice at all would be greatly appreciated!
 
Hello and welcome (feels weird saying that because I'm new too). From what I've seen, this forum is mostly about DIY ebikes and kits, with an emphasis on high-power stuff over commuting (though there are plenty of commuters here too).

If you want advice about pre-built bikes, I'd check out electricbikereview.com and their forums first.
 
Save your money. For less than $1k, you can barely get a good human powered bike, let alone an ebike that will be remotely satisfying.
 
flat tire said:
Save your money. For less than $1k, you can barely get a good human powered bike, let alone an ebike that will be remotely satisfying.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip. I'm looking to buy something inexpensive preowned to get some experience before I drop more than $1k.
 
With the hills in SF and your requirements, I would go for small wheels because they are easy on hub motors. Folders with small wheels are many. It should be possible to find a used one with your budget. Eventually, you will want to upgrade to higher power.

With large wheels, You would be very lucky to meet your budget requirements. Large wheels uphill do require a bigger motor, controller, and battery. Then, a heavier bike also does require better brakes. All this is making more money.
 
ignore last post. downtube 8fs folding bike=299.00. great bike as i used to own one. luna cycles geared hub motor and luna cube 52 volt battery. total package a little more than 1000.oo$. Thanks for asking as i have been thinking about building a folder and i think this is a good plan. good luck in whatever you decide.
 
slacker said:
downtube 8fs folding bike...
Click to expand...
Thanks for the link/advice! I'm actually not a *huge* fan of the look of the small bikes. Are there any tradeoffs with a small frame? Regardless, I'm definitely looking for preassembled this go around. Maybe custom down the road :D
 
This bike ride"s like a dream. You will not be dissappointed and is easy to put on a rear hub motor. Luna cycles has a good geared hub motor kit with batt that is easy to install and as i said for around 1100$ it is a good value. whatever you decide good luck and welcome to ES.
 
sorry if i did not clarify 1100$ for bike and hub motor package. I think you would enjoy it. just my opinion and good luck.
 
joshlevinson said:
slacker said:
downtube 8fs folding bike...
Click to expand...
Thanks for the link/advice! I'm actually not a *huge* fan of the look of the small bikes. Are there any tradeoffs with a small frame?
Click to expand...

I just put together a folder with a small motor. I've heard that folders are ideal for a last mile commute if you have to carry the darn thing onto a bus or up an escalator. I don't commute. Just ride for fun

Tradeoffs are you need a full suspension like that 8Fs. These little tires ride stiff. Probably need a big motor to go fast. Mine seems to top out around 16 mph with 36 volts. It was originally 24 pounds and the motor/battery add 8. Another tradeoff is you might look goofy.

You're buying used, and have hills to climb. Test the bike out on your hills. If you plan to add a little human peddling, you should be able to find something that works. I'm partial to geared hub motors over a direct drive, when you're looking at lower powered commercial bikes. Probably need 500W for SF. A middrive bike can do pretty well with 350W if you use the bike's gearing properly.

The other issue on a used bike is you don't know how long the battery will go. So try to find out how nuch a replacement goes. If the bike uses a fairly generic battery, then you can buy generic, as the ebike manufacturers price their proprietary batteries high.
 
slacker said:
sorry i meant ignore flat tire's post.
Click to expand...

You gotta pay to play unless you're willing to accept garbage and provide the majority of your power by pedaling around a bike that now weighs two or three times what it needs to and has shitty everything because most of your budget went to an extremely compromised battery, controller and motor...yeah.
 
Comments from someone who has never seen these bikes. You can get them used for $1100?

-Prodecotech phantom X2
Direct drive. Throttle only. Doubt that this is a good hill climber. Tell us how it did.

a2b metro
Looks dorky. Might be a good hill climber with 20" wheels and 500W DD motor.

kalkhoff agattu impulse 7
Mid drive 36V 250W. See if it climbs your hill.

public d8 electric
500W Bionx with 48V. People like their DD Bionx, but I believe the bare kits cost a lot $1800. If you get this for $1100, cool.

All of these look like an e-bike hobbyist could easily swap in a $400 aftermarket battery onto the rear racks, except I believe Bionx uses an electronic double secret handshake to make you buy their batteries.
 
slacker said:
ignore last post. downtube 8fs folding bike=299.00. great bike as i used to own one. luna cycles geared hub motor and luna cube 52 volt battery. total package a little more than 1000.oo$. Thanks for asking as i have been thinking about building a folder and i think this is a good plan. good luck in whatever you decide.
Click to expand...
Finally saw one, surprisingly nice! Especially at the price!
 
I'm assuming caltrain or you would be looking for a small folder :) I'm also assuming you're commuting within the flat/pockmarked SOMA / downtown areas? I'd say that optimizing for weight is the only difficult constraint, you dont need mid drive or a big battery.

It's pretty easy to build a nice ebike for under $1000 IF you exclude the bike. It's definitely possible to build a nice ebike for $1000 with the bike too.

Maybe you should start with getting weights of the bikes you are looking at and figure out your target. You can just add weight to an existing bike to see if eg, 55 lbs is going to work for you getting on/off the train.

I've had heavier ebikes (65-70lbs or up to 85 lbs with panniers loaded with commuting gear) and compared to that my current 53lb setup is great. I can carry it up the stairs at bart or over a stile.

However builds like these make 53lbs seem downright obese:

https://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=49691&p=1280700&hilit=+lightweight#p1280700
 
Bike Friday and the nicest travel bike yet! America's answer to the Brompton.
 
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