Looking for starter e-bike, input, please?

[marych]

I'm looking for an e-bike for errands and exercise in my neighborhood (up to 6-7 mile radius). I live in a hilly area of the southeast Appalachian piedmont and the hills are long and occasionally steep. My house is at the top of a .25 mile 10%+ grade hill, not easy -- even in granny gear. I grew up riding 1 and 3 speed cruisers on the east coast and, ideally, I'd like a bike that turns the forbidding hills around here into large sand dunes. I want to get exercise, go casual bike speeds, and enjoy myself, while determining whether I want to make a larger commitment to a kid-hauling longtail e-bike in the fall for the 5.5 mile (one way) hilly ride to the girls' school. My dream choice is an Edgerunner Electric (http://www.xtracycle.com/edgerunner-electric), either self-built or off-the-shelf. It is not available in the US off-the-shelf until late summer/early fall. I am working with a LBS on possibly acquiring one in the future. If I get an Edgerunner, the 'old bike' would become either my ride on solo/family outings or son's 'school bike' if he hates taking the bus. He starts public high school in the fall -- 3 miles, one major intersection. Riding a bike would be possible, if a bit dicey.

At the moment I'm considering two inexpensive off-the-shelf bikes for solo trips, the Currie Trailz Lo-step ($500, available through Amazon, no shipping cost) and a Geoby Volt Tour ($800+~$75 shipping). You can get a peek at the Geoby here (http://www.tuckahoebikeshop.com/shop/electric-bikes/259-geoby-beast-electric-bicyle.html) and here (http://imgur.com/a/T9stp#li1fecj). They are very different bikes, and I perceive multiple pros and cons to each. But I would like more experienced input from the boards.

Pros (Currie)
Cheap, no shipping cost (relative)
Plenty of reviews, both on-line and youtube
Reputation is that it's indestructable (except for the battery )
Can have a second slide-in battery
7 speed (better for the local hills?)
Looks like a 'real' bike

Cons (Currie)
HEAVY -- 50+ pounds, steel frame
SLA batteries (24W) sound high-maintenance, proprietary (would pay the difference in price between two bikes to upgrade to lithium battery)
if I ride to 6 mi to LYS, knit 2-3 hours and ride home, I may not be able to fully recharge SLA battery while knitting, and I'm pushing my range.
Boxy external motor may make hauling a grocery or kid trailer impossible
Comes disassembled -- learning experience, yes , do I want to do that at this point in the game, not really :|
Minor issues -- no rims, lights -- I would immediately invest $50 and annoyance installing these

Pros (Geoby)
Lithium batteries standard (36W, 8A -- is this reasonable to my purposes -- will it get me up Home Hill?)
Comes mostly assembled -- add handlebars, pedals, and you're riding
35 pounds - light (I think it's cute. YMMV)
Fenders! Basket! Lights! Rear Light! -- Bell? not a bad thing
Three levels of pedal assist (Currie has only one)
One speed (simple -- again, will it get me up local hills with pedaling?)
Brushless motor inside rear wheel (can mount grocery/kid trailer -- will it pull? Don't know.)
Trivial -- May be able to get that cute rear seatpad/back I see in Vietnamese/Chinese pics and seat a kid (2?) back there for park trips.
Hardware is not proprietary like Currie
Appears to have awesome kickstand -- good for loading groceries into panniers

Cons (Geoby)
Not a lot of reviews/info -- it's new to US -- anyone on the boards know much?
Can it handle my hills with pedaling?
The rear architecture is odd -- locking up may be tricky (I'm not sure if that's a problem around here -- not a high-crime area. But I will invest in a Kryptonite ulock anyway.)
The rear rack is built into frame -- may be large diameter, can I use panniers on this bike? I suppose I can ask bike shop to measure it, and compare against pannier specs.
If I want a second battery, I'll have to carry it in a pannier or the basket.
Trivial -- the seat post is not quick release (guessing from pictures). a $15 fix -- I think, only matters if multiple riders
Wiring is inside frame -- I don't know gauge. If I want to 'fix it up' (motor, battery) could be a pain.

I'm leaning towards the Geoby. The bike shop, while not local, is friendly and responsive. But, I'm still learning. Am I asking the right questions? Any input from more experienced e-bikers?


(moderator edit: merged your duplicate threads. Please do not create multiple threads for the same thing. Be patient and wait for and read replies to your original question instead of creating a new identical thread in a different forum.)

 

[wineboyrider]

Any consideration for a kit?

The Geoby seems like a nice bike for the price.

 

[pendragon8000]

edge runner does look good. 20inch wheel with high rpm geared motor _should_ get up the hills.
A kit from ebikes.ca could be good. same motor.. "V2 eZee conversion kit, Rear 20 inch (300rpm)" http://www.ebikes.ca/store/store_ezee.php
if you find it doesnt have enough power you could convert the front to and run a 2wd setup. long hills at 10% grade is moderately steep.

 

[marych]

The Edgerunner should be an awesome bike - w/ or w/o electric assist. I thought about going w/ ebikes.ca, and I still may -- after I do more research. I've ridden the Xtracycle Radish (no e-assist) and, unloaded, it eats hills easily in mid-range gears (3 and 4 out of 9, lower gear and I was just spinning the pedals on the flats). The Geoby/Currie is about proof of concept. Thanks for the suggestion of 2 wheel drive -- didn't consider that. It at least gives me a fallback plan if the off-the-shelf Geoby can't make it up my home hill. I want to ride around my local area and get comfortable with the conditions. I don't want to sink $3500+ into a bike I don't use. I'm not ready to get my hands dirty on a build yet. I'm trying to ease into riding (starting from zero except some stationary cycling/spin classes at gym to prepare). I also want to find out what I like/will need to be happy with a high-end bike before taking the plunge.

 

[pendragon8000]

yeah 2wd would be a good fall back plan and should be more efficient with those small motors, the load being shared should keep them cooler and more efficient and outway the extra energy required to pull the extra mass up the hill.

 

[spinningmagnets]

I hadn't heard of the Geoby Volt Tour before.
http://beverlycycles.com/products-2/geoby-electric-bicycles
http://www.geobyev.com/en/Products.aspx

The Currie Trailz is well known here. http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=25726 Its definitely an entry-level bike that performs best when the hills are short and not steep. The 20-inch wheels on the Geoby should help it on hills. Smaller wheels are worse if you have a lot of potholes, but on fairly smooth roads, smaller wheels are pretty much better in every other respect. If you get the Geoby, I'd recommend a $120 Thudbuster seatpost (eventually).

For the type of commute you describe, I think you might be best served by the GNG Gen2 kit. It's $401, and that doesn't include the bike or the battery/charger.

http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=45740
http://www.gngebike.com/36v350w-48v400w-gen2

 

[marych]

I'm looking for an e-bike for errands and exercise in my neighborhood (up to 6-7 mile radius). I live in a hilly area of the southeast Appalachian piedmont and the hills are long and occasionally steep. My house is at the top of a .25 mile 10%+ grade hill, not easy -- even in granny gear. I grew up riding 1 and 3 speed cruisers on the east coast and, ideally, I'd like a bike that turns the forbidding hills around here into large sand dunes. I want to get exercise, go casual bike speeds, and enjoy myself, while determining whether I want to make a larger commitment to a kid-hauling longtail e-bike in the fall for the 5.5 mile (one way) hilly ride to the girls' school. My dream choice is an Edgerunner Electric (http://www.xtracycle.com/edgerunner-electric), either self-built or off-the-shelf. It is not available in the US off-the-shelf until late summer/early fall. I am working with a LBS on possibly acquiring one in the future. If I get an Edgerunner, the 'old bike' would become either my ride on solo/family outings or son's 'school bike' if he hates taking the bus. He starts public high school in the fall -- 3 miles, one major intersection. Riding a bike would be possible, if a bit dicey.

At the moment I'm considering two inexpensive off-the-shelf bikes for solo trips, the Currie Trailz Lo-step ($500, available through Amazon, no shipping cost) and a Geoby Volt Tour ($800+~$75 shipping). You can get a peek at the Geoby here (http://www.tuckahoebikeshop.com/shop/el ... icyle.html) and here (http://imgur.com/a/T9stp#li1fecj). They are very different bikes, and I perceive multiple pros and cons to each. But I would like more experienced input from the boards.

Pros (Currie)
Cheap, no shipping cost (relative)
Plenty of reviews, both on-line and youtube
Reputation is that it's indestructable (except for the battery )
Can have a second slide-in battery
7 speed (better for the local hills?)
Looks like a 'real' bike

Cons (Currie)
HEAVY -- 50+ pounds, steel frame
SLA batteries (24W) sound high-maintenance, proprietary (would pay the difference in price between two bikes to upgrade to lithium battery)
if I ride to 6 mi to LYS, knit 2-3 hours and ride home, I may not be able to fully recharge SLA battery while knitting, and I'm pushing my range.
Boxy external motor may make hauling a grocery or kid trailer impossible
Comes disassembled -- learning experience, yes , do I want to do that at this point in the game, not really
Minor issues -- no rims, lights -- I would immediately invest $50 and annoyance installing these

Pros (Geoby)
Lithium batteries standard (36W, 8A -- is this reasonable to my purposes -- will it get me up Home Hill?)
Comes mostly assembled -- add handlebars, pedals, and you're riding
35 pounds - light (I think it's cute. YMMV)
Fenders! Basket! Lights! Rear Light! -- Bell? not a bad thing
Three levels of pedal assist (Currie has only one)
One speed (simple -- again, will it get me up local hills with pedaling?)
Brushless motor inside rear wheel (can mount grocery/kid trailer -- will it pull? Don't know.)
Trivial -- May be able to get that cute rear seatpad/back I see in Vietnamese/Chinese pics and seat a kid (2?) back there for park trips.
Hardware is not proprietary like Currie
Appears to have awesome kickstand -- good for loading groceries into panniers

Cons (Geoby)
Not a lot of reviews/info -- it's new to US -- anyone on the boards know much?
Can it handle my hills with pedaling?
The rear architecture is odd -- locking up may be tricky (I'm not sure if that's a problem around here -- not a high-crime area. But I will invest in a Kryptonite ulock anyway.)
The rear rack is built into frame -- may be large diameter, can I use panniers on this bike? I suppose I can ask bike shop to measure it, and compare against pannier specs.
If I want a second battery, I'll have to carry it in a pannier or the basket.
Trivial -- the seat post is not quick release (guessing from pictures). a $15 fix -- I think, only matters if multiple riders
Wiring is inside frame -- I don't know gauge. If I want to 'fix it up' (motor, battery) could be a pain.

I'm leaning towards the Geoby. The bike shop, while not local, is friendly and responsive. But, I'm still learning. Am I asking the right questions? Any input from more experienced e-bikers?


(moderator edit: merged your duplicate threads. Please do not create multiple threads for the same thing. Be patient and wait for and read replies to your original question instead of creating a new identical thread in a different forum.)

 

[etriker]

http://www.xtracycle.com/edgerunner-electric

My dream ebike too !

Never paid more that $120 for a Currie ebike on craigslist with bad sla batteries.

Plenty of li ion battery options.

 

[dogman dan]

Now that you mention liking cruisers, maybe you should just build one.

Take a decent cruiser, costing well under $200 new. Get good V brakes, and 5 to 7 speeds derailur.

Then put the trike kit from E-BikeKit on it. This slower than usual front hub motor is ideal for trikes, but it's also a hill climbing whiz, and ideal for cruisers that also have a nice strong front fork. Run it on 48v of battery, with your range needed, even cheap SLA batteries would work fine. 15 mph on 36v, 20 mph on 48v.

http://www.e-bikekit.com/shop/catalog/Electric_Tricycle_Kits-22-1.html

This motor will climb hills better than anything you are currently looking at, big time. Ideally, run it on a 48v lithium battery, but 10 mile range is totally possible with 48v 12 ah sla.

Though I'm a huge fan of longtails myself, you might find that cruiser climbs a hill good enough to never need the longtail. Just get a trailer. FWIW, love my longtail, but my other bike has the exact same front motor on it that I'm recommending, and I climbed 15 uphill miles home on it for years.

 

[Drunkskunk]

For the hills you have, you realy need a minimum 450-500watt bike. The bikes you linked do look interesting, but I don't think either would meet your needs. .25 mile 10%+ grade hills will blow car engines. I remember watching a geo metro do exactly that once.

I think your best bet will be to install your own kit on the bike of your choice. The Trike kit Dogman mentioned is a good choice. A low RPM geared hub MAC motor or a low RPM Direct Drive MXUS from EM3ev.com would also be good choices. You could also consider a chain drive like the GNG. Although those are higher maintance, they make good torque for climbing.

While a small battery would normaly handle your short range requirement, your hills will be taxing the batteries fairly hard. The bulk of your expense will be in a buying a battery that can cope with the stresses the motor will put on it.

 

[John in CR]

Since it's a bike you want for exercise, find a bike you like for your riding first, but the hills are too much without assist. Then add a geared hubbie to the front (front and rear if your name misleads me about total load or if you want to do no pedal help at all on the hills.) We can help you with motor and battery selection once you have a bike.

Don't feel overwhelmed by the idea of DIY. A front wheel drive is an incredibly easy install, typically requiring little more than a crescent wrench. For the first time in history anyone can literally build their own cutting edge primary transportation, and the sense of freedom of transportation that comes with building your own ebike is impossible to express, but a woman DIY'g an ebike would exceed any "cute" value of an overpriced ebike. Just be sure to get a nice price on the bike, so start used. You're already talking about a future bike, so take advantage of the first bike being a good learning experience.

If cute is more of an issue than budget, the go test ride any ready-built ebike you can find, and choose the one you like to ride and pedal the best. Make sure you have a written warranty, and immediately after leaving the shop go find the longest steepest hill you'll ever climb, and climb it, coast back down, and repeat at least 5 times. Hills are the nemesis of most ebikes, so do your best to create a failure the first day. If it doesn't fail or the motor doesn't get too hot to touch, on that 1st day torture test, then it should be a dependable vehicle for you. Try to avoid any uphills on the route back to the shop, so if it does fail you can easily get back to them.

Store-bought ebikes and hills....LOL!

John

 

[marych]

Popping back in to say that at this point, husband and I have decided to take my Trek 700 in for a tune up at the LBS and then work from there (possibly adding electric to it after the bike is in good shape). Honestly, I don't think a 240 Watt motor will cut it on the hills around here, and I don't want to pay $800 and be disappointed.

 

[wineboyrider]

Popping back in to say that at this point, husband and I have decided to take my Trek 700 in for a tune up at the LBS and then work from there (possibly adding electric to it after the bike is in good shape). Honestly, I don't think a 240 Watt motor will cut it on the hills around here, and I don't want to pay $800 and be disappointed.

Great start! Stop and think.

 

[dogman dan]

Not a bad bike to start with. The 26" version of the same thing, trek 820 is an often recommended bike for the first ebike conversion.

On a cruiser, Id say go the front hub, but on the bike you have, I'd recommend the slower versions of rear motors from EM3 ev. The skinny tire makes riding a front hub trickier than a fat cruiser tire. They will have the power to climb 10% no problems from overheating, with moderate pedaling help from you.

Sla's could work, but a 48v 15 ah or 36v 15 ah lifepo4 would be best. Either could be carried in the big frame triangle of your 700.

 

[marych]

Amazing information you gents and ladies have. I've learned so much just in the last few days cruising the forum posts and comparing against various kit sites. I don't know what my eventual plan will be. The 700 is a good bike, and 20 years old -- but my husband made the mistake sticking outside (where I never saw it) and it was in the weather for several years. He's got it running -- but cannot really change gears easily (pedals, gears and derailleurs all rusty) -- YIKES! :x I thought it was stored in the crawlspace. But he is willing to take it into a shop for fixing. If it requires more that $200 worth of work, I suspect its for the trash, or Craiglist, or somebody here with more know-how than me. I'll talk husband into a pretty cruiser with big fat tires and granny gears. :lol: But -- I'll check here before pulling the trigger on a new bike, and try to pick one worth upgrading to an e-bike.

 

[RLD70]

I noticed no one welcomed you to ES so Ill do the honors, welcome to ES marych. I concur with those who say to do a bike conversion as opposed to a store bought ebike as I originally bought the currie ezip trailz bike and did enjoy it even though it was a HEAVY bike. After the trailz bike I bought the 2012 version of the bike I have now which is a 2013 Specialized Expedition Sport and bought the first of 2 currie conversion kits because some shmuck stole my 2012 blue beauty as I called it with one of the currie motors installed. Word of advice BUY a good lock and keep it locked at all times otherwise you could end up facing what I went through and thats not fun at all. Now I installed the 2nd kit on the 2013 bike and got nearly 3k mile before it took a turn for the worse and stopped working. I now have the yescomusa 48v 1kw rear motor and its also the 2nd exact same motor installed on this bike. If you go with a hub motor please make sure you have decent sized dropouts or buy a torque arm so that you dont have the motor spin out of the dropouts like I did, hence the 2nd motor, lol. Bottom line is this, if you have questions about anything dont be afraid to ask for help here. We will help you in any way we can. Theyve helped me out getting things right on my bike and Im pretty sure theyll help you as well. I also hope you can get the Trek fixed because it would be a good choice for a motor. Once again, welcome to ES 8)

 

[marych]

I took my bike (Trek 700) to the LBS this morning. It's in better shape than I thought. Only needs new tires to be in good shape and ride-able. I'll probably invest in a new saddle as well. It's now in the shop, getting the new tires.

I did the shop ride yesterday on a rental hybrid (Trek 7.3), 16 miles. I actually surprised myself that I did as well as I did. Granted, I had access to the coach/facilitator (it was a no-drop ride). But I finished, and I can walk around today with no trouble, not sore at all. I feel more confident about how to bike on the roads/bike lanes/sharrows around here. I don't like the men's seat on that bike, though. Tailbones are fine, but other parts, well...

I've test rode a couple of Pedegos -- I really like the City Commuter. But for now, I'm going to stick to shorter rides around the neighborhood, and then decide what to do next.