I’ve never had an ebike before and don’t really know where I should start. I’m looking for something practical and hopefully not too expensive.
While I don’t regret buying a RadCity from RadPowerBikes in 2020, I would caution someone from buying from those guys if they are not comfortable doing some maintenance work. The bikes are inexpensive and decent.
My bike came with incorrectly adjusted spokes that I had to adjust, and I had to re-tighten the bottom bracket within a year of buying it. It’s also hard to get hold of their support.
However, the bike has been solid, even in stupidly heavy rain and wet weather, and I can get about 80 km of pedal assist out of it, despite me being a fat dude. I confirmed the range by forgetting to charge the battery after my last 48 km round trip work commute, and making it another 36 km before running out of juice.
I recommend going to a local bike shop that sells ebikes if you have one near you and trying them out for a ride. I have a tern HSD (not exactly cheap) but there’s a lot of competitive options. Do you plan on only commuting or like grocery runs?
What does your commute look like? Distance, hills, etc?
Do you need to transport luggage? How much?
What bike are you currently riding?
Are you looking for something more comfy or more sporty?
Aventon makes good stuff but I’d recommend checkout your local bike shop because getting a bike you can get serviced is important.
With those requirement, the first question you should ask yourself is whether you really want e in your bike at all.
What are the reasons you want an electric bike over an acoustic one?
Next is what you’re going to be using it for. You said it was for the daily commute. A commute can be anything from a 5min ride through a quiet neighbourhood to a 1h ride through the forest and countryside.
Distance, terrain, traffic etc. make a difference on what kind of bake suits your best. How does (or will) your commute look like?
My advise is to avoid Chinese (or similar) bikes because they have problems on distance. I’m riding now on Nakto Fashion and already did reparation in mechanical part and re-soldering some wires in battery and steel some issues pending…
