Does anyone else have an electric bicycle?

I recently discovered these, even though they have been around for years apparently. I live in an area with a lot of hills, so i have stayed away from bikes because, who wants to walk their bike up every hill? Im 47 and not interested in blowing out my legs, or even conditioning them to a point to where i can pedal like a tour de france rider. Fuck that.

Electric bikes fix that issue. You can pedal as much or as little as you want. The bike i bought is a Rad Rover 5. It not only has pedal assist, it also has a throttle so you dont ever have to pedal if you dont want to. On just throttle alone, this bike will do 20+ miles on a single charge, or 45+ if you assist with pedaling. It'll do between 20-25 mph on throttle alone, and even faster if you assist by pedaling.

Pedal assist is the shit! The bike puts out something like 5 times the amount of energy that you put in, so its like you have the pedaling strength of Captain America. You can casually pedal up steep hills without breaking a sweat (or just use throttle alone if youre super lazy).

Class 2 E-bikes are allowed (legally) anywhere bicycles are allowed, including sidewalks. You can take these electric fat tire bikes offroad too. Check out this short video. These things are friggin quick!



Rad_Power_Bike_Black.jpg

/——-/ 47???? I’m 69 years old and ride a 10 speed up hills with none of the issues you’re worried about.

Can you do that for 40 miles? The benefit to an electric bike is the range and speed that you get. You are rewarded with more speed with every pedal rotation, than you are on a normal bike. Again, its like you have the pedaling strength of Captain America (on the bikes highest setting). You can also dial it back to where its barely helping you, or not helping you at all. When you get tired, all you have to do is turn the throttle, or turn up the pedal assist.

I got one that doesn't have a throttle. My buddy has one with a throttle and he hardly peddles. We went out this weekend with 2 full batteries each. I went 37 miles before I had to change batteries and I believe he went 2 more miles than I did. So if we would have conserved more earlier or not went to a metropark that is all up and down hills (wasted a lot of battery there), then we probably could have gone over 40. Keep in mind he hardly peddled and still got more battery life than me. I bought from a local shop a starter bike and he bought the Mark Cuban bike you may have seen on Sharktank. Tower Electric

1621258938400.png
 
I recently discovered these, even though they have been around for years apparently. I live in an area with a lot of hills, so i have stayed away from bikes because, who wants to walk their bike up every hill? Im 47 and not interested in blowing out my legs, or even conditioning them to a point to where i can pedal like a tour de france rider. Fuck that.

Electric bikes fix that issue. You can pedal as much or as little as you want. The bike i bought is a Rad Rover 5. It not only has pedal assist, it also has a throttle so you dont ever have to pedal if you dont want to. On just throttle alone, this bike will do 20+ miles on a single charge, or 45+ if you assist with pedaling. It'll do between 20-25 mph on throttle alone, and even faster if you assist by pedaling.

Pedal assist is the shit! On its max setting (pedal assist 5) the bike puts out something like 5 times the amount of energy that you put in, so its like you have the pedaling strength of Captain America. You can casually pedal up steep hills without breaking a sweat (or just use throttle alone if youre super lazy).

Class 2 E-bikes are allowed (legally) anywhere bicycles are allowed, including sidewalks. You can take these electric fat tire bikes offroad too. Check out this short video. These things are friggin quick!



Rad_Power_Bike_Black.jpg


Okay so I texted our friend's 19 year old son and asked what bicycle he has and he texted me back to the below website and the below bicycle, it is a GENESIS E-Cross 1.0 PT E-Crossbike. He got it when we were on Lockdown and his Tennis Club was closed and so to keep his fitness up he got the Electric Bicycle, I myself know zero about these things but it looks very excellent:



View attachment 399352


Thats a nice one! I considered going with a more expensive one, but i thought it might be smart to start with a Rad Rover, and if i turn this into a full blown hobby, then ill think about getting a higher end bike.

Not a bad idea. Another thing you wish you had when you get one of these bikes is another one so you can take lady friends out for a ride. So your first bike will be perfect for her.
 
I hope to get one soon. I have exercise induced asthma. I can't breathe on exertion. An ebike would suit me fine.
Me and my buddy rode for miles into Kensington Metropark. The bike bath is all up and down. Up isn't so much fun on a regular bike. Sure you can gear down but still sucks. If I rode a regular bike out to Kensington I'd be wiped out before I got back. This woman saw me riding up hill smiling and she said, "you sure look like you're having a good time" and I said, "yea I've got a battery on this bike" and she laughed.

No way I could ride 50 miles in one day. I did this Saturday. From 10am to 4pm. It was so much fun. What I love most is we don't even have to put our bikes in the car and drive to go riding. All these network of bike trails are less than a mile from my home.

Yesterday no one wanted to go out with me so I rode around my lake.

1621259425356.png


You have to drive on the road but they have a very clearly visible bike and walking path.
 
I have one, one major issue is, if it needs to be fixed you better be tech savvy. I love mine saves me a lot of money, I would build your own, it’s cheaper and can be much faster.
There are lots of local guys on the trails who make/sell bikes. They can work on them if they need work and man those bikes go fast! One guy rigged his so it has 3 batteries on it and a throttle so he can go fast and far. I mean FAST.
 
Nope.

But I wanna get a bike just like this one to ride around the neighborhood in the evening. I dunno know if Ill go with the dahne blue or a light seafoam green. Might put a nice basket on the front.

41-dQ1MzDFL._AC_SY400_.jpg
Where will you put your rainbow flag?
Funny but my bike looks a lot like this one. I bought a step through because I'm short and don't want to hit my balls every time we come to a stop. Plus I put a basket on the front and a travel bag on the back that holds my second battery.

You have to have a basket. Where else do you put all your stuff?
 
I have one, one major issue is, if it needs to be fixed you better be tech savvy. I love mine saves me a lot of money, I would build your own, it’s cheaper and can be much faster.
There are lots of local guys on the trails who make/sell bikes. They can work on them if they need work and man those bikes go fast! One guy rigged his so it has 3 batteries on it and a throttle so he can go fast and far. I mean FAST.
You should check out "Citizen Cycle" on Youtube. He has a fully customized Rad Rover 5. I think his has 2 batteries, and an upgraded controller and motor. His bike is fast!
 
Nope.

But I wanna get a bike just like this one to ride around the neighborhood in the evening. I dunno know if Ill go with the dahne blue or a light seafoam green. Might put a nice basket on the front.

41-dQ1MzDFL._AC_SY400_.jpg
Where will you put your rainbow flag?
Funny but my bike looks a lot like this one. I bought a step through because I'm short and don't want to hit my balls every time we come to a stop. Plus I put a basket on the front and a travel bag on the back that holds my second battery.

You have to have a basket. Where else do you put all your stuff?
Rad Rover has a step through bike that doesnt look girly, if you ever want to upgrade. Their baskets and racks are manlier looking too.
 
So I've done some checking around on various internet sites, and it seems to me that there are two alternative reasons to get an e-bike.

Some people seem to want an e-bike to ride it in the same way as they would a motor-scooter. They want to ride it to work, to the store, and so on, basically running on the electric motor most of the time. The advantage of an e-bike over a motor scooter are, you can ride on the sidewalk and other places where "motor vehicles" are prohibited, and you don't have to bother with registration, insurance, gas, and stuff like that. Also, you can get a nice e-bike for $1,500 or less.

Other people are bicyclists who want the boost of the electric motor to either add speed, or to make hills more tolerable, but expect to provide most of the power themselves. This is my thinking (I'm 71 years old). From that standpoint, it appears that the sheer weight of the e-bike is such that it would really make self-propulsion difficult, even on level ground.

If I get another stimulus check, and if I can find one of these things that's mainly made in the U.S., I'll buy one.
I think I could ride it home if I ran out of battery but Saturday when my 1st battery died (I have 2) it felt like I was in quicksand. LOL. But I also had it in 7th gear. If I ran out of battery I'd probably ride it in 4 or 3.
 
I'm about ready to pull the trigger on an e-bike, and it appears that they are being sold in huge numbers right now. Supply chains are backing up from China, which it appears is the origin for all of them - whether you are talking about whole bikes or the parts that are used to "make" them in the USA. Repair parts are very tight right now, and repairs are taking a long time, since dealers are spending a lot of time assembling new ones to meet the demand.

It appears to me that the market is saying very loudly that they want bikes under $2,000 (out the door), so THOSE bikes are selling like hotcakes, while the more expensive ones, not so much. The rush of Corona-Virus bribes will undoubtedly inject even more heat into the Spring rush for bikes.

While there appear to be several decent bikes in the $1500 range, I think I am going to go with the Aventon Level
View attachment 465786

because there is a reputable local dealer who carries them. It does not have lights as standard equipment, but it does have fenders and a cargo carrier and a trip computer, so on the whole it looks like a good starting point, for me to accessorize as I like. I think it sells for about $1500, as shown. While it is the only E-bike I have ridden, the power is quite impressive.

Again, I am already a biker, but at 71 years old I'm tired of killing myself on the long, steep hills in my area. I will get a good workout on this thing, and not have to worry about any hills on my planned route.
Why do you need fat tires? We take our regular e bikes off road

This tire has no problem going off road

1621260483925.png
 
Nope.

But I wanna get a bike just like this one to ride around the neighborhood in the evening. I dunno know if Ill go with the dahne blue or a light seafoam green. Might put a nice basket on the front.

41-dQ1MzDFL._AC_SY400_.jpg
Where will you put your rainbow flag?
Funny but my bike looks a lot like this one. I bought a step through because I'm short and don't want to hit my balls every time we come to a stop. Plus I put a basket on the front and a travel bag on the back that holds my second battery.

You have to have a basket. Where else do you put all your stuff?
Rad Rover has a step through bike that doesnt look girly, if you ever want to upgrade. Their baskets and racks are manlier looking too.
The one reason I don't regret buying this girly looking bike is eventually I will get a better one and this one will be PERFECT for any ladies who want to go for a ride.
 
This is the one I've been seriously considering:


Dual motor (can select one or all wheel drive)
Dual battery
Dual suspension
30+ mph
Its not allowed on sidewalks, just so you know. That is a Class 3 E-bike. I think there are better class 3 e-bikes in that price range. You can get some REALLY good used E Bikes in that price range too.
Don't get one you can't take everywhere. When you have one that can go anywhere you feel truly free.

Although if you aren't going fast who's going to know what class your bike is?
 
This is the one I've been seriously considering:


Dual motor (can select one or all wheel drive)
Dual battery
Dual suspension
30+ mph
Its not allowed on sidewalks, just so you know. That is a Class 3 E-bike. I think there are better class 3 e-bikes in that price range. You can get some REALLY good used E Bikes in that price range too.

After watching that video of the Rad Rover, I have to admit, I'm now considering one of those. And your testimonial helps as well.
Because Rad Power Bikes is one of the most popular ebikes in the world, there are a lot of aftermarket parts for it. You can significantly speed up the bikes accelerration with after market batteries, motors and controllers. There is a guy on youtube named "Citizen Cycle" who has upgraded EVERYTHING on his bike and he makes videos that show how well each upgrade performs.
I just got an electra bike. My friends have $1500 ones and a $5000 one. One $3000. I decided to get a $1500 one. The only thing is it won’t have a throttle. You have to peddle.
Having an accelerator is nice and I don't agree with the restriction on this. The ones I put together have throttles and can be ridden with as much or as little assistance as desired. Including purchase of used mountain bikes as 'donors', they cost under $500 each, have pure electric range of about 50 km and go as fast as 35 kph without pedaling. They don't look as nice as the commercial bikes, but, then, they aren't as attractive to thieves, either. My wife loves hers for the commute to work.
This is what I want for my next bike.
 
Checking back for anyone paying attention. I can't express how happy I am with this bike. I've increased the tire pressure to 30psi for pavement, and locked out the front fork suspension, and it is great.

In my hilly area of Western Pennsylvania I have always had to take into consideration the nasty hills I would encounter on my rides, and it is a pleasure to not even have to consider that factor; I can go wherever I want. And the workout is exactly what I want it to be. I can either let the bike do all the work or just supplement my own efforts with the motor. So far, all of my rides have been fun, yet I'm exhausted by the time I finish.

One thing I haven't done yet is a rails-to-trails (perfectly flat), long distance run. The only limit I see is that I am about exhausted after two hours or so. We'll see.
You have rails to trails near you too? So lucky. I can jump on less than a mile from my house. Funny thing is I have to jump on a road for about a block. Not a lot of cars so no big deal except the road is bumpy as shit. They need to repave that road!
 
Nope.

But I wanna get a bike just like this one to ride around the neighborhood in the evening. I dunno know if Ill go with the dahne blue or a light seafoam green. Might put a nice basket on the front.

41-dQ1MzDFL._AC_SY400_.jpg
Where will you put your rainbow flag?
Funny but my bike looks a lot like this one. I bought a step through because I'm short and don't want to hit my balls every time we come to a stop. Plus I put a basket on the front and a travel bag on the back that holds my second battery.

You have to have a basket. Where else do you put all your stuff?
Rad Rover has a step through bike that doesnt look girly, if you ever want to upgrade. Their baskets and racks are manlier looking too.
It's funny you post something really positive and either people come here and want to shit on us or no one wants to talk about it. It's like good news. No one wants to see good news on the news. I had too much fun this weekend to be negative. All those nice people out getting exercise on a nice spring day.

Even Detroit is getting into the bike scene. Is anyone against gentrification?

change the character of (a poor urban area) through wealthier people moving in, improving housing, and attracting new businesses, typically displacing current inhabitants in the process.
"formerly bohemian districts are being gentrified"
  • (of a poor urban area) change in character through wealthier people moving in, improving housing, and attracting new businesses, typically displacing current inhabitants in the process.
    "the old pattern of rich outer and poor inner suburbs is being reversed as old inner-city neighborhoods gentrify"
 
Talked with Specialized and Trek dealers this last weekend and it was made clear to me that, if it ain’t in stock, you may well be looking at 2022. The lesson to me is to take damn good care of what you have!!
That’s what my LBS said to me in March about the guest rider Allant I had money down on. She does have a Specialized coming in…
 
Talked with Specialized and Trek dealers this last weekend and it was made clear to me that, if it ain’t in stock, you may well be looking at 2022. The lesson to me is to take damn good care of what you have!!
That’s what my LBS said to me in March about the guest rider Allant I had money down on. She does have a Specialized coming in…
I wanted a very specific bike. $1500 townie from the Trek store nearby. Everything else was more expensive. They looked on the computer and said they had 1 left. I got the last one.

Everyone should know if you want to ride far you need another battery. So $2000.

And you will need a pouch to put on the back rack so you can carry the extra battery. $100ish

You will be wise to have a bell, basket, water carrier and rear view mirror. $100ish

Get the warranty. $100. It paid for itself when I purchased the extra battery.

So $2200 and you can ride close to 80 miles.

Everyone has heard of Henry Ford Museum? This weekend we are going to ride the Hines Park Trail up into Henry Ford Museum. 26 miles each way.
 
FAT TIRES: They are not what I would have chosen if I were designing my own bike, but I've grown to like them. I lock out the suspension for road riding, and the 4" tires still manage to soften road imperfections and make them tolerable. And with the motor, the added rolling resistance is not an issue. I like how the bike looks. I call it "Butch."

RANGE: After a couple hours on the bike, I am exhausted. I do most of the work myself, which is the point of riding. I haven't come anywhere running out of battery before I have personally run out of gas.

PERFORMANCE: I don't get it. My Goldwing will do three digit speeds; I have no need for a bicycle to go more than 25, ever. I get into the 30's on downhills, but that's because I don't like to ride the brakes.

Getting an aftermarket softer seat.

The most fun I've every got for $1,500.
 
FAT TIRES: They are not what I would have chosen if I were designing my own bike, but I've grown to like them. I lock out the suspension for road riding, and the 4" tires still manage to soften road imperfections and make them tolerable. And with the motor, the added rolling resistance is not an issue. I like how the bike looks. I call it "Butch."

RANGE: After a couple hours on the bike, I am exhausted. I do most of the work myself, which is the point of riding. I haven't come anywhere running out of battery before I have personally run out of gas.

PERFORMANCE: I don't get it. My Goldwing will do three digit speeds; I have no need for a bicycle to go more than 25, ever. I get into the 30's on downhills, but that's because I don't like to ride the brakes.

Getting an aftermarket softer seat.

The most fun I've every got for $1,500.

1. Fat tires are not ideal for the roads but occasionally we go off road. When we do I'm jealous my friend has tougher tires. But get this. He's gotten flat tires and I haven't yet. So fat tires don't mean you won't get a flat. I heard that we can take our tires in and have them filled up with this stuff so you never have to fill up your tires again and they never go flat. I think we are all going to get this done. I'm going to wait until I get a flat before I do it though.

2. My $1500 bike doesn't have suspension. So when I go over a rough part of the road my bike rattles and my buddy has suspension so he doesn't even feel it. But he paid a lot more so I'm happy with what I got. Just got to be careful when you see a pot hole don't ride over it.

3. Your Goldwing will go 100 mph? Are you kidding?

4. We ride 6 hours. We go through 2 batteries. I almost wish I had a 3rd battery but it's true I'm pooped after 1.5 batteries. I drive from my house to this park called Hines Park and back home. I've also drove my car to Hines Park and drove it all the way to my brothers house and back. What I want to try is drive from my house to my brothers. It will for sure take more than 1 battery to get there but not much more. So then when I get to my brothers house I'll bring the charger and charge the first battery for 4 hours then drive home. I may spend the night and leave the next morning though because I don't know if I can go both ways in 1 day. It would be a long ass trip. I wish I would have got a throttle for when I'm sick of peddling. Even with the battery I've gone up some hills that are so long and steep I get sick of peddling.

5. My buddy has a bigger/softer seat. If it was easy to put on I'd try it but it's not so I'm just going to stick with my original seat. It's not bad and I'm getting used to it.

6. Yes, it is the best thing I ever bought. At least that's what I say right now. Before this the best thing I ever bought was my pontoon. Before that it was my quad. Before that it was my stand up jetski. Love toys. Right now my bike is my favorite toy.
 
I recently discovered these, even though they have been around for years apparently. I live in an area with a lot of hills, so i have stayed away from bikes because, who wants to walk their bike up every hill? Im 47 and not interested in blowing out my legs, or even conditioning them to a point to where i can pedal like a tour de france rider. Fuck that.

Electric bikes fix that issue. You can pedal as much or as little as you want. The bike i bought is a Rad Rover 5. It not only has pedal assist, it also has a throttle so you dont ever have to pedal if you dont want to. On just throttle alone, this bike will do 20+ miles on a single charge, or 45+ if you assist with pedaling. It'll do between 20-25 mph on throttle alone, and even faster if you assist by pedaling.

Pedal assist is the shit! The bike puts out something like 5 times the amount of energy that you put in, so its like you have the pedaling strength of Captain America. You can casually pedal up steep hills without breaking a sweat (or just use throttle alone if youre super lazy).

Class 2 E-bikes are allowed (legally) anywhere bicycles are allowed, including sidewalks. You can take these electric fat tire bikes offroad too. Check out this short video. These things are friggin quick!



Rad_Power_Bike_Black.jpg

/——-/ 47???? I’m 69 years old and ride a 10 speed up hills with none of the issues you’re worried about.

Can you do that for 40 miles? The benefit to an electric bike is the range and speed that you get. You are rewarded with more speed with every pedal rotation, than you are on a normal bike. Again, its like you have the pedaling strength of Captain America (on the bikes highest setting). You can also dial it back to where its barely helping you, or not helping you at all. When you get tired, all you have to do is turn the throttle, or turn up the pedal assist.

/—-/ I never tried 40 miles.


I did 26 not long ago on a standard no motor mountain bike. No problem, but those seats are hell after a few miles (and I have a nice aftermarket seat)

Still, I'm building my own 1000watt ebike from a kit and 18650's I ordered from Chiner.
 
FAT TIRES: They are not what I would have chosen if I were designing my own bike, but I've grown to like them. I lock out the suspension for road riding, and the 4" tires still manage to soften road imperfections and make them tolerable. And with the motor, the added rolling resistance is not an issue. I like how the bike looks. I call it "Butch."

RANGE: After a couple hours on the bike, I am exhausted. I do most of the work myself, which is the point of riding. I haven't come anywhere running out of battery before I have personally run out of gas.

PERFORMANCE: I don't get it. My Goldwing will do three digit speeds; I have no need for a bicycle to go more than 25, ever. I get into the 30's on downhills, but that's because I don't like to ride the brakes.

Getting an aftermarket softer seat.

The most fun I've every got for $1,500.

1. Fat tires are not ideal for the roads but occasionally we go off road. When we do I'm jealous my friend has tougher tires. But get this. He's gotten flat tires and I haven't yet. So fat tires don't mean you won't get a flat. I heard that we can take our tires in and have them filled up with this stuff so you never have to fill up your tires again and they never go flat. I think we are all going to get this done. I'm going to wait until I get a flat before I do it though.

2. My $1500 bike doesn't have suspension. So when I go over a rough part of the road my bike rattles and my buddy has suspension so he doesn't even feel it. But he paid a lot more so I'm happy with what I got. Just got to be careful when you see a pot hole don't ride over it.

3. Your Goldwing will go 100 mph? Are you kidding?

4. We ride 6 hours. We go through 2 batteries. I almost wish I had a 3rd battery but it's true I'm pooped after 1.5 batteries. I drive from my house to this park called Hines Park and back home. I've also drove my car to Hines Park and drove it all the way to my brothers house and back. What I want to try is drive from my house to my brothers. It will for sure take more than 1 battery to get there but not much more. So then when I get to my brothers house I'll bring the charger and charge the first battery for 4 hours then drive home. I may spend the night and leave the next morning though because I don't know if I can go both ways in 1 day. It would be a long ass trip. I wish I would have got a throttle for when I'm sick of peddling. Even with the battery I've gone up some hills that are so long and steep I get sick of peddling.

5. My buddy has a bigger/softer seat. If it was easy to put on I'd try it but it's not so I'm just going to stick with my original seat. It's not bad and I'm getting used to it.

6. Yes, it is the best thing I ever bought. At least that's what I say right now. Before this the best thing I ever bought was my pontoon. Before that it was my quad. Before that it was my stand up jetski. Love toys. Right now my bike is my favorite toy.
Please check more thoroughly before filling your inner tubes with that stuff. From what I've read, it makes them very heavy and the ride isn't very nice.
Glad to hear you're enjoying your machines. I still enjoy my pure muscle bicycles, but the electric serves me well, too, especially with big shopping or carrying jobs.
 

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