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You are here: Home / Electric Bike FAQ / Tips on Buying Your Best Electric Bike

Tips on Buying Your Best Electric Bike

January 30, 2016 by Pete 5 Comments

The Electric Bike Store in Ft. Lauderdale Florida.Are you having trouble deciding which electric bike is best for you?

There are a lot of electric bikes out there and the choices can be a bit overwhelming.

While some of them may rank very high in the reviews, is it really the best eBike for your particular needs.

It’s important to buy the best electric bike for you, not what somebody else thinks is the best electric bike.

Let’s go over a few points to narrow down what will be the best electric bike for you.

Your Local Dealer. First of all I highly recommend buying an electric bike from your local dealer. There are number of reasons for this.

One of the most important reasons is that test riding variety of eBikes will help you determine which bike feels most comfortable to you. There are a wide variety of eBike types to try: commuter, touring, road, beach cruiser, cargo, mountain, folding, etc.

Haibike Trekking RX electric bike

Rachel Corbett of the E-Bike Cycle Tourists with her Haibike XDURO Trekking RX.

Even if the stock bike doesn’t fit you perfectly most dealers will be able to change out the seat to make it more comfortable or change the handlebar stem to provide the best handlebar height for you.

In addition you will get an idea of how the different bikes perform and handle.

For instance, you might really enjoy having a throttle with a lot of power. Or you might like a pedal assist bike with a torque sensor that blends your pedal power with the electric power assist.

Test ride as many eBikes as you can to get a feeling for which type fits you the best.

Another reason to buy a bike from your local dealer is that they will be able to help you with repairs and maintenance and handle any kind of warranty issues that may come up.

In addition to riding eBikes at your local dealer, eBike events/festivals provide a great opportunity to test ride a wide variety of electric bikes. 

If you do buy an electric bike online, make sure you read as many reviews about the bike as you can and make sure that the company’s warranty and support will help you in the long run.

How much power do you need? Bigger is not always better. High power systems are fun if you are looking for a rush, but they are generally heavier because they need a larger battery to give you a decent range. Some of the bikes with high power systems feel more like a motorcycle and less like a bicycle.

The 250 watt geared rear hub motor on the IZIP E3 Path electric bike.

250-350 watts might not seem like much but it can be just enough for everyday riding and those systems are generally lighter.

The “feel” of the power also depends on where the power is being applied; some mid drives can feel like a higher powered hub motor because they can leverage the power across the range of the bicycle gearing. A mid drive motor does require that you are shifting the bike properly so that the motor doesn’t get bogged down in too high of gear.

Haibike FS RX bosch motor

Test riding a number of different electric bikes with different power and motor types will help you determine what is right for your riding.

Here is an article that compares hub motors, mid drives, and friction drives.

How much range do you need? Having a lot of range seems like the right way to go but there can be a significant cost. The battery pack is generally the most expensive part of an eBike so determining your realistic range is important.

Most standard eBikes have around a 400 watt hour battery pack that will provide 20-35 miles of range depending on the riding conditions (hills, headwinds, etc.), how much pedal power you are providing, and how much weight you are moving (yourself + cargo).

The watt hours are the capacity of the battery pack and it can be determined by multiplying the volts x amp hours, for example: 36 volts x 11ah = 396 watt hours.

raleigh misceo electric battery charger

Here’s a range tip: if you are commuting to work, you may want to have an additional charger at work so that you can top off your battery for the ride home. That is an inexpensive way to extend your range.

Use higher assist when you really need it (get somewhere quick with minimal sweat) and use less assist when you have more time and want to get more of a work out.

How much should you spend? Like many other products, with an electric bike you generally get what you pay for. It is important to evaluate how often you think you will use your electric bike to determine your price range. Here are some tips on the price points.

If you will be riding occasionally then you may not need the highest quality bike with all the high tech features. For this type of eBike I would recommend the $1,200+ price range. You can buy less expensive eBikes but you may run into quality issues that can be frustrating.

If you will be riding a lot (commuting to work, taking the kids to school, etc.) then I recommend a bike that can handle the daily miles with reliable components. These generally have high quality batteries that can last many charge cycles (longer lifespan). These are generally eBikes in the $2,000-$3,500 price range.

If you are into high tech features, larger batteries, full suspension, cargo bikes, etc. then you will generally be looking at spending $3,500 up to whatever you are comfortable spending.

You may “test the eBike waters” with a lower price point eBike and then find that you upgrade to a higher quality eBike after some time. Electric bike kits can offer a relatively low cost option to add electric assist to a bike that you already own. Watch out, eBikes can become addictive!

felt-sporte-5

Photo courtesy of Felt Electric.

Enjoy the rides! Those are some tips to help you focus in on what will be your best electric bike. Try not to get too bogged down with all of the technical details and go with an eBike that is comfortable for you to ride and performs the way you want it to.

-Pete

P.S. Don’t forget to join the Electric Bike Report community for updates from the electric bike world, plus ebike riding and maintenance tips!

Related

Filed Under: Electric Bike FAQ Tagged With: best electric bike, cheap electric bikes

Comments

  1. Cho says

    October 4, 2016 at 5:28 am

    Very very informative

    Reply
  2. kevin says

    February 24, 2017 at 8:40 pm

    great reading keep it up.

    Reply
  3. Patrick Rose says

    February 18, 2018 at 1:18 pm

    I have an BH easy motion 350 watt rear hub and I love it

    Reply
  4. Dean says

    March 10, 2018 at 12:05 am

    I own the RADROVER and RADCITY and have over 1500 miles on both and have had zero problems. I have a spare battery for both and never run out of power climbing hills in Kentucky. I carry them on the rear of my vehicle with a Hollywood bike rack.

    Reply
  5. Dean says

    July 8, 2018 at 9:50 pm

    I’m a different Dean than the Dean above, and I have a Juiced’ Bikes RipCurrent S 52v, 750w fat ebike. It’s an amazing bike with some very cool bells and whistles. This is the 1st ebike I’ve ever owned, but I also currently own a 1500 escooter, so I know the amazing torque and speed electrics have. They are amazing, and if you’re even considering one, all I can say is DO IT! You won;t be sorry.

    While my RCS is probably not the “right” bike for my needs, there are other kinds of requirements I have that this bike fills quite nicely. The first of many is I need my bike to get my tired old ass on it as often as possible. It’s awesome to ride a bike like this with 4″ wide tires, especially at over 30mph. Plus, it can be ridden in snow. This bike “makes” me want to ride b/c it’s so cool and versatile. And sure, next year some bike or battery technology that’s much cooler will be out making my RCS a dinosaur no one even remembers, including Juiced. That’s fine. I will proudly continue to whirr down the road in 2022 with my archaic battery and monster tires from goofy old 2018. That’s my goal anyway.

    Become a member of the Juiced Bikes club below.

    Reply

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