Heyo everyone. For the first time in my life I’m in a position to be able to use an ebike for most of my commuting needs, which I’m pretty psyched for!
As ebikes are a somewhat hefty investment, I want to do my best to get one that will last a good while, and can be maintained and repaired by just me. I’ve read that Bosch motors are proprietary and refuse to sell parts to anyone who isn’t a dealer, so I figured I’d ask here for advice before making any decisions.
The criteria I’m looking at is:
- Budget of around $1200
- Plan to haul groceries uphill regularly (not super steep though)
- Decently fast, at least able to achieve Class 3 speeds
- Enough torque for hauling a small trailer (costco runs)
- Replaceable/repairable battery
- As many non-proprietary parts as possible
- Ability to fold is a bonus, but not a requirement
If any of you have any experience you can share, I’d be most grateful!
Your budget is too small for your needs.
I would look at a Grintech hub wheel and building it yourself. Their tech is incredible. I’ve built a mid drive and using grintech’s regen hub and it’s incredibly responsive. I’m also convinced it will out last my frame.
I appreciate the suggestion!
After pricing out a Grintech motor from one of their kits, it comes to 1,479 for their basic 48v system, and considering I don’t have an existing bike to modify, I suspect that route might be more expensive than a pre-built ebike, and unfortunately would be stretching my budget.
Are you sure $1200 isn’t enough? From what I’ve read, a Lectric XP 3.0 or Ride1Up Portola is capable of towing a small trailer, and they only retail for $1000. It seems like they’d be capable of filling my needs, but I’m not sure how repairable they’d be.
Throwing in a Canadian option: https://www.biktrix.ca/
Cheers for the suggestion! I never came back to update this post, but ultimately I ended up going with a lightly used ebike off craigslist, which has been excellent so far :)
Yaaay!
I know I am super late to this thread, but for any future lurkers:
The best option for something like this is to get a cheap thrifted bike, and slap a mid-drive ebike kit on it. I got a bafaang kit for mine, and it costed about $700, and the bike itself $50. It took an entire day and all my friends beating the shit out of said bike to get the upgrade done, a bunch of post-work as well, but it made me much more familiar with what I need to do for future repairs.
A used Aventon abound would cover most of that. I paid about $2K for mine new a couple years ago, so used should be at least in the ballpark. I have about 3000 miles on mine now.
Top speed about 24mph with current firmware, but you also have to replace the freewheel, the stock one is 14T which isn’t small enough, the drift maniac freewheel on Amazon is 11T and direct replacement.
I have panniers plus the front rack, I regularly do the grocery run with it.
Not class 3, but class 2+, it’s throttle will go to 20mph but with the freewheel you can pedal faster, I regularly do. With lights and such I tend to average around 19mph.
Plenty of torque for a trailer, I have one that’s rated to 100lbs capacity. I’ve overloaded it to 120 (3 40lb bags of salt) plus groceries in the panniers. I’ve probably carried 200lbs between the bike and trailer. Not at 24mph tho ;)
Removable battery, with just me at about 200lbs dressed at top speed I get about 30 miles of range, but I don’t push it that far.
Standard lower end bike parts, like anything else you’ll find in this price range. Shimano Altus derailleur.
Handlebar folds down, but it’s a big bike, 20" cargo style. Somewhere around 100lbs with racks and panniers.
And of course I just noticed that I resurrected a dead thread. Oh well, maybe it’ll be helpful to someone.
No worries! Great info for anyone who finds their way here from duck duck go :)
Did you end up with something?
Yes! I was able to find a really great deal on a used ebike on craigslist, even came with some nice accessories like tire armor inserts.
I would mention what brand and model I got, but due to the nature of the content that I post, unfortunately I can’t give personally identifying info, just in case 😅
Good deal and I totally understand especially nowadays.
