I just ordered the Ride1Up 700 Series eBike.
https://ride1up.com/product/700-series/ $1545 delivered.
I came close to going with a Folding eBike, which would have been the Aventon Sinch
https://www.aventon.com/products/aventon-sinch-foldable-electric-bike
Had I been willing to wait a while, I would have probably gone with the Ride1Up Cafe Cruiser. More relaxed configuration. Looks cool to my eye. Unfortunately, I have a road-trip planned and don't want to wait.
https://ride1up.com/product/cruiser/
The Aventon Aventure would have been a good choice too - and I was close as it has fat tires, but was about $500 more expensive (with rack and light).
https://www.aventon.com/collections/ebikes/products/aventure-ebike
How did I decide? Wasn't easy, and I'm not sure I made the right choice.
Why eBike vs regular bike? I'm not much of a bike rider, but I thought about it anyway. For me, range and carrying capacity came into play. Plus, living in Florida with heat/humidity, I thought the extra ooomph of an eBike would be userful.
Full size vs Folding. Hardest part of my decision. I had a folding Dahon bike and it sucked. So I was biased against, even though I know they've improved. But the folding aspect was definitely compelling. However, more I thought about it, the more I realized I would use the bike outside of just the boat. I live in a beach community now where parking is tough so getting around town will definitely be easier. We like to camp at National Parks and such so bike is second transportation. In the end, it was really close, but the more I thought about it, the less benefit I could see in folding. Time will tell.
Features. It took me a while to figure out the motor power ratings and such. There's some gamesmanship in the market right now about "Peak Power" which is meaningless. The most important rating is torque (usually in Newtons). This gives an idea of ability to go uphill. But here is a rundown of some of my learnings:
- Motor Wattage. Range from 300W to around 750W. Higher is better.
- Battery Capacity. Again, some FUD here - usually stated in AH, but you have to keep an eye - most bikes are 48v, but some are 36v, so really WH is the better rating. 14AH @ 48V is fairly common (672WH), but range is from 500WH to 750WH.
- Brakes. Either mechanical or hydraulic. Hydraulic are less maintenance and was important to me.
- Step-through or cross-bar frame (girls vs boys bike). I would have gone with step-through except the price was $150 more and I figured the cross-bar frame is stronger.
- Handlebars - pull-backs or straight. I wanted a more upright ride, so would like some lift and pull-back. I am doubtful the bars on the bike I got are what I want, but they are fairly inexpensive (under $50) if I don't like them.
- Motor. There are two types - mid-drive that drives the crank/pedals; and hub-drive. Mid-drive benefits that you get the gear-ratio benefit of the crank but is much, much more expensive. For hub-drive, the cheapest bikes are single-speed. The mid-priced models such as the ones I was looking at are gear-driven. They are very reliable. Due to budget, I didn't have a choice.
- Tires. Fat tires (3"-5") or regular tires (2-1/2" tires). I would have preferred the 3-inch tires just because I will be off-road some - this is the main reason I would have chosen the Ride1Up Cafe Cruiser had it been available.
- Suspension. Some form of front fork suspension was important to me. Most bikes have it, but not all. Travel ranges from 40mm (just under 1-1/2") and 80mm-100mm (around 3-inches).
- Accessories. Primarily bike rake, fenders, and lights. Can easily add $200-$300 to the cost. Given the rain in places like Florida, I cannot imagine not having fenders.
To sum-up, not sure I made the best choice for strictly boat usage - I may have gone folding even though racks are not as strong. But I think for my use, it's a good choice but time will tell.
I am really bullish on solar and electric stuff so this was an interesting exercise for me. When I started, I thought the idea of spending $5k on a bike was nuts (for me it is), but I can see how a nice cargo bike can remove the need for a second car for some people. The
Tern GSD is top quality at $5700. Given the expense of a car, plus maintenance, insurance, and operating costs, I can really see the business case for some people.
Thanks to everyone for your input. Really helpful to see what others did and the generally strong support for eBikes.
Peter