I don’t see this mentioned often, but ebikes just feel good to ride. People are hesitant until they try them. Once they try them, it’s over. Especially if it’s a nice torque-assist ebike they tried.
I love any kind of ebike to be honest. I’ve tried heavy front hub rideshare bikes, and a considerably nicer mid-drive specialized como 2022. They get me from A to B really comfortably and with ease, which is all I really need.
That said, I sadly don’t own an ebike myself, my personal bicycle is a dutch-style upright with a 7sp internal hub, and fully enclosed drivetrain.
The infrequent maintenance is a major convenience factor for me, so much so that I want my next bicycle to be belt driven, better so if I can find an electric one 👌
The holy grail is the mid drive assist with integrated sealed transmission, coupled with belt drive. There’s one company doing this now and hopefully it takes off. Throttle people can fight me (but also no reason that couldn’t be integrated since the chainring is now decoupled from the cranks).
Not OP, but the cero one is one I found that seems to check the boxes. It’s a cargo bike that was inspired by japanese mamachari bikes - very utilitarian bikes that are analogs to the dutch commuter bikes.
I just purchased a used, older version that still uses a chain instead of a belt, but it handles nicely. Built in frame lock is incredibly convenient!
Time to install a front hub. Small geared like the Bafang G311 for lightweight or Grin All-Axle for the same reliability as the rest of your bike. 😁
I run a rear G310 with 11sp drivetrain but to be honest if I knew everything I do now when I designed the build, I’d have left my drivetrain intact and used a front hub instead. It’s way easier to do, fewer compromises and it could even end up lighter.
Yeah, compared to my regular bike, my ebike rides like shit. I wish I’d bought a more traditional bicycle-like ebike rather than my cheap folding Chinesium bike shaped object.
Some BSOs shittiness can’t be overcome by any number of watts.
A nice bike with a small front hub (1.8kg), torque sensor and a small battery (2kg) can feel amazing. It adds very little weight so the handling doesn’t change much but you get superpower that feels like it’s connected to your legs.
I once had to use a share ebike to grt somewhere. It was just over, bought one the day after now I use it for everything. Even riding it for 2hours a day is still so much fun.
I don’t see this mentioned often, but ebikes just feel good to ride. People are hesitant until they try them. Once they try them, it’s over. Especially if it’s a nice torque-assist ebike they tried.
I prefer my normal bike to my e-bike… Granted, the e-bike is a cheap Decathlon one…
I guess you’re right that cheap cadence sensored ebikes might not feel that great, especially to people used to nice pushbikes.
I love any kind of ebike to be honest. I’ve tried heavy front hub rideshare bikes, and a considerably nicer mid-drive specialized como 2022. They get me from A to B really comfortably and with ease, which is all I really need.
That said, I sadly don’t own an ebike myself, my personal bicycle is a dutch-style upright with a 7sp internal hub, and fully enclosed drivetrain.
The infrequent maintenance is a major convenience factor for me, so much so that I want my next bicycle to be belt driven, better so if I can find an electric one 👌
The holy grail is the mid drive assist with integrated sealed transmission, coupled with belt drive. There’s one company doing this now and hopefully it takes off. Throttle people can fight me (but also no reason that couldn’t be integrated since the chainring is now decoupled from the cranks).
So, which company is it?
Sorry, I was thinking of the pinion edrive. https://pinion.eu/en/e-drive/
Not OP, but the cero one is one I found that seems to check the boxes. It’s a cargo bike that was inspired by japanese mamachari bikes - very utilitarian bikes that are analogs to the dutch commuter bikes.
I just purchased a used, older version that still uses a chain instead of a belt, but it handles nicely. Built in frame lock is incredibly convenient!
Time to install a front hub. Small geared like the Bafang G311 for lightweight or Grin All-Axle for the same reliability as the rest of your bike. 😁
I run a rear G310 with 11sp drivetrain but to be honest if I knew everything I do now when I designed the build, I’d have left my drivetrain intact and used a front hub instead. It’s way easier to do, fewer compromises and it could even end up lighter.
Yeah, compared to my regular bike, my ebike rides like shit. I wish I’d bought a more traditional bicycle-like ebike rather than my cheap folding Chinesium bike shaped object.
Some BSOs shittiness can’t be overcome by any number of watts.
A nice bike with a small front hub (1.8kg), torque sensor and a small battery (2kg) can feel amazing. It adds very little weight so the handling doesn’t change much but you get superpower that feels like it’s connected to your legs.
I once had to use a share ebike to grt somewhere. It was just over, bought one the day after now I use it for everything. Even riding it for 2hours a day is still so much fun.