I'm glad you addressed those issues. There's so many videos promoting and reviewing e-bikes, but they don't mention the drawbacks of actually owning one and using it on a daily basis.
Yeah, I don't recommend an E-bike unless you have something like a garage or a shed to put it in. You should also take out your battery and keep it inside with you, as these bikes are pretty heavy and no thief wants hard labor to steal something. Hence why they steal instead of getting a job. Just keep it somewhere safe and you won't have issues, and buy a good E-bike. Costco has some good ones for pretty cheap. Amazon will run you 170 for a worse E-bike, whereas Costco sells a much higher quality one for around 60-70 dollars.
It's probably just because they don't have those problems. Reviewers you watch usually have a decent life situation. They put the bike in the garage and everything is good. It's pretty easy to not notice potential flaws in situation you don't experience.
@Codbeast101 had a coworker who bought one a few weeks ago and it was stolen a few days ago. They didnt care that it didn't have the battery either. I dont see the benefits honestly. I'd always have my head on a swivel. Can't go to the store to get something without wondering who'd try to take it.. you can have a solid lock but there's too many videos that show thieves how to break the best locks. The most disturbing were the ones where fake thieves spent 30 min trying to break a lock and no one did anything to stop them. So if you took your bike to work. That's 8 hours a thief has to try to steal it everyday. That's a lifetime..
It is worth mentioning that yes, while theft is a concern with any expensive bike (e-bike or not), you don’t have to worry nearly as much about how much weight you are carrying on an e-bike. The guys out there on super light carbon road bikes often ride with no lock at all or a chintzy lightweight lock because of the weight. On an e-bike, you can easily carry a very good lock (or more than one), that would make your bike very, very difficult to steal and not worry about how much those locks weigh.
More Pros than Cons...I use mine to ride to work...3 miles one way...6miles round trip. I sold my car, and now share a SUV with my wife. I ride 2 or 3 times a week...I now save on a car payment, insurance, gas, maintenance, etc. I also ride for enjoyment...ride in neighborhood, and will use in future for groceries & ride on trails. I have a folding ebike, and can fit in a SUV cargo area... Will use a 40 gallon tote to place in, with a handle & wheels...to keep from falling over.
@@lunatic2178 I guess or to protect from scratching bike surface. I use a Titanker 8mm blue 🔵 one with the white Titanker logo on it. I run the lock thru my handle and underneath bike frame and lock it to a stationary metal bar in the back of store. I also have a padlock on my craftsman suitcase toolbox that sit on my rear bike rack attached to bike. I carry knee pads, portable tire pressure air compressor, bike tools, Slime flat tire repair, my lock when not using it.
You do know e-bikes require maintenance and quite expensive actually. 3-5 years you need to replace or fix battery which cost around 300-600 depending how big it is and what brand you want and motor which is almost at similar price. Also, you need insurance for your bike as well since you ride on the streets
I bought a conversion kit for my bike for $87 and it still works like a charm to this day it goes about 15-25mph but you can go about 30 if you upgrade the battery and get better tires
@@theRickLC there is no way that it is 87 dollars brand new. If it was 87, it is just the motor or used. A more common conversion kit would cost more like 400-1000 dollars or more, but you will be hard pressed to get a bike fully converted and riding under 500 dollars.
I'm just concluding my first year of owning what l would call a very good cheap e-bike, Hitway BK3. The bike with shipping and the Amazon extended warranty l paid $850. Mostly assembled l was riding it 45 minutes after pulling it out of the box. After eleven and a half months there have been no mechanical faults, my headlight has gone dim so l'm about to make my first warranty claim. It goes between 25 to 40 miles on a charge almost entirely on throttle only. I didn't buy it to pedal. I did experiment once using the weakest pedal assist setting for an entire full charge to dead and it did a whopping 62 miles! At the other end of the spectrum during a cold snap with Temps in the high teens low 20s running just wide open throttle it almost stranded me at 17 miles. It cost roughly 75 cents to charge it so figuring that in with the purchase price the bike so far has worked out to about $85 a month. It would cost me more than that riding the bus. My back tire is bald but it came with off road knobbies and my brake pads are paper thin but it's about to hit two thousand miles. I just ordered two new street tires and tubes along with front and rear pads all for $93 which l'll install. I'm 66 years old and retired but work a part time job l have a small pension on top of a decent social security. When l had a car that was paid for between fuel insurance and maintenance it was costing close to $500 a month. Now l get to keep $400 of that and when l want to go away for a weekend l rent a car. On top of all that l enjoy riding the e-bike!
I have an KuKirin V3 with 90km of range and 40kmh speed. It weighs more than 3x the weight of my old scooter. But i still do my job at carrying it upstairs to the 3rd floor. Also, the floors are: 0 1 2 3 not 1 2 3 4 so yea
Best build so far for a rider to be able to do the following; 1) recreational fitness riding and 2) Long Distance Bike Touring? Dost CRATE compact cargo bike.
They're pretty great. except the only issue i have is range and price. and having to spend more $$$ to get more range. Im thinking of switching over to 2 stroke next time.
the problem with those cheap gas kits is that they are more toys than tools, they are great when they work, but they dont work very often and take a lot of tinkering to get working consistantly tbh. if you go down that route, i would just recommend spending your money on a used mini bike, you can get one for 200-500 dollars
Most have removable batteries already. There are lighter e bikes but they’re still not *light* per se. Just gotta look into it a little bit. You could also get a foldable one!
If you don't charge it, it's MUCH worse to ride (heavier, less gears) than a regular bike that costs 10x less. Maintenance is a $#@! To fix for cost and difficulty.
You are doing well in the us. in Germany you are hardly allowed to do anything. For example, maximum 250 watt motor and 15 miles. If you want more, you need a special driver licence. And other vehicles are completely banned. And the allowed are very expensive...
Exactly! I live in Greece and we have the same regulations. I was so close on buying e-bikes for me and my wife until I rode one yesterday. It was really disappointing and didn’t worth the money
I have a Level 1 with 4600 miles. Other than tires, no issues. Plus there are dealers everywhere who could handle the 2 yr warranty. Mine expires in April, no worries. I would like to add a fatty to my stable and it will probably be the Aventure just because of the facts listed above.
You said it bro. If its not the size of a BMX, I can't haul it up an elevator. How do I charge it if my apartment foyer doesn't have charging points. Ebikes must have removable batteries or should be able to enter an elevator
Foldable E Bike, Public Transportation yeah having to not walk, pedal all the way makes all the difference and if it's allowed in your workplace you can charge it there
I still don´t really get the appeal of ebikes. I bought one for my dad because he´s almost 60 and his knees hurt, so he can´t keep up on bike rides. But ebikes are limited to 25kmh (nothing you can´t illegally override, but still). Consistent 25kmh is easily achievable on an analogue bicycle as well. And for commuting i prefer a scooter. Similarly priced, but lighter, smaller (fits even in the smallest elevators), and also legally limited to 25 kmh.
it's the fact that you can ride 20mph without having to waste a single calorie that makes ebikes appealing for local travel. Most of them get you at least 30 miles on one full charge without having to pedal at all.
Mike O'Brien, I think electric bikes are worth it, because it's extremely challenging to ride regular bicycles up the hill and to travel long distances. Therefore, it makes life much easier and more fun to ride electric bikes! However, it is the best of both worlds to have both, because each has its own good benefits.
The drawbacks aren't really that big of a deal. When you bought an expensive thing, you bought and expensive thing fully knowing you bought it. That's your responsibility. What I'd consider to be drawbacks to using one would be how the heft can affect your speed and output on an incline when the battery dies. And since its an e-bike, the lower the charge, the lower the output. Which would bring you to the first drawback. This would lead us to the third drawback, which is range. How far can it go? Since it's an e-bike, it's not really meant for casual use. If you live near your workplace, even a normal bike would do. So the purpose of an E-bike would be to cover more distance with less time and effort. Kind of like a Motorcycle. And since you can still carry it. You can avoid the bike getting stolen.
Most of them can hit 30+ miles in range at a speed of 20mph. And most models still feature manual gears in case the battery does die; then it just becomes a normal bike, so really no true loss there. Casual use is still very viable because you can simply get to nearby places faster. Most people pedal around 10mph on traditional bikes, and you can double that on an ebike with literally zero effort. So no more getting sweaty on your way to work or a friend's house. Really the biggest problems are the weight and ease of theft.
I do actually wonder about using an ebike for longevity, having gone 180 miles in two days on an ecargo bike, I did not feel tired and was able to work a forty hour week on my feet with no need of recovery. I do wonder about pedal assistance, moving toxins from the legs, so that riding is also perpetual recovery. I guess that I think that it might be a technological silver bullet. I am 58 and I raced bicycles in my 20s and toured in my 30s.
yea but my guy forgot that not everyone in the world lives in a fkin chicken cage with 30+ floors! those who lives in chicken cages uses public transport anyway...
I’m a big guy, I love biking flat surfaces and obviously as like everyone love downhill biking as well, if there is any type of divot or bump or hill I can’t even get close to going over it, I have to get off and walk my bike up it, would this bike be a good alternative to only being used for uphill
