@@riverw4721well, the biggest pro is I can get about 5x more groceries as far as volume goes, because I bought the 37 liter panniers designed for the rack. It's heavy, to the point where it seems the main reason it's motorized is to be able to propel its own battery weight. And all this time, the speedometer is off by about 4mph, and not in the desirable direction. Because the speed limiter effectively kills the motor at what it thinks is 19mph, but is actually 15, it's not actually any faster on average than my nonmotorized bikes. I've brought this issue to the LBS that sold it to me and they did about all they could to try ramping it up, but it ended up doing zilch. The rep instead just claimed that it's not the bike's speedo that's off - it's the error of the police-posted radar signs around the city that tell you how fast you're going, and Strava, and my general sense from experience that I know what 15mph feels like on a bike vs 20 vs 25. Okay. (huge eye roll of disappointment). I got it to be a grocery-getter and commuter - it handled going through snow, ice, and slush pretty well over the winter, thanks in part to its weight, smaller, fatter tires, and lower center of gravity (than my road bikes) - and it does those things. But I have to carry it up quite a few steep stairs both at home and at work in order to store it inside, and it's hard to justify the weight a lot of the time. And I wish the panniers were designed to be capable of *full* loads, with an outer strap that could wrap around both over their opened tops. My short answer is, I would NEVER get this bike at its MSRP of $3000. The only reason I bought an e-bike is that my city voted for a tax to help reduce car reliance by offering incentives - in my case, I got a $1700 voucher towards the price of any e *cargo* bike from one of a number of participating LBSs (so people aren't just ordering online instead of within the local economy). I hope these impressions help!
You know if you use regen braking like every other EV on the planet then your brake pads would be the last thing to worry about rather than the first. Especially for a cargo bike it makes zero sense to carry around an electric motor and not use it for magnetic braking. Well, it makes cents if you wanna sell brake pads.
You need mass for that to be effective. It also adds complexity and cost. Brake pads last for ages on bikes...because not very much mass. It does exist in some Grin motors, Customers tend to be in Switzerland, not so useful in places with less elevation or trains and cable cars used for local transportation.
@@cosybike Even on a normal bike brake pads wear fast, if you ride in all weather. And brake pads are expensive. I want to make my bike an ebike just because I hate paying for brake pads. Also braking performance from regen does not change with water/dirt/ice. Regen adds no complexity or cost, it comes free with any electric motor. Electric motors work the same forward or backwards. Regen is very effective at any mass.
