Once you see and ride the Trek and Specialized ebike, then you'll see the difference, however most people (like us), as average consumers, do NOT want to spend that kind of money!!!
Those are also better in a way most people aren’t going to care about. They’ll hold up to serious downhill and rock climbing uphill mountain biking that would destroy cruiser bikes, but most people are never going to come close to that kind of riding and would rather the bike go 28+ mph on the road for cheaper.
I didn't have much more than $1,500 to spend. That is a lot of dough for me. Otherwise I would not have one. I found a brand that seems to have very good quality and value for the cost.
Some Items you may pay more for: 1. Buy from bike shop vs online (some bike shop only service what they sell). 2. Name Brand vs Non Name Brand 3. Speed 4. Weight 5. Accessories (fenders, rear rack, front rack, lights, mirror…..) 6. Paint Job 7. Extra Battery 8. Finishing of the bike 9. Gearing (derailleur, IGH, Enviolo …..) 10. Mid Drive vs Hub Drive 11. Torque (Hill Climbing) Good job. The ebike I paid the most for actually gets ridden the least. It is very heavy and I do not like the gearing (Enviolo).
The price for an ebike is the price your willing to pay. The better components, brand name, etc. can all add to the cost of the bike. Always enjoy your videos Russ.
It’s amazing the features the manufacturers are including in the decently priced bikes. I just bought a Velotric Discover 2 and it has all the features I could want for a decent price.
Takeaways (Free or Jealousy) .. wow, interesting and sad that people feel that way. Instead for me I'm originally from your "general" area specifically in my case Glenview, Deerfield and after I went to college my parents moved to Lake Forest. So I like seeing the homestead. However, the number one thing for me is that you're about my age I just turned 60 and I just started to bike after 45 years of not biking. Boy did I ever get hooked on it quickly. You're also encouraging me to do similar videos but in my area, but mostly with the simple intention of just sharing my thoughts and documenting for my grandchildren I guess. I don't know if I'll do any videos but it's got me thinking. I guess I'll have to look at your other videos to figure out how to do the videography but most importantly the sound without insane amounts of wind noise without wearing some motorcycle helmet. Personally I could care less if you get 50 bikes a week kudos for you. Life is short and we need to enjoy and embrace what we do, and maybe we'll learn from each other. Also health-wise we both lost a lot of weight. My situation is I'm going through a divorce and I've lost nearly 60 lb and by the time I'm done another 10 lb at least. I was so bad off I could barely get on the ground to pick up a pencil. The scariest thing is diabetes and type 2 diabetes runs rampant in both sides of my family. The weight loss for me was mostly stopping my intake of sugar and excessive intake of salt I was drinking only Cokes and downing at least six or seven or more a day. That's what can happen when you're unhappy. I'm pleased to see your positive outlook on things and your overall happiness. Hopefully it rubs off. I may comment on some of the equipment specifically bikes that you use but in zero way with anything from me be personal towards you always keep that in mind. When you get to be our age you get opinionated about "things."
The. Better point really is not the cost persay.... but more so the value it brings to you and your quality of life. If it does what you need, makes you happier, and gets ya out there then nothing else or anything anyone else says matters.
As far as the range on the Wired, if you put it in Class 2 mode, I expect you’ll get pretty great range out of it. It’s easy to avoid going fast if range is a concern on any particular ride; put it in Class 2 mode and you don’t even need to think about it. I’m looking forward to seeing how that bike does once you get it.
Yeh, Russ. Thinking have heard that same "controversy" btwn Wired & E-Cells. But, like you, i gnore All of that "flying debris!" Have made up my mind to go w/E-Cells. Just need to come up $$$$!-lol
Around my neighborhood, there's several Surron/Talaria/E-Ride e-bikes that are borderline E-bike/E-motorcycle. Have seen them advertised btwn $3500-$4750+. Sorry, but that's to atmospheric, for my tastes...Stay Safe, Ride Safer, Russ....
Pretty much none of these bikes are designed for 40 mph, and personally the only time I use a throttle is when I forget to downshift at stoplight so I can quickly get across the street.
For me, I can’t see spending serious money on any PEV. Firstly, I just don’t see it being worth it since there’s only so much you can do without being flagrantly outside the law, but secondly I worry about the long term longevity. People certainly spend money on regular pedal bikes, but they’ll work forever with regular maintenance and parts availability isn’t really an issue. Stuff will eventually go wrong with ebikes, and who knows if they’ll still be making the parts 10 years from now? Given that, I can’t see buying a $5,000 ebike. I’d rather spend $1,500, and if it ends up having good longevity, that’s great. But I won’t assume it.
You spend a lot of time talking about the difference between $2000 and $5000 e-bikes, without mentioning the obvious things first: 1. Brand name, esp. standard bike names, like Trek. 2. Component quality, like higher on the Shimano stack than the bottom two or three, Bosch mid motor vs nameless hub motor, and frame materials (e.g., carbon fiber and titanium vs aluminum). A lot of these wouldn’t matter to me, but it seems like those are the factors driving some e-bikes to small car prices.
Russ, my Ocelot Pro has been down for 2weeks with error 30 communications fault! Been working with Magicycle on it, but it has been a slow process! They Said they would send me a few parts to try. Still waiting for parts. What caused the error was a bungee cord fell from the cargo area and became tangled around the rear axle! Error 30 ever since! Anxious to get it up and running, I miss riding, it is my main source of exercise!
The $5K Electric Bike Company then over $1,100 of that is for the upgraded battery and then $1,500 or more for the paint alone. So add that on top of a $2,000 e-bike made in the United States as opposed to cheap labor.
@@blintzkreig1638 .. "?" .. what? My point is you take those costs and add them on to (any of the bikes) and you're nearly in the same range, the variance can also be the labor costs.
I was literally just about buy a 2024 model wired freedom from somebody off of facebook marketplace and they wanted cash and I would have had to pay the same price even though it was used and there was like no way he could haul that bike anywhere so I would have had to bring my own truck there and the drive would have been about 40 mins there and back if I choose to buy from the seller luckily once I saw that there was a update where they had a dual battery version with a better motor and other components that made me not want buy from that seller online anymore
You have to look at amps as the size of the tank, volts how much your using. You simply won't get 3200 watts out of a 48 volt system wide open, your motor will burn up, or staying with the car analogy you'll flood the motor. Watts is work done or capable work done, and is defined by volts, how fast its being used and amps, how much storage. The main hindrance is weight. A 48 volt system doesn't have an advantage unless you make the motor work harder, or crank up the watts. The other factor besides weight, all other things being the same is efficiency, and most bikes aren't wildly different in efficiency.
Like I tell the young people askng about 'which is best' or 'mine is better'; "best" and "better" are subjective terms and depend ENTIRELY on the observer. For someone who is really price concious their bike might be 'better' (to them) than the faster bike. Define and prioritize what is best for one's needs and wants then select the bike that comes closest to your specifications - that bike is the best, for you. Here endith the rant.
Hey Russ. Congrats on 19K subscribers. In my observation, Russ is Right, Russ is smart, Russ is talented and Russ has lots of knowledge in that forgetful brain of his.
Most ebikes use similar parts , some charge more for their ebikes and people looking at these bikes figure if it's more expensive it must be better so ill buy this ones . If they have upgraded parts usually it not worth what they are charging for them .
Hey Russ, us boomers and "OGs" are often referred to as "square" by Gen Zers bc we're fuddy duddy, dull, old and not with it🤣Ha we're just wiser. I do like your segment on banned comments. It'll be interesting to see what your actual range will be on the incoming Wired Crusier. I think you'll get at least 60+ miles👍I'm beginning to see bigger batteries at 60V 40ah that are equivalent or more to 2 smaller integrated batteries, more choices out there. Companies are upping their game and competition is good. As the band Tower of Power would say, "it's hip to be square." Ride on Russ!
Are you using a seat post suspension with this bike or are you just using what came stocked with the bike? And if you are using a suspension seat post, do you happen to have a link?
On the Magicycle Deer, it has a rear suspension so I don’t use a seat post suspension. Here are some seat posts from Amazon. The Suntour NCX is what I have on my other bikes. amzn.to/3wJlaMc
The $5,000 Ebikes have Bosch motors. The $2,000 Ebikes have Bafang or other Chinese motors. I suspect the $5,000 have higher quality components in general. Then again, if they spend a fortune on the motor, it's no big deal to spend some extra money on other things. There is nothing magical about Bosch. They're just way overpriced.
Some bikes may weigh less or more too. In the past, you would pay really big bucks to lower the weight of the bike frame and wheels. Today, higher prices doesn’t always mean a lower weight bike.
Get Mrs. Right to retire and put her in charge of marketing and sales. Then you can take on all bikes and we can get a family business going. However, that does sound too much like work so I wouldn't want to do that.
