Looking for recommendations for electric bicycles

[KeysVal]

We are in the market for electric bicycles to carry on the bike rack on the back of our A Class motorhome.

Would prefer a more traditional looking bike that is easy to pedal when not using electric.

Can anyone recommend a bike?

[Seymour2Lane]

There are so many brands out there now that it's hard to recomend one over another. I would suggest that the motor be at least 500w and 750w would be better. I also think that 48v would be the minimum motor/battery voltage and get the biggest battery (amp hour) offered. All have pedal assist with several levels of assist and most have a thumb throttle which I recommend.
You will never here someone say 'sure wish I had gotten a smaller motor'.
A great resource is www.ElectricBikeReview.com
My bike is fairly traditional looking. I bought a 2017 Specialized Roll Sport 'comfort' bike that I added a Bafang BBSHD motor kit to. The kit was ordered from Luna Cycle and came stock at 750w with a 52v, 13.5 AH battery. Using the programing cable, the controller has been 'adjusted' to pull 30A @ 52v= 1500w. This bike will do 33mph with a 240lb rider. After 900 miles, every ride still ends with a big smile.
You will also need a rack that is rated for the weight of 2 ebikes. Some racks are also now rated for rv use too- Thule, Swagman.
Hope this helps. Regards, Mike

[theroc]

The college kid that lived next door to us last year bought an Aceshin. He let me ride it down the street and back. What a blast that was at my old age and even with all my aches and pains, I actually thought about buying one ...for a brief moment until reality set in.

That link given by Mike contained all pretty pricey units! Man, I don't know about paying $6,000+ for one. The Aceshin, I believe he said, was about $600 and relatively lightweight.

I just looked it up on Amazon and I believe it's THIS ONE --$616 + 20 shipping.

The reviews seem decent: go HERE

[brandss]

Val, as a previous poster said, going to depend on a lot of things. My wife and I rented bikes in Myrtle Beach, loved them, and began the research. What's hard is that you have to go on reviews of others because we couldn't find a place to try out the various brands.

We ended up with two Rad Power Bikes. We got the rad rovers with 4 inch tires and couldn't be happier. They are 1500 per bike but if you get two, they discount each bike by 100. They come mostly assembled and the part I had to do was very easy.

Couple things I would look at is a 750 watt motor, and a bike that has both a throttle and what's called pedal assist. We rarely use the throttle and always use pedal assist. What it does is as you pedal, the motor kicks in and kind of doubles the speed of your pedal power; not sure that makes sense. It has five settings with one being the lowest. I rode 16 miles the second day I had it and the battery still had 4 of 5 bars of power showing.

Feel free to PM me and I will help in any way. Good luck with your search.

[153stars]

I don't have a suggestion on elect.bike. But if don't you want to have kill your self pedaling on pavement or slide out in gravel or dirt. AND if they don't come with a nice set of hybrid tires already . https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/...oaAvDfEALw_wcB

[KeysVal]

Originally Posted by brandss

Val, as a previous poster said, going to depend on a lot of things. My wife and I rented bikes in Myrtle Beach, loved them, and began the research. What's hard is that you have to go on reviews of others because we couldn't find a place to try out the various brands.



We ended up with two Rad Power Bikes. We got the rad rovers with 4 inch tires and couldn't be happier. They are 1500 per bike but if you get two, they discount each bike by 100. They come mostly assembled and the part I had to do was very easy.



Couple things I would look at is a 750 watt motor, and a bike that has both a throttle and what's called pedal assist. We rarely use the throttle and always use pedal assist. What it does is as you pedal, the motor kicks in and kind of doubles the speed of your pedal power; not sure that makes sense. It has five settings with one being the lowest. I rode 16 miles the second day I had it and the battery still had 4 of 5 bars of power showing.



Feel free to PM me and I will help in any way. Good luck with your search.

Thank you! I was really hoping for someone like you with first hand knowledge to respond.
How many times have you charged the batteries? I have read horror stories about batteries that gave out after only a couple of charges and replacement was not covered by the warranty.

[jcussen]

https://www.radpowerbikes.com/

[153stars]

This is how Rc lipo battery manufacturer described to break I new batt. Full charge let cool. Run in at 50% load to 50% drained. Let cool. Charge do this 3 times.Store long term 60 - 70 %
So don't climb biggest hill to dead and not recharge. Its ok not to recharge if over 60% better than charging still warm battery.
Bike battery should have a BMS on not let run to flat. Probably good not use down under
20% and not recharge after cool.

[NLOVNIT]

We've had foldable EG Vienna bikes for going on 4 years now. Just love them. They're not as heavy as the full size bikes & fit perfectly/securely in the back of our CRV. Has the pedal assist, L-M-H setting, 7 gears & a throttle. We mostly do rails to trails terrain (fine crushed gravel if not paved) & riding around the state parks where we RV. Longest ride was ~24 miles round trip on mostly flat terrain & averaging around 10-12mph. That was about the limit of the battery (down to 1 flickering dot ) on the low setting of the pedal assist.

Lori-

[brandss]

Val, we have only charged our batteries a few times so I can't say about the life of the batteries. With the Rad Bikes though, they are covered by a one year warranty. The batteries seem amazing though. We aren't crazy with the bikes, drive them around town, up and down hills, take the dog to the dog park, etc. I really thought we would be charging them after every ride and that is simply not the case.

The bikes we rented in Myrtle Beach had batteries that lasted about two days with an average of 3 hours use each day. I haven't charged the batteries in a over a week. That included riding them 2 days in one camp spot, and several days back home at our campsite. In fact our kids got on the bikes and road them for a couple hours during our get together at Easter.

It will all depend on how you use them but we are overly satisfied. Another thing you might do is go to you tube. There are videos on what you will have to do to assemble them, various reviews, battery reviews, just a lot of information.

[JpalmerCass]

I you’re a DIY person I suggest adding a 500 or 750 watt Tongsheng TSDZ2 torque sensing mid drive to the normal bike of your choice. Pretty easy and you’ll save lots of dough.

[flhayman]

Voltbike Urban Review . $1199 cheap electric folding bike
We put 350w 36v motor kits on regular mountain bikes and was satisfied with the performance. This Voltbike is a 20" folder with name brand cells, weighs well below 50lbs, and has 5 settings of assist and a removable battery that is totally hidden in the frame, with a lock.


In many states, to be 'legal' you have to be riding a bike that maxes out at 20mph, which is why I like this size of motor. Also, you can go 30 miles with pedal assist, or 18 flat out using the motorcycle full throttle at 20mph. We don't fully discharge them, ever. In fact, going by the control panel indicator, we only use 40%, which is really a bit over 50% (using a watt counter I made for charging). The Voltbike easily cruises at 20mph, a bit slower up the hill, but by pedaling a little bit, it stays up to speed. Most comfortable speed is 15mph, because even on the highest gear, your feet aren't comfortable whizzing around really fast.


Lots of choices out there! I had two $$ battery packs (14ah 36v for the mountain bikes) that both went bad due to bad cells. These seem to be real cells in the Voltbike, and are holding up well.


We fold them and put them in the basement slide tray.

[timjet]

You get what you pay for!

We just got 2 Trek e-bikes about $2400. These are entry level bikes from a well known bike maker.

These bikes are perfect for RVers that intend to use them around the campground and for easy rides around the park or for an errand. Not intended to ride across the state.

Look for pedal assist. Throttles are banned at many trails and parks. Look for a motor mounted at the pedal crank, not on the front wheel.

Look for a step thru for ease of mounting and stepping off when stopped. Especially good for the gals.

We got these last week and have road them 20 miles. Used one bar on the battery meter.

Ours have 8 gears, plenty unless you plan on climbing Pikes Peak.

The lower the battery is mounted the more stable the bike. Most now mount the battery below the seat. Bikes with batts mounted on a rack above the rear tire are going away.

Make sure your bike rack can handle the extra weight. Ours are 40 lbs without the battery. Get a rack that is easy to mount the bikes on. Lifting 40 lbs at an awkward angle will hurt your back. Forget the folding variety unless you can handle folding and lifting 40 + lbs into a cargo bin or the back of your SUV.
Don't forget a cover. Best not to tow these in the rain.


I also recommend checking out https://electricbikereview.com/
It's where I got my infomation.

[Golfer Guy]

Originally Posted by jcussen

https://www.radpowerbikes.com/

Love my fat tire RAD bike. It will go anywhere, 40 miles on a charge. It is just awesome for me.