utility cycling

837 readers

5 users here now

🚴🚲 Welcome to the Utility Cycling Community! 🚲🚴

Are you a passionate cyclist who believes that bicycles can transform the way we move around our cities and towns? Are you interested in exploring the world of utility biking, where bicycles are a tool for practicality, sustainability, and adventure? If so, you've come to the right place!

founded 2 years ago

MODERATORS

JacobCoffinWrites@slrpnk.net

Nemo@midwest.social

Corvus@slrpnk.net

Ebike Buying Advice: What's a good repairable/maintainable electric utility bike? (slrpnk.net)

submitted 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) by ProdigalFrog@slrpnk.net to c/utilitycycling@slrpnk.net

12 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Heyo everyone. For the first time in my life I'm in a position to be able to use an ebike for most of my commuting needs, which I'm pretty psyched for!

As ebikes are a somewhat hefty investment, I want to do my best to get one that will last a good while, and can be maintained and repaired by just me. I've read that Bosch motors are proprietary and refuse to sell parts to anyone who isn't a dealer, so I figured I'd ask here for advice before making any decisions.

The criteria I'm looking at is:

Budget of around $1200
Plan to haul groceries uphill regularly (not super steep though)
Decently fast, at least able to achieve Class 3 speeds
Enough torque for hauling a small trailer (costco runs)
Replaceable/repairable battery
As many non-proprietary parts as possible
Ability to fold is a bonus, but not a requirement

If any of you have any experience you can share, I'd be most grateful!

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] Olgratin_Magmatoe@slrpnk.net 2 points 2 months ago

I know I am super late to this thread, but for any future lurkers:

The best option for something like this is to get a cheap thrifted bike, and slap a mid-drive ebike kit on it. I got a bafaang kit for mine, and it costed about $700, and the bike itself $50. It took an entire day and all my friends beating the shit out of said bike to get the upgrade done, a bunch of post-work as well, but it made me much more familiar with what I need to do for future repairs.