micromobility - Bikes, scooters, boards: Whatever floats your goat, this is micromobility

Out of curiosity, what form of cargo bike are you seeing? Regular-ish bike with racks, or something more exotic like an Urban Arrow?

Shimano for gearing and Bosh for the motor is my preferred combo in e-bikes. It's reliable and easily serviceable, and parts are easy to get.

I'm looking to maybe get a new bike somewhere next year, since mine is a hand down that's quite old and I want to treat myself. I think I will go with Canyon.

Whatever you get put a suspension seat post on it if it doesn't have one. I'll never ride a bike without a suspension seat again. It's relatively cheap and easy to swap out the post but I'm sure a local shop wouldn't charge much to put it on for you.

I got a Lextric XP 3, it was pretty cheap but it'll get up to 30+mph and can handle well over 20 miles of range if you keep the pedal assist at like 3. I got a second charger to keep at work so I can just keep the pedal assist maxed out and not worry about range. It is foldable but it's a heavy bastard, pedal assist does most of the work while riding but going up stairs is a pain if there isn't an elevator. It also has a fixed seat post with some stiff springs, they do nothing, suspension post made all the difference. Overall i'd buy it again at that price point.

In Europe:

gazelle is solid, but just okay for the price. They generally have very bad shock absorbtion in my testing. Many of them have a fork with no shocks making for an extremely jarring ride because ebikes are heavy.

Norta for great bang for your buck

Flyer for a bit more expensive but very good quality

Riese & muller for when you just have way too much money to spend.

Stromer for speed pedelecs (45kmph vs the normal 26kmph)

Then there are a ton of bikes with the standard Bosche Active Plus (performance is better), 500Wh battery (625Wh power tube is best). They are probably all fine, but use the same parts in general with just a different frame.

Belt driven instead of a chain if you want extremely low maintenance. The cost of a belt replacement is approximately 3x a new chain and the chain has to be replaced 3x as often, so it comes out about the same.

Yes absolutely. Others mentioned some of these: Gazelle ( i have one and it's amazing), Riese and Müller, Stromer, Tern, Bulls, Cube, Urban Arrow, and many others. Anything with a Bosch motor is probably worth considering.

Shimano gearing, Enviolo hubs and Rohloff hubs are all good.

Look for a brand and model that doesn't skimp on brake quality.

I'm still in the shopping phase too so I don't have direct experience with this but I've read that sticking with known bike brands is a good policy. Just be ready to spread your wallet wide open.

I also read that for the purposes of getting it serviced, go with a local bike shop. Some will not do work on brands they didn't sell.

Build it yourself. Otherwise prepare to spend thousands. Buying a conversion kit and a lithium battery pack is by far the most cost effective option, and it's not hard to assemble. Swap the wheel from whatever bike you have laying around, attach the battery pack and throttle, done. Takes 20 minutes. ~$500

And personally I've found that beach cruisers make the best eBikes. My initial thought was that a mountain bike would be ideal because it has suspension, but in my personal experience I found that even with suspension, a mountain bike is too hard on your back for long trips because you're constantly hunched over. Beach cruiser is the way to go.

I’m in love with my Brompton I electrified. I can bring it along with me in Ubers and can fit on trains and buses like a dream. I usually don’t need to worry about a bike lock since I can throw it under the table or a chair.

Marmite?

I agree with this. Using an E-bike for commuting or whatever is fine. Using an E-bike on a small walking trail while whipping past pedestrians at 35 MPH is just awful. Why are you even there? Too fast to appreciate the view and not real exercise because there's not enough distance to actually increase your heartbeat. Go somewhere else or use a different mode of transportation.

I am kind of like this (bicycle novice) because I cannot overstate how much I hated biking before the e-bike, the ridiculously painful saddles, the effort to pedal, I literally walked to work when I didn't have the car, rather than take the goddam bicycle. This electric bike is like having a slow bike-shaped motorcycle that you pedal to help it go. A moped, if you will. Upright posture, seat relatively comfortable, feels steady when moving fast. I do try to ride mostly in the road, sidewalk only when nobody's on it and there is traffic (so cars are moving slow enough that it makes sense and is safe enough).

I live in a really popular cycling area which is very mountainous. Ebikes have massively changed the demographic of cyclists here. I would normally never have seen anyone over 50 cycling here because it's too arduous for most people

Now it's not unusual to see an octogenarian tootling up the mountain passes on an ebike, and it's even nicer to see so many people smiling when they're cycling, instead of the stone-faced lycra crowd