Originally Posted by
Calsun
My first e-bike was a Class II with 4" tires that weighed 70 lbs. My second and current e-bike is a Class III that weighs 27 lbs and rides like a normal road bike. The first bike cost me $1800 and the second one cost me $7,000. There are lots of inexpensive e-bikes but they are designed for casual users and not as a replacement for a road bike.
I think casual users implies low usage but many cheap ebikes are used every day for commuting and rack up 1000s of miles. Same as gig economy food couriers who often have low cost ebikes but every day they can be using them up to 100 miles depending on length of shift etc. Here in the UK there is definitely a shortage of choice for low cost e-road bikes. Often its better to get a entry level normal road bike and fit a ebike kit to it. For safety ideally you need steel forks or frame depending on where you are fitting the hub motor. This looks like a good candidate;
https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/p/brand-x-road-bike
This would be a suitable ebike kit;
https://yosepower.com/collections/e-...ry-and-charger
Also you would need ebike cut off adapters for road bike brifters.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/baluoqi-Ele.../dp/B0BRBQS7CF
So all in all you could have a a nice e-road bike for less than £700 (often you can find a 5% discount code for yosepower) plus I would draw your attention to the battery supplied with that kit which is 15.6Ah which multiplied by 36V is just below 600Wh of capacity likely to give an assisted range of maybe 60 miles. Many e-road bikes come with batteries between 200-300Wh and so would have a hugely reduced range in comparison. That battery pack is probably enough for a days touring, probably 4-5hrs of use and then charge over night. I mean some of the Swytch kits I think are around 160-200Wh capacity a third of this kit. Admittedly the battery will be much smaller and lighter though. Personally I'd rather have the range plus extra power to go up steeper hills.
I don't think you need to spend huge money and often the most expensive ebikes are full of proprietary components which are expensive and difficult to replace and after a few years non-replaceable either because parts are not available or just not economic to replace which makes these high end ebikes throwaway products. This is not good for the wallet or the environment and something we need to stop doing. Just because you have the money to buy something doesn't mean you should. A lower cost simpler and more reliable option with easy repair and upgrading with very low depreciation is a much better option I feel. The lower cost products are often fully recyclable with steel or aluminium parts too so no landfill like carbon fibre.
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