Originally Posted by
starkmojo
I feel like this is sorta true, sorta not. I think it depends on how/where you ride? If you ride mostly in open places/low traffic it should be fine with rim breaks, however if you are an aggressive urban rider, plan on going over 30 Miles Per hour I would recommend discs. I have rim brakes on both my bikes but I am old and slow and ride mostly on rural bike paths. YMMV
I would also recommend at least a front shock over 30 MPH. And a motorcycle helmet.
Actually after dropping down a 10% grade on my pedal bike this morning and hitting bad pavement at 35MPH, front shock is a must. I didn't bail but I was all over the road for about 50 yards. It coulda been a mess.
As a newbe to e-biking I have to agree with most of your comments. I shutter to think what can happen going down a steep hill at 25-30 mph only to realize that your rims are wet or moist and your rim brakes are going to have a hard time slowing you down. I came close to having this happen before and almost ran off the road while going around a sharp turn ( on my normal road setup ).
For heavier e-bikes I also recommend a front shock. Mine doesn't have one and I've already noticed that some bumps or cracks in the road can deliver quite a shock to your hands. Hit something really hard at speed and you may even loose your grip on the bars especially if your hands are tired. ( I'll also note here that I would consider front wheel drive on a road bike to be really dangerous, especially on wet roads and sharp turns. )
Now as to retro-fitting the old 70's ten speed....I'd think you'd fair better with a newer but used aluminum frame bike. Doesn't have to be new. Find a nice used hybrid or older hard tail MTB with front shock and then have someone install a retro e-bike kit. That said I've seen complete cheap MTB style e-bikes ( front shock and disc brakes ) on Amazon for close to $800. You'd have to pay someone to put it together more than likely and pay shipping but hell of lot of LBS's that sell new e-bikes do the same thing.