Broctoon

I will second this. My wife is recovering from breast cancer. It will be months before she has the strength and stamina to get back on her regular bike, but she loves riding and misses it. I set her up with an ebike so she can start to get out again much sooner. She considers it cheating and looks forward to the day when she can set it aside and get back to her regular bike. In the meantime, it's a great option.


We looked at some nice factory built ebikes from Trek, Gazelle, and others. Prices for these were a bit out of our budget, so I opted for a DIY kit from Bafang, which I installed on an old mountain bike we had in storage. So far, it's been great. It has a 750 Watt mid-drive motor. Its max speed is somewhere above 20 MPH, so it's probably a Class 2. It has both pedal assist mode and a throttle, giving her some options to respond to the terrain and her physical energy on a given day. She always tries to at least contribute some effort from her own muscles, although I think it's often minimal.


I don't understand the animosity toward ebikes, unless people are being impolite and riding them recklessly around other bikes and pedestrians. When we get on a popular MUP, I'll ride my conventional bike, my wife and others are on ebikes, there are kids on electric scooters, maybe a teenage girl on rollerblades, some dude who appears to be commuting on a one wheel board, a whole family walking with strollers, wagons, dogs, tricycles and whatnot... everyone seems to get along fine 99% of the time.