Originally Posted by
Bob S
I am in my mid 70s riding 2 times a week for 60 – 80 miles a with some hills including 1k or more of climbing. Slowing down and thinking it might be fun and extend my riding if I add an e-bike. Have you done this? What is your experience and recommendations?
You are still riding a lot of miles so obviously still a strong rider. But even without slowing down ebikes are a blast to ride.
I converted an old mountain bike to a mid drive kit and absolutely love it. Did it just because I wanted the experience, but also as a project.
The best thing about an ebike is they let you explore. Ebikes opens routes I would never have considered before. No longer need to worry about routing around hills (within reason) and can take roads with more traffic because the bike is so much faster. Knowing I have the motor allows me to cover a larger radius. No longer need to worry about headwinds. Just flipping ride. I've used the bike to explore areas I've never ridden before. It is extremely nice for cruising parks, down town areas, civic events, concerts, street riots, you name it.
I would keep your road bike and use that to churn out the miles. Nothing like the rush of a long physical ride.
I would strongly recommend a DIY kit on an old bike. The Bafang mid drives are proven reliable and have a huge following. They are custom programmable, lots of information on line and easy to find upgrade and replacement parts if needed. They can be installed in one day as well.
I have a hard time justifying factory built ebikes. Too underpowered, too many proprietary parts that can't be replaced with aftermarket, and way too frigging expensive. Wish I was wrong, keep hoping someone will convince me otherwise, but that is the way I see it. They do offer an advantage for people who can't or don't want to do their own work. On the down side I don't like the way kits string wires everywhere, but so far having wires everywhere hasn't proven to be a problem on the bike I am riding.
I would also suggest getting as much power as you can. Some people argue fast and light, but that doesn't make sense to me. From what I see the factory motors all weigh close to what a Bafang BBS02 motor does. Batteries don't care about the motor size, high capacity batteries are going to be big. Riding at reduces power settings obviously increases range, but the bigger motors can be ridden at lower power settings as well so that argument doesn't hold water.