saperry42usa

What are the best fairly inexpensive ($950-1100 maybe 1350) e-bikes right now?

Leisesturm

I doubt this forum is the best place to get that information. This opinion based on being here for a number of years. You can google this information quite easily. But my very offhand and outdated data set says to check what Aventon and Juiced Bikes are putting out there. You realize that Covid and the more recent inflation spike have put your budget in real danger, yes?

2old

My son purchased a Lectric Cycle (basically there's one model with a step over or step through design at the price) for $995 and it's been perfect. Just be aware that it's a rear hub design, and learn about the various types of e-bikes before you buy.

cat0020

Here are the best electric bikes you can buy at every price level in April 2023

https://electrek.co/2023/04/02/here-...y-price-level/

veganbikes

A good non-electric hybrid is going to be $800 so finding a quality e-bike for similar prices is really tough. The quality takes a good nose dive. Yes you can buy all sorts of stuff online and have fun but spending good money and whatever is found online can lead to a lot of headaches and way more money spent in the long term and of course zero support from anyone when you need it. On rare occasion these companies might help for 6 months after purchase and some might even go slightly more than that but in the end the quality is not going to be there.

The Big Wheel

Mongoose Blackcomb from Walmart.

$349

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Mongoose-...Men-s/55376961



I got one over 15 years ago, back then they had silver or red. The bike just won't die. I use it as my beater bike now, it's not even worth it to sell used.

Also check out Doctorbass over at evalbum.com

Doctorbass' 2008 Mongoose

Calsun

It's a bit like asking what is the best $200 non e-bike. "Best" is not the word I would choose.

fooferdoggie 

yes in that price range lectric is the way to go they have pretty good customer service now. I see so many people on them of course I the smallest cog and either ghost peddling or throttle only.

kayakindude

I've seen a bunch of lectrics and they seem pretty solid. Rad can have some great prices but you have to catch the right sale or closeout. You don't need anything fancy and basic components with a rear hub will satisfy most riders.

mpetry912 

remember that the bottom of the e-bike market is littered with off brand junk that may end up being completely unserviceable when a critical part like the controller fails.

Also many of the reported battery fires have been associated with low end e-bikes that have a poorly engineered charging system or BMS.

I'd suggest you buy a Rad Power, while they are heavy, they are well made and supportable.

/markp

Smaug1

I bought my Lectric XP Lite for $800, and it's quite a nice bike. Good quality components and build. Their more powerful, multi-gear bikes are heavy enough to negate the folding feature, IMO. (65 lbs., vs. the Lite @ 45 lbs.) With the XP Lite, you only have one speed (to keep it "lite") and it is a medium/high gear; comfy to pedal at 15 mph for me. Garbage for hill climbing; however because of its 20 mph top electric speed, the motor could be geared down a little to give a surprising amount of torque for a 350 W motor. I just put their fender set and BMX tires on mine.

I had a heybike Ranger; it was OK, but had junky screeching brakes. It was $1400 or so at the time, I wouldn't buy that again.

I have an Aventon Level.2, which is over-budget here, but based on that experience, I wouldn't hesitate to buy an entry-level Aventon. I think a Pace 350 and maybe 500 would be in budget. In fact, if I had it to do over, I probably would buy a Pace 500 and add the rack & fenders myself. The torque sensor on the Level.2 is not worth the extra money, IMO. (it sells for $1800) Best Buy now carries Aventon eBikes through their website, so you might have some recourse in case of trouble.

Pace 350 ( = 350 W motor) is $1200
Pace 500 ( = 500 W motor) is on sale for $1400 now

fooferdoggie 

[QUOTE=Smaug1;22870073]I bought my Lectric XP Lite for $800, and it's quite a nice bike. Good quality components and build.
where are the good components? cheap brakes lowest level shimano shifter the reason it costs what ti does is because of cheap parts.

Smaug1

Tektro brakes instead of generic; they don't screech. (even if they are entry level) Brake levers are nice. Throttle is smooth and without friction. Folding pedals are metal and a lot nicer than the plastic ones that come on the Chinese folders. The tires are decent quality and come with Slime installed for flat resistance. The paint job is top notch.

The only stock component I wasn't happy with was the seat. If you're going to heckle someone, at least get your facts straight.

It hasn't got a shifter, it's a single speed.

On the Lectric models that DO have a shifter, it's Shimano and works great. It's nice to be able to downshift through all the gears in one stroke, rather than a gear or two at a time, on the higher-end shifters.

Smaug1

The Electra Cruiser Go! should be in contention, right at the top of the budget. It's Trek's lowest cost eBike. It's more about comfort than speed or efficiency.

7up

Make sure your bike comes with LIFEPO4 type batteries.NYC now has strict laws concerning batteries going into effect or are in effect.Insurance companies are sending out insurance adjusters on the look out for e-bikes on premises.

2old

Very poor method to increase your post count!

unterhausen

Well, I just permanently reduced their post count to zero. But there's no need to address them in the forum, they don't care and reporting them is good enough.

timdow

"Good" is really subjective. What's your criteria?

Range needed, motor wattage, and type of drive system are good places to start.

I personally wanted something to my level of "Good," and spent $2200 on a Juiced Crosscurrent X, mainly because I have a long commute and need the range it offers (85+ miles).

I think that the saying "buy once, cry once" applies.

bikecommuter13

I have been watching a lot of youtube videos on "Juiced Crosscurrent X". Could you share your experience? My home to work is 40 miles or so. Do you think I can get to work within 2 hours with Juiced Crosscurrent X?

cat0020

40 mile one way.. if you're a light weight rider & pedal along your ride a significant amount, maybe you can make it in 2 hours, but likely you'd be sweaty & in need of a shower by the time you get there.

timdow

40 miles in two hours is doable, but if it is realistic for you will depend on terrain and traffic, and how much force you are going to want to put to the pedals via battery use and pedaling.

The Crosscurrent X has 5 ride modes... ECO, 1,2,3, Sport. I ride in mode 1 and pedal about the same a a regular bike (but go faster, or course), except for the hills where I give it some throttle or go to mode 3 for the big hills, which is much easier than riding the hills on a regular bike. This nets me about 18 MPH average. I could certainly push harder to get to 20 MPH average, or use more battery to do so.

My commute is 40 miles both ways, but twice the bike didn't charge overnight so I on those occasions I did two commutes without charging = 80 miles. I had three bars left out of 10 at the end. But... keep in mind that this is on a NEW battery, and I was conserving battery. The battery will degrade over time.

80 miles a day on a bike is a long ride. My opinion is that you will be on the will want to allow more than two hours for the commute each way, and have the ability to charge the bike at work when needed.

Smaug1

This is not doable, long-term.

They state "80+ mile range" on their site. This means that it in the lowest assistance mode, if you are doing a lot of the work and not going too fast you can get 80 miles. It's a pie-in-the-sky estimate. If you were to do 20 mph, your range is probably going to be more like 40 miles on a charge. You'd bring the charger along and recharge at work.

Even then, you're talking about 4 hours of riding per day: 2 hours + your work day + 2 more hours. That is going to be VERY tiring. Not to mention wear and tear on your under parts. ;-)

I think you would be better served by a gas-powered scooter. I like a 150 cc; it is a good balance of speed and efficiency, and is (just) large enough to go on the highway. (though you'll be in the slow lane with the grannies & truckers) I had a Yamaha S-Max and it was great. I also had a Honda PCX before that, thought it wasn't as fast, as it only had a 2 valve engine.

On the cheaper end is Wolf brand Chinese scooters. If you have a local shop that supports them, they can be a good deal, but their brakes & lights are not as good as on the big Japanese brands. I'd rather have a used Yamaha or Honda.

Last option: a moped-style eBike like the Juiced HyperScrambler. It has dual large battery packs, and if you keep it to 20 mph, you might not even have to pedal, and since it meets the definition of eBike (if not unlocked) you won't have to license or insure it. Looks like a more comfortable long-range seat, too:
https://www.juicedbikes.com/products/hyperscrambler-2

Still, 2 hours each way is not something I want to do. Go with a gas scooter or small motorcycle. Cut that time in half.

vuduchyld

Looks like this thread was unearthed from a few years ago.

Well...same with me. I unearthed my account from years ago.

Gotta say, I'm on board with the XP Lite as a good, inexpensive e-bike. I'm 55 years old, and I've logged a lot more 2-wheeled miles than the average human over the last 45 years, but maybe less than the average member of this forum. And I've never had a super expensive bike of the electric or non-electric variety. But I bought an XP Lite about a month ago and it's pretty solid for what it is.

Strangely, I bought a Hurley Curve about a week before the XP Lite. This was kind of an unusual situation and I bought it on a whim and for a non-logical reason that I won't go into here. The Hurley was about $600 and it is definitely not nearly as refined as the XP Lite. I bought the XP Lite for my wife. Turns out, I actually like the XP Lite. The Hurley is kinda meh. The XP Lite has a better saddle, MUCH better brakes, a much better control system and display, a much more predictable assist, more levels of assist, a more comfortable ride....just better in every way.

Both bikes are single speed, so no messing with derailleurs. When we go riding together, I take the Hurley and my wife rides the XP Lite. If I'm going somewhere alone, I'm far more likely to take the XP Lite. It's actually a fun and serviceable steed! As I get more acclimated to e-biking, I may very well upgrade to something a little bit more feature-laden. If I do, the Hurley will be gone from my garage, but that XP Lite is going to live with my family for a long time to come.

Doc_Wui

I've bought a few inexpensive ebikes, and find that the bike parts are usually low end, but reputable Shimano. Their Tourney derailleur found on almost all of these models costs $12 on amazon, so it must be a $4 part. WIth over 10 hub motor conversions on my DIY ebikes, I've never had a motor fail.

WHat will likely happen on inexpensive bikes is a battery failure. The cells are low quality and don;t stay balanced, You will get a bank of cells that are stuck at lower voltage, and they cause the battery to shut off prematurely or not even power up, I've had several batteries fail like this, and upon opening them up, that's what I see, While repairable in theory, cost and safety concerns say it's better to replace these batteries,