fastcarbon

I got a Trek Domane+ 6Pro about a month ago; I am 81 and was able to do a hammer session group ride I had to quit 10 years ago; of course it may be cheating but I ride in the back passing those who drop off on the climbs. I still train midweek on a smart trainer so I can continue to compete in National championships. I still can't go as fast as I can on my Tarmac which is about 44mph on a 6% downhill but did manage 40 on the Trek. I have a range extender battery and end up with about 40% charge remaining after the ride; there are 3 power ranges and I have to use numbers 2 and 3 for the whole ride which has about 1800 feet of climbing.
Now I have to start looking for an e bike for my wife to keep her happy riding around the neighborhood.

samar67

e bike is truly a blessing, looking forward to get hands on mine in this week.

roadfix

My e-bike, set up primarily for bikepacking, now allows me to pedal with 30 lbs of camping gear over steep fire roads with relative ease.

TmMc

Yeah, when someone asks about ebikes I suggest they look not just at the least expensive ones but try for something that will do what they want it to do.

Each of my ebikes has its own niche ... road, errands, gravel, dirt. My local road I ride has 1500ft staircase elevation change down and back up. 74yo and waiting for the rain to go away.

Tomm Willians

I recently underwent major back surgery that I knew would affect my cycling for quite some time. In preparation for that, I purchased a Pivot E Vault as it is not only an outstanding E bike, but simply an outstanding bike.
With the Fazua motor and battery removed, it rides every bit as well as the 2021 Specialized Carbon Pro Diverge that it replaced. In fact I wish I had bought the Pivot to start with.
Prior to my surgery in November, the wife and I traveled to conquer both Onion Valley Road and Horseshoe Meadows Road in the Eastern Sierras. While certainly not setting any Strava records, we did accomplish finishing each of these quite challenging climbs with the motors left at home.
Now post surgery I’m preparing for the Markleeville Death Ride in July and the Pivot is showing its worth. By starting out with the battery/motor assist, I was able to start taking moderate rides 5 weeks after surgery. That would not have happened with a “ regular” bike.
Im now back up to 60-ish mile rides and increasing every day. I’m a complete believer in the positive applications of E bikes.

MarcusT

Ebike got me back into mountain biking

Smaug1

For my part, I can do almost anything on my mBikes as I do on my eBikes, but the main difference is whether it is required to arrive sweaty. With mBikes, it's always this delicate balance:
On a hot summer day, should I:

a) Go 6 mph so as not to arrive sweaty and take forever to arrive, or
b) Go 13-15 mph on the eBike, but not get the full measure of respect for biking there, or
c) Go 20-30 mph on the eMoped. No sweat and no exercise (but at least no emissions!)

I like biking everywhere, any time I can, so I ride a road mBike with my local club and ride my eBike for commuting, light shopping, etc.

axelwik

I used an old MTB for an ebike conversion and it's gotten me back into cycling; using it to get groceries, run around town, and go on longer rides with the other half. Used a CYC Photon kit for the conversion. With the ebikes we're putting off buying an EV car since most of our trips can be replaced with a bike. For groceries I use an old BoB Yak trailer.

Now I'm returning to riding my non-ebikes more.

Wildwood 

Agree with many above comments. At 72 I needed help on climbs. I can climb on std bikes, but it wears me out too much to be productive afterward. The e-roadie in the mix gets more riding options. Class1, 250W rear hub ebikemotion X35. 30.4 lbs. (size XL) before adding bags, water bottle, or rider.

Smaug1

As for your wife’s bike, it depends what she prefers, but my wife settled on a cruiser: an Electra Townie GO! 7D.

If that’s her style, check it out. It’s a good bike for up to 40 miles, cruising at 15 mph.

Boomsling

Wife and I just picked up a couple of e-bikes. We are not cyclists. Now we can ride with our friends. They ride road bikes at an 18-20mph pace.

Pinehurst

My wife leaves me in the dust with her Gazelle e-bike vs my Marin San Rafael. So we are thinking of another Royal Dutch Gazelle with the gates carbon belt and CVT hub. They are not cheap though.

veganbikes

They aren't cheap but they are low cost for what you get and the low maintenance and high support of them. Gazelle in the past would have been a less recommended bike from me but now they are absolutely killing it. The Ultimate C380+ is a great bike and a long term bike so it is initially more costly but in the long term very cheap to run. For the Enviolo about all you need to do is replace a couple cables and some housing every so often (no greasing or oiling the hub), for the Gates you have to do nothing (maybe wipe it once and while just because you are already doing it), with Bosch you bring it in for normal service and it gets updated maybe a couple times a year and from all three you have great support and service. Really the only real negative on that bike is maybe the rack not being Racktime or MIK compatible and maybe being a part of the fender but that is a minor little quibble.

Go for it you won't be disappointed and if you are you can send the bike to me and I will give it a good home.

A side note the new Eclipse C380+ is better go for that. I just noticed it on their website (after writing the above) and it is the bike to go for. It looks like a true step through with a new Smart System speed motor, Kiox 300, a MIK rack, a 750wh battery which is great and a bottle cage mount which is huge for them on step through. Heck I don't like orange and I like that orange. Damn I am sold on that bike for the price and what it is, I cannot hate it. Certainly things I would need to change for me (I run ABUS locks and like my Supernova or Busch and Müller lights) but I really do love it.

Pinehurst

Hey thank-you! My wife loves her Gazelle and you are 100% right about the Ultimate C380+. Very solid ebike. I saw the Eclipse online last week and when I went to the local dealer to ask about it, they did not have one. They looked it up and because it is a Class 3 bike it is technically illegal here in Canada. The latest legal version of the Gazelle Ultimate C380+ that's available here comes with a 75nm Performance Line Smart System Bosch and 625wh battery along with the Kiox 300 display. It comes with the gates carbon belt and Enviolo CVT. The one they had in the shop had Suntour NVX30 lockable front shocks but no bottle holder mounts and the dealer claimed that the bike did not come equipped with a suspension seat post - though he was willing to swap one in.. Battery weighs 10lbs. So it has many of the same features as the Eclipse but smaller battery and motor. Newer display is nice. Probably it is put together to comply with the Class 1 category of bikes that are legal here. Tag on it is roughly $4700USD.

veganbikes

You cannot run a S-Pedelec up there? Yeesh, that is a stinker, luckily I am not one of those Americans who is like "something bad happened move to Canada" I wouldn't want to be without my class 3 babies because they are ridden on the road in traffic and I like having the ability to get to 28mph (or close to it) not that I am doing it that often I usually am not but the ability is nice though if needed be I would make do if I had to.

The Eclipse is pretty new so I am not surprised that they don't have it, I am excited to see one in person I am hoping our local rep can bring one by but I know he doesn't usually have any stock of them but maybe he can lay his hands one because it looks close to perfection in a Gazelle.

The Ultimate is still a great bike though you will be happy on it.

In terms of seatpost what they use is junky garbage and generally anyone with a suspension post that isn't Kinekt isn't worth worrying about and take the post as replaceable and if a Cane Creek Thudbuster re-sellable. A pogo post is just a cheap crappy selling tool it is not worth anything and will eventually develop more play than it already has and can easily start to turn into a captains chair where it will spin around. It goes up and down which doesn't help your knees whereas the Kinekt goes down and back to keep your knees relatively in the same position will isolating you from the bumps and you can tune it with different springs for your weight or desired ride quality. Truly wroth every penny. I have 3 of them on different bikes and I think I have another in a box because I have the wrong size one on a bike that is shimmed and I wanted to replace it and be able to have the 27.2 for other bikes since that is my most common size. Now keep in mind my knock of the seatpost used is not a knock towards Gazelle specifically as a lot of manufacturers put a similar post on their bike and they are all the same.

Rick_D

Perhaps check Priority E-bikes.
https://www.prioritybicycles.com/pag...drive-bicycles
The two theoretical Class 3 models ship set to 20mph max (user adjustable) and perhaps can be shipped there. The third is capped at 20 so should be no problem.
They're affordable options to the Gazelles and the Current seems to compare well based on specs.

veganbikes

Unfortunately Priority stopped using Bosch and have a no-name motor not helpful for long term support at different shops. The old Current with Bosch wasn't bad and they make some great bikes but having a no-name motor and a D2C brand is not usually a great combo. Hopefully they make it work.