I have an Ariel Rider Model D and love it. Yeah, it is not for exercise. Pedaling makes very little sense when it does 32 mph with my fat ass on it with or without pedaling. This is more of a wheel spinning, go anywhere model with two wheel drive. You can go the cheaper route and buy a wheel with a motor in it along with a lithium ion battery and convert an existing mountain bike.

I've been looking at the rad bikes out of Seattle. Talked to some people riding them this weekend and they love em.

It's not a joke if it gets you out and about. My wife has a Giant Lafree and it got her back riding after a 5 year break. She goes on long rides, which does give good exercise despite the assist. This is a central hub design, pedal assist, and no throttle; so it does require pedaling. We paid $2K for it a little over a year ago.

I had both a juiced camp scrambler and a hyper scorpion. The hyper scorpion was amazing full suspension, run flat tires, and hits 30mph!!

I would first ride the 3 different classes of ebikes to decide whether you want a throttle or not, and whether you want pedal assist to 20 mph or 28 mph+. I currently own 11 ebikes. I'm 61 and ride at least 18 miles a day. I go up hills faster than down. I enjoy peddling with assist from 18 to 23 mph. Class 1 only goes to 20 mph. I like peddling hard up a hill and going as fast as I can. Usually 25 mph or so up a pretty steep hill that I go about 20 downhill. I prefer class 3 as I think a throttle can help a rider avoid problems if needed, and helps to start to get to speed.

I’d recommend checking out Lectric E-Bikes. Up to 28 mph for $999.

I love me Priority Current (a real 20% discount through Costco). Belt drive, internal gears, smooth as butter. If you specifically DON'T want exercise, yeah, get one with a throttle. Otherwise, you've got lots of options. I usually pedal mine the first 20 or so miles and then turn on the assist at the end for a fun ending. You joke about exercise, but many people find they bike more with them because they know it's so much more fun. Any day that's above 70 degrees I try to get out and look forward to each ride. I also rode a Trek Verve for about 100 miles and found that to be quite nice too.

My dad has owned several, he snowbirds to the Keys every winter for a few months from Michigan. They're great, we go for long bike rides when I get fed up w winter here and go visit him, if you get tired just hit the accelerator and you're golden.

Would like to get a pair for myself and my wife, she has MS and the balance issues associated w the disease so she hasnt ridden a regular bike in over 10 years. If anyone has any info on a 3 wheeled bike version please let me know.

You only buy a electric bike if you are old or have some medical problems , if you are young and healthy use normal bikes. It keeps the weight off and keeps you healthy!

Some of the best sponsored surfers in the world regularly ride their ebikes to Trestles beach to surf. There was a picture of the World Surfing League Finals a couple weeks ago showing a hundred or so ebikes at the beach. It's a hard beach to get to. I'm gonna guess this crowd to be mostly young and healthy. Our town has a few ebike manufacturers, and it seems that most kids in our neighborhood have them. Our town is hilly. In the past, only hard core cyclists rode in our town. Now it seems most people in our neighborhood have ebikes, and ride them everywhere.

I still think the electric toothbrush is lazy. Very soon shopping carts will be motorised....probably.

I just ordered a Vanmoof X3. I’m not too old (50) and in decent health/shape but find myself not riding a regular bike much because I don’t want to be stuck exhausted on the way back. The Vanmoof has a bunch of different assist/power boost options so you can get as much or as little exercise as you want. I also feel like I can use it for a more lengthy commute than I would use a regular bike for.

I can strongly recommend them, also for exercise. My wife got one so she could keep up with me and she often turns off the assist. Get a helmet too if you haven’t biked in a while.

My wife has a Rad City step through that she rides to work part of the year. She loves it, and it has been a great bike so far. She even has it set up to grab groceries on the way home if needed.

I have a Juiced Ripcurrent S for cruising around with her....and it has been a great bike so far as well. Plenty fast, and the quality is good.

I also have a Trek Rail 5 mountain bike....holy shit that thing is fun. It will get you in trouble also...so be careful.

Keep in mind...just because it is fast doesn't mean you have to use the assist...you can turn it down to a lower power or even off all together if you are looking for a workout.

I've been really happy with all 3 of them. Keep in mind, if you are going to haul them around anywhere, they are heavy. Its a bit of a pain to get them onto my hitch rack, which sits kind of high on my truck. Also, you will need an e-bike rated hitch rack due to the weight. These are about $800 and up alone.

Try to avoid the no-name Chinese specials. Look for one with some kind of US presence in case you have an issue. They all come from China, but the level of support varies. For someone who is new to eBikes, and wants something solid with a good reputation, Rad is a good choice. Your local bike shop is probably a better choice...just make sure they are willing to actually service what they sell. There are shops out there selling eBikes just to make a buck right now because they are able to get them to sell right now in a tight market. Make sure they are fully bought in and trained to work on them, should a problem arise.

Also...be sure to get and wear a helmet, as stated above.

Well sure, it’s entirely flat where you live!

I’ve been thinking of getting one as well. I’ve been looking at the Harley Davidson electric bike. Do any of you guys own one? Reviews?

https://www.serial1.com/?gclid=CjwKCAjw-sqKBhBjEiwAVaQ9ax6aTfjCK3BHKIJJXORiKyVqB0t4i3yvz0CDNmE_ahzR5KB3NWtPvRoCUDcQAvD_BwE

I purchased the tribute bike. It is supposed to ship during the holidays. It is the equivalent to the mosh/cty model that sells for $3800. I am converting the black one and ordered a brooks seat and leather grips to match the tribute bike. They should look pretty cool next to each other. Our local Harley dealer has the ebikes in stock for test rides.

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My mother has one and absolutely loves it. My parents love to on on long bike rides in their 60s. They just did the "Hotter n Hell hundred" last month in South Texas. Long story short, my parents are in great shape, but my Mom cannot keep up with my Dad when bike riding. Getting a bike with a variable electric assist allows her to keep pace with my Dad while making peddling as easy or as difficult as she wants. Without it, my parents could not ride bikes together and both get exercise. Is it cheating? Sort of. But if you enjoy long bike rides and are not is the shape to do them, this is an excellent compromise as it allows you to get as much or as little exercise as you want. They have high end bikes and I have played around on them a little bit. They are intuitive to ride and most have batteries that are somewhat easy to charge. They can be used for street riding or trail riding without issue, but there is a bit of extra weight on them. I would not be trying to do things like ride on top of logs on one, but if you are doing trail riding in a place you could walk with an 8 year old it's more than fine.

Long story short. If you want one, get one.

I picked up a Levo SL six months ago. It's a lighter weight peddle assist mountain bike. I've ridden nearly 1700 miles since.

Used the battery a lot when I first got it. My fitness really improved and now I often ride with zero assist up some pretty steep trails.

I never would've thought some of these unassisted climbs possible when I started.

I love my e bikes and can get as much of a workout as I want. I average 65w ( when I use it) of assistance, but have 1600w at peak power.

I’ve built 3 now. Less battery is more, learn how to change pedal assistance, gearing as needed.

Main battery is a 52v 4ah battery, fits in my palm.

We just got a couple Sabre's by Bolton Bikes. It's the same as the Foxbat with a step through design. Great for going through town, commuting and intermediate single track. You can change the limit settings to determine when the assist stops and adjust accordingly. Very happy with the bike and the company.

Use an electric toothbrush for a week and you may never go back! Like an e-bike, it's hard to fathom how well they work until you try it.

Get a class 1 if you don’t want to be banned from most bike paths, etc. Mostly Class 2 and 3 are restricted to streets. Also I highly recommend a mid drive vs a rear hub drive. Mid drive is more like a true bike experience with a nice helpful assist. Rear hub is more like a motorcycle. Mid drives cost more but are WELL worth it. Trust me, I’ve owned both and the rear hub left quickly.

How do you tell what class it it? Some manufactures are honest about it and list it as a spec. Some don’t.
Class 1 - No Throttle, must pedal to get assist. Assist turns off at 20MPH
Class 2 - Throttle. Assist turns off at 20MPH
Class 3 - 28MPH, throttle or no throttle.

Worthless trivia: did you know that Chrysler carried electric bikes in their showroom during the 70’s? When mileage rules came out, in order to get their fleet offerings to meet minimum standards, the electric bicycles helped to meet the requirement. Lee Iococca (sp?) was always innovative.

BTW - I never could find a schematic for those things.

You can also buy a class 1 sticker or a class 2 sticker etc.

I have a RadRover that's about 4 years old with 500 woods miles on it. Absolutely love it AND it's held up amazingly. Couple of my buddies just bought the BeeCool Aventure and my used original battery lasts just as long as theirs. We come from a motocross backround and when people see 3 gray haired old men ripping through the woods on ebikes their facial expressions are hilarious. I would recommend an ebike to anyone who wants to get outside.

Where I live, as long as it's under 750 watts and has pedals it's classified as a bicycle.

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You get what you pay for.

This bike punishes me,
but it always gets me to the top.

Then it bombs downhill over anything
and just eats it up.

Haven't been able to wipe the grin off my face since I bought it.....except that one time it made me cry.

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