How many E-bikes do you need? How many do you have and why?

[BiggKidd]

I'm quickly coming to the conclusion I need more than one. One for everyday use and another that's more geared toward speed and fun. Maybe even a third setup for long distance touring.

So do you guys and gals have more than one E-bike? If so are they setup for different purposes?

Time for show and tell, show us what you have and tell us why that's the bike you chose or built.

 

[BiggKidd]

This is my bike. A Ridstar E26Pro with 26x4 tires. I chose it mainly because I live out in the country and I myself live a couple miles down an old logging road that hasn't been maintained at all since 2018 and before that it was only bare minimums. The bike has full suspension dual 1000w motors and two 28A peak controllers along with a 23ah 48 volt battery and DYisland Hyd. brakes. It's amazing the places I can go on this thing. Today I rode right up and over a tall curb, it was 8 maybe 10 inches high and all but vertical. There was one factor that made me pick this bike over the other top two I had narrowed it down to. This bike had larger fenders and the heavy duty rear rack. All three of my top picks had a rack and fenders but this bike appeared to have the best / strongest option.

This bike checked off all my wants at a good price point. It's comfortable for long rides and it will climb some incredible hills. It also does pretty well in the sloppy red clay we have.

I have made several mods that made it fit me better.

 

[BIG-DUKE-6]

I have a full on full squish emnt bike for trails. Orbea Wild team. The thing is a beast. I’ve just ordered a Letric Xpeak 2 step thru and after I switch out some parts this will be my urban,off road , cruiser , bike packer adventure E bike. These 2 bikes should check all boxes of my 2 wheel hobby

Bike carrier is next. Not looking forward to that bill .

 

[hugh]

I have a KHS fat bike used for singletrack winter riding plus occasional rides into the city. It has a BBSHD mid drive. Also 2 homemade recumbent trikes with Bafang motors, one of which is getting weather protection and is very comfortable for longer distance rides. Plus an old mtn bike with a BBSO2 with a trailer used for library, trips, small grocery runs etc. That one I will try to sell later this year

 

[m@Robertson]

At present I'd say I need three. Although 'need' is certainly a first-world answer.

I split my time living in two entirely different towns for many years. As such, I ended up with two daily drivers. Now that I live in one town full time like a normal person, I still have the two daily driver bikes, and I use them as such (in short if I leave the house I try and do it on the bike, regardless of where I am going or what I need to do).

My original plan was to sell one of the two bikes, but the market is in the tank and I am not willing to almost give away a bike I still put a lot of value in. I have really appreciated having a backup immediately available several times over the last year. Typically that means I have a worn out part I need to replace. Being able to switch lets me put off the repair until when I have the time to do it conveniently.

The third bike I need is the little one. A bike intended to be small (26" wheels) and really light-weight. If I have to take the car into the shop, the bike goes into the back and I ride home, and then ride it back to the shop when its time to pick it up. Its also my vacation bike.

I have a 29er that is also lightweight, but its Size Large frame and wagon wheels make it a major pain to get into the car. Especially with a load of camping gear. So I downsized and its been the perfect solution.

Regardless of any specifics, I'd always answer at least two bikes. You always need a backup if your bike is something more than a toy.

 

[BiggKidd]

These days my E-bike is my transportation and I feel a second and maybe even a third to be sure I have my bases covered. I had a pretty hard wreck yesterday. While there was virtually no damage to the bike my left calf took a hard hit and now walking is difficult.

 

[Mysery]

I have 2 e-bikes in the garage, 1 for the wife and 1 for me. Hope this doesn't go the way of my motorcycle obsession when I owned 5 or 6 at a time. I am looking at getting a moped style e-bike though so who knows what's going to happen.

Wife's bike

 

[neutron]

I had enough trouble convincing the wife that I needed an ebike in the first place. Second bike would really be a stretch. She didn't believe that I would get more exercise on an ebike than my regular pedal bike. I do get more exercise because I ride it more and for longer distances and limit how much pedal assist I use. The only reason I would need a second ebike is for a backup in case something happened to my current ebike. I'd hate to be without it while waiting on a replacement part.

 

[BiggKidd]

I had enough trouble convincing the wife that I needed an ebike in the first place. Second bike would really be a stretch. She didn't believe that I would get more exercise on an ebike than my regular pedal bike. I do get more exercise because I ride it more and for longer distances and limit how much pedal assist I use. The only reason I would need a second ebike is for a backup in case something happened to my current ebike. I'd hate to be without it while waiting on a replacement part.

This is exactly the point for having more than one bike. Another point is then we could play with mods without chancing blowing something out and being stranded with no E-bike.

 

[MikeDuf]

Well I will chime in, I have one e-bike, I did a lot of research prior to getting it,

I knew that I needed 28 mph as a minimum. I knew I wanted 700c Wheels.

A range of at least 60 miles in eco mode. At least 85 NM of torque, And a decent drivetrain like a Deora XT.

I looked at a lot of bikes but I prefer a taller thiner agile type bike because I come off of a manual road bike.

I do have a passion for bicycles in all shapes and sizes and was even thinking of building an e- bike. But that is on the Wayside for now.

I do plan on riding the crap out of this bike, so far I have taken it cow trailing, pavement hill climbing and some good downhill speeds of close to 40 mph.

It comes with a solid warranty on the electronics and also on the frame.

Has a Mobi 45 front fork that is relatively lightweight and the whole bike weighs around 52 lb with battery.

I have no trouble lifting this into my RAV4 and I am happy that it touches all of the check boxes that I need in an e-bike.
Party on!

 

[kmccune]

"cavi elati"- getting so little money out of bikes I sold,just started giving them away,if this fat tire cruiser doesn't work out,going to look at trikes( balance and crash issues.

 

[JohnnyBeans]

I'm quickly coming to the conclusion I need more than one. One for everyday use and another that's more geared toward speed and fun. Maybe even a third setup for long distance touring.

So do you guys and gals have more than one E-bike? If so are they setup for different purposes?

Time for show and tell, show us what you have and tell us why that's the bike you chose or built.

I have 2. One speedster, Ariel Kepler, and a tenway for local greenways. The Kepler was just too,big for a narrow greenway with walkers and “real” bikes. The tenway was a little expensive for this purpose, but is a very nice bike and looks more like a bike and less like a motorcycle. The belt drive is great. The Kepler is better for riding on the road.

 

[Colin1230]

We have two bikes so I guess I only have one. I've been riding mine the most so if I break down I can borrow the wife's bike. But honestly, I can see another ebike in our future. I've been looking. Lectric ONE in particular.

 

[jobtraklite]

First of all, we are snowbirds and travel back and forth between Illinois and Florida via train. We've found that having bikes in both places is convenient; so having five ebikes between us isn't so extravagant.

In Illinois both my wife and I have light weight, road bike style Swagtron EB9's. In Florida I have an EB9 and my wife a Blix Vika+.

The Swagtrons are great for riding around town. Their only shortcoming is the 28 mile range, which is not enough for the credit card style touring we do. So I added a Ride1up Turris with a claimed range of 50 miles to the Illinois fleet. We carry an extra light weight EB9 battery back and forth to Florida. That way we are covered for touring in both places.

Incidentally when we opted not to take bikes back and forth by train, it just seemed easier. Actually, Amtrak has cut back considerably on bicycle derangement syndrome. In August of 2024 we we took the train with bikes from Chicago to Pittsburgh, rode the Great Allegheny Passage to Cumberland, MD, and took the train back. In September of 2024 we took the train from Quincy, IL to Rochester, NY, rode the Erie Canal to Utica, NY, and took the train back. If we were to need to reposition a bike from Illinois or Florida, we could have put it on the new train that runs all the way from Chicago to Miami.

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