During my several months of research on ebikes, I felt the same. However, I've heard there are hundreds of ebike manufacturers, and the choices in my area to actually test ride one are very limited, even though I live in an urban area of nearly 400,000 people with lots of bike shops. (Spokane, WA). I went to 3-4 shops and did some test riding, but the ones at the shop were marked up a lot, in some cases by $1,000-$2,000 or more. I never felt comfortable with those limited choices and significant mark ups at the shops. The next best thing I decided was to have someone else vet options for me, someone I trusted. I've been a Costco member for 32 years and with the Costco Next program, they do just that. I actually talked to a Costco buyer on the phone who was involved in the company's decision to provide the Priority Current via Costco Next to its customers and he told me about the process of vetting in this case. They did a lot of research and even had one shipped to them and several of buyers tried it out. I also was told by the Costco rep on the phone that I could return it within 30 days for a full-refund if I was not satisfied. And return shipping would be covered. With these assurances, I made my decision and so far I don't regret it.
I had a similar experience and attitude. Of the 12+ bike shops in my area only 3 allowed test rides of their Ebikes, a pop up Rad shop, Good turn bikes (none below 3k+), and a guy who rented a storefront, somehow got a loan, bought dozens of Ebikes from Amazon & Ebay which he promptly doubled the cost of, and is now in the wind being chased by creditors, customers, and the law. Pedigo didn't even want me to sit on one of theirs so even if I could afford I'd never buy just on principle.
Ebikes have been popular here for a few years now & I actually see more of them, esp rentals, than regular bikes these days so businesses are going to have to follow suit. You can get a cheap off the shelf 750w ebike on Amazon for $7-$800 now and I assume many people will buy something like that, as an entry point, rather than having to deal with pretentious, hipster dbags looking down on them for not spending $4-5k on something they never even got a chance to try.
I'm lucky that most of my friends now have Ebikes and range from living well below the poverty line (me lol) to upper middle class so have been able to ride alot of different brands & models. So far my favorite has been the Ariel Grizzly and a Haibike I can't remember the name of.
I'm no longer a member at Costco but have family that are so I've been waiting for some more reviews to come in before forming any kind of opinion (seems expensive for rear hub motor). I got a broken Rattan in August that I just got working last week so now I'm using it solely for Door Dash to earn enough to buy an Ariel Grizzly, unless I find one I like better.
What's the adage? "Buy cheap pay twice"? I think that's true for alot of off the shelf Chinese bikes DEPENDING on what you want to use them for. For shortish commutes on paved roads or RV travelers they're prob ideal. Anything long distance (try pedaling a 70lb bike 18 miles), non paved or potholed roads, steep hills etc. It's prob better to wait and save enough for something that can tackle terrain and last, I wish I had.
Im 51 yo & hadn't been on a bike of any kind in 25+yrs so riding an ebike took some getting used to so I get the intimidation factor. If my friends hadn't kept bugging me I may have never even gotten on theirs much less spent $1k+ on one. Now I ride like a demon pushing that rickety Rattan to the limit hoping Itll last long enough for me to buy a better one.
Sorry for rambling. These things are addictive! I want a whole fleet of different models
