I know I know, that’s what literally everyone posts here. I am no exception. I am looking to invest in an ebike, and I am drowning in how absolutely little I know. I also have some personal specifications/restrictions that I feel make understanding and choosing a particular bike kind of difficult for me. So maybe y’all can help?
- Biggest restriction: I am poor. Like, a 2k+ price tag is almost assuredly a “wait until next year’s tax return and save aggressively in the meantime” kind of scenario.
- I do potentially have access to a $500 rebate through my power company, but that’s only if the bike is new and comes with at least a one year warranty.
- I do have at least one local bike shop that says they service most e-bikes.
- I haven’t ridden a real bike since maybe high school. I’m 34. It’s been a minute.
- I am short. 5’2’’. I got real short legs. Most traditional bikes I have ridden make me look like a kid in a high chair.
- I am heavy. 230lb currently and slowly dropping, but I am not interested in murdering a wheel for vanity. If I must look like a giant fat baby in a high chair, then I at least want a high chair that won’t collapse.
- I am looking to commute daily to my office job, and I carry a single large-ish bag with me. I live in a smaller, not-too-busy city (Lansing MI if that makes any kind of difference), and Google Maps describes my commute as 5.2 ”mostly flat” miles one way — so just under 11 miles round trip. Ideally, I’d like to at least make the trip there an easy/mostly throttle experience. I work in a medical office and I am expected to look relatively presentable, so while I am fine pedaling and working up a sweat on the return trip, I would strongly prefer not to get my work out on the way *to* work.
- I will almost certainly have to keep the bike outdoors during work hours, so while I know I need to get a cover and a good lock, I am also wondering if a removable battery is a good idea? Not necessarily to deter theft, but if I’m spending any kind of real money on this, I wanna be able to protect the important components as much as I can. I am also thinking this probably means no commuting in the rain? Which would suck, but it is what it is.
- I am pettily into aesthetics. This is the absolute least important point, but I would be lying if I said it isn’t in the back of my mind a lot of the time. For instance, I *love* the look of the sixthreezero bikes, but I’ve heard a fair amount about their lack of reliability and crap customer service, so I’ve pretty much already ruled them out. I have a strong feeling this will ultimately be a function-over-form choice, so honestly, as long as there is the potential to save up for some decent whitewall type tires and maybe eventually a custom paint job for the frame way down the line, this isn’t a major factor. I’m just putting it out there in case y’all more educated folks know something I clearly don’t.
I’m not against saving up, even for a relatively long while. I recently was able to get a stationary bike, so frankly I am looking at whatever time I need to spend getting the funds together as time well spent building up my cardio endurance so that hopefully I only end up looking like a giant fat baby who is struggling to remember what balancing on two wheels means, as opposed to a wobbly giant fat baby who also cannot breathe. That said, finances are still my biggest restriction because I really do want to switch to commuting this way, and I also imagine that after a certain price point even maintenance will be too expensive for me. I’m really just tired of riding the bus, y’all. Knowing my 1.5hr commute home takes 15 minutes max by car is killing something in me. 😭
Any basic advice beyond just a straight brand/model recommendation is also welcome. I am brand new to all of this and I know I need to be learned some (many) things.