Fat tire ebike suggestions?

[mplaramie]

So i kinda like this ebike trend. My back is a mess (S1 thru L5) so low impact walking and riding a bike help. Wife and I have the cruisers but now I'm thinking I want a fat tire when "alone time" is needed.....

Anyone got a fat tire ebike suggestion? Needs to be a step thru. Not going to be doing any heavy mountain bike trails. Just a little off pavement riding.

 

[n8zcc]

The bride and I just bought ourselves e-bikes. I have severe arthritis in my lower back, L1 through L3, and to make it a step worse, because of my height, I have an extra vertebra in my back to add to the misery. I have resorted to a spinal pain block implant, which blocks 80% of the pain 90% of the time. Bike riding or any activity helps with arthritis, but hard peddling hurts, so I traded in my manual bike for an e-bike.

The criteria I used to choose were affordability, ease of transport, step-through, a reputable brand, good customer support, and dirt road handling (I live far from paved roads). After a winter of looking and watching videos, I decided on Lectric XP 3.0s. They fold in half and fit inside a 40/50 gallon tote. They seemed to be a fan favorite, very popular with the RVers, have good handling characteristics on dirt roads, and have a good range, way more than we need for a day out.

My bike suffered a minor trauma in shipping. The derailleur was working, but it wasn't selecting all the gears and would skip gears. I knew absolutely nothing about a derailleur; I didn't even know what it was called. So, I sent Lectric an email about the issue. They replied, and on a Sunday, with detailed instructions and a video link on how to align and adjust the derailleur. The information was so good and so complete, I had it operational in 30 minutes. That is the kind of support I look for, and they delivered.

There is no shortage of eBike brands, and that makes it hard to make a decision.

 

[mplaramie]

The bride and I just bought ourselves e-bikes. I have severe arthritis in my lower back, L1 through L3, and to make it a step worse, because of my height, I have an extra vertebra in my back to add to the misery. I have resorted to a spinal pain block implant, which blocks 80% of the pain 90% of the time. Bike riding or any activity helps with arthritis, but hard peddling hurts, so I traded in my manual bike for an e-bike.

The criteria I used to choose were affordability, ease of transport, step-through, a reputable brand, good customer support, and dirt road handling (I live far from paved roads). After a winter of looking and watching videos, I decided on Lectric XP 3.0s. They fold in half and fit inside a 40/50 gallon tote. They seemed to be a fan favorite, very popular with the RVers, have good handling characteristics on dirt roads, and have a good range, way more than we need for a day out.

My bike suffered a minor trauma in shipping. The derailleur was working, but it wasn't selecting all the gears and would skip gears. I knew absolutely nothing about a derailleur; I didn't even know what it was called. So, I sent Lectric an email about the issue. They replied, and on a Sunday, with detailed instructions and a video link on how to align and adjust the derailleur. The information was so good and so complete, I had it operational in 30 minutes. That is the kind of support I look for, and they delivered.

There is no shortage of eBike brands, and that makes it hard to make a decision.

Sorry to hear about your back issues. Spinal pain blocker? Sign me up......

Appreciate the info on Lectric. Didnt really consider a foldable bike. I'm going to have a look. Like you, support is important and there are so many brands. Our commuter cruisers are Velotric.

 

[Teeps NE]

I usually try and steer people towards trek's line of e-bike's. I'm a big fan of trek bikes and you can't get a more reputable company that is going to be around forever to offer support. A lot of these e-bikes on amazon are chinese knock offs and the brand reputation is questionable.

That said, we do have an Aventon e-bike that has been running smoothly for five years now. We primarily use the traditional bikes, but the e-bike does get used for commutes, family rides, or by friends wanting to join us.

My parents have a set of Rad power bikes that they love. I think my mom has over 10,000 miles on hers and my dad is not far behind. Great bikes and great service.

The service part is something to consider as most bike shops will not service e-bikes from other brands. So, if you don't have a local store, it can cause issues. Haven't had any issues we couldn't fix ourselves with the Aventon. Rad power bikes have been responsive, but no local dealer so my folks have had to travel a little for major service issues.

The weight is also something to consider. The above mentioned bikes are almost a two person lift to get on the back of the RV or car(even with a ramp).

Another consideration is do you want a throttle? All of the above bikes had a throttle, so you could ride them more like a motorcycle. I personally don't like this as it enables a person to just become reliant on the throttle. My parents think its' great as they use it sometimes to get started and with the weight of those bikes I can understand that. On the flip side, I just bought my mom a Townie go ebike from trek. It's light enough that she can pick it up by herself. It does not have the throttle, but it's light enough that she doesn't need it to get it started. I like that the no throttle means she has to at least move her legs and stay more active to get the power to kick in. She has ridden it a few times and forgotten to turn it on and didn't notice unless she hit a hill or severe wind. Thats another thought. On the few times that those rad power bikes lost power, there was no riding them home. Those heavy bikes are no fun to pedal with no power. The Townie with no power pedals just like a regular bike.

I think it comes down to personal preference and what your use case is. My recommendation would be something that rides like a regular bike and is light enough to do that with no throttle, if your intent is to stay active and nimble.

 

[Jako]

Hope all are taking appropriate precautions with batteries and storage.
NYC is having some tragic fires with ebike's batteries and bikes blocking the means of egress.

 

[WHealy]

I bought one just before Covid and put 500 miles on it that year. Probably just a few hundred miles since. I went for something low end. And no issues with this for those miles.

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