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I'm blown away by how expensive they are and then how many I see. $5k-$7k for an e-bicycle? Yes yes yes, I realize enthusiasts pay up to $10-15K for high-end

I'm blown away by how expensive they are and then how many I see. $5k-$7k for an e-bicycle? Yes yes yes, I realize enthusiasts pay up to $10-15K for high-end frames and wheels, with full Campy gruppos[1], but eBike buyer's aren't CAT-2 qualifiers. On a side rant, the price of bikes in general has skyrockted. With so much of the manufacturing happening in China, I would have assumed that the overall costs of bikes would go down and quality would go up since the 80's (when I was really into cycling in my 20's). But the opposite has happened: quality stayed roughly the same and prices went way, way up. (e.g., A Tom Ritchie frame went for about $1.5k in 1984, and that was hand-made.) [1] Wowzers: today, the campy super record gruppo is $3500. https://www.merlincycles.com/en-us/campagnolo-super-record-12-speed-disc-brake-groupset-229380.html https://www.merlincycles.com/en-us/campagnolo-super-record-1...

electriclove 5y ago
You can get decent e-bikes for under $1k. It is still a lot but not ridiculous
- asdff 5y ago
  Got any recommendations?
  - jkdufair 5y ago
    RadPower bikes have hit the sweet spot between price and quality.
    - asdff 5y ago
      The cheapest one is only a dollar under 1k.
  - electriclove 5y ago
    I spent about $1500 on the 500 series from Ride1Up and paid $100 for a bike mechanic to assemble it: https://ride1up.com/product/city/ https://ride1up.com/product/city/
    - asdff 5y ago
      That's not exactly under 1k though
deleted 5y ago
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bambax 5y ago
In Europe you find excellent normal bikes for about €300; you can also find them used, for less. Then you can convert those to ebikes with kits that cost €500-800 depending on power of motor and range of battery. That's what I did; I transformed a regular Btwin Rockrider bike to an ebike 3 years ago, and have now ridden about 10k km with it. Couldn't be happier. It changed my life. I used to drive a (big) motorbike; it's now been a year since I used it; it just doesn't make any sense to use a motorbike instead of an ebike for rides under 15 km, which are most if not all rides. I built a second ebike for travel by train. Some trains have special "seats" for bikes but most don't, and they are in very limited supply anyway. But you can put a folding bike in the luggage compartment without a problem. So I bought a used folding bike for €50, still in excellent condition, added a (low power) hub motor and a battery for €400, and I can go almost anywhere without worrying about finding a cab at my destination. It's exhilarating.

electriclove 5y ago

You can get decent e-bikes for under $1k. It is still a lot but not ridiculous

asdff 5y ago
Got any recommendations?
- jkdufair 5y ago
  RadPower bikes have hit the sweet spot between price and quality.
  - asdff 5y ago
    The cheapest one is only a dollar under 1k.
- electriclove 5y ago
  I spent about $1500 on the 500 series from Ride1Up and paid $100 for a bike mechanic to assemble it: https://ride1up.com/product/city/ https://ride1up.com/product/city/
  - asdff 5y ago
    That's not exactly under 1k though

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

bambax 5y ago

In Europe you find excellent normal bikes for about €300; you can also find them used, for less. Then you can convert those to ebikes with kits that cost €500-800 depending on power of motor and range of battery. That's what I did; I transformed a regular Btwin Rockrider bike to an ebike 3 years ago, and have now ridden about 10k km with it. Couldn't be happier. It changed my life. I used to drive a (big) motorbike; it's now been a year since I used it; it just doesn't make any sense to use a motorbike instead of an ebike for rides under 15 km, which are most if not all rides. I built a second ebike for travel by train. Some trains have special "seats" for bikes but most don't, and they are in very limited supply anyway. But you can put a folding bike in the luggage compartment without a problem. So I bought a used folding bike for €50, still in excellent condition, added a (low power) hub motor and a battery for €400, and I can go almost anywhere without worrying about finding a cab at my destination. It's exhilarating.