E-bikes are unquestionably the future of cycling. There is nothing better than being able to truly enjoy riding your bike and to be able to open a world of possibilities related to commuting and saving money each month while you do so. These bikes come with various speed options and many comfort and convenience accessories as well.
If you are ready to find the e-bike of your dreams, you have come to the right place. This article will help you to be ready to make this very wise purchase with ease. Knowing more about your options when it comes to shopping for best value ebike will ensure that you get a bike that you can fall in love with right away.
What to Look For When Shopping for an E-Bike
There are a few factors that you need to think about when you are looking for an e-bike:
1. Battery Range and Size
The size and range of the battery in your e-bike has a lot to do with how you can use it. If you just want to enjoy your e-bike on short rides, a lower-end model should be just fine. However, if you are going to be using your e-bike for commuting or longer rides, you need to be sure that the battery will have the range that you require.
2. Motor
The motor of your e-bike helps to determine the climbing ability of the bike as well as its speed capacity. The kind of riding you do will be linked directly with the motor on your bike.
3. Brakes
You need to be sure that you are getting a machine that offers effective brakes for safe riding in many different kinds of conditions. The heavier your bike, the bigger the brakes that it will need.
There are many other factors that might come into play as you are choosing the right bike for you, such as seat style, frame style, and tire size. However, these three basics are the essentials that you need to have in mind when you are looking for your first e-bike.
Let’s break down your options a little bit further so that you are sure about what you want when you start shopping.
Riding Styles
Generally speaking, e-bikes, rather like traditional bikes, come in two styles: leaning forward, or upright. The answer to which of these design styles is right for you can be very personal in nature. Some people prefer to ride leaning forward even when commuting, but as a rule, commuter bikes are designed to be ridden upright while performance bikes are designed to be ridden leaning forward.
Racing bikes are most commonly associated with the forward-leaning style of ride, which is why so many e-bikes are made for a more upright riding position. There is no wrong answer here, as you know what you like best in a bike. If you are not sure, see if you can try out some e-bikes locally to find out which kind of riding position is more comfortable for your needs.
Consider Cadence and Comfort
E-bikes are made to offer you various cadence settings to help you to be more comfortable traveling at speed. Since the strength of your legs is not the only source of power for these bikes, you need to think about the cadence design of the bike that you are selecting.
Bikes that are intended for commuting will offer different cadence settings than bikes that are used for performance riding. If you select the wrong bike design, you might find commuting on your bike to be very uncomfortable.
E-bikes, just like traditional bikes, are designed for an array of different intended riding styles and speeds. You might need to try out a few different bike designs to figure out which kind of cadence options are most ideal for your comfort.
Suspension Style
If you are already familiar with traditional bike suspensions, you will realize that bikes are made with different suspension designs to help you to be comfortable as you ride over various kinds of terrain. Obviously, you will want a very different bike suspension if you are going to be riding over rough terrain than if you ride in town exclusively.
Make sure that you are careful to think about where you are going to be riding your bike before you select a suspension style. The more ideal your suspension for your intended use of your bike, the more you will enjoy your time riding your bike.
Battery Choices
Are you uncertain about what kind of batteries you need for your bike? Batteries and battery packs don’t have to be confusing! Essentially, you just need to know that the voltage of the battery is what pushes the electric energy from the battery to the bike motor. In a general sense, the higher the voltage, the faster your bike will go. High amps also means that you will need thicker gauge wires and a more powerful battery pack.
You will also need to know about watt-hours. The watt-hours indicate the usable energy in any battery pack. As an example, a 500wh battery can deliver those 500 watts for 1 hour. This is not a totally predictable number, as you will use different amounts of power throughout your ride, but it does give you some idea of what to expect from the battery on the bike that you are looking to buy.
Remember, as well, that the distance traveled per charge on the battery can be impacted by many, many factors. This means that the prediction of the distance that you can travel on a single charge might be less accurate than you expected.
Shopping the Smart Way Will Help You to Get the Bike of Your Dreams
Armed with this knowledge, you will be prepared to go out and shop for the e-bike that you have always dreamed of owning. E-bikes can make commuting much more enjoyable and can also allow you to enjoy trail riding and riding just for fun. If you have always wanted to get an e-bike but have been intimidated by all the options on the market, you should now feel secure heading out to go shopping!
