Hello friends my spouse and I are moving to a relatively bikeable town but neither of us currently own bicycles (on account of not wanting to die on a rural highway). I know nothing about bicycles except for how to ride one.
Anyone have advice on what we should be looking for for bikes?
Details:
Spouse will be biking to work most days, about 15 minutes. They have some disability issues though and I think an e-bike would be really helpful for them to make the ride easier.
I will be driving a long distance if and when I get a job, but would still like a bike for around town, on weekends, running small errands etc. Grocery store is about 10 minutes biking, it would be nice to do a good amount of grocery shopping on bike. Hopefully the next place we move I’ll be able to bike to work, in which case I’ll definitely want an E-Bike because I’m the sweatiest person alive, so would ideally want something I could retrofit to an E-Bike if that’s a thing you can do?
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Personally, I think e-bike conversion kits are not worth it. The price isn’t super competitive with just buying a cheap e-bike, installation can be a real bear, and it might necessitate upgrading other components on the bike (like the brakes: ebikes + caliper brakes is a recipe for a bad time).
If your spouse is going to be commuting daily, has disability issues, and hasn’t previously commuted by bike, I would definitely get an e-bike. I usually recommend two brands: Tern and Ride1Up. (I’m assuming, perhaps incorrectly, that you’re in North America, if not, disregard.)
Tern is the pricier option, but they have really good components. I personally think the HSD is the one I’d go with.
Ride1Up has, I think, the best budget e-bikes in the US. Their Roadster is a great “stealth” option, if you don’t want something that looks like an e-bike (and is not super heavy). The Portola folds up and is super-adjustable for different rider sizes.
One thing I will mention, is that a lot of e-bikes with built-in rear cargo racks usually have passenger packages, which, depending on you and your spouse’s weights might be a great option for getting around town together. My spouse and I usually take the single e-bike for in-town trips, with her riding on the back.
My stable of bikes between the two of us is two regular bikes and one e-bike with a passenger kit. For my regular bikes I picked them up off facebook marketplace/craigslist. I’m reasonably certain that neither was stolen. I think the most important thing to look for in a bike is fit, seating position, and hand position. An upright seating position is easier on my back, but is less efficient than the typical bent over position. In urban cycling it also keeps your head higher for scanning the road. The nice thing about bikes is that, generally, you can alter them a lot once you get them, so as long as the frame is the right size, you can usually tinker with it to get it set up how you want.
Buy lights and a good u-lock. Have fun!
That roadster is like my ideal bike but a bit out of the price range at the moment, I think that’s why I leaned towards the idea of the kit so I could get something and adapt it. I think I’ll end up just getting a beater bike and saving up lol.
Don’t get so much of a beater that it sucks to ride so much that you don’t ride.
@7bicycles@hexbear.net any thoughts?
How much space do you have to store bikes?
In theory (assuming landlord gets back to me) we’ll have a small-medium house in a nice area, so storage shouldn’t be much of an issue. If I need to I should be able to put up a small shed even.
You can retrofit an E-bike, Bafang conversion kits don’t come too costly anymore, but it takes some knowledge of wrenching and will increase maintenance somewhat on beater bikes which don’t usually have parts designed to continually withstand 300W of Power. It’s not going to just fold in half of everything, but everything wears off more quickly. If you know nothing about bikes other than how to ride them this is more of a skill to learn for the future and not for immediate transport situation as of now.
I’d say go with 2 E-Bikes fitted out in some sort of transport cycle configuration, so like front crate, rear crate, permanient panniers under the rear crate. Don’t matter much for 10 or 15 mins of riding to work as per battery but it gives you lots and lots of flexibility to carry shit. Otherwise, one 3-wheel cargo bike and one e-bike might do the trick if you want like car-replacement grocery getter. For E-Bikes it’s important to buy local-ish on account of the motors do need maintenance and it sucks ass having to drive 200 miles to the nearest shop or ship it off.
If you’re in a bikeable town with space to spare for bikes I’d also advise two backup bikes, non-E. Yeah it might suck for a week or two while the E-Bike is in the shop or whatever but at least you got your mobility and if you’re not pressed for sweaty time you can take those and not worry about them being stolen or vandalised too much. The ideal here is mechanically sound, visually disgusting. Don’t doxx yourself or anything but do feel free to send me a DM to look at things if you want an opinion.
If kids are planned I’d opt for low entry bikes / women’s bicycles so you don’t roundhouse kick your offspring in the head. Goes for everything. If not and you are able to mount it, double diamond bikes / mens bikes offer more rigidness and more power to the road from pedalling, albeit if it’s all leasurely stroll-rides you do with the non E-Bikes that’s a nonissue.
A lot of what you want to buy and what parts are on it depend on local availability, honestly. In germany I’d advise you look for something with an internal gear hub, in NA this seems not as common and might turn out pricier in the end than a cassette. If you want to give more info here, I’d be probably be able to triangulate your position better.
With the aforementioned thing in point, most of what sucks about used beater bikes is usually lights, air pressure in the tyres, brakes, all of which are easy to fix if you’re at least somewhat of a handyman so you can get some steals. My old beater bike I got for 50€, put 50€ in parts upgrades in it and then it was super good. Don’t buy anything with a Shimano Nexus 5 or Drum Brakes, those suck ass so fucking hard.
Thanks! I’ll keep all this in mind, may send you things for opinions.
If it’s not too hot out, you won’t sweat as much if you don’t push yourself. The wind drag you feel is proportional to your speed squared, so doubling your speed quadruples the wind resistance, so biking faster is much more total work to get to your destination. Bike half as fast and it will feel like sitting on a porch with a breeze.
Bafang mid-drive motors are pretty reliable and relatively inexpensive and can be mounted to most bikes if you’re handy enough with tools. E-bikes go on sale pretty frequently because the market got oversaturated, but you’ll want to compare range, assist level, and ease of swapping batteries. The batteries themselves tend to be pretty expensive to replace and the extra torque can accelerate wear on your drivetrain components, but you probably won’t need to worry about that if all you’re doing is around-towning. I would recommend getting a regular (people call them “acoustic” for some incomprehensible reason) bike for yourself to start and consider converting later because you might end up enjoying the fitness benefits or the commute might be short enough that e-assist may not make much of a difference (if the office has a shower.
As far as what bike to get, you might want to keep an eye out for a used Surly or Soma, as these tend to be sturdy (if heavy) steel-framed bikes with mounts for fenders and a trunk rack, both of which I’d consider mandatory for commuting. You’ll want to figure out what sizes to look for based on height or (preferably) inseam measurements and do some test rides to see what sort of handlebar style you like (flat bar or drop bar) and how many gears you need (wider range gearing is useful if you have hills, less necessary if everything’s flat). I’d take a look at FB marketplace or Craigslist and post some of the ads you find for feedback; that’ll help you get a sense of what to look for and what to avoid.
Just buy a used mountain bike from someone at the gas station, put a pair of black belts on it and see how far that gets you.
YouTube is a good resource to learn on how to maintain and repair your bicycle.
Bicycles do require some specialized tools so check to see prices for tools versus bicycle shop services in your area (most things can be done with standard tools though).
Safety first, lights (to see and be seen) and helmet are smart investments.
Other than that, store your bicycles somewhere safe and use a good quality locks.
