12 Critical E-Bike Considerations Before You Buy

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You've decide to buy your first e-bike. Like most first purchases you might feel lost in how to make decisions about your purchase. Lloyd has been selling e-bikes for many years, and has studied the subject in detail. He will take you through 12 basic decisions that should be part of your purchase plan.

00:00 -- #1 WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO USE IT FOR?
04:25 -- #2 BUDGET
07:53 -- #3 SIZE
10:59 -- #4 STANDARD VS STEP- THROUGH FRAME
13:21 -- #5 HUB DRIVE VS MID DRIVE MOTORS
16:30 -- #6 POWER OF THE MOTOR
18:53 -- #7 WEIGHT
21:04 -- #8 THROTTLE VS NO THROTTLE
24:31 -- #9 OPTIONS
27:17 -- #10 ACCESSORIES
35:21 -- #11 STORAGE
37:31 -- #12 SERVICES

If you live within 20 miles of our Ontario California location, we'd love to meet you and discuss your cycling needs, including outfitting you with a brand new e-bike or traditional bike.

If you live outside our region, and you are intersted in purchasing an Aventon bike, please follow this link to find your easy online ordering form.

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Video Produced by Randy Kirk and Associates

[nickmcdonald]

This is a really thorough, unbiased educational video that YT’s algorithm should put front-and-center for any first-time search. Really excellent work!

[-iIIiiiiiIiiiiIIIiiIi-]

Went into a local Bicycle shop with my electric-assist bicycle for a tune-up and was told to "Fuck right off with that shit!". So glad you're embracing electric bikes in your shop.

[priayief]

I am a 75 year-old e-Biker and I'm neither an extreme or recreational user. Rather, I use my e-bike for practical reasons. Primarily, I use my bike to exercise my young dog. My daily, all-year-round routine is to travel about 10 km (6 miles). My route is primarily over a slightly bumpy, paved trail with some parts being loose gravel and short, but steep hills. I've had this bike for two years.

Here's my non-technical advice for those with a similar profile and who are looking to purchase their first e-bike.

First thing is, consider purchasing from a nearby brick-and-mortar retailer. I've ridden traditional bikes most of my life and I'm capable of doing maintenance and repairs myself. However, at my age I'm not interested in doing these things myself. Also, considering that more things can go wrong with an e-bike, it's better to have an expert resolve any problems.

Once you've chosen a (hopefully) nearby retailer, look for a "cruiser style" bike - at my age, comfort is important. As well, choose a "step-through"; you don't want to be stressing those old hips and knees over the seat to mount and dismount.

Hub drive or mid drive? Not a big deal for me. Mine is mid-drive. However, if I had to admit to a preference, I'd choose a hub drive - you can still ride your bike if something goes wrong with your drive-train. For example, if something goes wrong with the chain, or you experience de-railing, you can still ride your bike under power.

Pedal assist or throttle? Mine has pedal assist. If I had a choice I would definitely prefer the addition of a throttle - much better for starting from loose, rough surfaces and starting when going up even slight inclines.

Tires? Big, fat or standard. Mine are standard, but I don't think it matters.

Battery: For my use, battery is irrelevant.

[timmacias]

Wow. Little bit about me: I grew up in the age where kids rode bikes everywhere. I raced BMX and competed in national championships. I was pretty good and practiced a lot. All my friends and I, we rode everywhere. Then got into my 20s and got away from it.

30’s picked up cyclocross. Bought a Pretty good redline bike and started up again. Loved it! 😉

Now I’m 52 years old, I have an electric scooter that’s seven years old and needs to be replaced.

I’ve watched video after video trying to figure out what the best ebike would be for me.

This video shows genuine transparency, knowledge, sincerity about the subject. That’s hard to find nowadays.

I’m a fan of the dude who put this video together. It’s by far the most informative video I’ve seen since I started investigating.

Thanks!
Tim
👍👆

[GuitarUniverse]

Very informative… Just one suggestion… Please either lose the music completely or lower the volume. You don’t need it!

[melvynobrien]

As former president of the Mountain Biking Club of Cork, I must say that we never allowed anyone on our rides or races without a helmet. Anyone who rides a bike without a helmet is a fool; I've seen enough accidents at our races to know a helmet is a necessity. One fall is all it takes. WEAR A HELMET.

[donnlepisto]

Anyone considering an e-bike needs to watch this video. I don`t think you missed a thing! Excellent.

[NotSoFast]

I ordered an Aventon Pace 500.2 with the step over frame the other night and it's getting delivered tomorrow. They were offering it on their site for only $999. Leftovers after the Pace 500.3 came out, I assume. I am 52 years old and live in a small town in the south. For me, after working all week, the last thing I want to do is battle the heat and humidity on a standard bike. I tried it in my 40's and I couldn't do it for very long at a time. It didn't help that the bike had me hunched over uncomfortably and the seat felt like I was sitting on a 2x4. I ordered an even wider seat for the Pace along with a suspension seat post, fenders, rear rack, bag, bell, helmet, and the rest of the usual stuff.

I have watched a few of your videos and like the straightforward approach. No sales pitches. No hyping up one bike over another. Just good information.

[dustyboyer]

I'm very fortunate that I found your channel the same day I was going to pull the trigger on a $ 1800 ebike .
I did the research and found several of the cons that you discussed and now I'm opting for a better quality ebike .
I feel I owe you a cold beer .

[gbird]

I’ve been riding an ebike for several years and feel pretty knowledgeable about all this stuff but this is still a very comprehensive and informative guide for anyone that’s new to electric bikes or just wants a refresher. Great video!!!

[chrisliddiard]

One key thing to look out for on the cheaper e-bikes is the 'bottom bracket', eg the housing for the pedal spindel. Is that screwed in, or is it heat sealed in? Is it a ball baring type, or a screw in cartidge type. My first e-bike had the cheaper ball baring type bottom bracket which was impossible to remove when the baring failed. The only solution was to replace the frame, and rebuild the bike. So yeah, be warned.

Also with hub motors the power is often connected to the weight of that rear wheel. 250w 350w are compact low weight units. Older Hub motors 500w or greater tend to be larger heavier units with permanant magnets for that extra power. That said there are newer designed 500w motors with smaller housings coming on the market.

On Throttle vs Pedal assist only. With Pedal assist you have to pedal a couple of revolutions before the motor kicks in. This mean you need a basic level of fitness to use, or you start in a lower gear. With throttle, you can get that accelleraton right off the line, or in practicl terms, stright from a traffic light stop, just twist and go, then apply pedals. If you are older and attracted to ebikes, then i'd say throttle assist is a must. Also there are pedal assist ebikes with torque sensors, these sense the effort on the pedals, or the effort on the chain, and increase the power output. These offer a more natural ride, as oppose to the cadence sensor, which measures how fast you are turning the pedals.

One thing not mentioned was protection against flats. A bike shop is unlikely to bring this up, as its their bread and butter trade. Its also a fact of bike life that most wont bring up when they promote a new bike. There are 'puncture proof tyres' offering greater protection, there's also 'green slime tyre sealant' and similar products which self-seals small punctures, well worth putting in your new tires, especially on hub motor wheels.

[DNRG]

I've never had an accident on my bicycle or ebike after riding all my life 50+ years...sudden stops, yes. But no collisions or dropped bikes. Having bike accidents should not be presumed esp considering our minds are programmed by what we believe.

[netog]

Final and most important consideration is to "test-ride" the bike. Every thing may look good on Specs. but when riding it, it does not feel right.

[stevenjohn]

great work putting this video together.
very good information, well presented.
I usually switch off when the background is distracting
like music etc.
But this was so interesting I put up with the music, well worth watching.
Thank You.

[ronalddesilva]

Thanks for the very thoughtful and long video of almost every aspect of riding and riders. Also explained the different types of bikes. Great job. 👍

[UglyKidJoe]

Thank you for spelling "through" correctly. Lovely to see that kind of quality.

Thank you also for a great informative video. Looking forward into getting my first E-bike!

[alexfalconer]

Thank you so much for a very detailed expert guide. So refreshing to find someone who cares enough to go into such detail. This should be the go to channel for ebikes.

[lynnwelch]

Thank you for this awesome video, you answered several of the questions I had (such as mid vs hub) and reminded me of a few things (such as accessories) I had not thought much of. The only thing about this video that I did not like was the background music - sometimes it was more foreground and almost completely drowned you out. This video would have been a 1000 times better without any music. However, music aside, the information was very helpful.

[geraldscott]

For me, as a disabled person, the most important consideration by far is NO PEDAL RANGE, because that is how I would have to ride it. The second most important consideration is flat tires. I might or might not be able to fix a flat tire, and if I couldn't, I would be stranded. So tires need to be made as flat resistant as possible, yet as easy to repair as possible if they do go flat. Because most flats in my area are caused by thorns, having regular 26x2.125 tires is very important. You can get 4mm super heavy duty tubes in this size, and you can put sealant in them. All that thickness provides surface area that enables the sealant to have something to seal against. But if it goes flat anyway, it needs a centerstand to hold the bike up while a wheel is removed, and the wheels need to be easy to remove. They should come with a small compressor that runs off the bikes battery to reinflate a tire. Front suspension and a suspension seatpost would be nice. A nice wide comfortable seat would also be great, and it would not need to be designed to make pedaling easier. It would need a sterpthrough frame, and a completely upright riding position, and a twist grip throttle. It would not need to exceed 15 mph. Range is far more important than speed. It would not need any bicycle powertrain components, other than a simple single front and rear sprocket (single speed) with very low gearing. Simple rim brakes would be fine, no discs. It would also not need lights or a horn. Those can be added by the owner if they ride at night. I never bought a pedal bike with lights and a horn. It would need at least a left side mirror. An optional rack and panniers would be nice. Oh, and it needs to look like a bicycle, not a motorcycle. It should not attract attention on residential streets and bike paths.

[roberthaseltine]

Thank you very much! I've spent a lot of time researching what ebike I might want for me, and your video helped make sure I looked at all the options to consider. Well done!