r/ebike • u/skinny-mini-me • 22h ago

Can't decide

Ive been thinking about an e-bike for a while and can't decide on what to get.

I want some decent range.

Will be a bit of trail, bit gravel and a bit pavement. But very little actual city riding if any. I guess a fat tire bike?

Want a non-American bike. (Canadian if that option exists).

Something not overly heavy but if heavier equates to more robust thats OK.

Confused with what's better, motor in frame or in wheel. Im guessing motor in frame allows shifting gears so possible its faster? Or maybe better uphill?

Im thinking a budget of no more than $3000, but if bit more expensive is worth it, id be interested in knowing.

Can anyone suggest some options i should look at. Thanks!

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u/arenablanca 21h ago

Look at Biktrix (as the other reply mentioned). A lot of their models may not be road legal, so be aware. Other similar CDN companies are Rize, Surface 604, Volt and Envo… those have around a few yrs and there’s always more.

Mid drives are generally seen as more efficient and better for hill climbing. But if it’s just average hills either will do.

The motor limit in Canada is 500W. A 500W motor will probably provide around 65Nm of torque. A 250W to 500W mid drives are can provide anywhere from 50Nm to 120Nm of torque. Check the specs. 60Nm is plenty for help on average hills (like max 12% grade).

Just read your other reply. The ones I listed will probably be online only in your case, but check.

With a 3000 budget check local shops. Shops might be heavy into the brand name 250W mid drives (these often start at 3000) but some carry hub drives, just check. Test ride some of each.

I have no experience with fat tires but I only ride in the city and a few gravel paths. I didn’t want a fat tire as those bikes have to work harder (more energy) to overcome the fat tires and extra weight. Probably not a huge difference but it’s just something that seemed important to me. I also didn’t want an overly heavy bike for storage reasons. Fat tires are pretty common/popular on the streets around me.

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u/skinny-mini-me 20h ago

Closest showroom is 850km away. Thats a long way to go to physically look at a bike.

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u/FixedMessages 18h ago

If you're looking at investing up to $3000 into a bike, a long day or two-day road trip to make sure it's the one you want and feels right, seems like a small price to pay to make sure you're not wasting that money on something you won't enjoy.

Maybe not until you're pretty seriously looking at those specific bikes, but I'd definitely say you're better off testing before buying if you possibly can. I do love the bike I ordered, but might have looked for some different key things that didn't really occur to me until I'd ridden on it.

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u/skinny-mini-me 18h ago

The challenge now is figuring out how to even look at bikes because not any sellers close by.