Which ebike should I get?

[newtothis]

So my husband recently got me an ebike for my birthday. I was so excited! I used to bike a lot, but two small kids and an office job with a home to manage makes the days pretty hectic. I was thinking an ebike would help me get back on as I work near a BIG hill and don't like arriving at work sweaty. We are trying to not overspend, so I got a less expensive one through a website and we did the final assembly ourselves. I'm not a bike mechanic by any means and local bike shops won't look at it because of their rules about electric bikes (will only look at ten or so brands, and not outside of that because "lack of spare / replacement parts, lack of technical documents and training for our staff, risk of Lithium Ion battery fires due to poor battery management systems, and possible poor end user satisfaction"). I persevered and used a bike repair manual to adjust the disc brakes and finish the set up. Thing is, I've now driven it 8 miles and while it's really powerful, I feel unsafe on it with the Pedal Assist. It lags in kicking in and kicks in really strongly even in ECO mode. At one point, my front tire jumped up when I tried to start from a stopped position! To be fair, the manufacturer has been responsive and given me ideas to compensate. It DOES flatten hills though. link to bike here: https://ride1up.com/product/ghost/

I would have to pay return shipping to return it. (maybe $150?)

I am new to ebikes and tried some bikes at a local bike shop today for comparison.
I LOVED a $2400 specialized ebike (vado 2.0) (last years model).. this bike was AMAZING!
I also tried a $2200 Raleigh step thru ebike that I didn't like as much.

I do want assistance for hills as my work place is at the bottom of a looong hill with over 250' of elevation gain. (I live in a hilly city in the PNW). Otherwise I will drive my hybrid car most days.

My husband and I together make 90k (we both work less than full time) and I live 3.6 miles from work.

[AccidentialMustache]

Any chance the modes are wired in reverse? Aka eco-is-max-max-is-eco?

Lag on activation is normal. It will be waiting for a 1/2 crank turn or so of the pedals before it turns on. You don't want less on a magnet sensor because you don't want it to boost if you're just rolling forward. Bikes with less lag on pedal input tend to be torque sensing and those are premium/more costly.

My ebike experience is a cargo bike (rad wagon) and I don't think any wattage motor on it could cause it to pop the front tire up. The rear wheel would burn rubber first.

With such a limited controller I can't speak to your assist modes. On my rad, it has "off" (aka -20W from direct-drive motor drag) and 5 levels of assist, something around 60/200/400/550/750W give or take 20W each direction. You don't really notice 60 much. 200 is notable. 400 you feel it. 750 and you're looking for who wile-e-coyote'd a rocket to your backside and lit it. My bike's controller also has programmability where I think I can tweak the power per mode. I've considered (but haven't) messing with it to run more like 60/120/240/480/750, which would be a much more usable distribution than what they picked. If your controller can be edited, doing that might fix it for you. The manufacturer may not tell you how to, because doing so might be illegal (mine can also remove the 20 mph limit, changing me from a bike to a moped...).

Look for your controller/display's manual online. Try to find identifying numbers in the plastic and feed them to a search engine and see if you can get any hints. And/or ask the manufacurer for the manuals for the controller and see if they'll send you that (even if it contains how to go over 20mph). It *probably* has ways to program it, because the EU has different limits than the US, and that's generally just a software setting in the microcontroller somewhere.

My bike maker (rad powered bikes) is Seattle based. If you decide you can't work with the bike you have, you don't have to go to a 2.4k bike, rads with controllers like mine are the 1.5k area.

[newtothis]

Accidentalmustache - thanks for the feedback. The modes are definitely not wired in reverse, as the mid and high modes are much more powerful. Today when I rode it home, the motor didn't kick in 3x on turning it on and I had to restart (I turn the power off when I stop at intersections as PAS is always on when it's turned on)

I asked the manufacturer if there is a way I could turn down the assist, and they indicated no. my coworker also suggested looking at the computer, but since I'm considering returning it I don't want to mess with that so I can still return it and get a refund.

How long have you had your RAD bike? How does it do for long steep hills? Do you think you could go from downtown to top of Capitol Hill pretty easily?

[DadJokes]

I have a Ride1Up and like it. They sell separately a display that allows you 9 different assist settings, as opposed to the 3-setting display that comes standard. People have said that they like that more for using a lower level of assist.

[newtothis]

Thanks Dadjokes. Do you have the roadster ghost or the 500 series? How long have you had it? Three times yesterday during my 3.5 mile commute, when I turned it on, the PAS did not engage and I had to turn it off and on again, which makes me concerned about the quality. I received the bike a couple weeks ago.

With the new display, can you turn PAS off without cutting power? Can you adjust the PAS level up and down without needing to cycle through them all (thats how mine is set up). The 500 looks like a much better option than the cheaper roadster if you can have more control over the PAS.

[DadJokes]

I've had the 500 city for a few months and have a similar commute. I haven't had the same problem with the assist that you are having.

I don't know all of the features of the new display, since I didn't get it. I'm pretty sure that you can turn off the PAS on the original display without cutting power by just arrowing down again when you are at minimum assist. I assumed that both models used the same display, but maybe not.

They do have a Facebook group for owners, so you may be able to get better answers from someone with the Roadster Ghost. It's called Ride1Up eBike Owners.

[newtothis]

Dadjokes, unfortunately the two models don't use the same display. On this bike I have to toggle through eco, then mid, then high assist to get back to eco.

[newtothis]

The manufacturer gave me directions for altering the controller and disconnecting the PAS and having it be throttle assist only, but with no gearing (it's a fixed gear) it would feel like a scooter disguised as a bicycle to me. I also am hesitant to disconnect any wires.

[Miss Piggy]

I am not familiar with the brands you listed, but I will tell you that my husband bought a Townie Commute e-bike (around $2400) a few months ago and absolutely LOVES it. It has enabled him to enjoy bike riding again, which makes us both very happy.

[AccidentialMustache]

I've had my rad 2 years. I would not rate it as great for truly big hills -- my model is a direct-drive rear hub motor on a cargo bike (so probably 80+ lbs between the XL bike and accessories (panniers, locking gear, better headlight, etc)).

Note I live in the land of the flat (IL), so I also don't have truly big hills. I can tell you in the mild hills we have, the 750 W motor is not capable of maintaining 20mph uphill without assistance from me. On flat/level, 20mph is ~400-500 W if I'm not helping it, so there isn't a ton of headroom there for hill climbing at that speed. It'll probably still climb at a lower top speed, but again I don't really have the hills to test it.

Note my bike is direct-drive, so it gains no mechanical advantage. An internally geared 500 W motor probably has more climbing power. A crank mounted motor may gain even more (since it goes through your standard chain/gear system that you the human do) mechanical advantage. Similarly, smaller wheels would give you mechanical advantage and make a better hill climber (rad mini, rad runner).

I don't know if they've gone to internally geared on the rad wagon. I believe their other bikes are.

The big "advantage" of direct is you get regenerative braking. Unfortunately for a bike that's kinda total garbage. Great for tesla, bad for bike. See: https://gocarlite.com/electric-bicycle-regenerative-braking/

[newtothis]

Thanks all for the input. I've decided to return the bike I purchased online (local bike shop is going to help me package it). Funny thing, the manufacturer gave me an address for return shipping but said if I will ship in a week, to check back because it will change. It's been a headache coordinating all this, but this bike is not the one for me, and better to have no e-bike than one I don't really like.