Author Topic: ebikes for working parents- recommendations?  (Read 492 times)

La Bibliotecaria Feroz

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ebikes for working parents- recommendations?
« on: May 29, 2023, 10:58:43 AM »
After piggybacking on the thread about whether buying an ebike is worthwhile if you still have 2 cars (consensus was yes), I'm hoping to pull the trigger on one, especially if I can get a voucher in Denver's program (they are very competitive, like trying to sign your kid up for swim lessons).

Uses:
-Ride back and forth to work, about 3 miles
-Quick grocery runs with baby
-Take baby to park

Riders:
-Me, 155 pounds and 4'11", age 42
-Tall skinny baby who is just turned 10 months

I have a bike but I just can't go up hills like I used to 10 years and 30 pounds ago when my bigger kids were little! I have to get off and walk up the big hill on my way to work!

Anyway, I have narrowed it down to 2 or 3:

RadRunner2
Lectric XP Lite
Possibly Aventon Level 2 but I haven't test-ridden yet.

I also tried Tern QuickHaul (too big for me), Lectric XP 3.0 (ditto) and Tern NBD (too expensive relative to the number of boxes it checks).

The RadRunner can hold a baby seat and later, a passenger over a hundred pounds. Concern is that it does not fold and is very heavy (65 pounds), so how do I get it to the shop for servicing?

The Lite only has like 50 pounds of cargo capacity and doesn't take baby seats, so I would have to use a trailer, which it would be tough to store in my garage, and then hope I could use a trailercycle with it when baby grows up (I have trouble with these because my seat post is so short and I don't know if I can get the Burley Moose rack on it). BUT it is much light (46 pounds) and it folds, so I could put it in the car for servicing and, for instance, if I rode my bike to work but then it was raining and someone gave me a lift home.

Anyway, I just wanted to hear from people who have similar use cases as to which advantages will be more important vs which downsides!

Cranky

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Re: ebikes for working parents- recommendations?
« Reply #1 on: May 29, 2023, 12:13:49 PM »
Some shops here offer pickup services, so you might check into that.

jac941

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Re: ebikes for working parents- recommendations?
« Reply #2 on: May 29, 2023, 09:34:03 PM »
With a kid and stuff, I wouldn’t go with anything with a cargo capacity under 100 lbs. It’s super easy to get over 50 lbs with kid+seat+a grocery bag.

Regarding getting the bike to service appointments, you can ride it or use a motorcycle towing service. I typically ride my super heavy Xtracycle to service appointments and either walk, take transit or take Lyft from there. Works fine.

Electric bikes are so much fun - they really flatten the hills. Enjoy!

Cranky

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Re: ebikes for working parents- recommendations?
« Reply #3 on: May 30, 2023, 04:37:46 AM »
But also, my ebike is heavy and I rarely have to pick it up. Our car is small and it just won’t fit into the car - the problem isn’t lifting it up.

Adventine

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Re: ebikes for working parents- recommendations?
« Reply #4 on: May 30, 2023, 04:54:08 AM »
@MustachioedPistachio just got an Aventon Level 2 for commuting to work and picking up groceries in car-happy Memphis. He's been very pleased with it. We can't speak to how baby-friendly it is, but I imagine it would haul a bike baby trailer just fine.