Decision-Decisions

[joerone]

Hello All,

Just joined the group...Thanks for having me. My wife and I are retired and bought a 32ft Travel Trailer late last summer and are planning on many trips around the country. We are interested in e-bikes to help us enjoy the areas we will be exploring and there are so many options it's hard to decide. Our budget is limited to $1,000-$1,500. Need a step through for my wife and it might not be a bad idea for me as I am fine now, but getting older. Folding interests me for ease of fitting in the back seat of my truck or in the bad with the tonneau cover closed. Looking at the Lectric XP 3.0 , Velotric Go 1, as well as the Ride 1up Portola.

Curious on opinions or recommendations from the experienced members in the forum.

Thank You
joerone

[ReapThaWhirlwind]

Portola looks like a great option with great versatility.

Note that 700c wheels would be easier to push and climb on.

Hyper has a 700c model ebike, but it's not folding.

[joerone]

HaHa, as per my record, I completely went in a different direction, went to a non folding e-bike and spent more than I budgeted. Bought a step over for me and a step through for my wide... Aventon Level 2 commuter's. They are being customized a bit by the local dealer and we should get them by the end of this week....We are very excited and can't wait for our first ride!!

[Talha]

(03-20-2024, 07:05 PM)joerone Wrote:  Hello All,

Just joined the group...Thanks for having me. My wife and I are retired and bought a 32ft Travel Trailer late last summer and are planning on many trips around the country. We are interested in e-bikes to help us enjoy the areas we will be exploring and there are so many options it's hard to decide. Our budget is limited to $1,000-$1,500. Need a step through for my wife and it might not be a bad idea for me as I am fine now, but getting older. Folding interests me for ease of fitting in the back seat of my truck or in the bad with the tonneau cover closed. Looking at the Lectric XP 3.0 , Velotric Go 1, as well as the Ride 1up Portola.

Curious on opinions or recommendations from the experienced members in the forum.

Thank You
joerone

I am curious to know how did you discover this forum?

[enkei]

The Level.2 is quite highly rated: https://www.bikeride.com/aventon-level/

[froze]

Congrats on the new trailer, hope the both of you have a lot of fun traveling around.

I'm not to up with E-bikes so I'll let others comment on which are the best. I did buy my wife a Trek Verve 2+ but it's a bit more expensive than your budget. The only concern I have for the cheaper off-name made-in-China ones is that there have been reports of these batteries catching fire when recharging! That was my concern, and it's why I bought the Trek with the Bosch charger and battery. Just something to think about, but if you still opt for the cheaper E-Bike don't leave the charging battery unattended, and keep a good fire extinguisher around designed to put out that kind of fire.

E-bikes are heavy, and you stated you're getting older, loading an E-bike into the back of a pickup can be a chore, and could lead to an injured back or something else. So what I did was buy some ramps. They sell ramps already made, or you can make it yourself. You will need two because one is too narrow to push a bike up while you walk alongside, so you need a second one to walk on. I made mine, bought the wood planks, and bought the ramp ends, they are a tad heavier than the more expensive aluminum ones but not that bad.

I also have a fork mount carrier attached to the end of the truck bed with two mounts, one for each of our bikes, so I have to remove the front wheels, put the forks into the clamps. Then I bungee the front wheels against the side of the bed. I also bungee the bike's rear wheels to the side of the bed so they don't somehow bounce and hit each other, they've never done that but who knows, goofy stuff happens when going on a road trip.

[Amanda_W]

Did you get to try your new bikes yet? How do you like them? I would love to hear about your first impressions!

(03-30-2024, 08:45 PM)joerone Wrote:  HaHa, as per my record, I completely went in a different direction, went to a non folding e-bike and spent more than I budgeted. Bought a step over for me and a step through for my wide... Aventon Level 2 commuter's. They are being customized a bit by the local dealer and we should get them by the end of this week....We are very excited and can't wait for our first ride!!