How to Buy the Best Electric Bike?

kyle

Owner at - EbikeWizard

I am excited to be able to help people get by with their ebike journey. Here at ebikewizard.com, I share my expertise and over a decade of experience riding, testing, and troubleshooting ebikes of all kinds.

Many people think that traditional bicycles might vanish from the face of the earth as soon as the rising popularity of e-bikes has finished its toll. However, the reality is that human-powered mobility is only going to enhance with the increase in the acceptance of e-bikes. The current stage in the lifecycle of e-bikes is ideal for buying an electric bike as the market is filled with different kinds of e-bikes featuring different offerings, sizes, and shapes. The high-tech designs and sleek-looking models embellish the lineups of different electric bike manufacturers with price tags ranging from $500 to $6,000. Remember, the best electric bike for you is not a specific model out in the market but an e-bike that serves you in a satisfying manner.

The amount of dough is obviously a major factor in determining the type of electric bike you want to go for, but it is definitely not the only one. We can only wish that buying an electric bike was as easy as riding one up a steep mountain, but that is unfortunately not the case. So here are things you need to consider before buying an electric bike to ensure you will cherish it for a long time to come and not regret your shopping decision.

Consider Your Needs

Each electric bike offers a number of different features and is designed to serve different and specific purposes. To determine the best electric bike for yourself, the first thing you need to consider is the set of preferences that you would like your electric bike to provide you with. Are you looking for unmatched comfort? Go for one with a step-through frame. Do you want it to be able to go long distances? Go for an e-bike that is equipped with a 400 W battery. Is climbing up steep hills your cup of tea? Then a high torque hub motor or a middle motor system is what is most appropriate for you. Ponder over your needs and deeply understand them as it is a crucial step to take for buying an electric bike that is fit to serve you well.

Pick Your Retailer Smartly

To make sure you purchase the best electric bike, choosing the right retailer to buy an e-bike from is as important as picking out the product itself. The things that you want to look at while opting for an electric bike retailer are quality, commitment, and vibe. The staff of the place is helpful, knowledgable, and friendly says a lot about the place, and so does their apparent enthusiasm for e-bikes. Do they offer help and assistance for years down the road if you buy from them? If yes, you can be sure they are committed to the industry they operate in. Also, check up on the brands of e-bikes they are selling. Credible and renowned brands usually have a lot of information about them on the internet. If you are buying an electric bike online, you want to make sure to purchase your two-wheeler from a credible and popular online retailer like Amazon. They have reliable return and after-sales support policies that you would like to underpin your purchase.

Here are some of our top picks for e-bikes on Amazon:

Test Ride A Few E-Bikes

Buying an electric bike is not only research and due diligence. There is a fun part of the process as well, i.e., test riding different e-bikes. Going through a lot of e-bikes buying guides, and reviews can get overwhelming, and test riding can serve as a fresh breath of air as it enables you to forget specs for a few minutes and ask yourself a simple question, ‘Do I like the electric bike?’ If the answer is a ‘yes,’ then you only have to make sure that it is equipped with the features that align with your preferences and needs.

Set High Expectations

Keep in mind that the time when electric bikes were at their initial stages of revolutionizing the cycling industry are long gone. The market is full of utility-offering, durable, reliable, and quality e-bikes for you to choose from. Make a firm decision to not settle for anything but the best electric bike that will be a joy to ride for you in years to come. Evaluate and analyze products carefully and screen them with a high standard as all e-bikes are not produced equal.

Do Not Buy Without Warranty

Whether you are buying an electric bike for $800 or $8,000, it is an investment that should offer you adequate value against its price. Warranty is the only way you can rest assured that you do not get taken for a ride with your electric bike purchase. You should look for at least a warranty of two years on the battery, motor, and parts of the e-bike.

Trust Your Intuition

When you start searching the internet for guides to buying the best electric bike, you come across a plethora of opinions and information that usually contradict each other. There is no way of knowing if the information you are receiving is actually well-researched and obtained from credible sources and in a systematic manner. The best way to go about in such a situation is to trust your intuition. If a review or one of the many e-bikes buying guides on the internet is telling you to go for a brand that you cannot find much information about, stay clear of it.

Take the Long View

If one of the factors that have influenced you to buy an electric bike is environmental sustainability, do not just suffice on the fact that it runs on electricity. Broaden the scope of your view and look at how it was built, what are the after-sales services that the retailer or company offers to elongate the product’s life, and the quality of the construction of the electric bike. With proper care, your e-bike should last at least 7 to ten years, and its battery should complete 800 to 1,000 full charge cycles. Battery rebuilding and recycling offerings also talk margins about the commitment of a retailer to the cause.

Make Sure You Get Service Along With Quality

E-bikes are not just something to extract fun out of, but utility in terms of transportation as well. It is vital for your mode of commute to be of high and reliable quality, regardless of if you are using it every day or just a few days in a month. To ensure you are buying a complete quality package, research the battery and motor brands as well, along with running through the listing of parts. However, an equally important aspect for ensuring your investment offers you the value it is supposed to offer is its correct tuning and servicing. Make sure your retailer is set to provide you with quality and utility in this regard.

Making sure you are buying the best electric bike in the budget you have to spare for it requires the performance of due diligence. But once you break a sweat and do strike a good deal, you will be in for a treat for years to come. Buying an electric bike is an experience that has the potential of enhancing or diminishing your experience with the electric bike you buy. Act on the above-mentioned points, and you will be more than fine.