Electric scooter or bike electric assist recommendations
Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2021 6:24 pm
As I live in a very hilly area and I'm not getting any younger, I'm a little tired of climbing long steep hills on a bike. My usual route includes a stretch of about 0.4 miles with an elevation gain of about 200 feet, and an incline that's around 20 degrees at its steepest. Yeah ok it's not Mount Everest, but to a woman getting close to age 60 it's a big deal. So, I'm looking for an electric-powered option. Any recommendations?
- Lightweight. There's a practical maximum of around 30 lbs that I'm willing to deal with. I have to be able to carry the bike or scooter up and down a flight of stairs to get between my apartment and the great outdoors, plus carry or push it up that hill if need be. Similarly, if I want to take it on the subway there are generally a couple of flights of stairs involved, plus lifting it over the turnstiles.
- Can motor up a hill. Fine if it's 3 mph or whatever, just have to get it up there.
- Is safe going downhill (i.e. has to have good brakes and a stable ride).
- Reliability is important. I don't want one that's going to self destruct after a few weeks like a lot of Amazon reviewers report with some of the more popular brands. The photos of people all banged up and in hospitals due to defective designs were especially scary.
Option 1: lightweight electric kit for the bike (a brompton). The problem with this is that it will probably add too much weight - last I looked into this it would make the bike about 50 lbs. Totally out of the question. I found there is a kit that weighs only about 3 kg, but it's pricey and perennially out of stock.
Option 2: an electric scooter. The ones that can handle the hill and would be reliable are priced pretty high and of course are way over my weight limit, as in they're 60-100 lbs.
I've been looking at the GoTrax XR, Hiboy S2, or Xiaomi Mi. None of them sound all that great.
Just wondering what the board recommends here!
- Lightweight. There's a practical maximum of around 30 lbs that I'm willing to deal with. I have to be able to carry the bike or scooter up and down a flight of stairs to get between my apartment and the great outdoors, plus carry or push it up that hill if need be. Similarly, if I want to take it on the subway there are generally a couple of flights of stairs involved, plus lifting it over the turnstiles.
- Can motor up a hill. Fine if it's 3 mph or whatever, just have to get it up there.
- Is safe going downhill (i.e. has to have good brakes and a stable ride).
- Reliability is important. I don't want one that's going to self destruct after a few weeks like a lot of Amazon reviewers report with some of the more popular brands. The photos of people all banged up and in hospitals due to defective designs were especially scary.
Option 1: lightweight electric kit for the bike (a brompton). The problem with this is that it will probably add too much weight - last I looked into this it would make the bike about 50 lbs. Totally out of the question. I found there is a kit that weighs only about 3 kg, but it's pricey and perennially out of stock.
Option 2: an electric scooter. The ones that can handle the hill and would be reliable are priced pretty high and of course are way over my weight limit, as in they're 60-100 lbs.
I've been looking at the GoTrax XR, Hiboy S2, or Xiaomi Mi. None of them sound all that great.
Just wondering what the board recommends here!