I’m starting to get serious about buying an Electric bike. There are many options available such as cadence and torque drives as well as throttle drives. I’m 69 years old and shortly will be limited financially to old age pension and the Canada pension plan. On an average two nights a week I travel about 16 clicks or 10 miles each way in order to maintain a social life. And then there’s groceries to buy .Gas is expensive and I’d like to avoid owning a motor vehicle
I envision that I’ll be able to pedal comfortably with the power assist and never have difficulty climbing hills.
After this thread expires I’ll be doing a road test
One thought is, you don’t necessarily need to be able to break any land speed records, but you do want plenty of power in case you have to go up steep hills.
Panniers might be useful since you mention groceries and stuff.
What are your current transportation options? Do you have a car?
You’re talking about riding at night, so be sure you consider the safety aspect. It can be more dangerous to ride a bike along the roads at night. Not all drivers are good about sharing the road. There may be additional issues with them seeing you in the dark.
I loved mine, it was a great way to get around. The battery also ran the lights and at night I’d throw on a hi vis vest in case and had a small red led tight flashing down my back from my helmet. I needed good gloves in winter and had to be a bit careful in the wet as mine wasn’t all that waterproof.
Our suburban posties (mail persons) now ride them a lot, some can carry a lot of weight. Mine was advertised as a cargo bike and had big thick tyres and great suspension, it was near as fun as a small motorcycle but I could put anything on the heavy rack and get us home with a flick of the wrist. I usually used pedal assist but it was nice to just coast sometimes. It was very heavy so I was glad for disk brakes.
I doubt you’d regret it.
Mine needs a new battery and will be getting it the moment I am cleared to ride it again (neuro stuff)