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Bill R. from Wentzville on 12/2/2024 12:14:28 PM:
Looking to purchase a new e-bike in the early Spring. I've not owned one previously. I'm not interested in an on-line purchase. I've done quite a bit of research. I have a shop in mind. Models I've researched are: Denago; Specialized; Giant; and Aventon. I ride quite a bit. I'm looking for a pedal-assist. I ride the KATY mostly and I've seen all of the aforementioned models on my rides. Anyone have any first-hand knowledge? Mid-drive vs. hub-drive seems to be the wild card. Thank you.

 
John Hutchins from PACIFIC on 12/3/2024 1:22:34 PM:
I bought a Trek ebike last year and love it. I live in the St Louis area and bought and had it shipped from a shop in Ashville NC because they had the one I wanted. The dealer said you can't go wrong with a bike from what he called the big three, Trek, Specialized and Giant. I have a Bosch hub motor which would always be my choice over a hub drive. But I'm not sure it matters that much. FWIW, Yamaha is getting out of ebikes in the US and has some great deals right now. I was very close to buying a Yamaha but backed off because their dealer network is weak to non-existent for ebikes. But they make great bikes with good components. You might want to look into those and maybe talk to a LBS about taking care of it when needed.

 
Channabilly from Channahon on 2/7/2025 7:56:44 PM:
We purchased Specialized Vado 4.0 bikes and love them. They have enough oomph to pull my 260 lb. body and full paniers up the nastier parts of Jeff City with only a small effort. We've never pulled the battery down too far, but we feel we could get an honest 80 miles out of a charge (my wife could probably get 90),

But, they have a pedal assist up to 28 mph and that makes them Class 3. I have read that some trails are outlawing Class 3 E-Bikes so you may want to check up on where you like to ride. I'm not sure what kind of enforcement may be out there, but I'd hate to have my trip cancelled part of the way through.

We reached out to the shop we bought them from and they did a firmware patch that limits the pedal assist to 20 mph and Specialized is sending us stickers that proclaim them to be Class 1 E-bikes. Honestly, I'm not going to go above 20 mph on gravel so it's no great loss.

 
Bill in Columbia (was Houston) on 2/11/2025 12:59:19 PM:
Go with one of the big three so that you can find a bike shop dealer that HAS to work on it. Lots of shops are refusing e-bikes.

 
Bill R. from Wentzville on 2/11/2025 2:31:04 PM:
Bought one a month ago from a local shop. Service after the sale is part of the deal. Thanks everyone for your input.