TL;DR: help me, Micromobility, you’re my only hope
Long story short, I am fed up with the state of public transit in my city and feeling envious of the e-riders whooshing past. However, while trying to pick an actual model, I’ve ran into being unable to find a model that fits my needs:
- being able to drive 30+ km, with ~100 meter elevation difference between start and finish
- being able to handle 100+ kg of load (I am, unfortunately, fat)
- being able to handle rain and possibly light snow
- being foldable or otherwise transportable, because I’ll have to keep it in the apartment
The Ebike store I’ve been to suggested picrelated, Yokamura Apache, which seems to fit the requirements, but is expensive enough to give me pause. Are there better options? Am I dreaming the impossible? Please help!
Okay, if you want something foldable then you have to sacrifice some other things along the way. First and foremost would be the battery capacity. If you have a foldable bike then in all logic it should reduce your maximum battery capacity.
Since you’re heavy, it means your maximum distance would also be reduced. In that way, 30+ km is possible, but it also means each and every transit would cost a full battery cycle.
Now, for the rest : any mountain bike that can fit 2.40 or 2.60" tyres should do the job. Don’t go for fat bikes, except if your endgoal is to cycle on sand. They will also drain your battery much faster.
Considering these, either you get an electric mountainbike that will easily handle everything except the portability (I have a Cube eBike and can go up to 90+km on eco settings with 700m+ elevation difference. However, that number goes down if I go on higher electric assistance, but can easily put 45+ km on level 2 or 3. I, too, am very heavy.) Or you get everything else, but you might have a lower battery life. That means you will have to chose the eco mode and pedal harder. On the bright side it means you will lose fat faster !
Thank you!
Fat bikes are great for sand but also some kinds of snow and are pretty good in mud too. They are also inefficient and more likely to be punctured, suffer from pinch flats, etc.
Yeah I have fat tires and concur that they are more prone to puncturing. It’s not a bad idea to get some of that slime stuff that can seal small punctures in a pinch. The wider frame can also make them harder to lock up at bike racks. Otoh they just glide over mud, grass, gravel, light snow, etc. effortlessly. I think in retrospect though, I’d probably go with mountain bike tires on my next ride? They seem like a good compromise.