So I have reseached and am looking at buildling vs buying. My problem is after I buy the bike ($800 seems to be what a good bike costs), I will have about $2000 in it. The Pedego Avenue, while it has lots of negatives (Hub motor the biggest), it is about the same price and comes with a 5 year warranty. If I buy their lock ($150), they will give me a "no steal" 5 year warranty (If it gets stolen they will replace it). So I am struggling because I can't seem to find a decent bike that will fit me (5'5"). I rode the Avenue today and it went up a pretty big hill with hardly any effort. Please someone talk me out of this. Thanks.
top of page
bottom of page
id recommend to go custom and NOT premade. i looked at that bike, there are several large cons to going premade. dont be fooled by the 5 year warranty. youll still be stuck with their integrated battery and hub motor, which you cant change. that battery gets like 10-15 miles of range, weak - and over time that will get worse as the battery degrades. hub motors are much weaker than a mid drive in terms of torque, and also harder to maintain the bike with a hub motor on the wheel. if it fails you will be without a bike for a month while waiting for warranty service. also its $2000. with that you could have be over half down on a quality full susp mtb. or go for a quality hardtail around $1k (specialized, trek, giant, many good brands) and convert it to an ebike, with a bafang BBS02 and battery its around 2-2.5k with all accessories, and bike tools to do it yourself. make sure the bike fits you, has the features you want (ideally boost hub axles, full susp), has a compatible bottom bracket (68-73mm BSA threaded - some other odd BBs may require adapters or not work at all), and space for a battery. the best part of going DIY is you become a bike expert in the process, and the flexibility of custom ebikes is you get to choose which part you want to upgrade - in the future as newer more advanced ebike motors hit the market, you have the option to swap motors, batteries, every component on the bike, which is a huge plus if you plan on having a quality mtb frame for long term. thats my advice, watch johnnys youtube videos for ideas, hes done a LOT of conversions.