The title describes the gist of things. In 18 months of owning my Bikonit MD750, I’ve traveled over 2100 km (1300 miles) in day, night, and rain; swapped out four sets of tires trying to lower the rolling resistance; built my own new set of 29" wheels with ebike-speed rated tires; and have taken it on mixed-mode adventures by using light-rail as my range extender.
It’s the latter where the weight is a small issue, as the light rail train has three stairsteps onboard, which I have to carry the bike up and onto. 43 kg is kinda a lot, although that does include all the things I will need for a day out. I can pursue getting stronger to lift it more easily, or convincing the transit department to acquire low-floor trains, but I’d like to know my options:
What are some Class 3, mid-drive ebikes currently available in the USA, that weigh less than 43 kg (95 lbs)? Ideally, less than 25 kg (55 lbs) too, as that’s the most common weight restriction for buses. I want to see what y’all can recommend, irrespective of price or range or other considerations.
I’m not likely to terminate my investment in this current ebike, as it’s provided sterling service thus far. But I wonder if maybe what I have has already been outmoded by the latest developments in this ever-changing slice of the mobility space.
TY in advance!
Marin Sausalito 2 or Specialized Turbo Vado might be good options.
Both of these absolutely meet the request for Class 3 and mid-drive. Thanks!
There appears to definitely be a tradeoff between cost, weight, and battery capacity. But that’s exactly the tradeoff I wanted to quantify, since both these candidates are in a similar price range ($2750-$3000) and are in the same weight ballpark (21-26 kg).
This suggests that additional range would result in more cost and more weight, and these two candidates are already on the cusp of the bike rack with capacity of American buses. Perhaps then my situation can’t be optimized much further by replacing the bike.