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Finally joining the ebike club
(hexbear.net)
I commute about 16km~ daily on a cheap bike. The components are bad, it sucks going up hills, and even with good cycling infrastructure I don't want to ride across town or carry more than a backpack. Next year the prices on ebikes in the US are going to start going monkey in response to both Biden and Trump's tariffs on China this seems like it's my last cheap chance to minimise my car use. I went with a Lectric Xpress which seemed to be the best urban commuter at a low price. Good enough to last but not nice enough to steal over the bikes next to it.
I realllly want to get an ebike and a toddler trailer for it so I can haul groceries. It sucks to try to do a big grocery run on a regular bike or just on foot, imo.
We're kinda broke but you're right that buying one later will probably be even worse. I dunno, maybe we can stretch it now.
A few of the webstores use Affirm as a payment processor with 0-7% APR. My 6 monthly payments work out to like $240~ on that $1300 bike, $35 in interest, for the best compromise between cost and features/quality/customer service I could find <$1500. Still super expensive, but even minor repairs to my car cost enough that I think I'll genuinely save money from the investment if it cuts my car use down to a couple times per month. Everything car-related is also skyrocketing in price so I'm dreading sinking any more money into that unnecessarily.
(https://lectricebikes.com/products/xpedition-single-battery-blue) This cargo series seems super nice and utilitarian. I was really considering this model (https://blixbike.com/products/packa-electric-cargo-bike) but the only payment plans are at 15% APR so it's $133 in interest over 12 months of $144 payments.
thanks! This is super helpful