Finally joining the ebike club (hexbear.net)

submitted 3 days ago by happybadger@hexbear.net to c/urbanism@hexbear.net

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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.

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[-] Beaver@hexbear.net 7 points 2 days ago

Enjoy! It will really help on hills. There are a lot of rack accessories you can get - even just having a basket for your backpack is nice. For locks, I'd recommend getting one of those really long ulocks that are meant for mopeds, it will give you more flexibility with the bulky body tubes.

[-] happybadger@hexbear.net 6 points 2 days ago

I ended up going with this level 15 ulock with a secondary steel cable until I can afford one of the really nice angle grinder-resistant ones: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08M6HST7G . That, a hidden GPS tracker, and an alarm system were all immediate purchases. I'm mainly banking on being secure by parking next to more expensive bikes though. That has kept me safe with my current bike and a basic ulock since 2020.

[-] buckykat@hexbear.net 2 points 2 days ago

One thing I like about my electric unicycle is that it's small and strange enough that when I just bring it inside with me I get "woah what's that?" rather than "you can't bring that in here"