Experience with E-Bike Rental
 

Just rode an e-bike for the first time. We went 30 miles and it was a blast.

Renter from a local online service: Village Bike Rentals. We would not hesitate to recommend them for a rental- they were great.

We're considering buying 2 bikes from them. Any feedback on a buying experience?

Thanks!

No experience, but I would compare prices on Amazon before buying. Lots of options.

They are a blast. We bought two Specialized Turbo Como 3.0 IGH bikes from the Villages Cycles in Brownwood and are very happy with them. We had a positive experience with Villages Cycles.

If you want to compare....go to The Trek Bike store in Inverness. It is right on the Withlacoochee bike path. You can rent an ebike for a full day and ride for 60+ miles on the flat, beautiful asphalt trail.

My husband went into that Brownwood bike store to buy bike shoes and had a bad experience. He said if he goes into that store again, it would be by accident.

Rent bikes from other manufacturers/bike stores before you decide.

Trek and Specialized are ridiculously over priced for what you get. I have 4 ebikes and have ridden most of the top sellers. The Velotric Discover 1 looks good for that sale price. Pay no attention the the "peak" power ratings of the motor, it is the continual rated power that is important. The 500 watt motor would be enough for the flat Florida trails. If you are also going to ride any hilly country though, I would rather have a Ride1Up 700 Series with a 750 watt motor for the same sale price. My wife has that bike and it's great. We are snowbirds so her 750 watt motor and mine with a 1000 watt motor fly up those steep hills we have in PA. Just do not get any ebike with small 20" tires even though you may see a lot of them. They are top heavy and the steering is very quick.

Since dhdallas is giving advice and recommentations on watts we might as well be accurate.

There are two types of ebike systems hub drive, which have a motor within the wheel. These operate at 30% efficiency. Hub drives are located at the wheel center.

Mid drives are located at the pedals and run 70-80% efficiency. Most mid drives drives are 250 watts. You can recognize a mid drive in pictures at a glance.

Mid drives feel more natural, go further, last longer and cost more.

There is no standard that ebikes be rated at peak, continuious, or nominal watts. It is foolish to shop ebikes by watts. Some mid drives rate by torque but I have never seen a hub drive do this.

If you are interested in an ebike purchase, you should understand the 3 classes of ebikes and pedal assist versus throttle.

To directly answer the OP I would not buy a bike from Villages Bike Rental. The reason is service.

The weak link on ebikes is the electronics. Dealers will service the "bike" part of any ebike but not the electronics.

Villages bike rental uses 'The Bike Doctor' for all service. I have spoken to the owner, Mike, he has stories of waiting months for parts on the Villages bike Rental bikes.

E bikes
 

If you want to save money and don’t mind putting it together, buy online

No experience buying from them specifically but we bought locally for service reasons. Definitely heard about people having issues with cheaper online bikes and no service available .

We bought two bikes from them two years ago. We also bought the maintenance package. He comes to our house and picks up the bikes and keeps them overnight giving them a complete tune up. If our bikes were stolen, we'd buy new bikes from him again tomorrow. I have 100% confidence in his service and advice.

Always good to buy local!

Try outside the bubble
 

My husband & I have Aventon e-bikes (we have the Pace 500.3) & love them! You can buy them online right from them (aventon.com)…or…go up to Brick City Bicycles in Ocala who sell, assemble & warrant them. Their service is top notch & prices are better than TV. Although any time you go outside TV bubble you get a better price & often better service, IMO.

We did the same back in April. Absolutely loved it & such great service from the guy & his wife. Highly recommend! If we were full time we’d deff buy e-bikes.

Maybe you meant to say "Torque is a measure of force (rotational) whereas Watts is by definition power.. Torque gets you up the hill, how fast you get up the hill is all power.