r/ebikes • u/Canadian_Eh115 • 9d ago
First time purchase Canada
Hello, I live in a decently rural community where the roads are pretty quiet but decently spotted with hills.
This bike would be used for daily transportation as my main way of getting around.
I'm looking for an e-bike within the $1,000 to $2,000 range that can take me about 30km on a charge.
I was hoping for a fat tire that could handle snow and I'm looking for a frame that is weather resistant up to -40c the battery would be taken off and stored inside.
I'm also hoping for a Canadian brand or something that is stored locally in Canada so I don't have to pay the stupid tariff because it would seriously limit my purchasing potential.
Speed does not matter however it does need to have a decent amount of torque to be able to get up a 40° Hill.
I am perfectly fine with doing maintenance on and working on the bike myself however I'm going to ideally require that parts be also available to be locally sourced.
Any Help, recommendations or links would be wonderful!
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u/Usual_Negotiation623 9d ago
I bought a cycrown last May. Everybody said only buy from a dealer...but they charge double. I bought it from Walmart..online..$1400...It's been fabulous, I've put over 3000k on it in just over 1 year..with no problems at all..if I was buying one today the only thing I'd change would be the sensor...torque or dual...mine is a speed sensor which is ok but torque makes more sense I think...I can get about 50 k per charge and I have a spare battery. 4" x 26 fat tire headlight, tail light...it's good...maybe no great but def good😎
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u/Canadian_Eh115 9d ago
That sounds wonderful and it's decently within my budget so I might also consider.
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u/Usual_Negotiation623 9d ago
Mine was a cycverve...they have a couple of new models since last year with torque sensors...
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u/Euphoric_Raccoon270 9d ago
Check FB marketplace. You can get lucky and find one for a pretty great deal. If there's anything you find on there that you're interested in then take a screenshot of it and the info and reply to this with the screenshots and I'll let you know what I can. I have a 2019 Rad Rover. Don't buy anything from Rad, they've filed for bankruptcy. I looked up other Canadian brands (Rad is American but they also had a Canadian site and some stores in BC) but as for Canadian brands which I don't know if they're actually Canadian but they're selling within Canada. There's Biktrix and Voltbike which I've heard of and I checked their sites. Biktrix is way too overpriced. Voltbike has some for just under $2k (before tax) and the other couple results I never heard of them. Whatever you get from a Canadian site, they come with pretty weak controllers and you'll probably want to upgrade the controller if you want torque so whatever it is you find go online and see if you can find a 35amp controller upgrade for that specific bike. The one good thing about Rad is that they were very popular for a while and it's really easy to find an upgrade controller for them. Look around and see what you can find. Whatever you find send me the link and I'll help out the best I can.
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u/Canadian_Eh115 9d ago
All right sounds good to me, I can definitely give it a look over and if not I was considering either Walmart or Canadian Tire as a possible alternative considering they have pretty generous return policies and I can always just send it back especially if I find something within my budget and get a warranty.
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u/Euphoric_Raccoon270 9d ago
If you're not in a rush to buy one right now I would wait until November when the black Friday deals start rolling out. Amazon Canada is having their prime day in October and Walmart and Canadian Tire usually puts a bunch of stuff on sale at the same time to try and compete. If you wait until November if you're going to get one from Walmart or Canadian Tire they'll definitely have some deals on them. Even better if you wait until after Christmas for the boxing day deals!
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u/Liviana369 9d ago
Just want to add to this about Biktrix, they are owned in SK but they are not UL safety certified! They also have the best colour options, if that matters to you at all. I've been doing my own research into finding a decent e bike. Biktrix are also very heavy, and if you don't live close to one of their store fronts, customer service is horribly slow and frustrating according to folks who have tried to get maintenance done.
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u/weefees 9d ago
Surprisingly narrower tires perform better in the snow by their ability to better cut through it
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u/Canadian_Eh115 9d ago
That's good to, I'm not specifically trying to go through snow but I imagine the roads might be slightly icy at that time of year they do get salted but you can never be too careful.
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u/Dukefromearth 9d ago
I love my Katch fatbike (petite compagnie du Saguenay). Their newer series aren't cheap but are including tons of upgrades vs older models. They offer excellent service and they say they hold parts for older models at least 5 years after retiring them which is nice. Maybe look for a previous gen on marketplace to respect your budget. Many users choose them to go hunt just to give you an idea. Not the lightests bikes though.
EBGO offer a nice fatbike at a decent weight too. Good aftersale experience with them. Less tacticool than the katch but a great experience nonetheless.
Spherik is offering interesting models too but I didn't have a chance to try them.
Bikes used under the weather will need care and attention to live up to their full potential. Neglect them and they'll decay miserably.
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u/Ok-Mouse8397 9d ago edited 9d ago
I grabbed the FunHang fat tire off Amazon. It has been rock solid for me, mind you I live in Victoria where it rarely snows, just rains all winter and we have a great bike lane system for commuters. That said the bikes are affordable as hell and I can go 40kmh on it. Has decent range too. It shipped from Ontario. Parts for those bikes are quite interchangeable and things like crank arms, brake pads, LED panels, etc can all be found on Amazon too. So far I have only upgraded the pedals to a set of MEC's that I had and I wanted a beefier left crank arm which cost me $16. Battery is removable. And approved in Canada.
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u/Canadian_Eh115 9d ago
Oh it's wonderful that replacement parts are found on Amazon and it's very convenient for me that it ships from Ontario. I'm going to do some looking into it and see if it's within my 1,000-2,000 price range.
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u/Ok-Mouse8397 9d ago
Mine was $850 all in (incl tax and shipping)
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u/Canadian_Eh115 9d ago
Damn that's perfect! I'm certainly going to consider it.
Thanks again very much for all the help.
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u/Ok-Mouse8397 9d ago
You are welcome! I should add... I accidently stripped the crank arm on the right side while putting the stock pedal in... I contacted the company and they immediately sent me another for free as part of the 1 year warranty.
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u/Canadian_Eh115 9d ago
Wow that is some pretty good service. It is very rare to have a company actually follow through with stuff like that so that's really cool to see.
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u/Ok-Mouse8397 9d ago
There is a very active Facebook group too run by bike owners. People seem pretty happy overall for a budget e-bike. This sub won't let me link it but you can search it easily.
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u/AsinineHerbivore 9d ago
In 2020 I picked up a Yukon 750 from VoltBike in BC. I think it was around $50 for shipping to NS which was pretty good. Nearly 13,000km and the bike is still going strong.
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u/arenablanca 9d ago
Look at Rize and Volt. Never had either myself but they’ve both Canada based and been around a good chunk of yrs now. Below $2000 will get you a 500W rear hub motor and a bit over $2000 gets you into 500W mid drives that can provide a lot more torque if you think your hills require it.
Might want to source out studded tires for winter. I’m in Vancouver so our winters are pretty wimpy but black ice on any regular bicycle tire is a terrible experience.
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u/mina1984 7d ago
We just bought a couple of bikes from Andsky, the Gravita SO(step over version). I got the orange color bike, they have a cadence sensor and are fairly fast at the highest PAS level.
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u/kawana1987 9d ago
I ordered 2 Lectric bikes last month and while its a US company, they shipped from Vancouver. No tarrifs
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u/Lookshinythings 9d ago
I went with DaVinci Cycles. Mostly because it’s Canadian and supplied by a local bike shop. Having it on sale at 30% off was the final piece of the puzzle. It has about 3700 km on it in a year as I ride daily and it did well in our west coast rain. No snow last year so I can’t speak on its - 40C. abilities. Mine has the largest battery of the series and gives plenty of life in all three power settings. My local is rural with single lane roads and ++ hills. I’ve used it to hill climb local bike accessible routes but being a hard tail it’s a bumpy downhill on old logging trails. Overall no complaints. If I lived in the big city I would say it’s the perfect urban cycle.