For me, it depends on the circumstances. Most of the time, I'm commuting between home and work, and I have secure indoor locations I can park it at either end.
When running errands, I try to find a spot with lots of foot traffic around it to make a bike thief conspicuous. Ideally, if it's a restaurant, I try to find a place to sit where the bike is within sight. It's annoying when they put the bike rack back behind the store someplace.
My lock is sort of medium strength I guess? I don't know if anything would stop a determined thief? If I'm extra concerned, I remove the battery and take it in with me.
Yeah, I’ve got a mid-range Abus U/D lock, and a Kryptonite New York Noose chain. Probably should stop worrying so much about it, but it’s hard to accept maybe losing that much money!
It’s mainly errands that I’m concerned about — same as you, I’ve got secure indoor storage at home and work. But I find myself reluctant to take it on errands versus Uber or transit, because of that risk of losing it.
One thing. The police where I live put out a PSA where they recommended registering your bike with 529 Garage. You can do it through an app. Also, it's good to be registered with the manufacturer where ebikes are concerned. For example, they may be the only supplier of the battery you use (if, for example, it is a custom design for the particular model) and if you report your bike stolen, they can keep an eye out for anyone trying to order a replacement battery with your serial number.
I just latch it with a bike lock. Loop it between the wheel spokes, the frame, and something sturdy nearby. Figure if they want it bad enough to take it half apart in the process, clearly nothing I can do is gonna stop 'em. I've seen some people loop it through both wheels and the frame.
Riese and Müller Xdelite (mountainbike fully that makes 45km/h and has a belt drive + gearless transmission).
Go 28km to work on it one way, takes a bit less than an hour and thereby kills public transport and car both.
It's from 2018 and pretty loud by now but I like it.
I just got my priority current, an upgrade from my 4 year old radrunner. I gotta say, having a belt drive and midrive motor makes this thing sooooo much quieter and is also a lot more powerful. And it’s just so much fun to ride.
Only 5 miles on it so far, hopefully just the start of a couple thousand
I have a VanMoof S5. I wanted an ebike to do some riding around town to avoid taking the car everywhere. And it succeeded. I take my bike for all rides that can be done in 40 minutes or less (one way). So that shaves quite a bit off my car usage.
Would I buy it again? If Veloretti didn't bring out their ace two, I would've said 'yes'. Now, I would at least test ride the Veloretti. The customer service of VanMoof is shit. I've send them two messages about different subjects. The oldest one is 1,5 month old and they never replied (outside their automatic replies). They said they would reply within 5 business days, and they can even make money if they reply. I knew this upfront, so it was a calculated 'risk'.
I have a Riese&Müller Vario Swing. I wanted something to transport bigger loads, but also still a bike. So I got a Citybike with a trailer.
The thing is a year old now, and I've used it much more than just for shopping. In the height of summer, I also use it for commuting (without trailer), because I wouldn't make it home otherwise in the afternoon heat. And whenever I go somewhere I have to be presentable, it's still better than public transport.
It doesn't need much maintenance apart from what every bike needs, the belt is even easier than a chain, and the battery gets me quite far.
I also have "normal" trekking bike. And I think if I buy another ebike, it would not be a citybike again. The low access is nice, but the seating position is not for longer trips.
My daily ride is an Urban Arrow cargobike XL. It's overkill for most people, unless you have a) a large family, or b) a small business, or c) are just mad. Riese & Müller make a great range of ebikes at the premium end of the market. Brompton electric if you're short on space, or Tern are other good choices. I really like the Bosch motor in combination with a Gates belt and Rohloff hub gear for heavy duty work and fuss-free maintenance (based on over 11,000 miles experience).
[I would post a pic if I could work out how to do it!]
I pretty much only have conversion builds so all I can recommend is ebikes.ca for parts haha, they make a nice field oriented controller (baserunner) with thermal rollback and field weakening for higher top speeds that's super compact and fits in the empty space of hailong-style downtube batteries so it's nice for sleek builds as it's 100% invisible & hidden under the downtube battery, though I have mine hooked up to a cycle analyst display which adds more flexibility for throttle settings.
My dream build will be to get a custom titanium frame from waltly with ebikes.ca's G310 geared & clutched rear hub motor and a bottom bracket torque sensor, but that project has been on hold. Plus I also have an old FlyKly all-in-one rear hub from kickstarter on my road bike so I don't really need another ebike.
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