Hey everyone! Today i am showing you my top five favorite low-cost electric bicycles.
These are not necessarily the cheapest e-bikes out, but they are the cheapest e-bikes that i’ve tested and that i would recommend to my own friends and family.
Rad Mission – $1099
The first low-cost electric bike that i’m going to recommend is the Rad Mission from Rad Power Bikes.
For some quick specs here the bike has:
- a 500 watt motor a 500 watt hour battery
- and gets a top speed of 20 miles per hour or 32 kilometers per hour.
- Range is somewhere around 20 miles on throttle and 40 miles on pedal assist.
The thing i love about the rad mission is that it distills an e-bike down into basically the only things you need.
Yet it still offers all the things that you love about rad power bikes.
So despite the low 1095 dollar price point you still get a huge company with good customer support you get quick shipping a huge suite of accessories a large owner’s community etc.
This is a single speed bike so no shifting gears here and it also is a non-suspension bike. So you don’t even get a suspension fork up front.
Basically this is a very much urban electric commuter bike that being said though i’ve still done some light trail riding on it and it works great.
You just don’t get a nice suspension fork to soak up the roots and the ruts.
For just 1100 bucks though i think this is a really great deal to get an awesome e-bike from a reputable company.
The only downsides to me are that you don’t have a digital display. So you don’t have any speed or distance readout and you don’t have any gears that being.
Said i find that i don’t really mind the lack of gears because i mostly ride in either flat Tel Aviv or flat Florida.
And even when i do hit hills the throttle helps me overcome the struggle of single speeds which is that they often aren’t geared very low
So all in all i really like this e-bike as a simple urban commuter you definitely will want to add the kickstand option though since it doesn’t come with one as standard equipment which is admittedly kind of annoying in my opinion.
2. Roadster v2 – $995
Next up we have the ride one up Roadster v2.
This is by far the cheapest good quality belt drive e-bike i have ever seen and the belt drive is really.
What sets this e-bike apart?
It’s still a cool e-bike outside of that it’s got this nice.
Minimalist hipster spec vibe to it but the belt drive is really the key here.
It’s quiet it’s grease free it’s a zero maintenance drive system.
It’s never gonna rust. It’s just a really nice component to have.
It does make the bike a single speed.
Though since the hub motor is in the back and there’s no internally geared hub.
So this is another bike that you’re not specs here.
Specs here:
- We’ve got a 500 watt peak motor,
- a 250 watt hour battery
- and a top speed of 24 miles per hour on pedal assist.
There’s no throttle on this one so i hope you don’t mind pedaling.
The motor is quite peppy though especially if you use one of the higher power pedal assist settings.
I also love that the battery is totally integrated into the frame the upside there is that it creates this stealthy e-bike that looks really great in my opinion.
The downside though is that the battery is kind of small at just 250 watt hours.
Still because it’s pedal assist you get decent range of around 20 to 35 miles.
The only other downside of the integrated battery is that you can’t take it out of the bike to charge the whole bike only weighs 32 pounds though which is pretty much nothing in the e-bike world so it’s easy
to pick up and carry inside with you to charge if you needed to.
This e-bike also saves money on a few components like having simpler caliper brakes and no integrated lighting or no kickstand.
The brakes are a hundred percent fine though.
So don’t feel like you need disc brakes these definitely work well.
I would have liked lights in a kickstand, but i can add those myself.
For just 995 bucks this is an awesome bike for the price.
3. Lectric XP – $899
Next we have a bike that some of you probably guessed was going to be on this list that is the Lectric XP from electric bikes.
The Lectric XP is a classic in the low-cost e-bike market in the US.
This e-bike has crazy good value it’s priced at only 899 bucks.
But it has a 500 watt motor big fat tires.
A top speed of 28 miles per hour and an integrated 480 watt hour battery.
Again not a huge battery but it works just fine and this is of course a budget e-bike.
The fat tires also help soak up the bumps and sort of make up for the lack of suspension.
One thing that amazes me about the electric xp is you actually get decent components thrown in at this price including a rear rack fenders and a kickstand.
Plus this e-bike is a folder so you can fold it up and throw it in the back of your car, to take to your favorite riding spot or more easily bring it on a bus or a subway.
It’s not a fancy e-bike but it offers a lot of bang for your buck.
4. Ecotrick – $885
Next on the list i have the Ecotrick 500 watt fat tire electric bike.
The ecotrick 500 watt fat tire e-bike is another one of those not fancy but still gives you basically everything you need in a simple e-bike kind of e-bike at just 885 dollars.
It gives you a basic fat tire bike frame
- With those four-inch wide tires you get a 500 watt rear motor and a 36 volt system with a 468 watt hour battery.
- In my testing i got it up to about 23 or 24 miles per hour and i also did a lot of dirt riding in
addition to just plain old street riding.
The fat tires really come alive in the dirt and even though it doesn’t have any suspension it still offers a decent ride.
Remember this is an 885 e-bike so you can’t ask too much of it.
But it definitely offers fine performance for the price.
The 500 watts isn’t crazy powerful and i did have to help it when climbing the biggest of hills.
But the throttle only performance was fine on small hills.
I’d have loved to see some simple led lights that run off the battery included.
But i can’t really fault this basic e-bike for not having some of those features at this price.
All in all it’s another really good bang for your buck option.
5. Rad Runner $1199
Last but not least i have the Rad Runner from Rad Power Bikes
Yes radpower bikes got two e-bikes on this list but what can i do they make two awesome e-bikes that are both really affordable.
The 1199 Rad Runner is the only utility e-bike on this list.
And what i really like about it is that its moped style frame setup.
Makes it great for both a pleasure rider or for utility tasks.
I can fit a few kids on back which my nephews happily helped me demonstrate.
And i can also take the bike off-road thanks to those wide tires which aren’t quite fat tires but they’re not too narrow either.
The step through frame is also really accessible making it good for short or long legged riders.
The 750 watt motor and the 48 volt 14 amp hour battery give it both good power and good range.
The only downside is that it’s a single speed so again you’re not gonna be able to shift gears.
Just like on the rad mission or the ride one up roadster v2 we already talked about.
But come on you still get this awesome 20 mile per hour utility e-bike.
That is definitely worth the price.
All right so that’s it those are my top five low-cost electric bikes each one of them i have ridden extensively and each one i love riding.
I think they’re all just an incredibly great example of a bang for your buck e-bike because they give you so much potential so many different types of riding and they really don’t cost that much compared to the industry.
Watching everybody i’ll see you next time.