Essentially, title. Is it ok to ask for recommendations here? Looking to buy a scooter, possibly an ebike, and I don’t want to accidentally buy a piece of crap.

Previously, I owned a vsett8, which became inoperable and unfixable the first time it was rained on (I don’t have it anymore). Before that, a turbowheel lightning, which I loved until it was stolen.

Now though, I’m on a tight budget and everything is more expensive than ever.

Are there reputable ‘buyers guides’ that this community can recommend? Or maybe you’ve had good experience with a model/brand/seller?

EDIT: ok, i’ve got a list to check out. Thank you everyone. Y’all probably won’t hear from me again until I’ve done the research and made a decision. I’ll probably make a new post later on detailing what I’ve found and how I made my decision. Might be a while tho.

  • @Wahots@pawb.socialEnglish
    6•7 days ago

    Whatever you get, do lots of research on repairability. How easy is it to get replacement batteries? Are they using a proprietary charger with 5 pins, or an open source standard like XLR? Do they reuse battery standards like Juiced, or do they build proprietary batteries for each bike and generation?

    Can it be serviced at bike shops (Aventon, Juiced, Grintech) or does it have things like proprietary bike spokes that take weeks to ship (ride1up)? How long do they plan on producing parts, like motors, sensors, etc. (if they are julet connectors, there might be aftermarket solutions)

    These are the sorts of questions you may want to ask sellers when doing test drives at local ebikes shops, or online bike sellers.

    As for recommendations, I really like the NYT’s recommendation on the Haul ST:

    https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-ebike-for-commuters/

    If you can find a Juiced Ebike, I can also recommend them. They were recently bought out by Lectric. I have nearly 2,000 miles on my RipRacer and love it.

    • @glitchdx@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      3•7 days ago

      yes, repairability is very important. I liked the Turbowheel Lightning because any part that wasn’t generic could be bought from the vender, allowing me to fix the many stupid things I did to it.

      And thanks for the suggestion, imma add it to my list to check out.