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Comment by SigmundA | Hacker News Reader

I get wanting light weight, my current aluminum ebike is 80 lbs, but my current ebike is a Juiced Ripcurrent S fat tire with 1kWh battery and I completely out speed and out range my friend who has a Turbo Vado SL while being much more comfortable and spending 1k less. The main downside with the weight is getting up on a bike rack to drive it somewhere, but they have rack with ramps now designed for heavy ebikes.

I know for sure my next bike will have full suspension, coming from mountain bikes then going back to just a hard tail was rough, even when just riding on pavement. Added a really good suspension seat post but still not like a full suspension.

I am looking closely at Watt Wagons new Hydra carbon full suspension at 58lbs. They are doing some good stuff with the Bafang mid drive and upgraded controller.

https://www.juicedbikes.com/products/ripcurrent-s

https://wattwagons.com/collections/hydra

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I saw someone riding a cargo ebike with a kid on it and went home excited to get one. Then I discovered it weighs over 70 pounds, which I can’t imagine working since to get it to my basement storage area requires carrying up several steps then down several more through the cramped bulkhead door. Maybe some people are strong enough for that not to be a significant annoyance, but I’m not one of them.

> I saw someone riding a cargo ebike with a kid on it and went home excited to get one. Then I discovered it weighs over 70 pounds

I mean… I wouldn't expect even a normal cargo to be lightweight, an ebike would only add to that.

70lbs is on the low side for cargo bikes, to say nothing of cargo ebikes.

If you live somewhere that needs steps to get to definitely an issue. Bikes with throttles can be used to assist in moving, some have a "walk mode" where you hit a button and its like a 5 mph throttle, mine has both, you could use up steps if it made sense.

I just have it in a garage and take off and ride whenever no steps, so day to day it's effortless. If I want to take it long distance I put it on my bike rack which is a real pain due to having to lift up on, looking at tray racks with ramps going forward.

Is it really that bad on pavement as I am thinking about getting the ripcurrent s for commuting next year once wfh ends? That hydra does look pretty sweet though but I'm not sure if it is worth an extra 2k.

Its ok much better with a Kinekt 2.1 seat post, but after you get used to how plush a full suspension bike is its hard to go back.

Its not just ride comfort but control too, the rear suspension helps keep the rear tire in contact with the road instead of bouncing around with the whole bike. Also why a mid drive is somewhat better with full suspension due to less unsprung weight.

The Juiced RCS is a lot of bang for the buck, the battery is huge and mine will top out at 32mph on flat ground and go 40+ miles on charge without holding back. I have 1300 miles on mine with no issues.

Also look at Biktrix.

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