Pretty set on getting an electric bike to reduce my environmental impact and pay fewer tolls for my 17km commute from Carina to Eagle Farm. Was looking at just getting a Leitner bike as they're very cheap. I rode one today for a test drive and it felt fine, but I'm used to riding hybrids rather than cruisers/town bikes. I've also become accustomed to hydraulic disk brakes, which the Leitner does not have. I did some extra research and found that hub drive E Bikes have much lower torque for hill climbing compared to mid drive bikes.
Dare say I'll get into more casual riding as well as commuting with this bike. Quite possibly even just leaving the car for doing shopping. Definitely aiming on this being a 5-10 year investment, so not afraid to spend a bit more - but not sure how much more I should be spending.
Current contenders are:
* Leitner Cruiser - Cheap and simple, but should do the job. Just not sure for how long.
* Kalkhoff Endeavour 1.B - More than 2x the cost, but very highly praised components, and German design/engineering.
What's everyone's thoughts, especially for the specific commute of getting over the Gateway bridges? Secondarily, any recommendations for insurance that covers E Bikes?
As another alternative, you can get an electric scooter with 30 km range.
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/552432
This $460 deal has just expired but IMHO it's still an option to consider. I have had some rides on the Xiaomi scooter and I believe it will get over the bridge fine. But of course there's plenty of other models out there.
Also would you still take the car on rainy days?
And do you know that TransLink has the 590 bus which crosses the bridge and goes from Carina to Eagle Farm? The bus takes under 20 minutes to go from Carina Bus Depot on Creek Road to Kingsford Smith Drive. But the go card fare would be $4.11 so an e bike is much cheaper I believe, and more convenient and probably faster from door to door.
Here is a screenshot of the journey planner. https://files.ozbargain.com.au/upload/21347/81341/img_202007…
Or try this Google Maps Route