So What's The Best Electric Bike?

The best electric bike has been hailed as "The Future of Transportation" from the California Academy of Sciences, while the NY Times said it's "The Ferrari of Electric Bikes". Quite a machine you must be thinking, well you're dead right.

Why would the California Academy of Sciences make such a bold statement? These two interesting facts give only a basic reason why electric bike sales continue to rise in the US and around the world:

• Forty percent of journey's are within two miles of the home.
• Fifty percent of workers travel under six miles to work.

Electric bicycles fit an ever growing demand for cheaper, healthier, and more environmentally friendly transport. Why not a regular bike then? Well some find it too slow, and when you arrive to your destination your covered in sweat. An electric bicycle can often get you many places fastet than a car, and without the sweat.

The list of benefits are substantial, find 'The Kingdoms' basic list here.

Best Electric Bike List

Optibike (pic above)

Want GPS navigation? Ultralight carbon fiber components? And a range of 45 to 57 miles on a charge? Look no further than the best electric bike on the market today, the Optibike OB1.

Yes this is the Ferrari of electric bikes, and if you want the best electric bike, the OB1 is the very one for you.

But you'll have to be quick to get your hands on one of these special edition electric bicycles. The bike designed by Jim Turner is for a very elite group with only 24 on sale each year.

This womans Optibike is a cheaper version of the OB1 but is still a quality electric bike.

Each bicycle is hand numbered and the lettering and logo designed in real 23ct gold surrounded by a custom hand pinstriped design unique to each e-bike.

Are you thinking wow yet? Or are you more on the lines of how much must that cost! Well I was excited when I first heard of this bike, but when I noticed the price tag my jaw nearly hit the ground.

Okay, prepare yourself for this one... the price of the Optibike OB1 is at a starting price of $13,995.00!

Yea you read that right, it's just a little short of 14 thousand. So did you give that one a woooow! Or was a bit more rude than that? Okay, the price is a little exensive to say the least, but hey, these electric bicycles sell out year on year, so there is a market for them, albeit a very small one.

Schwinn Tailwind

Another top electric bicycle comes in the shape of the Schwinn Tailwind. Getting straight to the point, there is one vital reason why the Tailwind has held off some top competition to find its place here.

It's all down to Schwinn agreeing a deal with Toshiba to use their new SCiB battery on the Tailwind. For those who don't know, Toshiba have quite recently invested $224 Million in their battery development, resulting in the new SCiB battery.

Find more on the Toshiba battery here.

So what makes it so good, and good enough to make the Tailwind feature on this list?

Well it's all down to the recharge time. This battery will be ready to go in an amazing 30 minutes! You really realise how good this is when you compare it to other decent selling electric bicycles, in which some cases take up to 10 times as long to charge.

The price is still steep for most people at $3200, but compared to the Optibike OB1 it's pocket money.

Find more on the Schwinn Tailwind here.

Bionx

We know that not everyone wants to give up their bike in order to buy a completely new electric bicycle, and that's why we've added a hub motor kit to this list.

The Bionx kit is certainly one of the best, if not the best, motor kit available for you to convert to an electric bicycle. However, what makes the Bionx motor kit stand out from the other great kits (such as the Nano kit and the Heinzmann kit)?

It's the regenerative system. The system allows the battery to be recharged during braking or when going downhill which is just fantastic. Just saying your electric bicycle has a regenerative system sounds great, but it also works well and the system is nice and quiet.

The battery can achieve around 70km to 100 km depending on the model you buy, while taking around 3 - 4 hours for a full charge which is still not bad. After all you have the regenerative system which means the battery will constantly be getting a charge when you brake or go down hills.

To find prices an more, find the Bionx kit here.

Best Electric Bike Conclusion

Completely unchallenged for its title, the Optibike OB1 is the best electric bike on sale today. But if you're just a few pennies short of being able to afford the OB1, there is still a number of electric bicycles at different price ranges for you to choose from.

The Schwinn Tailwind or the Bionx kit could be a great option, but the best is always expensive.

Fortunately as demand for electric bicycles increases in the US, Canada, UK, and Australia, more and more choices are becoming available, while the technology and quality also improves year on year. This is all great news for current electric bicycle owners and for those considering purchasing.

The downside to this however is the number of poor electric bikes being sold now along with good electric bicycles. However, the answer to this is simple, make sure you do your research before buying an electric bike. If everyone who buys does, electric bicycles will continue to become more and more popular everywhere you go.

Enjoy this and want to find more?

Find the best folding electric bicycle here.

Already own a bike and want to convert to electric? Find the best electric bike conversion kits here.

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