[cowmoo728]

I would only buy an e-bike with a premium brand name motor and battery. Bosch, Panasonic, Yamaha, Shimano, Giant. The next thing I would look for is 2 or 4 piston hydraulic disc brakes from SRAM, Shimano, Hope, Magura, Tektro.

As long as the bike has those three things sorted it's probably safe. Note that these things don't come cheap, so any e-bike with these parts is likely to start at $3000.

For specific bikes I like Priority Current. They're a little vague on the exact parts used because they may swap them out based on availability, but they usually pick real parts instead of cheap replacements.

[dreamcompiler]

I have bikes with mechanical disk brakes and one with Magura hydraulics. I actually like the mechanicals a bit better. Although the Magura brakes have slightly more stopping power, they're also more finicky and require a trip to the bike shop if they leak or develop an air bubble. The mechanicals I can adjust myself.

For me the real key is disc brakes (whether mechanical or hydraulic). Rim brakes don't have enough stopping power for an e-bike.

[rahimnathwani]

Where do you park a $3k+ ebike in a city? Most places I've lived, a $3k bike parked on the street wouldn't last more than a couple of hours.

[fhub]

I have a $3k+ eBike and lock it in San Francisco. Not all places but many. I lock it with three locks. Main lock is a D/U lock Abus. Second lock is a "LITELOCK" for front wheel. Third one is the builtin cafe Lock. It is actually pretty quick to put them all on/off. Or at least I don't find it a burden compared to parking a car. All hex things have these security by obscurity hex locks in them. I also have a child seat on the back. Perhaps I've been lucky or perhaps the optics of three locks, and a child seat and often a helmet for a 4 year old dangling down turn off thieves.

[midoridensha]

Here in Tokyo, people park these bikes all the time and it's not a problem.

[rahimnathwani]

Yeah I'm at Tokyo Disneyland right now, and I've seen unattended handbags left on tables in the outdoor restaurant seating area. I can't imagine people doing that at a large attraction in any big city where I've lived (London, Beijing, Shanghai), or where I live now (San Francisco).

Japan is like a different world. At least to me as a tourist, it feels so organized, safe, culturally rich and stress-free.

I wonder what Japanese people think and feel when they visit San Francisco.

[seanmcdirmid]

> I wonder what Japanese people think and feel when they visit San Francisco.

Well, what they think of Paris is well documented:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_syndrome

> Paris syndrome (French: syndrome de Paris; Japanese: パリ症候群, romanized: Pari shōkōgun) is a sense of extreme disappointment exhibited by some individuals when visiting Paris, who feel that the city was not what they had expected. The condition is commonly viewed as a severe form of culture shock.

> The syndrome is characterized by a number of psychiatric symptoms such as acute delusional states, hallucinations, feelings of persecution (perceptions of being a victim of prejudice, aggression, hostility from others),[1] derealization, depersonalization, anxiety, as well as psychosomatic manifestations such as dizziness, tachycardia, sweating most notably, but also others, such as vomiting.[2]

> While the syndrome has been particularly noted among Japanese tourists, it has also affected other travelers or temporary residents from East and Southeast Asia, such as those from China, South Korea, and Singapore.

I’m sure SF is all that and worse, although expectations might not be as high.

[sixbrx]

Similar thing noticed when visiting Korea as US natives. My wife was in a group that all headed off to the restroom at a restaurant just after getting a table, with a couple of in-laws who live there leaving their purses on the table. My wife exclaimed that they were forgetting their purses, to which they replied that it was on purpose and how else would they make sure somebody doesn't get their table!?

[cowmoo728]

inside my office bike storage room, and inside my apartment building basement. the even more expensive carbon road bike goes inside my apartment. the city bike can be locked up for short grocery runs and things like that, but it doesn't stay locked outside for very long.

[chupy]

Even though bosch engines are amazing their support service is execrable. I had an issue where there was a weird noise after 25km/h and even if there was an warranty they are taking months to fix it. First they said it's normal then send a recording of the sound etc.. Bought a 5k bike with a good engine to not have these kind of issues or if you have them then the repair should be in point.

[chrismartin]

You don't think my Radrunner with mechanical brakes is safe?

[s0rce]

Its safe unless you are riding on very steep long hills. People rode heavy bikes touring before disc brakes existed and didn't die.

[chrismartin]

Subjectively, it feels as adequately braked as any of my acoustic bikes (including a mountain bike with dual 4-piston hydraulic brakes).

[mping]

Can we start calling them analog bikes instead? As a guitar player, acoustic sounds very weird.

[teknico]

“Acoustic” is just silly, “analog” isn’t much better. I’d call them “mechanical”.

[cowmoo728]

I don't like riding heavy bikes with mechanical brakes because they never stop as reliably as good hydraulics. The ultimate limit is always the tire grip on the road, but it's easier to control properly set up hydraulic disc brakes to hit grip limits and get shorter stopping distances. Particularly down a steep hill.

[zik]

You can get up-rated caliper brakes with very good stopping power, and in fact that's what comes on my Gazelle ebike as standard.