The Journal · Latest guide
Rain, cold and road salt: riding an electric bike through winter
An electric bike will get through winter perfectly well. What kills them is not the weather itself but three specific things people do without thinking: charging a freezing battery, hosing the bike down afterwards, and leaving road salt on it overnight. Here is what actually matters,...
Read the guide →ROOTS RIDER Journal
Straight answers on range, the law, batteries and getting a new bike road-ready. Written by the person who answers the phone, not by a marketing team, and updated whenever we learn something worth passing on.
Locking up an electric bike: what actually works, and what only looks secure
A modern electric bike is worth more than the first car a lot of people owned, weighs about as much as a large dog, and is parked outdoors. Thieves have noticed. The good news is that bike theft is an unusually predictable crime: it is done quickly, with a small number of tools, by...
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Carrying a passenger, a child or the shopping on an electric bike
An electric bike that can carry a second person is one of the few genuinely useful things a bicycle has learned to do in the last twenty years. It is also the fastest way to get yourself into trouble, because a passenger changes the weight, the balance and the braking distance all at once,...
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Your new e-bike: assembly, the first ride, and the first month
Your bike arrives around 85% assembled in a crate. Most people are riding within the hour. The half hour of checks below is what separates a bike that stays tight and quiet from one that develops a rattle in week three. Most owners are riding — sometimes two-up — within the hour. Before you...
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Looking after an e-bike battery: charging, storage and winter
The battery is the single most expensive component on an electric bike, and almost everything that shortens its life is avoidable. None of it is complicated. Most of it is the opposite of what feels natural. A removable pack, out of the frame tank — the same battery that decides most of what follows....
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Folding, step-through or cafe racer? Choosing your first electric bike
Most e-bike buying guides start with motors and batteries. That is the wrong end. Two riders with identical commutes can need completely different bikes, and the specification sheet will not tell you which is which. Three questions decide it. Answer them honestly and the choice usually makes itself. The right bike depends on your...
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Electric bike classes explained: Class 1, 2 and 3 in the United States
Most American states now use a three-class system for electric bikes. It decides where you can legally ride, whether a helmet is required and sometimes how old you have to be. It takes five minutes to understand and it can save you a fine. This is a general guide, not legal advice. Rules vary...
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How far will an electric bike really go? Reading range claims honestly
Every electric bike is sold on a range number, and every range number is measured under conditions you will almost never ride in. This is not a scandal, it is just how the industry tests. But it means a bike advertised at 100 miles might give you 45, and nobody warned you. Here is...
Read the guide →Why this Journal exists
We would rather you knew before you bought.
Most electric bike shops publish nothing, or publish specification sheets dressed up as advice. These guides are the answers we give on the phone, written down: what a range figure actually means, which class you are legally allowed to ride, how to keep a battery alive, and what to check before the first ride.
- Range, honestlyWatt-hours, what drains them, and a realistic figure for all eight models.
- The lawClass 1, 2 and 3, where each is allowed, and which of our bikes exceed the ceiling.
- BuyingWhere it will live, what it must carry, and how you want to feel riding it.
- BatteriesCharging habits, winter storage, and the three mistakes that kill packs early.
- Getting startedAssembly order, the ABC check, and the 30-mile retighten people skip.
- A real humanAnything not covered here, answered by email or phone, before or after you buy.
Ready when you are
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Folding commuters, step-through utility bikes, and cafe-racer and chopper builds. Free US shipping, two-year manufacturer warranty, and free returns on faults and transit damage.