The Ultimate Guide for Choosing the Right eBike for Your Travel Setup

Don't make the same mistakes I did.

This is the paid follow-up to Should You Add an eBike to Your Travel Setup? If you don’t have a paid subscription, don’t worry. That post was free, and the next one will be too! This post is for the people who help me pay for grad school and adventures with paid subscriptions—and those who have appeared in my blog posts and videos over the years. Thank you!

---

Last week I shared that despite how much I love my eBike, it wasn’t ideal for life on the road. I initially bought it to sit on my property in New Mexico and never imagined I would be lugging it around for two years after giving up my lot.

Nevertheless, my eBike was an amazing addition to my setup, especially when I parked the RV for long periods. It helped me explore places I would have never ventured to alone on foot. Riding through sand in the California desert was also a spectacular experience.

So, what about you? Do you need a chunky motorcycle-esque eBike or would something else better suit your needs? Let’s work through the options together.

Disclaimer: I provide links throughout this guide to credit options and bikes. These are not affiliate links and I will not earn anything from you clicking on them. I have no relationship with any of the companies. I have only recommended credit options I have experience with. I have also only recommended eBikes or other micro-travel devices that I have either owned, previously shortlisted during my eBike search, or have heard great things about from friends.

Now, let’s get started!

1. Set a reasonable budget.

How much money can you afford to spend on a bike? You can buy a regular bike for a few hundred dollars, and even cheaper if you’re willing to buy one second hand. However, good eBikes are rarely less than $1,000. For reference, I paid roughly $2,800 for mine. Some cost even more.

If you’re willing to expand your budget with credit, there are a few options to consider. I don’t recommend going into debt to get an eBike unless you know it’s something you will use often. I also don’t recommend ever taking an option that will cost you interest.

So, here are my recommendations for people who need credit:

• Klarna: Companies know their eBikes are expensive, so several of them now offer monthly payments. You can usually avoid paying interest if you split the payment into four and pay it off on time. Longer than that, interest may find you.

• PayPal: More companies are now accepting PayPal as a form of payment. PayPal offers 2 options you can consider. Like Klarna, it has an interest-free option if you pay in four installments. It also has PayPal Credit, which provides 6 months interest-free on all payments over $149.