Hello!

I've been biking on and off for a long time; although I don't bike as often as I used to. My first "real" bike was a 1977 Motobecane Grand Touring that I bought in the early 1990s for 20 bucks, and I still ride it (with a few updates: 8x2 gearing, a newer Brooks saddle, and brifters). I ride mostly short rides for fun; I don't think I could do a 20 mile day without a few breaks anymore (I'm 52 and not in the shape I was as a teenager).

In the next month or so, I'll be moving and switching careers. The new job is about 2 miles from the house, and there will be lots of opportunity to reduce car use and bicycle. I'd like to buy an e-bike to have reliable powered transportation for commuting, plus small side trips to stop at a grocery store or hardware store; probably a maximum round trip of 10 miles.

Sure, I could do this on the Motobecane, but I'm getting older and I tend to get sore and tired and I don't want to rely on my leg power for every trip of every day. If I'm really in sad shape, I have a car, but I really, really don't want to fight traffic for 2 miles every day when I can ride. Maybe I'll get in better shape and use the Motobecane again, but I'm looking for bike advice, not miracles.

I don't really have a budget in mind; I could probably get ridiculous and spend a lot but I don't need to. Also, if I can stay closer to $1000, I could get an e-bike for my wife; who is part 2 of this question. She will also be commuting 2-3 miles (assuming she gets a job in the metro area and not something needing a car; she hates driving so I think it's a safe guess).

I'm 6'2" and she's 4'10", so sharing is a bike is unlikely (unbikely?). She's 38, so more energetic; but she's also less interested in using a bike for sport so she rarely rides right now (I think her desire to avoid a car would make her choose the e-bike, but for fitness she jogs instead). I could see us riding together to a restaurant or light shopping, but not for fun.

In both cases, I could see a basket carrying 20 pounds of groceries as an infrequent load; we'd use the car to carry more. I've got a backpack to carry my laptop and papers; there's a locker at work for clothing so I'd carry a small load of laundry there or back once a week or so. I imagine her loadout would be similar.

I'm leaning toward class 2; most of the local streets are 25mph speed limit and usually stop-and-go so I don't see traveling even at 20mph, even if I can find an open stretch. And the difference between 20 and 28 mph is a couple minutes tops on a short run with even minimal traffic interruption.

I've read a dozen different guides and gotten 2 dozen "professional" opinions. One local bike shop doesn't carry e-bikes, but suggests Aventon (which are at the upper end of the budget). The other bike shop suggests a Cannondale that I can afford, but don't want to; and a Trek that I can't afford (and still don't want to). My aunt loves her older Schwinn. My dad (77 and bicycles more daily than I do in a month...!) says to just suck it up and pedal, preferably on a bike built this century.

What do real people say for myself, and for my wife?