I'm a beginner. I purchased a City Slicker for commuting to the train station a few months ago and it's been a blast. I also just passed the MSF beginner course and plan to purchase a more powerful bike (capable of going highway speeds) in a few months. As a personal thing, I'm looking at electric bikes only.
After a bunch of googling, I landed on pretty much Zero SR or Energica Ego/Ribelle. However, I feel the Energica offers a lot more as a bike without being that much more expensive....so I'd rather skip straight to an Energica bike. The power of these bikes don't scare me because I'm aware of my limits and plan to take things very slowly. However, I've read that the Energica bikes are in general very heavy and I'm afraid it will make handling/turning tricky.
Given how novice I am, how stupid would I be to purchase an energica bike as my first serious bike? Is the handling/turning as difficult as my mind is making it out to be? If you believe Energica as a first serious bike is immensely bad, I would be super grateful for advice on other electric bikes and why
Personally i bought an SR (2015) before taking my license. It worked fairly well, but i have had one accident due to wheel spin. Learning to resist the urge to go faster all the time is important. My wheel spin accident had nothing to do with that, and was all about stress, and could have been prevented with traction control- (i will not going further into it here).
The thing that was great with an SR was that you could dial down the power when practicing. While learning that was important. Going without gears and clutch leaves you much more time thinking. Right now i'm struggling with quality issues with my SR, and thus i'm looking forward to the day i will be able to trade up for something more reliable.
Whether you drop your first bike or not, you will learn that the bike cost more than you did expect at first. Buying an expensive bike will cost more- even if it is more reliable. The most dangerous part when riding is probably between 1 and 2 years after you get your first big bike (i believe i have read some statistics on that but i can at least attest that for my own sake), because your speed will increase along with your confidence. Finding the right spot to calm down will be important.
I would recommend testing the bike before buying, if that is possible. Going on a sportbike such as the ego if that does not suit you will be a huge mistake. What bike is right depend on your size and weight. Finding that the bike is set up wrong (to high/ low seat, peg position etc) and regretting is more costly on a heavy bike- especially if you have dropped it. However if the bike is right, and the attitude is right, i am sure it is possible to make it right. Personally id advice to get either a lighter bike than the SR (or even the new S) or get traction control. Even the Zero S has enough torque to get you in serious trouble.
On my part, i'm dreaming of an esse 9, but i have to purchase a bigger house first (family man), then start saving (sigh), but the new bikes get better every year, so i can't wait until i am ready. For my part i have realized much more about what i want from a bike after going with Zero for four years. It is mostly a better seat, faster charging and traction control, other than that i am quite happy as it is. The point is more likely that your first bike will likely not be the last you will buy. And it will likely not be the most expensive either. Good Luck!