Gears being noisy just sounds like a maintenance issue tbh, if you buy a new bike over that you'll be unhappy with it in 2 years again, when stuff is gonna need servicing. Depends on what "just kind of old" entails otherwise. An old diamonback sorrento (rigid fork or suspension fork?) is a pretty good bike tbh. Could even convert it to e-bike with a pendix drive or a swytch kit.
As for electric? Apparently Rad makes some pretty affordable ones. I dislike the fact that you they're non-interchangeable unisize but depending on your jurisdiction (or willingness to ignore the law) they apparently have the power to make up for what's pretty sure going to be a fucked seat height. Otherwise I'd check what kind of motor is common and serviceable near you as your main concern, that stuff gets tricky to service yourself.
the bike i have right now is a diamondback sorrento but its just kind of old and the gears are noisy as hell.
what kind of electric bike would you recommend for casual use? (grocery shopping, at most 20-60minutes at a time)
Gears being noisy just sounds like a maintenance issue tbh, if you buy a new bike over that you'll be unhappy with it in 2 years again, when stuff is gonna need servicing. Depends on what "just kind of old" entails otherwise. An old diamonback sorrento (rigid fork or suspension fork?) is a pretty good bike tbh. Could even convert it to e-bike with a pendix drive or a swytch kit.
As for electric? Apparently Rad makes some pretty affordable ones. I dislike the fact that you they're non-interchangeable unisize but depending on your jurisdiction (or willingness to ignore the law) they apparently have the power to make up for what's pretty sure going to be a fucked seat height. Otherwise I'd check what kind of motor is common and serviceable near you as your main concern, that stuff gets tricky to service yourself.