About me / my e-bike usage:
- Previous owner of a (cheap, ~$300) class 1 e-bike, and decided to upgrade
- Primary usage is an 8-mile (each way) city commute
- I tend to leave the bike in highest gear, don't like pedal assist, and just pedal and throttle (one, the other, or both together)
- Writing this review after ~110 miles on the bike
Pros:
- Easy to assemble (following online video; doesn't really come with instructions?)
- Comes with things all e-bikes should come with:
- bright (enough) headlight
- taillight (with turn signals)
- fenders
- rear rack
- Communication with company was great (there was a tear in my seat from transport and they sent a new one (although not an identical one); had to find out how to turn off pedal assist)
- The battery lasts my whole commute even when I throttle at top speed the whole way (at least for now; TBD if the cold of winter drains the batter faster, or how it degrades over time)
- 28mph is *fast* -- but the bike feels sturdy and I feel safe
So-sos / expected but sharing for full disclosure:
- The motor is definitely more powerful when the battery is fully charged; on my commute home it struggles to maintain a speed over ~22mph on throttle only (this was also true of my previous ebike, at a lower speed)
- To get up to 28mph it takes pedal power in addition to motor, but the motor can maintain that speed when fully charged
- You will definitely need to help the motor to go uphill if you want to go at speed. I like this as it ensures I am getting at least *some* exercise. And if you are okay going uphill at "only" 12-15mph I believe the motor could do that on its own.
Cons (all pretty minor, at least for me):
- There is no software setting to turn off pedal assist (PAS) -- but you can disconnect the appropriate wire from under where the battery goes easily enough to enable throttle-only mode. There is no way of toggling between PAS and throttle though -- throttle will only work if PAS mode is on. So if you want that feature, look elsewhere
- The shifter is out of alignment and I can only get to the 6th-fastest gear. Presumably I can fix this myself, but I haven't tried yet.
- The brakes are making some minor noise I didn't notice at the beginning...but quite minor (at least for now)
- The whine of the motor is more noticeable than my last ebike -- but still not particularly loud
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