What have you learned from your e-bike experiences?

In recent weeks with consistent +90°f temperatures and + 68° dew points along with poor air quality due to Canadian wild fires I've learned that increasing PAS to keep you moving at 18 - 20mph instead of the typical 13 - 16mph...especially on long hill climbs results in much more significant air cooling while still being able to get some exercise in safely.
Conclusion... I thank god that I'm not in the EU with an over_restricted children's toy of an ebike 🙃
 
Tom@WashDC said:
What I learned:
  • Purchase the highest quality bike you can afford from a storied, reputable manufacturer. You deserve the best.
  • Stay away from integrated proprietary electronics and software systems.
  • Purchase a bike that can be serviced locally, or DIY, with a robust decentralised parts inventory stream.
  • You deserve a rear suspension (front too). Not a suspension seat post. There is no comparison.
  • Wear elbow pads and knee pads along with your helmet. There's a reason that NHTSA keeps stats on bike fatalities.
  • Use high intensity flashing lights on the front and rear.
  • Go Tubeless.
  • Don't drink more than two beers before you ride.
Click to expand...
You forgot... and what ever you ride, get yourself a ROHLOFF!!! 🙃
 
Tom@WashDC said:
What I learned:
  • Purchase the highest quality bike you can afford from a storied, reputable manufacturer. You deserve the best.
  • Stay away from integrated proprietary electronics and software systems.
  • Purchase a bike that can be serviced locally, or DIY, with a robust decentralised parts inventory stream.
  • You deserve a rear suspension (front too). Not a suspension seat post. There is no comparison.
  • Wear elbow pads and knee pads along with your helmet. There's a reason that NHTSA keeps stats on bike fatalities.
  • Use high intensity flashing lights on the front and rear.
  • Go Tubeless.
  • Don't drink more than two beers before you ride.
Click to expand...
I would agree with this to a point...but, if someone is totally new to ebikes they really don't know what they will want until they start riding. You spend lots of $$$ on the unknown and find out a year later its not really what you wanted, its a costly lesson. This is why I like the idea of buying used or cheap first, ride for a year or so then purchase what you really want after being more educated and sell the first. This way you really do get what you want in the end and your not stuck with something expensive that is not what you really wanted.
 
MrHyak said:
I would agree with this to a point...but, if someone is totally new to ebikes they really don't know what they will want until they start riding. You spend lots of $$$ on the unknown and find out a year later its not really what you wanted, its a costly lesson. This is why I like the idea of buying used or cheap first, ride for a year or so then purchase what you really want after being more educated and sell the first. This way you really do get what you want in the end and your not stuck with something expensive that is not what you really wanted.
Click to expand...
I agree. I was going to put in a caveat about, once you decide you are in this for the long haul.....
The advice that I gave is derived after going through two bikes, one a complete DIY.
 
MrClortho, as a mountain biker you know this, but one thing I learned about riding faraway rail trails in the early morning. The air is clear and cool. The pine smells amazing. The damn rest rooms in the trail stops are locked. What a man might do for a mere scrap of toilet paper.
 
less (weight, complexity, suspension, wires, accessories) is more

get and use a varia

go tubeless

learn how things work, even if you’re not going to work on them yourself

live in a place where the rights and safety of cyclists are respected, if not prioritized

don’t buy things online if you can reasonably avoid it

get a bike fit and wear apppropriate clothing

that’s about it.
 
Tom@WashDC said:
What I learned:
  • Purchase the highest quality bike you can afford from a storied, reputable manufacturer. You deserve the best.
  • Stay away from integrated proprietary electronics and software systems.
  • Purchase a bike that can be serviced locally, or DIY, with a robust decentralised parts inventory stream.
  • You deserve a rear suspension (front too). Not a suspension seat post. There is no comparison.
  • Wear elbow pads and knee pads along with your helmet. There's a reason that NHTSA keeps stats on bike fatalities.
  • Use high intensity flashing lights on the front and rear.
  • Go Tubeless.
  • Don't drink more than two beers before you ride.
Click to expand...
Some great points, but the ones about electronics and rear suspension are way too broad. There are pros and cons to everything. The trick is to play the trade-offs as best you can for your own goals in an ebike, and these vary widely in the ebike world.

First, not everyone wants or needs full suspension. I certainly don't on my 38 mm gravel/fitness ebike (Specialized Vado SL 1). Plenty of discussions of the pros and cons in other threads — including the negative impacts on weight, pedaling efficiency, handling, and maintenance.

Get all the compliance I need from (a) the 20 mm of sprung travel in my stem, and (b) running the tubeless 700x38 mm tires at 35-40 psi. And I do a fair amount of offroad.

Likewise, my wife's rigid 50 lb cruiser gets plenty of compliance from its tubed 27.5x2.4" tires at 35-40 psi. We value the light weights for (1) climbing in this hilly area, and (2) the handling, both on and off the bikes.

As for electronics, the proprietary power-sensing mid-drive PAS on my Specialized Vado is a thing of engineering beauty that pays on every ride. With a huge dealer/service network to back it up.

Unlike Bosch, it uses Bluetooth and ANT+ to communicate with a wide range of external devices — including the well-done Specialized app on my phone and my cheap chest-strap HRM.
 
Last edited:
harryS said:
MrClortho, as a mountain biker you know this, but one thing I learned about riding faraway rail trails in the early morning. The air is clear and cool. The pine smells amazing. The damn rest rooms in the trail stops are locked. What a man might do for a mere scrap of toilet paper.
Click to expand...

That and a large, soft leaf is not out of the question if it comes to it. :D
 
DON"T CALL ME A TROLL!!!

ebikesforum.com

Velotric Go 1 Spokes Sheared Off at Hub!

So today I decided to do some upkeep on my Velotric Go 1 - Tire Pressure - Lube Chain & Gears - and Wipe Down with damp rag. Then I noticed I have 8 Broken Spokes on the right side of the rear hub. I put Blue Painters Tape on each of the broken spokes to make them easier to see. There are 36...
ebikesforum.com ebikesforum.com

It's all here
 
I read that thread. Wow. Thats quite an escapade. Glad you didn’t get hurt on that thing. It’s awesome that the dealer is advocating for you and working the phones/emails.
 
Senior_Cruiser said:
DON"T CALL ME A TROLL!!!

ebikesforum.com

Velotric Go 1 Spokes Sheared Off at Hub!

So today I decided to do some upkeep on my Velotric Go 1 - Tire Pressure - Lube Chain & Gears - and Wipe Down with damp rag. Then I noticed I have 8 Broken Spokes on the right side of the rear hub. I put Blue Painters Tape on each of the broken spokes to make them easier to see. There are 36...
ebikesforum.com ebikesforum.com

It's all here
Click to expand...
Just read the opening post with the pictures. I would count on my service colleagues to come to the conclusion that this rearwheel indeed would have been ridden over a longer period with a to low spoke tension. Based on where the spokes broke (elbow on trailing spokes on the Drive side).

How many km did you ride with this bike? And did the bike get a first tuneup in around 500Km ridden to check all bolton parts and things like cables tension and spoke tension.

Besides the non-warranty, we would discus this cases with our dealer who would have made the call the file a ticket. Usually we settle this with a good will gesture, so shipping some spokes if needed and a workshop fee to replace spokes and to get the customer back in the workshop to get the spoke tension checkt in 200Km. The other spokes on the Drive Side are likely to give some more broken ones as they have been beaten up. (Thats why we would send a lot more spokes just to cover that)

And yes in those wheels with a motor in it spoke tension is crucial, get it checked once in a while, especially the first checkup is important (usually around 500Km ridden)

If the D2C brand did not give you this advice that would be a shame and Sorry for the support for this call from the brand.
 
I can only imagine with 8 broken spokes that rear wheel must have been wobbling bad, luckily no one got hurt. Velotric really needs to get this corrected, refusing to fix warranty claims is a recipe for disaster with future return business. I own 2 Velotric bikes and they have been awesome, no issues.
 
I did not see that post because it is on another forum. Blasting the company all over the internet does not help your case.

If this bike had come into our Velotric dealership, I would want to know exactly why Velotric would not replace the wheel under warranty. We are only getting half of the story. If they had a good reason, and the bike was bought from us, then we would find a goodwill solution to make it right. Since the bike was bought direct, all we can do is advocate for the customer.
 
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