Cheetah 80 mile Impressions

lotus

New Member
I now have 80 miles on my newly purchased Cheetah (Feb 2020)

Location: Loveland Colorado - (ebikes are not allowed on soft surfaces OR if path has a sign that states "no motorized vehicles").
I bought this particular model because it doesn't look like an ebike(?). No battery is visible, therefore I wouldn't be harassed
by the police? We'll find out. There aren't a lot of ebikes around yet and only old people ride them, so I should be OK on
the bike path. I make it a point to be always peddling and don't use it like a moped for PR reasons.
Since we're locked down in our homes with the pandemic thing, I'm very thankful I've got this to ride. As I'm sure with you,
we're allowed to exercise outside walking, etc. I wouldn't ride the motorcycle as there are old white haired liberal ladies with their
hair on fire using cell phone cameras to shame people on social media when anybody they suspect is not complying.
With the ebike I'm getting exercise (peddling) and not burning fossil fuels. I'm a conforming model citizen.

My profile: 6' 185lbs 73 years old
Bike Color: Brown/Black
Purpose : Mostly flat terrain around town to grocery, bank, coffee shop, bike path, etc.
Options: 750W motor, 17.5 AH Battery, luggage rack and front/ rear fenders (Only installed the front fender)
rear fender is in storage. I found front fender was necessary after riding through puddles and having water
thrown up into my face. A must have for me. I won't install rear fender because it makes the bike look
clunky in MY eyes. It's a taste thing.

Received shipment by large truck that took 5 or 6 days from California. Box in good condition with no issues

Unpacking and Assembly: Was packaged well with no damage. No scratches, dents and everything was there.
Had to assemble/mount front wheel, pedals, headlamp, fender, luggage rack and seat. Took about 45 mins
and didn't have to make any modifications. Everything fit and worked correctly out of the box. While assembling,
I was impressed with the quality of workmanship and quality of components. No disappointments.

Physical presence after assembly: I was taken aback by the bikes' size. It's more imposing than I thought it would be after seeing
site pictures. I'd say it's close to the size of my Triumph Bonneville motorcycle. Takes up more space in the garage than
my mountain bike and requires more room to maneuver. It has right and left stops on the steering head to
prevent the forks from banging into the 'tank' when making tight turns. Nice feature, but you'll have to take several
tries to get pointed in the right direction.

Controller Display: Took some time and several calls to sales office to get it completely figured out. For instance, the instructions
tell you to set the bike parameters (tire size, battery voltage, etc.) by using setup. You enter setup by pressing/holding
the 'SET' button on the left handlebar interface control. When it enters the setup mode it wants you to enter a password. Instructions don't tell you what the password is. Had to call and they told me 0118. That worked and was able to setup as
needed. The instructions told me you could change this password. Not true. I was never able to change it. I called and they
said you can't change the setup password. Ok, that's fine.
Controller Negative: The only concern I have about the display is it looks too much like a cell phone. I'm nervous about somebody trying to
steal it thinking it's a cell phone. I was going to change the orientation from portrait to landscape, but it's solidly mounted to
the steering stem. We'll see if my fear is ever realized.

Controller Use: I've had it a month and 80 miles and still finding ways to more efficiently use it. I'm impressed and in awe of it's versatility.
The combination of PAS (pedal assist), 7 speed derailleur and hand grip throttle makes its use infinite. If I'm in level 1 assist (5 levels) and a head wind or hill comes up, I just push the "+" button for higher assist on the handle grip control and I zoom ahead. When the resistance lessens, I press the "-" button to get less assist. This is when the 7 speed derailleur comes into play. The derailleur primarily is for setting the cadence of your legs to speed of the bike. If you're in a higher assist level, you don't want your legs wind milling. This is where you shift to higher gears to stop the thrashing.
The throttle control on the grip is used for fine tuning the amount of assist. For instance, if I'm stopped at a light and I'm facing a
steep crown at the center of the road, I'll use the throttle to overcome the resistance to get to the top of the crown.
To engage the assist, you need to move the bike a distance of 6"?. I use the throttle when starting in a awkward position when it's difficult getting the crank rotated to engage. You'll need to push the bike 6" while engaging the throttle.

Battery/Charging: Of course, the battery range is infinitely variable due to you're riding style and terrain. The faster you go and more you carry, the less range. On the first charge, I got over 40 miles on flat terrain. I've found that I typically ride at 10 to 12 mph. By the way, there is a trip meter and odometer. The charging instructions warned about leaving the charger plugged in constantly and expected battery life is ~800 charge cycles. I've only charged it twice, but I run the battery down to one segment on controller display (each segment is 20%) before charging. When I plug in charger the fan comes on and continues to run until fully charged. The fan then turns off. I would guess it takes ~4.5 hours to be fully charged. I then clear the trip meter to see how far it'll take me.

Negative: This really isn't a negative for me since I don't use it like a mountain bike, but there is chain slap due to length when going over
rough terrain or curb. This is not a mountain bike. It's a beach cruiser.
It weighs 75 lbs with the larger battery and motor. Yes, I have AAA. You don't want to be having to lift it often. This is ok for me since it has a motor!

Cool factor: Everybody loves the way it looks. I've had 14 year old boys tell me it's a cool bike. People pull up next to me at stop lights and ask
me about it. Lots of thumbs up from cars passing. For these reasons, I never leave the bike anywhere NOT locked up. We have
homeless who would love to walk away with it.
 

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Lotus,

I am wanting to purchase one of these too. The full package (17.5AH battery, rear rack, fenders, light guard and rear pannier). Does it come with a rear light? If does the rear light powered by the bike's battery?

What color scheme do you have? I wish there was a forest green and brown scheme.

Might I asked where your purchased your bike from and which carrier delivered your bike? Is the bike packaged well enough to make it cross country (West Coast to Southeast)? I know there are several online dealers selling the bike but not sure which one to go with. I live in a remote areas so there are no local bikes dealers of any kind in my area. Are all bikes drooped shipped from Civi bikes in California or from each dealer's local stock?

Thanks for the review, your information is very helpful. Anymore insight you have would be most appreciated> Some pictures are always great!
 
Nice Cheetah write-up Lotus,

Stylish bike with power, good looking and colorful, but you may want triple 'AAA' towing if there's a breakdown at 75#+

Ring your bell and Roll past those gossips laughing because they're too busy worrying and whining loudly , at the sociable distance, while only listening to themselves.

MV
 
Lotus,

I am wanting to purchase one of these too. The full package (17.5AH battery, rear rack, fenders, light guard and rear pannier). Does it come with a rear light? If does the rear light powered by the bike's battery?

What color scheme do you have? I wish there was a forest green and brown scheme.

Might I asked where your purchased your bike from and which carrier delivered your bike? Is the bike packaged well enough to make it cross country (West Coast to Southeast)? I know there are several online dealers selling the bike but not sure which one to go with. I live in a remote areas so there are no local bikes dealers of any kind in my area. Are all bikes drooped shipped from Civi bikes in California or from each dealer's local stock?

Thanks for the review, your information is very helpful. Anymore insight you have would be most appreciated> Some pictures are always great!
Hey Mark,
* The rear rack has the tail light built into it and is NOT powered by the internal battery. It takes one AA battery and you need to toggle the
switch on the light assembly itself. There is not a control on the handlebar.
* I have the Brown/Black
* Don't know the shipping company. It was a generic semi out of Denver. It wasn't UPS, FedEX, etc.
* Shipping time - That'll vary depend on weather, etc. It was shipped from Civibike office in Onterio Calif. We had a snow storm so
a truck was delayed coming over the mountains.
* No dealers in the Denver area. There is one on the western slope, but that's a good 5 hour drive. I have found no need for the dealer
as everything has worked perfectly. By the way, when I talked with sales staff they always pushed to have me be a dealer. They're looking
expand. Overall.jpg
 

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Nice Cheetah write-up Lotus,

Stylish bike with power, good looking and colorful, but you may want triple 'AAA' towing if there's a breakdown at 75#+

Ring your bell and Roll past those gossips laughing because they're too busy worrying and whining loudly , at the sociable distance, while only listening to themselves.

MV
Ha, yes I do have AAA and might need it
 
Oh, your snapshot is great, the look in a boy's eye when leaning on a Cheetah. Nice!

I quip to the kids, ( and anxious parents ) who see me on the trail:

'There's an age limit; You can't get one of these until you're 60'

However, pushing it with a flat rear tire on 'the walk of shame' toward home, I've no smart remarks.
 
Hey Lotus, look what I saw at my local super market today. Yes, that's a cheetah. Didn't get a chance to speak with the owner but it's sure an interesting ebike. That headlight is huge.

1585713461340.png


1585713521843.png
 
Hey Lotus, look what I saw at my local super market today. Yes, that's a cheetah. Didn't get a chance to speak with the owner but it's sure an interesting ebike. That headlight is huge.

View attachment 48779

View attachment 48780
Yep, the owner must be tall given the seat adjustment. It's about the same as mine (6'). He's also braver since I don't see any kind of lock on it. I'm also noticing the gap between front fender bottom and tire. I first thought the gap was too large and wondered if I had installed it correctly. Looks Iike I did. Thanks for sharing the pic.
 
Lotus,

I am wanting to purchase one of these too. The full package (17.5AH battery, rear rack, fenders, light guard and rear pannier). Does it come with a rear light? If does the rear light powered by the bike's battery?

What color scheme do you have? I wish there was a forest green and brown scheme.

Might I asked where your purchased your bike from and which carrier delivered your bike? Is the bike packaged well enough to make it cross country (West Coast to Southeast)? I know there are several online dealers selling the bike but not sure which one to go with. I live in a remote areas so there are no local bikes dealers of any kind in my area. Are all bikes drooped shipped from Civi bikes in California or from each dealer's local stock?

Thanks for the review, your information is very helpful. Anymore insight you have would be most appreciated> Some pictures are always great!

Hey Mark,

I'm an authorized dealer for this brand. If you want to talk, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Steve
Really Good Ebikes
888-883-3350
 
Nice picture in that shaded area of the matte' finishes on all surfaces
The finish should 'age' over time and wear them cleanings.
I'm kind of impressed at the good looking design features and how 'acoustic' that bike appears.
 
Hey, I've had mine since the end of February, and wish I had had a nice experience like you did lotus! My Cheetah languished on the Fedex truck for three days in a row. I was in agony :) When I got it finally, the rear brake rotor was outside the box, luckily it wasn't warped or damaged. The worst thing though was the stem was installed on backwards!!! Five of the spokes on the front wheel and six spokes on the rear wheel were not even finger tight. The seat spring was hanging down, no big deal really, was going to replace it anyway, and the rear fender was missing a screw.

Took it to the local LBS and they fixed it all up.

I've ridden it about 350 miles or so and really enjoy it a lot! It's very comfortable, and gets tons of attention and people question me all the time. I average about 70 miles per charge, with PAS levels around 1, 2, & 3. If I use the upper levels it lowers to about 30 or so.

It is heavy but I find it somewhat of a benefit on the rough roads around here. My tax dollars are hard at work hahahahaha...

Ride On...
20200507_124154.jpg
 
Cheetahlee,
Great looking red. Looks better than I remember from the website..........

This is an update to my original post from Feb. I'm now moving into month five with 583 miles. No problems and everything works as when I received it. Here are some observations since last post.

Battery - There are 5 segments on the controller indicating battery level (20% per segment). I find I prefer to recharge when down to one segment (20%). When connecting the charger, a fan comes on and then goes off when 'full'. I've never timed how long it takes before the fan turns off. I'm guessing between 3 and 4 hours? I plug it in before going to bed. With running it down to 20%, trip meter shows ~35 miles. I've never run it down to zero, so don't know how far it would go.
The manual indicates you can expect battery life to be ~800 charge cycles. However, I rode it to Home Depot the other day and somebody walked up (as normal) asking questions about it. This guy turned out to be an e-bike hobbyist and was designing his own bike by purchasing parts piece meal. He asked about the expected battery life and when I told him 800 charge cycles, he told I could extend that by quite-a-bit if I charged to 90%, not 100% (the manual also warned NOT to leave charger on for extended time). He told me I could expect a full charge to be ~53v (spec 48v). When I got home I plugged it in for full charge. The next morning, I checked the voltage and it read 55v. Ninety percent is 49. 5v. Next time I charge, I'm going to put a lamp type of power timer on it for 3 hours and then check voltage. Once I get close to 49.5v, I'll charge with timer NOT leaving overnight. New battery pack is $400 from Civibikes so if I can extend the life, I'm in.

Controller - I found out the controller mounted on the handlebar is NOT waterproof. I got caught in a light rain and discovered the next day that 'clouding' appeared in the white portion of the display. I was hoping the 'clouding' would go away after drying, but it's been a week now and it's still there. Be sure and cover the controller in the wet.
My riding speed remains at ~10 to 12mph on PAS (pedal assist) level 1 or 2. I've never gone above 2. I've found myself being in level 1 with help from throttle when needed. Lever 2 is only used when on the road moving with traffic because it's too fast on bike trails. Don't think most people would need the 750W motor because of this experience. The bigger motor would be best if you weigh over 200lbs or carry a lot of baggage.

Tires - I had a flat tire after running through a sticker patch. When I removed the wheel and tire, found tire/tube is very thin and easily punctured. Ordered heavier tube with protective strap to prevent future punctures. Didn't want to wait until tube arrived so went ahead and patched. It has been fine since I'm now watched running through brush. The rear tire now has a slow leak but have not fixed it. Because of the slow leak, I've discovered the tires are best aired to 14lbs+ (max pressure is 20lbs). If you have less than 14lbs, you find the tire will start rolling over and scrub on turns. When I hear the scrubbing, that's when I know I need to increase pressure.

Local Regulation - As originally posted, I'm concerned about regulation of ebikes in Colorado. As Colorado continues moving further into the LEFT ditch, more and more people have a high sensitivity to their world. Last week, in my local paper, the city and county have announced a 6 month 'study' to determine if e-bikes have a negative impact on the environment. Complaints were noise (?), speed and destroying surfaces. We're moving into the political sphere and seems to be activists from traditional bikers and environmentalists (soft surfaces). I noticed e-bikes are fast becoming more and more popular and are appearing on bike trails at an increasing rate. Last week, I saw an ebike side-by-side with surry top on the bike path forcing walkers to move aside. This kind of behavior will force the city/county to regulate without question. I'm concerned Class 3 (Cheetah) will be not allowed to be on bike paths next year. We'll see.
 
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Hey, I've had mine since the end of February, and wish I had had a nice experience like you did lotus! My Cheetah languished on the Fedex truck for three days in a row. I was in agony :) When I got it finally, the rear brake rotor was outside the box, luckily it wasn't warped or damaged. The worst thing though was the stem was installed on backwards!!! Five of the spokes on the front wheel and six spokes on the rear wheel were not even finger tight. The seat spring was hanging down, no big deal really, was going to replace it anyway, and the rear fender was missing a screw.

Took it to the local LBS and they fixed it all up.

I've ridden it about 350 miles or so and really enjoy it a lot! It's very comfortable, and gets tons of attention and people question me all the time. I average about 70 miles per charge, with PAS levels around 1, 2, & 3. If I use the upper levels it lowers to about 30 or so.

It is heavy but I find it somewhat of a benefit on the rough roads around here. My tax dollars are hard at work hahahahaha...

Ride On...View attachment 57552

What a cool looking ebike!
It’s the huge front light that really tops it. Makes me want to start singing the Steppenwolf song “Born to be Wild”.
Get your motor running......
 
This is an update since purchasing March 2020. Now have 936 miles with still no problems. All I've done is replace both tubes with puncture resistant types.

The only thing I wanted to update was the battery charging practice. On a previous post I shared what an e-bike hobbyist recommended not over charging (damage lithium/ion) the batteries. I've taken his advice seriously and settled on only charging when the charge level is down to one segment (20%).
When charger is hooked up, I use a plugin programmable power source for turning on and off lamps in the house. I find it best to set to be OFF all but 3 hours. When I pull in the garage with one segment showing, I'll connect the charger and turn the dial to be ON for 2 to 3 hours (don't bother setting the time). That usually will get me to 4 segments (80%). This will allow me to ride ~35 miles without stressing the battery by overcharging.

As the riding season draws down in Oct-Nov, I'll have the spokes checked for tightness. I figure I'll have well over a 1000 miles on it and that 750W motor must put a good amount of stress on the rear spokes. I'll post an update regarding rear spoke wear.
 
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This is an update since purchasing March 2020. Now have 936 miles on it and still no problems. All I've done is replaced both tubes that are puncture resistant.

The only thing I wanted to update was the battery charging practice. On a previous post I shared what an e-bike hobbyist recommended not over charging (damage lithium/ion) the batteries. I've taken his advice seriously and settled on only charging when the charge level is down to one segment (20%).
When charger is hooked up, I use a plugin programmable power source for turning on and off lamps in the house. I find it best to set to be OFF all but 3 hours. When I pull in the garage with one segment showing, I'll connect the charger and turn the dial to be ON for 2 to 3 hours (don't bother setting the time). That usually will get me to 4 segments (80%). This will allow me to ride ~35 miles without stressing the battery by overcharging.

As the riding season draws down in Oct-Nov, I'll have the spokes checked for tightness. I figure I'll have well over a 1000 miles on it and that 750W motor must put a good amount of stress on the rear spokes. I'll post an update regarding rear spoke wear.
Also a really important practice would be to let the battery cool down completely before charging for good battery health. Coming from the radio control airplane/car it’s also good to store the battery at cooler temps iN the summer and but also not freezing temps of the winter. Around 60-75 degrees for happy healthy batteries.Kind of like ourselves when we sleep. Nice comfortable temps.
 
I now have 80 miles on my newly purchased Cheetah (Feb 2020)

Location: Loveland Colorado - (ebikes are not allowed on soft surfaces OR if path has a sign that states "no motorized vehicles").
I bought this particular model because it doesn't look like an ebike(?). No battery is visible, therefore I wouldn't be harassed
by the police? We'll find out. There aren't a lot of ebikes around yet and only old people ride them, so I should be OK on
the bike path. I make it a point to be always peddling and don't use it like a moped for PR reasons.
Since we're locked down in our homes with the pandemic thing, I'm very thankful I've got this to ride. As I'm sure with you,
we're allowed to exercise outside walking, etc. I wouldn't ride the motorcycle as there are old white haired liberal ladies with their
hair on fire using cell phone cameras to shame people on social media when anybody they suspect is not complying.
With the ebike I'm getting exercise (peddling) and not burning fossil fuels. I'm a conforming model citizen.

My profile: 6' 185lbs 73 years old
Bike Color: Brown/Black
Purpose : Mostly flat terrain around town to grocery, bank, coffee shop, bike path, etc.
Options: 750W motor, 17.5 AH Battery, luggage rack and front/ rear fenders (Only installed the front fender)
rear fender is in storage. I found front fender was necessary after riding through puddles and having water
thrown up into my face. A must have for me. I won't install rear fender because it makes the bike look
clunky in MY eyes. It's a taste thing.

Received shipment by large truck that took 5 or 6 days from California. Box in good condition with no issues

Unpacking and Assembly: Was packaged well with no damage. No scratches, dents and everything was there.
Had to assemble/mount front wheel, pedals, headlamp, fender, luggage rack and seat. Took about 45 mins
and didn't have to make any modifications. Everything fit and worked correctly out of the box. While assembling,
I was impressed with the quality of workmanship and quality of components. No disappointments.

Physical presence after assembly: I was taken aback by the bikes' size. It's more imposing than I thought it would be after seeing
site pictures. I'd say it's close to the size of my Triumph Bonneville motorcycle. Takes up more space in the garage than
my mountain bike and requires more room to maneuver. It has right and left stops on the steering head to
prevent the forks from banging into the 'tank' when making tight turns. Nice feature, but you'll have to take several
tries to get pointed in the right direction.

Controller Display: Took some time and several calls to sales office to get it completely figured out. For instance, the instructions
tell you to set the bike parameters (tire size, battery voltage, etc.) by using setup. You enter setup by pressing/holding
the 'SET' button on the left handlebar interface control. When it enters the setup mode it wants you to enter a password. Instructions don't tell you what the password is. Had to call and they told me 0118. That worked and was able to setup as
needed. The instructions told me you could change this password. Not true. I was never able to change it. I called and they
said you can't change the setup password. Ok, that's fine.
Controller Negative: The only concern I have about the display is it looks too much like a cell phone. I'm nervous about somebody trying to
steal it thinking it's a cell phone. I was going to change the orientation from portrait to landscape, but it's solidly mounted to
the steering stem. We'll see if my fear is ever realized.

Controller Use: I've had it a month and 80 miles and still finding ways to more efficiently use it. I'm impressed and in awe of it's versatility.
The combination of PAS (pedal assist), 7 speed derailleur and hand grip throttle makes its use infinite. If I'm in level 1 assist (5 levels) and a head wind or hill comes up, I just push the "+" button for higher assist on the handle grip control and I zoom ahead. When the resistance lessens, I press the "-" button to get less assist. This is when the 7 speed derailleur comes into play. The derailleur primarily is for setting the cadence of your legs to speed of the bike. If you're in a higher assist level, you don't want your legs wind milling. This is where you shift to higher gears to stop the thrashing.
The throttle control on the grip is used for fine tuning the amount of assist. For instance, if I'm stopped at a light and I'm facing a
steep crown at the center of the road, I'll use the throttle to overcome the resistance to get to the top of the crown.
To engage the assist, you need to move the bike a distance of 6"?. I use the throttle when starting in a awkward position when it's difficult getting the crank rotated to engage. You'll need to push the bike 6" while engaging the throttle.

Battery/Charging: Of course, the battery range is infinitely variable due to you're riding style and terrain. The faster you go and more you carry, the less range. On the first charge, I got over 40 miles on flat terrain. I've found that I typically ride at 10 to 12 mph. By the way, there is a trip meter and odometer. The charging instructions warned about leaving the charger plugged in constantly and expected battery life is ~800 charge cycles. I've only charged it twice, but I run the battery down to one segment on controller display (each segment is 20%) before charging. When I plug in charger the fan comes on and continues to run until fully charged. The fan then turns off. I would guess it takes ~4.5 hours to be fully charged. I then clear the trip meter to see how far it'll take me.

Negative: This really isn't a negative for me since I don't use it like a mountain bike, but there is chain slap due to length when going over
rough terrain or curb. This is not a mountain bike. It's a beach cruiser.
It weighs 75 lbs with the larger battery and motor. Yes, I have AAA. You don't want to be having to lift it often. This is ok for me since it has a motor!

Cool factor: Everybody loves the way it looks. I've had 14 year old boys tell me it's a cool bike. People pull up next to me at stop lights and ask
me about it. Lots of thumbs up from cars passing. For these reasons, I never leave the bike anywhere NOT locked up. We have
homeless who would love to walk away with it.

Nice write up and review. My pedal assist kicks in immediately. Don't have to go a few inches to kick in. Also in advance settings you can change the pedal assist from 5 levels to 9 levels. I charge mine to full every time I ride, even if down one bar. I researched and found different information than you were told about charging. When riding daily with friends we cruise about 14 to 17mph, and 20 mph when closer to home on our 21 mile route.
Thanks for all of your updates as well. Great information. Enjoy!
I now have 80 miles on my newly purchased Cheetah (Feb 2020)

Location: Loveland Colorado - (ebikes are not allowed on soft surfaces OR if path has a sign that states "no motorized vehicles").
I bought this particular model because it doesn't look like an ebike(?). No battery is visible, therefore I wouldn't be harassed
by the police? We'll find out. There aren't a lot of ebikes around yet and only old people ride them, so I should be OK on
the bike path. I make it a point to be always peddling and don't use it like a moped for PR reasons.
Since we're locked down in our homes with the pandemic thing, I'm very thankful I've got this to ride. As I'm sure with you,
we're allowed to exercise outside walking, etc. I wouldn't ride the motorcycle as there are old white haired liberal ladies with their
hair on fire using cell phone cameras to shame people on social media when anybody they suspect is not complying.
With the ebike I'm getting exercise (peddling) and not burning fossil fuels. I'm a conforming model citizen.

My profile: 6' 185lbs 73 years old
Bike Color: Brown/Black
Purpose : Mostly flat terrain around town to grocery, bank, coffee shop, bike path, etc.
Options: 750W motor, 17.5 AH Battery, luggage rack and front/ rear fenders (Only installed the front fender)
rear fender is in storage. I found front fender was necessary after riding through puddles and having water
thrown up into my face. A must have for me. I won't install rear fender because it makes the bike look
clunky in MY eyes. It's a taste thing.

Received shipment by large truck that took 5 or 6 days from California. Box in good condition with no issues

Unpacking and Assembly: Was packaged well with no damage. No scratches, dents and everything was there.
Had to assemble/mount front wheel, pedals, headlamp, fender, luggage rack and seat. Took about 45 mins
and didn't have to make any modifications. Everything fit and worked correctly out of the box. While assembling,
I was impressed with the quality of workmanship and quality of components. No disappointments.

Physical presence after assembly: I was taken aback by the bikes' size. It's more imposing than I thought it would be after seeing
site pictures. I'd say it's close to the size of my Triumph Bonneville motorcycle. Takes up more space in the garage than
my mountain bike and requires more room to maneuver. It has right and left stops on the steering head to
prevent the forks from banging into the 'tank' when making tight turns. Nice feature, but you'll have to take several
tries to get pointed in the right direction.

Controller Display: Took some time and several calls to sales office to get it completely figured out. For instance, the instructions
tell you to set the bike parameters (tire size, battery voltage, etc.) by using setup. You enter setup by pressing/holding
the 'SET' button on the left handlebar interface control. When it enters the setup mode it wants you to enter a password. Instructions don't tell you what the password is. Had to call and they told me 0118. That worked and was able to setup as
needed. The instructions told me you could change this password. Not true. I was never able to change it. I called and they
said you can't change the setup password. Ok, that's fine.
Controller Negative: The only concern I have about the display is it looks too much like a cell phone. I'm nervous about somebody trying to
steal it thinking it's a cell phone. I was going to change the orientation from portrait to landscape, but it's solidly mounted to
the steering stem. We'll see if my fear is ever realized.

Controller Use: I've had it a month and 80 miles and still finding ways to more efficiently use it. I'm impressed and in awe of it's versatility.
The combination of PAS (pedal assist), 7 speed derailleur and hand grip throttle makes its use infinite. If I'm in level 1 assist (5 levels) and a head wind or hill comes up, I just push the "+" button for higher assist on the handle grip control and I zoom ahead. When the resistance lessens, I press the "-" button to get less assist. This is when the 7 speed derailleur comes into play. The derailleur primarily is for setting the cadence of your legs to speed of the bike. If you're in a higher assist level, you don't want your legs wind milling. This is where you shift to higher gears to stop the thrashing.
The throttle control on the grip is used for fine tuning the amount of assist. For instance, if I'm stopped at a light and I'm facing a
steep crown at the center of the road, I'll use the throttle to overcome the resistance to get to the top of the crown.
To engage the assist, you need to move the bike a distance of 6"?. I use the throttle when starting in a awkward position when it's difficult getting the crank rotated to engage. You'll need to push the bike 6" while engaging the throttle.

Battery/Charging: Of course, the battery range is infinitely variable due to you're riding style and terrain. The faster you go and more you carry, the less range. On the first charge, I got over 40 miles on flat terrain. I've found that I typically ride at 10 to 12 mph. By the way, there is a trip meter and odometer. The charging instructions warned about leaving the charger plugged in constantly and expected battery life is ~800 charge cycles. I've only charged it twice, but I run the battery down to one segment on controller display (each segment is 20%) before charging. When I plug in charger the fan comes on and continues to run until fully charged. The fan then turns off. I would guess it takes ~4.5 hours to be fully charged. I then clear the trip meter to see how far it'll take me.

Negative: This really isn't a negative for me since I don't use it like a mountain bike, but there is chain slap due to length when going over
rough terrain or curb. This is not a mountain bike. It's a beach cruiser.
It weighs 75 lbs with the larger battery and motor. Yes, I have AAA. You don't want to be having to lift it often. This is ok for me since it has a motor!

Cool factor: Everybody loves the way it looks. I've had 14 year old boys tell me it's a cool bike. People pull up next to me at stop lights and ask
me about it. Lots of thumbs up from cars passing. For these reasons, I never leave the bike anywhere NOT locked up. We have
homeless who would love to walk away with it.
Nice write up and review. My pedal assist kicks in immediately. Don't have to go a few inches to kick in. Also in advance settings you can change the pedal assist from 5 levels to 9 levels. I charge mine to full every time I ride, even if down one bar. I researched and found different information than you were told about charging. When riding daily with friends we cruise about 14 to 17mph, and 20 mph when closer to home on our 21 mile route.
Thanks for all of your updates as well. Great information. Enjoy!
 
Lead-Acid was happiest when fully charged. I'm an old guy and always had followed that charging recommendation with my car batteries. However, we now have an updated technology that requires a different way of thinking. If I remember correctly, a replacement battery for the Cheetah is $400? The website only shows "Sold Out" right now, so don't know the price for the 17.5AH. I want this battery to go as loooong as possible.
Anyway, if you look at the website (https://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries), it fully explains how Li-on like to be treated.

Comes down to two things....

* Doesn't like heat
* Don't overcharge

Here's what the article said.....
"Cycling between 25 and 85 percent provides a longer service life than charging to 100 percent and discharging to 50 percent. The smallest capacity loss is attained by charging Li-ion to 75 percent and discharging to 65 percent. This, however, does not fully utilize the battery. High voltages and exposure to elevated temperature is said to degrade the battery quicker than cycling under normal condition.

As always......life is a compromise
 
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