We holdouts should form The Haibike Appreciation Society!
I blame
@Court for my H-Bike loyalty! His thorough review of the Bosch powered 2015 FatSix sold me. It was a choice of that or the Felt Outfitter, a similar fatbike, nicely equipped and reviewed by Court. I still think they have the sharpest looking paint jobs, kept fresh every year with a new restyling. The components group is a good one and the Bosch or Yamaha drives can't be beat. Court had a steady pipeline of new Haibike models with his close association with Sam at Fullerton bikes as well as access to the Ha-Bike representatives. Kinda miss those reviews by Court with Sam as too the reviews with Court and Chris Nolte of Propel. Any newcomer to this site should seek those videos out cause you get a great education about what makes a great ebike. Don't let me forget his ride with
@Ravi Kempaiah who at that time I believe, was preparing for or had already completed, a record setting distance/time run on an ebike.
When those downtube battery ebikes came out, the thing that came to my mind is how fast they would become obsolete as battery technology created bigger capacity batteries requiring a bigger downtube; leaving that old downtube 500wh battery guy or gal hanging if or when their battery became obsolete. That's not to say our own external batteries are headed to the trash heap in time. I wish E-Bike Vision would find a US distributor for their 745wh external Bosch and Yamaha batteries.....
Nice bikes, LimboJim and RichC! Our bikes may be earlier models, but they still have a trendsetting look about them and they are certainly built for the long haul.
The Full FatSix in November 2017. I wanted racks, front and rear on mine so it could be touring-capable. While I was able to get a front rack from Old Man Mountain, getting a rear one was problematic as the service from the company was becoming very sporadic as per delivery to the customer. So for any long distance runs, two bags were put on the front rack so I could carry extra food, drink, jackets, etc.
July, 2018 at Milford, NJ on the Delaware & Raritan State Park towpath trail. I guess the significance of this ride was that in total, the H-Bike took me a total of 95.4 miles, with 18% battery charge remaining on my original 400wh battery! The red clay dust on the bike came from the Delaware Canal towpath on the opposite side of the Delaware River, in Pennsylvania. There are a few bridges that cross the Delaware, allowing the rider access to both towpaths. I was kinda proud of completing this run because 1. It was on a single battery charge and 2. As I was no longer a young spring chicken, running on Eco and Eco+ showed to myself that this bike could do a century had I more capacity.
Getting close to how I want the bike set up for touring; the rear OMM rack is in place. Pic taken over Lock 1, Delaware & Raritan State Park pedestrian bridge over the abandoned lock chamber. April 2019
With the rear rack in place, I invested in a few Ortlieb bags of different styles to fit whatever touring I may have had in mind. But the one thing I figured that made a bike truly a potential 24 hour, anytime bike I could ride was a lighting system. As I had a dyno hub system in place on 2 other of my bikes, this was the way I would go. So a Schmidt SON28 fatbike hub was laced on the front wheel (by a LBS). I installed and wired the front Schmidt Edelux II headlight and Schmidt SON tail light. To this day, everytime that front wheel turns, it's making light. Highly recommended, even as a Daytime Running Light for other drivers to see you.
The chain, rear cassette, rear derailleur and front outer sprocket are all new, as I had worn out these components having piled on 11 thousand miles on the odometer. July 2020
August 2021 ride, Sunday Morning, in the rain. Northern Burlington County country road....
October 2020 and the Full FatSix turns over to 16 thousand miles since put into service back in April 2017. As of now, with minimal riding due to wx and holidays, she's got some 16,600 miles.
Let's see some of your H-Bike pics. I'd love to see 'em!
