Douglas Wever
Member
Amateur RIDGE RIDER ON THE RIDGE REPORT: Approaching 300 miles overall. I have finally had my Ridge Rider in the mountains for the last two days instead of on the road. Whilst my battery recharges again, I'll make these general observations while saying my overall satisfaction at this price point just couldn't be higher!
1. With the great placement of the battery in the downtube no problems with nimbleness, rides great, controllable, and no rear wagging from additional weight from the hub, the center of gravity is right.
2. Breaks never faded under heavy use, never needed more than a single finger being hydraulic.
3. Never bottomed out the shocks, performed very well. I keep them a little stiff for road firmness.
4. Body float is also set stiff. I am 191 lbs. but have orange over black springs which is a setting for someone 200-250, I like the extra stiffness for trails. BodyFloat is awesome if not essential. I also have a very similarly shaped seat that is after-market with gel.
5. On the trails I choose assist level 1 just using 2 during serious up grades, can't really imagine needing higher assist levels unless you're trying to use assist levels for gears.
6. I have accessed mountain trail heads riding my bike up to them rather than hauling the bike with my car. While the bike leveled that steep pavement ride up the mountain it also vaporized almost 30% of my 14 ah battery in assist level 3, but some level 4 when it got brutal. I guess at least a four mile climb. I could of stayed in assist level 2 and rode a super-low gear, but ya need to get there.
7. Arkel mountain bike panniers are awesome and over-engineered. They have become my favorite panniers for my road e-bike too. I have the XM-28 set ($229), a single GT-18 ($144), and a single laptop office bag ($179)
8. At the end of my first serious off road ride, the bike was also stable at 40 mph going back down the same mountain on pavement. Just an incredibly versatile e-bike.
9. Other mountain bikers have been enthusiastic about the Pedego electric. I have recited the Federal guidelines three times.
10. Occasionally climbing the mountain on pavement I'll encounter wide eyed people watching me pedal up the mountain on the road who do not realize the bike's assisting me.
11. My Plug-in Fusion Energi actually charges my Pedego battery by putting it in the back seat and using the car's outlet, careful not to block charger fan.
12. In some ways the Ridge Rider's greatest strength for me is as a day to day as a commuter. You have all the road power you need to easily maintain 22 mph on level ground, wide tires, and front suspension for a nice ride, and I roll over road irregularities and ruts at 22 mph that I would never tackle on my road e-bike.
13. Now that I have extensive saddle time in a rear hub, a geared rear hub, and a mid motor, the geared hub wins pretty much hands down, but only when coupled with torque sensing. To oversimplify, the geared rear hub does not share power delivery with your legs, and motor power delivery does not depend on the cassette, chain, or crank as with the mid motor. At first I feared I would need the mid-motor's ability to gear down. Hardly. The RR will level virtually any hill (see blue monkey's review of the RR at Puke Hill in Utah) but keep you viscerally connected through the torque sensing system.
14. I was able to score a no longer available 14 ahr battery instead of the standard 11.6. Don't worry, the rumor mill has it that a 17 is on it's way for the RR. A higher power option would certainly keep with what they've done with their other models.
15. I have gotten 35 miles with 28% left. My buddy who has a RR and works harder on the road than myself had 36% left on the same ride, and his is an 11.6 ahr battery. He could probably get sixty miles out of my bike, I just don't want to.
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16. Hoping in December Pedego announces some more sizes in the RR. I stinking do not want to buy a lady's Trek Powerfly to fit my 5'3" significant other as the Trek comes in multiple sizes. Trek's mid-motor offerings forgot to fully integrate the low-power battery fully in to the down-tube, it currently looks like a tumor. Maybe Bosch doesn't provide the means for full integration.
17. Still love the Trek Domane, there's nothing like riding a high end carbon fiber traditional bike. But it is a different experience, and the Pedego is addictive in a different way and a great time.
Picture 3 is the Ridge Rider on Monte Sano State Park, Huntsville, Alabama last week with the Arkel XM-28 Mountain Bike Panniers. The models below the main picture are the others I use. All over-engineered, highly recommended.
1. With the great placement of the battery in the downtube no problems with nimbleness, rides great, controllable, and no rear wagging from additional weight from the hub, the center of gravity is right.
2. Breaks never faded under heavy use, never needed more than a single finger being hydraulic.
3. Never bottomed out the shocks, performed very well. I keep them a little stiff for road firmness.
4. Body float is also set stiff. I am 191 lbs. but have orange over black springs which is a setting for someone 200-250, I like the extra stiffness for trails. BodyFloat is awesome if not essential. I also have a very similarly shaped seat that is after-market with gel.
5. On the trails I choose assist level 1 just using 2 during serious up grades, can't really imagine needing higher assist levels unless you're trying to use assist levels for gears.
6. I have accessed mountain trail heads riding my bike up to them rather than hauling the bike with my car. While the bike leveled that steep pavement ride up the mountain it also vaporized almost 30% of my 14 ah battery in assist level 3, but some level 4 when it got brutal. I guess at least a four mile climb. I could of stayed in assist level 2 and rode a super-low gear, but ya need to get there.
7. Arkel mountain bike panniers are awesome and over-engineered. They have become my favorite panniers for my road e-bike too. I have the XM-28 set ($229), a single GT-18 ($144), and a single laptop office bag ($179)
8. At the end of my first serious off road ride, the bike was also stable at 40 mph going back down the same mountain on pavement. Just an incredibly versatile e-bike.
9. Other mountain bikers have been enthusiastic about the Pedego electric. I have recited the Federal guidelines three times.
10. Occasionally climbing the mountain on pavement I'll encounter wide eyed people watching me pedal up the mountain on the road who do not realize the bike's assisting me.
11. My Plug-in Fusion Energi actually charges my Pedego battery by putting it in the back seat and using the car's outlet, careful not to block charger fan.
12. In some ways the Ridge Rider's greatest strength for me is as a day to day as a commuter. You have all the road power you need to easily maintain 22 mph on level ground, wide tires, and front suspension for a nice ride, and I roll over road irregularities and ruts at 22 mph that I would never tackle on my road e-bike.
13. Now that I have extensive saddle time in a rear hub, a geared rear hub, and a mid motor, the geared hub wins pretty much hands down, but only when coupled with torque sensing. To oversimplify, the geared rear hub does not share power delivery with your legs, and motor power delivery does not depend on the cassette, chain, or crank as with the mid motor. At first I feared I would need the mid-motor's ability to gear down. Hardly. The RR will level virtually any hill (see blue monkey's review of the RR at Puke Hill in Utah) but keep you viscerally connected through the torque sensing system.
14. I was able to score a no longer available 14 ahr battery instead of the standard 11.6. Don't worry, the rumor mill has it that a 17 is on it's way for the RR. A higher power option would certainly keep with what they've done with their other models.
15. I have gotten 35 miles with 28% left. My buddy who has a RR and works harder on the road than myself had 36% left on the same ride, and his is an 11.6 ahr battery. He could probably get sixty miles out of my bike, I just don't want to.
. 16. Hoping in December Pedego announces some more sizes in the RR. I stinking do not want to buy a lady's Trek Powerfly to fit my 5'3" significant other as the Trek comes in multiple sizes. Trek's mid-motor offerings forgot to fully integrate the low-power battery fully in to the down-tube, it currently looks like a tumor. Maybe Bosch doesn't provide the means for full integration.
17. Still love the Trek Domane, there's nothing like riding a high end carbon fiber traditional bike. But it is a different experience, and the Pedego is addictive in a different way and a great time.
Picture 3 is the Ridge Rider on Monte Sano State Park, Huntsville, Alabama last week with the Arkel XM-28 Mountain Bike Panniers. The models below the main picture are the others I use. All over-engineered, highly recommended.
