An introduction from Pacifica, CA

[ZJarvis]

Hello!

I'm Zak, and while I don't actually have an ebike yet (because I'm not counting the demo bike that's in my garage waiting to be returned tomorrow morning), I will have one very soon.

I've been a moderate-to-slightly-bonkers cyclist for the last five or six years. Currently, I've got a sweet Time Instinct RX and a Marin Gestalt 3.

Where I live -- just off Skyline Drive at the north end of Pacifica -- I can ride anywhere I want as long as I want to climb a big-ass hill to get home. In the past I've either toughed it up, or taken the bus, but the last couple years have been personally difficult and as I've lost fitness, the prospect of getting home after a ride has made me not want to ride. I'm pushing 50 and I've got high blood pressure that's best controlled through... Exercise, which I've not been getting because -- well, you see the spiral.

That got me interested in ebikes.

When I first got back to cycling, I eased in with a mountain bike but then promptly did everything I could to make it go faster on the road. After a small windfall, I decided I really needed a nice road bike -- enter the Time.

After moving to the Bay Area, I quickly hooked up with SF2G (a local, ad-hoc group of cyclists who tend to do things like do hundred mile daily commutes because it makes the numbers look better, but also extraordinarily friendly, beginner oriented group rides. At my most bonkers level of riding I put in 800 some-odd miles in 30 days.

I really want to get back to that, so I started researching ebikes and was ready to rent a Trek Super Commuter and see if it'd get me up the hill I live on when I found out that Mike's Bikes does demos of the Orbea Gain, which was a lot more the sort of bike I was interested in at a price I could justify.

Now, having spent two days with the Gain, it's exactly what I want and the reason I'm here.

Hi, everybody!

 

[Admin]

Hi @ZJarvis! I used to live in Pacifica and would surf there and just South past Devil's Slide at a place called Montara. Do you surf by any chance?! What a beautiful place, I know the hills there pretty well and also surfed at Rockaway

Sounds like cycling is good for your health and an ebike could make it more enjoyable for riding towards the City. What a cool group of friends you've made, some of those rides sound long and intense... it's cool that they are also friendly and open to different levels of riders. As for the Trek, that's an awesome bike... and they also have a more road oriented model with drop bars called the CrossRip+. It's pretty light, and there's just something about drop bars that I love. The new Bosch motors are fantastic, but even last gen are really nice. The Orbea Gain sounds awesome too, I haven't tested that one but I'd love to hear your thoughts about it and maybe a review someday if you're open to sharing what the experience is like and how you rate the bike. Here's the Orbea forums and my other Orbea review

 

[ZJarvis]

Hi @ZJarvis! I used to live in Pacifica and would surf there and just South past Devil's Slide at a place called Montara. Do you surf by any chance?! What a beautiful place, I know the hills there pretty well and also surfed at Rockaway

Sounds like cycling is good for your health and an ebike could make it more enjoyable for riding towards the City. What a cool group of friends you've made, some of those rides sound long and intense... it's cool that they are also friendly and open to different levels of riders. As for the Trek, that's an awesome bike... and they also have a more road oriented model with drop bars called the CrossRip+. It's pretty light, and there's just something about drop bars that I love. The new Bosch motors are fantastic, but even last gen are really nice. The Orbea Gain sounds awesome too, I haven't tested that one but I'd love to hear your thoughts about it and maybe a review someday if you're open to sharing what the experience is like and how you rate the bike. Here's the Orbea forums and my other Orbea review

Thanks Court!

Alas, despite moving to Pacifica from... OCEANSIDE, I never picked up the surfing bug. But I also lived on the Hops Highway and hate IPAs, so maybe I'm just a contrarian!

SF2G has been fantastic, and I haven't ridden with them in way too long because of how badly I'd slipped off the saddle.

I spent several hours in the Orbea forum here after I set up the appointment for the demo bike, and it was incredibly useful, so I just finished writing up my review of the demo over there.

 

[Admin]

Awesome! Thanks for sharing back with us, I'll check it out. Welcome to the space, officially

 

[shepherd1]

Hello Zak, I remember Pacifica and the salt water!! I lived in Daly City for a couple of years. I remember the fog too! I just left the Bay Area to move to Los Angeles and do miss the bike lanes in the East Bay and SF!

I just joined and welcome! Hope everything works out healthwise!

 

[The duke]

Hi Zak! I grew up in that area. I remember being a kid riding my bicycle around skyline college and how bad the hills were. I used to call my dad to pick me up at the bottom of skyline Blvd and drive me up! You definitely need an ebike! Good luck.

 

[ZJarvis]

Hello Zak, I remember Pacifica and the salt water!! I lived in Daly City for a couple of years. I remember the fog too! I just left the Bay Area to move to Los Angeles and do miss the bike lanes in the East Bay and SF!

I just joined and welcome! Hope everything works out healthwise!

I didn’t know until I moved here that I love the fog. It’s a good thing!

The first year my wife and I lived in this house, the temperature broke 70 maybe for a single, non-contiguous week. The heater regularly ran most mornings all summer.

Hi Zak! I grew up in that area. I remember being a kid riding my bicycle around skyline college and how bad the hills were. I used to call my dad to pick me up at the bottom of skyline Blvd and drive me up! You definitely need an ebike! Good luck.

Oh, when I take the bus home from a ride it goes through Skyline college and you are on the money. There’s some serious hills!

Also, I’m now the very happy owner of an Orbea Gain D40.