Any tall guys with a Blackbird?
- Thread starter Banderboy
- Start date
FezUSA
Active Member
No one has a production BB at the moment. Batch 1 (Aug 2020 delivery) is sitting at the port; Batch 2 (2x # bikes - Sep/Oct delivery) is on the water; Batch 3 (even bigger order bikes - Nov delivery) is awaiting shipping; Batch 4 is still in pre-order status. So my recommendation is that you reach out to the great folks over at Bolton directly (call or Facebook group) and ask them. Kyle and the crew are awesome people and will be happy to answer any of your questions.
FezUSA
Active Member
Had a 26" Blackbird on order since August, canceled it a few weeks ago though. Timing and the change in stand over height killed it for me at 5' 9" and a just under 30" inseam. The 24" would have been barely OK. Over on the FB group you might get more feedback. The taller you are the better, so you're probably good, and yes a taller seatpost would work too.
DCarter
New Member
- Region
- USA
I'm 6'1" and just took delivery on a 26 inch Blackbird (ordered it in mid August so it was quite the wait). I have a 33 inch inseam so it's not a problem with the standover height. The bike is more than I could have hoped for so it was every bit worth the long wait. It has a motorcycle-style inverted front fork that takes air pressure anywhere from 60-150 psi. The 52 volt battery has taken me 75 miles on a single charge using assist level 1 and on relatively flat ground. Even though the Mission Command tires are a full 4 inches wide they have excellent rolling resistance and I've had the bike up to 32 mph on assist level 5 on flat ground (pedaling hard). I decided on the Blackbird mainly because of all the higher quality components over the RadRover 5. The four piston hydraulic brakes are a breeze to stop this beast of a bike with only one finger on each brake lever and the adjustable stem is nice to help dial in your particular riding position. I prefer a more aggressive forward riding position so I traded out the super cushy Cloud 9 seat for a narrower one which allows for a smoother, longer leg extension. The SRAM trigger shifters on the Blackbird are so much easier and quicker to shift than the Shimano thumb shifter on the RadRover. And even though I very rarely use the throttle, I prefer the thumb throttle on this bike over the "twist wrist" throttle on my wife's RadRover. Anyway, I hope this helps someone. Ride On!
Last edited:
Satex
New Member
Can you tell me if the Blackbird fork has a lockout function?
FezUSA
Active Member
It does not. The original spec did, however at the last minute there was a change in fork due to the originals not passing inspection on delivery. To not slow down the already running late orders, Kyle sourced "an upgraded fork" at no extra cost. This is a DNM fork, but a 'special' version not sold on the DNM website. It is a slightly downgraded version of the fat-6 I believe, with the downgrade being that it doesn't have the lockout. If you get on the Bolton upgrade FB group you will find a long thread (and others) about this very point. Some were unhappy about it no longer having this option. The reality is that for a large amount of riders its a non-issue as they would never use it in their riding style. However it is a feature you need/require then a different fork is in your future.
Satex
New Member
Actually, my problem is that the right fork leg is locked/stuck in the fully compressed position. It was this way on delivery.
I'm waiting for a response from Bolton. My bike also got delivered with a front rim that had a broken spoke and severely scratched rim. They're sending me a replacement, but since I know the fork is defective, it may be some time before the bike is roadworthy.
My Blackbird experience….
I just wanted to share my experience with this highly acclaimed ebike from Bolton since it hasn’t been as expected and having known what I do now I would have most likely gone a different route. So I originally bought the Blackbird Aug 2020 and was in the “Nov Batch” and received the bike May 14th 2021. Aside from the delays, which I knew were par for the course and accepted, I’ve had nothing but problems. This first issue was a defective battery causing inadvertent battery shut down and a lengthy frustrating time turning on the bike. The issue was traced to a faulty switch and overall suspected battery failure. They did however diagnose the issue quickly and promised a replacement battery however it’s July 19th and still no time frame on a replacement…
The next issue is a failing pedal assist problem where the motor simply doesn’t provide any assistance after about 8km or so of riding. It initially can be over come by flicking the throttle but before long it’s a constant battle to overcome the heavy bike with no PA to help. They provided a new torque sensor but after having serious issues finding any shop to agree to work on the bike it was damaged on the install, thus leading to a 3rd torque sensor replacement attempt. Finally through trial and error was installed properly however the problem remained. I’ve since had every component (wiring harness, screen, throttle, control pad, torque sensor, motor) on the bike shipped to me in an attempt to fix the issues.
In all honesty I’ve been very frustrated with the process. As nice as they’ve been I didn’t spend about $4000 CAD for an ebike to rebuild it from scratch and have constant issues. I’ve ridden many ebikes now from different manufacturers and I’m sad to say most have been better. Yes the individual components seem good quality but the overall quality when all these parts come together is not as it should be in my experience. I’ve pushed for a replacement bike but they will not oblige so I’m left to continue to replace parts and in doing so am left with a bike that falls further away from the high quality I thought I was getting.
That all said, I am a Canadian customer and because of the importing process and shipping costs I would highly recommend if you’re Canadian do not buy this bike thinking you’re getting something better than most other companies. From the extra costs associated with purchase and technical problems that are present, unless you don’t mind spending more time fixing/diagnosing problems than riding, find a local company to buy from instead and save the frustration that I am still going through…. I feel it is also very important to share just how difficult it is to have this bike worked on by an ebike shop! That was a stipulation I discussed with Bolton before I bought the bike. I asked them “will you cover the cost of doing work on the bike by local shops if need be” which they said yes, however… In the Vancouver BC area I went through over a dozen ebike stores, among them were the bigger brands, and none would even attempt to touch this bike for liability reasons! Several days of calling around I was finally able to find a small “mom and pop” place that could help. But this bike isn’t as easy to work on as it appears and they had problems figuring things out as well.
So I’m sorry to burst any bubbles of high expectation if there are any, which if you were like me watching all of Kyle’s videos on the Blackbird I’m sure there were, but I felt like I needed to have read this review before I bought this bike and suffered the major disappointment that I have because of it.
Happy riding!
I just wanted to share my experience with this highly acclaimed ebike from Bolton since it hasn’t been as expected and having known what I do now I would have most likely gone a different route. So I originally bought the Blackbird Aug 2020 and was in the “Nov Batch” and received the bike May 14th 2021. Aside from the delays, which I knew were par for the course and accepted, I’ve had nothing but problems. This first issue was a defective battery causing inadvertent battery shut down and a lengthy frustrating time turning on the bike. The issue was traced to a faulty switch and overall suspected battery failure. They did however diagnose the issue quickly and promised a replacement battery however it’s July 19th and still no time frame on a replacement…
The next issue is a failing pedal assist problem where the motor simply doesn’t provide any assistance after about 8km or so of riding. It initially can be over come by flicking the throttle but before long it’s a constant battle to overcome the heavy bike with no PA to help. They provided a new torque sensor but after having serious issues finding any shop to agree to work on the bike it was damaged on the install, thus leading to a 3rd torque sensor replacement attempt. Finally through trial and error was installed properly however the problem remained. I’ve since had every component (wiring harness, screen, throttle, control pad, torque sensor, motor) on the bike shipped to me in an attempt to fix the issues.
In all honesty I’ve been very frustrated with the process. As nice as they’ve been I didn’t spend about $4000 CAD for an ebike to rebuild it from scratch and have constant issues. I’ve ridden many ebikes now from different manufacturers and I’m sad to say most have been better. Yes the individual components seem good quality but the overall quality when all these parts come together is not as it should be in my experience. I’ve pushed for a replacement bike but they will not oblige so I’m left to continue to replace parts and in doing so am left with a bike that falls further away from the high quality I thought I was getting.
That all said, I am a Canadian customer and because of the importing process and shipping costs I would highly recommend if you’re Canadian do not buy this bike thinking you’re getting something better than most other companies. From the extra costs associated with purchase and technical problems that are present, unless you don’t mind spending more time fixing/diagnosing problems than riding, find a local company to buy from instead and save the frustration that I am still going through…. I feel it is also very important to share just how difficult it is to have this bike worked on by an ebike shop! That was a stipulation I discussed with Bolton before I bought the bike. I asked them “will you cover the cost of doing work on the bike by local shops if need be” which they said yes, however… In the Vancouver BC area I went through over a dozen ebike stores, among them were the bigger brands, and none would even attempt to touch this bike for liability reasons! Several days of calling around I was finally able to find a small “mom and pop” place that could help. But this bike isn’t as easy to work on as it appears and they had problems figuring things out as well.
So I’m sorry to burst any bubbles of high expectation if there are any, which if you were like me watching all of Kyle’s videos on the Blackbird I’m sure there were, but I felt like I needed to have read this review before I bought this bike and suffered the major disappointment that I have because of it.
Happy riding!
john peck
Well-Known Member
You might take a peek at the ET720 from leoncycle, seems to be the type & price range you are looking at.
