Explorer-1
Have bike, will travel
- Region
- USA
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- Boston North Shore
Does not look like a clear winner over the Juiced RCS. Some nice components,
Last edited:
Blackbird
- Thread starter Explorer-1
- Start date
Does not look like a clear winner over the Juiced RCS. Some nice components,
Explorer-1
Have bike, will travel
- Region
- USA
- City
- Boston North Shore
Oh right, not sure why i said no throttle, i watched the video, and saw where he placed it. I forgot that after the video. I guess short term memory is fading fast.
BoltonEbikes
New Member
Looks like the ripcurrent gets a slight edge on battery capacity at 19ah vs 16ah. On everything else.... 
Most surprising to me is the weight. The ripcurrent is 5lbs heavier even if you remove the battery from it. 75lbs vs 60lbs
Most surprising to me is the weight. The ripcurrent is 5lbs heavier even if you remove the battery from it. 75lbs vs 60lbsrenagade9060
New Member
Would you recommend this bike or would you recommend the rip current s from juiced?
Explorer-1
Have bike, will travel
- Region
- USA
- City
- Boston North Shore
For me personally I'd have to go for the Rip Current S, as the large battery was probably the #1 reason I went with the bike. If this is not a priority for you, then it's a harder choice. QC and Support are a couple of Juiced weaknesses, and support is likely a strength of Bolton. The SRAM components on the Blackbird look nice, the fork is likely better than the Rip Current as they changed that at the last minute and I'm not even sure what they are shipping today. There are no real independent reviews, and not enough average reviews to get a sense yet and this last revision has quite a few changes, so you just have to do your research. The Rip Current/S are proven bikes. Check actual dimensions also the Rip is a big bike. Unfortunately until the bikes get to customer hands, it seem the manufacture's weights are often optimistic. The new Torque Sensor on the blackbird has no feedback yet, so that's a higher risk. The 16Ah Battery with Panasonic cells should be a good battery. I would be changing the seat post on either bike so that dropper seat post is not really valuable, this is not a heavy duty mountain bike that needs a dropper post.
Unless there is something specific you really like, or dislike, you'll probably be happy with either bike.
New to the Bolton Blackbird is an adjustable stem. High points for that. Also dropper seat post among others. I am not sure about Juiced having this important feature. Adjustability is key to finding a comfortable fit on a mail order ebikes. Bolton might offer battery upgrades if asked. I'm impressed with Bolton. I just don't need fat tires for road or light trail riding.
Islander1 I agree with your last sentence regarding fat tires. I was impressed ascI looked at Bolton but I dont want/need fat tires and all of their models I would want are fat tires. I dont know why they seem so focused on fat tired models, I think they are losing out on a large market.
I went with Dost Kope, Sept delivery. Check it out. Has a rugged powerful setup but a little thinner tires. Can't recall the exact size right now. Good luck.
Explorer-1
Have bike, will travel
- Region
- USA
- City
- Boston North Shore
An adjustable stem is really nice, I recommend them. However, cannot compare directly to the RCS (which does not have one), because the RCS has riser handlebars and tilting them gives you some of the adjustability of the adjustable stem. If one is looking for an upright riding position, the RCS pretty much as you covered, but may not give you as much flexibility but at the same time a superior upright position.
FezUSA
Active Member
Blackbird on order for November delivery!! Looking forward to seeing some reviews soon from the August batch (think it's been delayed though?)!
Questions:
1) Comes with a dropper seat post, seems like a cool idea, but is a Thudbuster a better option for rails to trails (unpaved gravel) for more comfort? Guess there's no way to combine the two!!
2) Is a chain stay guard/ protector a good idea or a needless accessory? Also saw something called a STFU (yea really!!) chain 'guide', gimmick or good?
3) Is a rear derailleur guard a good idea or needless accessory?
4) General fat tyre ebike question, what do you do for preventing and fixing flats while out? Would hate to be 10+ miles from base and get a rear flat with not knowing how to fix or having the tools/pump to complete the process. Specifically do you carry a pump and if so what do you have?
4) For those that get theirs, what are you thinking of doing for water bottles? Something like the Topeak frame wrap to std water bottle cage?
5) For those ordering one, what other mods or accessories are you considering?
6 Shock pump needed? I'll have an incoming Blackbird, my wife will have a Stunner LT if that makes a difference
Thanks for all those that contribute, look forward to hearing from you!
Fez
Questions:
1) Comes with a dropper seat post, seems like a cool idea, but is a Thudbuster a better option for rails to trails (unpaved gravel) for more comfort? Guess there's no way to combine the two!!
2) Is a chain stay guard/ protector a good idea or a needless accessory? Also saw something called a STFU (yea really!!) chain 'guide', gimmick or good?
3) Is a rear derailleur guard a good idea or needless accessory?
4) General fat tyre ebike question, what do you do for preventing and fixing flats while out? Would hate to be 10+ miles from base and get a rear flat with not knowing how to fix or having the tools/pump to complete the process. Specifically do you carry a pump and if so what do you have?
4) For those that get theirs, what are you thinking of doing for water bottles? Something like the Topeak frame wrap to std water bottle cage?
5) For those ordering one, what other mods or accessories are you considering?
6 Shock pump needed? I'll have an incoming Blackbird, my wife will have a Stunner LT if that makes a difference
Thanks for all those that contribute, look forward to hearing from you!
Fez
reed scott
Well-Known Member
Could care less about dropper myself but others have mentioned they come in handy at stoplights. Hit the dropper and you don't have to come off your saddle. Chain stay can never hurt. Derailleur guard? Could save your mech in a fall. Flats? You better learn how to fix flats. They happen to everybody. Water bottles: Whatever my man. Everybody with air shock needs a shock pump. Lots of info on you tube on adjusting and setting shock.
Needforspeeeed
New Member
For the tires, if you're using tubes - you could use tire liners or tannus liners and slime in the tires. Nothing is puncture-proof - no matter what anyone tells you. I did see that Bolton now has a pump available that looks really handy for fixing tires on the go.
@FezUSA What kind of accessories do you think you'll need/want?
The dropper seat post will work well for getting into a more comfortable seated position when on the bike and makes it easy to get off the bike. With all that travel on the suspension fork - I bet you'd be fine on unpaved gravel and trails. I've seen that the Thud buster works well, but often a comfortable seat is all you need for that kind of a riding condition. Maybe wait until you get the bike to get into the mods.
From what I can see, you prob won't need a chain guard with this one. Looks pretty well seated.
@FezUSA What kind of accessories do you think you'll need/want?
The dropper seat post will work well for getting into a more comfortable seated position when on the bike and makes it easy to get off the bike. With all that travel on the suspension fork - I bet you'd be fine on unpaved gravel and trails. I've seen that the Thud buster works well, but often a comfortable seat is all you need for that kind of a riding condition. Maybe wait until you get the bike to get into the mods.
From what I can see, you prob won't need a chain guard with this one. Looks pretty well seated.
FezUSA
Active Member
@Needforspeeeed it will come with tubes installed so I'll run that way for a couple of weeks, and then as it also comes ready to run tubeless I will probably try that and put the tube in the bag as a backup. Will have to look at that pump.
Guess the main thoughts will be to check out the chain stay to see if it needs wrapping to protect from chain slap; looking to see how I'm going to attach 1, possibly 2 water bottles; and possibly a derailleur guard. I have a rock ring on my current hard tail and if I'm heading into the woods for riding that may need that I'll probably not be on the BB! May also look at a cell phone mount for GPS purposes as the BB will give me the option for traveling further than I would on the hard tail, as well as more likely to be going through towns etc. Will certainly be looking into a shock pump for home it sounds like.
Guess the main thoughts will be to check out the chain stay to see if it needs wrapping to protect from chain slap; looking to see how I'm going to attach 1, possibly 2 water bottles; and possibly a derailleur guard. I have a rock ring on my current hard tail and if I'm heading into the woods for riding that may need that I'll probably not be on the BB! May also look at a cell phone mount for GPS purposes as the BB will give me the option for traveling further than I would on the hard tail, as well as more likely to be going through towns etc. Will certainly be looking into a shock pump for home it sounds like.
