I now have 80 miles on my newly purchased Cheetah (Feb 2020)
Location: Loveland Colorado - (ebikes are not allowed on soft surfaces OR if path has a sign that states "no motorized vehicles").
I bought this particular model because it doesn't look like an ebike(?). No battery is visible, therefore I wouldn't be harassed
by the police? We'll find out. There aren't a lot of ebikes around yet and only old people ride them, so I should be OK on
the bike path. I make it a point to be always peddling and don't use it like a moped for PR reasons.
Since we're locked down in our homes with the pandemic thing, I'm very thankful I've got this to ride. As I'm sure with you,
we're allowed to exercise outside walking, etc. I wouldn't ride the motorcycle as there are old white haired liberal ladies with their
hair on fire using cell phone cameras to shame people on social media when anybody they suspect is not complying.
With the ebike I'm getting exercise (peddling) and not burning fossil fuels. I'm a conforming model citizen.
My profile: 6' 185lbs 73 years old
Bike Color: Brown/Black
Purpose : Mostly flat terrain around town to grocery, bank, coffee shop, bike path, etc.
Options: 750W motor, 17.5 AH Battery, luggage rack and front/ rear fenders (Only installed the front fender)
rear fender is in storage. I found front fender was necessary after riding through puddles and having water
thrown up into my face. A must have for me. I won't install rear fender because it makes the bike look
clunky in MY eyes. It's a taste thing.
Received shipment by large truck that took 5 or 6 days from California. Box in good condition with no issues
Unpacking and Assembly: Was packaged well with no damage. No scratches, dents and everything was there.
Had to assemble/mount front wheel, pedals, headlamp, fender, luggage rack and seat. Took about 45 mins
and didn't have to make any modifications. Everything fit and worked correctly out of the box. While assembling,
I was impressed with the quality of workmanship and quality of components. No disappointments.
Physical presence after assembly: I was taken aback by the bikes' size. It's more imposing than I thought it would be after seeing
site pictures. I'd say it's close to the size of my Triumph Bonneville motorcycle. Takes up more space in the garage than
my mountain bike and requires more room to maneuver. It has right and left stops on the steering head to
prevent the forks from banging into the 'tank' when making tight turns. Nice feature, but you'll have to take several
tries to get pointed in the right direction.
Controller Display: Took some time and several calls to sales office to get it completely figured out. For instance, the instructions
tell you to set the bike parameters (tire size, battery voltage, etc.) by using setup. You enter setup by pressing/holding
the 'SET' button on the left handlebar interface control. When it enters the setup mode it wants you to enter a password. Instructions don't tell you what the password is. Had to call and they told me 0118. That worked and was able to setup as
needed. The instructions told me you could change this password. Not true. I was never able to change it. I called and they
said you can't change the setup password. Ok, that's fine.
Controller Negative: The only concern I have about the display is it looks too much like a cell phone. I'm nervous about somebody trying to
steal it thinking it's a cell phone. I was going to change the orientation from portrait to landscape, but it's solidly mounted to
the steering stem. We'll see if my fear is ever realized.
Controller Use: I've had it a month and 80 miles and still finding ways to more efficiently use it. I'm impressed and in awe of it's versatility.
The combination of PAS (pedal assist), 7 speed derailleur and hand grip throttle makes its use infinite. If I'm in level 1 assist (5 levels) and a head wind or hill comes up, I just push the "+" button for higher assist on the handle grip control and I zoom ahead. When the resistance lessens, I press the "-" button to get less assist. This is when the 7 speed derailleur comes into play. The derailleur primarily is for setting the cadence of your legs to speed of the bike. If you're in a higher assist level, you don't want your legs wind milling. This is where you shift to higher gears to stop the thrashing.
The throttle control on the grip is used for fine tuning the amount of assist. For instance, if I'm stopped at a light and I'm facing a
steep crown at the center of the road, I'll use the throttle to overcome the resistance to get to the top of the crown.
To engage the assist, you need to move the bike a distance of 6"?. I use the throttle when starting in a awkward position when it's difficult getting the crank rotated to engage. You'll need to push the bike 6" while engaging the throttle.
Battery/Charging: Of course, the battery range is infinitely variable due to you're riding style and terrain. The faster you go and more you carry, the less range. On the first charge, I got over 40 miles on flat terrain. I've found that I typically ride at 10 to 12 mph. By the way, there is a trip meter and odometer. The charging instructions warned about leaving the charger plugged in constantly and expected battery life is ~800 charge cycles. I've only charged it twice, but I run the battery down to one segment on controller display (each segment is 20%) before charging. When I plug in charger the fan comes on and continues to run until fully charged. The fan then turns off. I would guess it takes ~4.5 hours to be fully charged. I then clear the trip meter to see how far it'll take me.
Negative: This really isn't a negative for me since I don't use it like a mountain bike, but there is chain slap due to length when going over
rough terrain or curb. This is not a mountain bike. It's a beach cruiser.
It weighs 75 lbs with the larger battery and motor. Yes, I have AAA. You don't want to be having to lift it often. This is ok for me since it has a motor!
Cool factor: Everybody loves the way it looks. I've had 14 year old boys tell me it's a cool bike. People pull up next to me at stop lights and ask
me about it. Lots of thumbs up from cars passing. For these reasons, I never leave the bike anywhere NOT locked up. We have
homeless who would love to walk away with it.
