Excited to be here – Mike from EBR YouTube

[Mike.EBR]

Hey all! Mike here, and I’m part of the Electric Bike Review team—I handle a lot of the video reviews on our YouTube channel. I’ve been around bikes my whole life, from ripping around as a kid to still competing today, mostly in gravel racing. Some of my favorite days are those long 6-hour suffer-fests in the Southern Utah desert mountains—brutal climbs, epic views, and just enough Type 2 fun to keep me coming back for more.

E-bikes have been a wild ride for me, both personally and professionally. I love seeing how they’re changing the way people ride, whether it’s opening doors for new riders, helping folks go farther, or just making biking more fun. Testing and reviewing them has given me a deep appreciation for all the different designs and tech that brands are bringing to the table.

Outside of bikes, I’m a family man and help coach our local NICA youth MTB Racing team where my kids compete. I also spend a lot of my free time on another passion—Photography, and recently really diving into astrophotography. Nothing like spending all day on two wheels and then winding down under dark skies capturing the universe.

I’ve been following the discussions here for a while, and it’s awesome to see such a knowledgeable and passionate community. Looking forward to learning from you all, joining in on the conversations, and hopefully contributing something useful along the way.

Oh, and I posted a pic here of my favorite e-bike to take home on the weekends, the Ride1Up CF Racer along with a few others. Feel free to drop me a line anytime!

Cheers,
Mike

 

[indianajo]

Welcome to the print side of things.
Those of us who read 2000 wpm are impatient with the slowness of speech in videos & podcasts. A picture is worth 1000 words, however. I ventured into Utah a couple of years ago. Hovenweep, Arches monument, Mule Canyon kiva, down the Moki Dugway on Hwy 261, the Mexican Hat. Great ride, but could not fit a bike in my Elanta. Some other day.

 

[DaveMatthews]

Howdy Mike

 

[PedalUma]

Hi Mike,
Great to hear from you. I get paid to build eBikes, sell eBikes, repair eBikes and to test ride them everyday in a bucolic Coastal Northern California town. I feel so lucky. I have also done some custom builds, something like 350. Out of state people send me chains to paraffin. We got some bad news today from Ride1up. The new tariffs are already hitting and we can no longer order more of their products because the new dealer margins will mean a loss on each bike we sell. They are very high value bikes. A new Turris is $1200. I wish kids rode these instead of the moped style with the rear cut-out disconnected and with no brakes and no parental supervision. I like helping people on EBR with diagnostics and repairs. During the pandemic it allowed me to learn from real world case examples, with peer review.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

Welcome to our side of EBR! Looking forward to seeing more of your bikes and rides.

Another nice thing about ebikes: Under the right circumstances, you can flip back and forth between Type 2 fun and Type 1 as desired. And if you run out of battery doing it, you can even get in some Type 3.
;^}

 

[gromike]

Welcome, but some of us still roll our own:

 

[JGcycle]

Hi Mike, and welcome. I hope you will consider sharing some of your astrophotography with us.

 

[6zfshdb]

Welcome aboard Mike!

As far as I'm concerned, you live in God's country! The wife and I get out your way every other year or so, with Moab being our favorite destination.
We hope to do Utah again this fall and hopefully, take our bikes with us. Please post more pics of your favorite places to ride!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Welcome, but some of us still roll our own:

A nice guitar.
Where did you find the other thing? In a skip?

 

[gromike]

What! You talking about my $200 ebike?

 

[PedalUma]

Welcome, but some of us still roll our own:

When I roll my own, the wires look like this with an 85Nm mid-drive. It was a $75 starter bike.

 

[PedalUma]

On that single speed coaster brake beach cruiser (I think it was from Monkey Wards) I ran the display wire on the left through the handlebar and down the inside of the downtube. When I got another one for free I did the same but included a woven front basket with fake flowers from the Dollar Store. It sold the next day for $2200 to a designer from Arizona. With the basket you didn't see any wires. On this blue one you can see the display wire at the headtube. Quality of in-store bikes has gone way up and prices have fallen, making conversions far less desirable. That may change with the new import tax war.

 

[Mike.EBR]

Welcome to the print side of things.
Those of us who read 2000 wpm are impatient with the slowness of speech in videos & podcasts. A picture is worth 1000 words, however. I ventured into Utah a couple of years ago. Hovenweep, Arches monument, Mule Canyon kiva, down the Moki Dugway on Hwy 261, the Mexican Hat. Great ride, but could not fit a bike in my Elanta. Some other day.

It's a such a beautiful area to explore, glad you made it through the area!

 

[Mike.EBR]

Hi Mike,
Great to hear from you. I get paid to build eBikes, sell eBikes, repair eBikes and to test ride them everyday in a bucolic Coastal Northern California town. I feel so lucky. I have also done some custom builds, something like 350. Out of state people send me chains to paraffin. We got some bad news today from Ride1up. The new tariffs are already hitting and we can no longer order more of their products because the new dealer margins will mean a loss on each bike we sell. They are very high value bikes. A new Turris is $1200. I wish kids rode these instead of the moped style with the rear cut-out disconnected and with no brakes and no parental supervision. I like helping people on EBR with diagnostics and repairs. During the pandemic it allowed me to learn from real world case examples, with peer review.
View attachment 189107

That's so cool man, I used to live in Norcal many years ago in Walnut Creek, and I agree, Petaluma is so nice. Ride1Up has become one of my favorite brands in DTC e-bikes. The value as you mentioned is usually off the charts (i.e. RoadsterV3, CF Racer, etc) and thier lifestyle/commuters like the Prodigy, and even the Turris/LMTD are all really solid SUV bikes for most folks. That's a bummer about the pricing, I hope things settle down and prices can level out. Time will tell! Have any personal favorites in DTC e-bikes?

 

[Mike.EBR]

Welcome to our side of EBR! Looking forward to seeing more of your bikes and rides.

Another nice thing about ebikes: Under the right circumstances, you can flip back and forth between Type 2 fun and Type 1 as desired. And if you run out of battery doing it, you can even get in some Type 3.
;^}

Ha! Yep, sometimes the fun picks you, and you don't get to pick the fun

 

[Mike.EBR]

Hi Mike, and welcome. I hope you will consider sharing some of your astrophotography with us.

Thanks! Will do!

 

[Mike.EBR]

Welcome aboard Mike!

As far as I'm concerned, you live in God's country! The wife and I get out your way every other year or so, with Moab being our favorite destination.
We hope to do Utah again this fall and hopefully, take our bikes with us. Please post more pics of your favorite places to ride!

I Love Moab, I go z few times a year, just a wonderful place to explore and ride bikes.

 

[Mike.EBR]

Welcome, but some of us still roll our own:

Now, THAT'S a cool e-bike!

 

[Mike.EBR]

When I roll my own, the wires look like this with an 85Nm mid-drive. It was a $75 starter bike.
View attachment 189125

I'd love to hear more about this build (Motor, controller, battery bottle). looks like a sleek ride!