Got my Espin Flow - Short summary

[Taylor57]

Rode to work today. Here's my impressions for day 2.

Hit 14 miles on the new bike.
Fixed the issue causing the chain to clunk...the chain derailuer guard was a bit bent in... probably weight was put on it during shipping...so i bent it back and now all gears work fine and smooth.

Adjusted front fenders last night. Took me another 1hr to get it perfect. My screw placement is a little different from what I saw on the sport review video, but the fenders are tight, don't rattle, and symmetrical. I can take a photo and show everyone what works for me.

As for riding, PAS 1 goes to about 8mph, 2 goes to about 11. 3 goes to 16? 4 goes to 20. 5 goes to 22.5? Truth be told i'm just leaving it on
Top speed i've hit is 28.8mph going downhill. Top speed on flat ground is about 24mph with me on PAS 5 and trying to go hard.

My wife now wants one. I told the wife to order a sport and i'll give her my flow. I probably can assemble it in 30mins now.

Note:
I've ridden a pedego, and the throttle always works, on that bike no matter what. On the flow I just have to make sure i'm in PAS 1 if i want to use the throttle after coming from a stop.

Coworker saw my bike and gave me lots of compliments and I told her it was an ebike. She asked a lot of questions. Also got comments on my instagram story when i posted. So it's a good looking bike.

I'm happy. I live in San Francisco, so if there's ever an issue having someone to fix it is not a big deal. I mean I saved about 500 bucks compared to the closest ebike with the same specs, so that money saved can always be used for maintenance and repairs if needed.

Hope this helps you fellow shoppers

Great writeup Melon-I just bought a Flow for August delivery! Any updates on your new machine?

 

[GenXrider]

Ordered my bike June 16th, got it July 12th.

Came double boxed.

Still happy with the Espin? It has a 12-32T cassette as it was tested by EBR? I see they have a new step-through fat bike now that looks interesting with early bird pricing.

Did Espin require a signature for delivery? I'm usually not home for daytime deliveries.

Edit: Online chat said no signature required, so I guess they will just drop it off on the doorstep.

 

[Melonbike]

Great writeup Melon-I just bought a Flow for August delivery! Any updates on your new machine?

Added 60 miles on the ODO since last time. The Rides are smooth. It feels better than the pedego i rented a month ago. It's definitely faster. On flat ground, it can go up to 22mph with throttle only. I got a full face helm as i usually am going at around 15mph at miniumum everywhere.

I have an ARS bike seat on my old bike, i'm thinking about replacing that on my espin...not sure how different they are as I haven't ridden my old 15lb alloy bike for a long time.... the 15 vs 55lb makes a HUGE difference now that i've tested it.

I've ordered an ehorn....and a new Ulock and bike chain. I might get the bags to put on my bike.

Still happy with the Espin? It has a 12-32T cassette as it was tested by EBR? I see they have a new step-through fat bike now that looks interesting with early bird pricing.

Did Espin require a signature for delivery? I'm usually not home for daytime deliveries.

Edit: Online chat said no signature required, so I guess they will just drop it off on the doorstep.

I'm not a bike guy so i'm not sure about the cassette. It's the 8 speed acera shimano shifter thing.....lol. You can go on the website and ask support the question. They'll respond.

Espin did not require signature for delivery, but I was home when I got my bike. Fastest I've gotten to on flat ground with level 5 assist and full pedal is about 25mph.

I think Espin has no brainer prices...as someone who lurked on the forums for 2 months and was comparing prices, with the money i've saved, i probably can pay out to do any fixes and still be on top. The hydraulic brakes was a feature i wanted on my ebike and i think only the ride1ups had bikes with them at 1500.

 

[GenXrider]

I'm not a bike guy so i'm not sure about the cassette. It's the 8 speed acera shimano shifter thing.....lol. You can go on the website and ask support the question. They'll respond.

The hydraulic brakes was a feature i wanted on my ebike and i think only the ride1ups had bikes with them at 1500.

On my chat, I asked them about the cassette on the Nero. They could just tell me it was a 7 speed. They said they would have to get back to me, so I'll see if they email me. I entered my email address in the chat. The EBR review says the Sport had a 12-32T.

Yeah, the R1U 700 with hydraulic is about $1500. I ride mostly rural roads with minimal brake usage on my 13 year old Trek standard bike with caliper rim brakes, so that wasn't important for me for my usage, so I also like the $1200 R1U 500. Hydraulic brakes will be important to me if I get a mountain bike, though. The new Espin Nero looks very much like the Radrover at a lower cost, especially during the early bird.

 

[Explorer-1]

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No throttle at PAS 0 seems reasonable as it’s basically no power but I know some people who would like to throttle from 0.

Not having 9 level PAS is ok I just thought it might make level 1 less powerful.
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I like Throttle in PAS 0 when I'm on bike lanes or riding on some trails at a more leisurely pace, but it's not a deal breaker. No Throttle in PAS 0 is a good safety feature, I think bikes with Throttle in PAS 0 should only allow the throttle if the pedals are turning and not just a little but possible a full stroke or 3/4 stroke.

I've never had it, but I think I would find 9 PAS levels quite annoying and unnecessary, but maybe if one is using only throttle it would be good. Maybe some owners of these bikes can comment, I've seen several comments of people switching it back to 5.

 

[Explorer-1]

Espin seems like one of the nice Covid-19 Summer deals. I'm glad many have got to experience an e-bike at a good value price-point since many will be first time buyers not sure what what they want or expect.

 

[cldlhd]

I like Throttle in PAS 0 when I'm on bike lanes or riding on some trails at a more leisurely pace, but it's not a deal breaker. No Throttle in PAS 0 is a good safety feature, I think bikes with Throttle in PAS 0 should only allow the throttle if the pedals are turning and not just a little but possible a full stroke or 3/4 stroke.

I've never had it, but I think I would find 9 PAS levels quite annoying and unnecessary, but maybe if one is using only throttle it would be good. Maybe some owners of these bikes can comment, I've seen several comments of people switching it back to 5.

On my ride one up 700 series you can choose between 3,5,7,or 9 levels of assist and you can adjust the percentage of assist in each level. I currently have it on 7 levels. First two or three be pretty low assist and gradually increases but as I get towards the higher numbers I have much bigger increases set because I bump it up to that mostly if I hit a hill.