flynbulldog
New Member
The Haibike fullseven 9 is my first ebike and my first bicycle in over 20 years. Just to give you some background on where I’m coming from so that you can evaluate whether my experiences and opinions relate to you I’m not a cyclist and frankly I’ve not had an interest in bikes since I was a kid. I started riding motorcycles at the age of 10 and raced motocross at 14. During that time I had a few off road racing bicycles and enjoyed riding in the dirt with friends. I also worked at a bike shop for a couple of years as a tech. So I have some off-road riding experience and ability. I still ride motorcycles and own several currently. The availability of an ebike has made me curious and naturally I was drawn to off road style bikes.
I purchased the fullseven from a discount retailer online. I’m not supposed to mention this company on the forum because they sell at below MAP pricing so if you want to know more about them contact me privately. This company has a brick and mortar location (or 2) in the US and I called and talked to one of the sales guys there. We talked for a while about my needs and concluded that the fullseven was as close as possible to what I wanted. He assured me that the bike would be adjusted and set up for my height and weight (adjusting the suspension settings) and ready to ride with minimal effort. The price was right and shipping was free so I dived in.
The bike arrived about 2 weeks later in perfect condition. It was packed well and there wasn’t a scratch on it. It took me about 30 minutes to unpack it and about 15 minutes to put it together. But, it wasn’t adjusted or set-up very well so I spent another couple of hours tuning everything including the derailleur. I got it shifting perfectly and tuned all of the contact points to suit me and the bike felt fantastic. One of the reasons I was drawn to Haibike in the first place was the paintwork and the bike in front of me was beautifully finished and of exceptional quality. It’s a bike you can just sit and appreciate.
I’ve had the bike for several weeks now and I believe I’ve learned something: my true needs are different from what my fantasies told me I needed. After taking several single track trails it seems that I actually just enjoy gravel and asphalt a little more than trying to be “Mr trickster” off-road. So maybe a full suspension bike was not necessary. Which leads me to my biggest gripe about the bike; the Bosch power system requires an idler sprocket in order to work with the rear suspension but the sprocket and its chain guide are constantly rubbing the chain and making noise – cheap, awful, hideous noise, embarrassing noise. I called the dealer and they said it’s normal and gave me some ideas about how to minimize it but said it cannot be fully eliminated. I implemented their fixes and it did minimize the clatter somewhat but they were right - it cannot be eliminated. So not only do I have a bike that is a little more substantial than I really needed but that choice is causing an irritation that could have been avoided with a hard tail bike.
Aside from the chain noise how does it ride? The Bosch speed power unit is not as strong as I would like for some of the steeper climbs but most of the time I keep it on the “tour” setting giving me just enough boost to make the ride enjoyable without a ton of noticeable help. I have had the bike up to about 36 mph on an on-road downhill section and the motor assistance does peter off starting at about 24 or 25 mph. overall the bike is a little more clunky than I expected at this price point ($5200 msrp) but it’s solid and the tires grip like mad in the dirt.
If I could start over I’d be more realistic about my needs. At some point I’ll probably put a set of less aggressive tires on it to smooth out the ride since I’m not spending a lot of time on the gnarly trails so far. The Haibike fullseven S 9.0 is a really well built and beautiful bike with a little less motor and a little more suspension than I needed, but it’s a bike that should last and give me great service for years.
I purchased the fullseven from a discount retailer online. I’m not supposed to mention this company on the forum because they sell at below MAP pricing so if you want to know more about them contact me privately. This company has a brick and mortar location (or 2) in the US and I called and talked to one of the sales guys there. We talked for a while about my needs and concluded that the fullseven was as close as possible to what I wanted. He assured me that the bike would be adjusted and set up for my height and weight (adjusting the suspension settings) and ready to ride with minimal effort. The price was right and shipping was free so I dived in.
The bike arrived about 2 weeks later in perfect condition. It was packed well and there wasn’t a scratch on it. It took me about 30 minutes to unpack it and about 15 minutes to put it together. But, it wasn’t adjusted or set-up very well so I spent another couple of hours tuning everything including the derailleur. I got it shifting perfectly and tuned all of the contact points to suit me and the bike felt fantastic. One of the reasons I was drawn to Haibike in the first place was the paintwork and the bike in front of me was beautifully finished and of exceptional quality. It’s a bike you can just sit and appreciate.
I’ve had the bike for several weeks now and I believe I’ve learned something: my true needs are different from what my fantasies told me I needed. After taking several single track trails it seems that I actually just enjoy gravel and asphalt a little more than trying to be “Mr trickster” off-road. So maybe a full suspension bike was not necessary. Which leads me to my biggest gripe about the bike; the Bosch power system requires an idler sprocket in order to work with the rear suspension but the sprocket and its chain guide are constantly rubbing the chain and making noise – cheap, awful, hideous noise, embarrassing noise. I called the dealer and they said it’s normal and gave me some ideas about how to minimize it but said it cannot be fully eliminated. I implemented their fixes and it did minimize the clatter somewhat but they were right - it cannot be eliminated. So not only do I have a bike that is a little more substantial than I really needed but that choice is causing an irritation that could have been avoided with a hard tail bike.
Aside from the chain noise how does it ride? The Bosch speed power unit is not as strong as I would like for some of the steeper climbs but most of the time I keep it on the “tour” setting giving me just enough boost to make the ride enjoyable without a ton of noticeable help. I have had the bike up to about 36 mph on an on-road downhill section and the motor assistance does peter off starting at about 24 or 25 mph. overall the bike is a little more clunky than I expected at this price point ($5200 msrp) but it’s solid and the tires grip like mad in the dirt.
If I could start over I’d be more realistic about my needs. At some point I’ll probably put a set of less aggressive tires on it to smooth out the ride since I’m not spending a lot of time on the gnarly trails so far. The Haibike fullseven S 9.0 is a really well built and beautiful bike with a little less motor and a little more suspension than I needed, but it’s a bike that should last and give me great service for years.
