michaeljk1963
Member
- Region
- USA
My name is Michael (obviously). I will be 60 in a couple of months. Three years ago, I was riding along a paved trail near my cabin on the North Shore of Lake Superior on my analog commuter bike. I was about 8 miles from home. I had a hypoglycemic "incident" (meaning my blood sugar went low because I have type 1 diabetes and take insulin). Normally, this wouldn't have been a big deal. I've had diabetes for nearly 30 years. I often have to stop on a ride, eat a protein bar or some glucose tablets, wait ten minutes to recover, and get back on my bike. This time was different--maybe due to age or how long I've had diabetes. Anyway, I didn't fully recover in the way I normally did, and it was a very shaky, weak, and not certain ride back to the cabin. Later that summer, it happened again. That winter, I was contemplating whether it was time to give up on riding bikes, which I'd been doing pretty consistently for 50 years.
So, I spent that winter watching videos about eBikes. Two years ago, I bought my first one: an Aventon Pace. The motor stopped working 30 minutes into my first ride, then tried some troubleshooting, brought it back to the shop and when they couldn't figure out why it didn't work, got a refund. I know that Aventon gets very high marks from lots of different reviewers, so I am sure it was a fluke. Still, not great.
Two months later, after doing a bit more research, and reconsidering my price point (doubling it), I bought a Trek Verve+ 3 XL (I am 6'4" and decided if I am going to be $3,200 for a bike, I want it to fit me well). I absolutely love my Verve. I've put about 2,000 miles on it (I am a casual rider, mostly on the weekends, and occasionally use it to commute to the office). In fact, I loved it so much, we bought the same bike (in the M size) for my wife, and we go riding all the time together now.
I like having an eBike so much, I decided to buy a second bike specifically for cabin use. As noted in a thread I started elsewhere on this forum, a couple of days ago, I bought a Specialized "Turbo" (electric) Tero "hard tail mountain bike." I will be picking it up tonight from the bike shop and bringing it up to the cabin for the next week to see how I like it. Crossing fingers that it is as good a fit for that environment as my Verve+ 3 is for City riding.
So, I spent that winter watching videos about eBikes. Two years ago, I bought my first one: an Aventon Pace. The motor stopped working 30 minutes into my first ride, then tried some troubleshooting, brought it back to the shop and when they couldn't figure out why it didn't work, got a refund. I know that Aventon gets very high marks from lots of different reviewers, so I am sure it was a fluke. Still, not great.
Two months later, after doing a bit more research, and reconsidering my price point (doubling it), I bought a Trek Verve+ 3 XL (I am 6'4" and decided if I am going to be $3,200 for a bike, I want it to fit me well). I absolutely love my Verve. I've put about 2,000 miles on it (I am a casual rider, mostly on the weekends, and occasionally use it to commute to the office). In fact, I loved it so much, we bought the same bike (in the M size) for my wife, and we go riding all the time together now.
I like having an eBike so much, I decided to buy a second bike specifically for cabin use. As noted in a thread I started elsewhere on this forum, a couple of days ago, I bought a Specialized "Turbo" (electric) Tero "hard tail mountain bike." I will be picking it up tonight from the bike shop and bringing it up to the cabin for the next week to see how I like it. Crossing fingers that it is as good a fit for that environment as my Verve+ 3 is for City riding.
