Saratoga Dave
Well-Known Member
I bought this from a local bike shop August 24 after a chance meeting with a woman riding an eJoe Anggun a few days earlier who was very enthusiastic about her bike and the shop as well. I had test ridden the excellent Pedego City Commuter prior and loved it, but was more interested in something more like a mountain bike in appearance and geometry. I thought about the Pedego Ridge Rider, but I believe that is a torque sensor system and I was looking for cadence. Along came the Koda, I tried one and bought it on the spot.
So I rolled past 700 miles this morning on the gorgeous Warren County Bike Path in Lake George and I guess it's time to pass along some impressions for anyone else out there thinking about it.
I love this bike. I have ridden it a good bit without any assistance at all along various sections of the Erie Canal railway, and it behaves just fine, but when you hit the power button you can just feel it come alive. Only way to describe it, it is like a living thing. Handles very well, and has that great sense that it is pulling you along when you increase the boost for a hill or to cruise a little faster. Obviously the assistance is more of a push, but the sensation is completely one of being pulled onward. It's very cool, and I guess that is common across most of these types of bikes.
Mine is the 36 watt 14 amp battery, which once I learned how to ride the thing, has been completely up to the task. I am not exactly svelte anymore at 65, but I was a long time touring bike rider back in the day and on this thing I feel I'm back in the game again. We have no shortage of hills around here near the southern end of the Adirondacks and it has shown itself to be very capable. I would love to have the 48 volt battery (mine is a 2015 model, the 2o16s have that stronger battery), but again, having learned how it behaves, this is fine. I'm going to be riding it around the Lake Placid/Saranac Lake area most of next week and have learned I don't need to fear those hills as long as I'm willing to do my part of the work. Nowadays I go out of my way looking for hills because it is just so satisfying to be able to get up them with some effort on the big ones. Like the old days!
For some weird reason eJoe hid assist level 4. On the console the up button only takes you from 1 to 2 to 3. I saw Court's video on the Koda and could see that Level 4 indicator, but for the first few days I couldn't find it and I wondered what the hell was going on. Turns out you have to hit the power on/off button briefly to get Assist 4! Hitting it again toggles you between 4 and 2. Heaven knows why they did that, but I was a very happy rider once I discovered that extra level of go power. I went right back to a few tough hills that had given me considerable difficulty and found I could now get over them.
I don't know what their logic is on that, and I wonder how many Koda users there are out there who think their bike only has three levels of assistance.
And of course, the more you ride, the stronger you get, and after all these miles I find I can really eat up some of the stuff that was pretty challenging when I started out on this thing, so that's a plus as well.
Nice rear rack to hang the panniers on. The advertised USB charger port does not work - it isn't even connected, I have found, since they apparently had early issues of allegedly burning out a few phones. No problem, I got two of those nice Gem stick USB battery chargers and gorilla taped them to the down tube right above the battery. Now I can run LogMyRide or whatever else for many hours on my iPhone.
I may try a set of slightly swept back handlebars since I'm starting to experience that tennis elbow thing others have reported on straight bars. I do really like the flared grips that the bike came with, though. I found if I rotate them up just a bit, it is quite a lot more comfortable on 30 to 40 mile trips.
Which brings me to the battery indicator. I still haven't really learned to trust this one. It uses the visual sort of barber pole, which changes as you increase the load - I guess it's basically a voltmeter. After 20 miles or so, when climbing a hill in Assist 3 or 4, the visual will bottom right out and even blank itself on the screen, but the power keeps coming and when I get to the end of the ride the battery itself will still show me two or even three of the four light indicators. I've never had it go below 2, and I've done plenty of 30 mile plus rides. Therefore, even though it scares the hell out of me sometimes near the end of a ride when I know I've got some distance and/or hills remaining, it always seems to get me back. I do plan on buying a second battery since I find I love the distance riding.
Once you get on this thing on a good day, you just never want to get off! I don't know a better recommendation.
That Pedego Ridge Rider would be great as would a bunch of other choices out there, but this bike was under $2000 brand new and came with a bunch of very good features. I am loving riding it. My wife, as a point of comparison, is loving her new City Commuter as well, and I love that we can ride together. However, out on my own on a good rolling road or bike path, I really enjoy revving it up and getting a good workout on this thing, and it is a great partner in that effort. Highly recommended.
So I rolled past 700 miles this morning on the gorgeous Warren County Bike Path in Lake George and I guess it's time to pass along some impressions for anyone else out there thinking about it.
I love this bike. I have ridden it a good bit without any assistance at all along various sections of the Erie Canal railway, and it behaves just fine, but when you hit the power button you can just feel it come alive. Only way to describe it, it is like a living thing. Handles very well, and has that great sense that it is pulling you along when you increase the boost for a hill or to cruise a little faster. Obviously the assistance is more of a push, but the sensation is completely one of being pulled onward. It's very cool, and I guess that is common across most of these types of bikes.
Mine is the 36 watt 14 amp battery, which once I learned how to ride the thing, has been completely up to the task. I am not exactly svelte anymore at 65, but I was a long time touring bike rider back in the day and on this thing I feel I'm back in the game again. We have no shortage of hills around here near the southern end of the Adirondacks and it has shown itself to be very capable. I would love to have the 48 volt battery (mine is a 2015 model, the 2o16s have that stronger battery), but again, having learned how it behaves, this is fine. I'm going to be riding it around the Lake Placid/Saranac Lake area most of next week and have learned I don't need to fear those hills as long as I'm willing to do my part of the work. Nowadays I go out of my way looking for hills because it is just so satisfying to be able to get up them with some effort on the big ones. Like the old days!
For some weird reason eJoe hid assist level 4. On the console the up button only takes you from 1 to 2 to 3. I saw Court's video on the Koda and could see that Level 4 indicator, but for the first few days I couldn't find it and I wondered what the hell was going on. Turns out you have to hit the power on/off button briefly to get Assist 4! Hitting it again toggles you between 4 and 2. Heaven knows why they did that, but I was a very happy rider once I discovered that extra level of go power. I went right back to a few tough hills that had given me considerable difficulty and found I could now get over them.
I don't know what their logic is on that, and I wonder how many Koda users there are out there who think their bike only has three levels of assistance.
And of course, the more you ride, the stronger you get, and after all these miles I find I can really eat up some of the stuff that was pretty challenging when I started out on this thing, so that's a plus as well.
Nice rear rack to hang the panniers on. The advertised USB charger port does not work - it isn't even connected, I have found, since they apparently had early issues of allegedly burning out a few phones. No problem, I got two of those nice Gem stick USB battery chargers and gorilla taped them to the down tube right above the battery. Now I can run LogMyRide or whatever else for many hours on my iPhone.
I may try a set of slightly swept back handlebars since I'm starting to experience that tennis elbow thing others have reported on straight bars. I do really like the flared grips that the bike came with, though. I found if I rotate them up just a bit, it is quite a lot more comfortable on 30 to 40 mile trips.
Which brings me to the battery indicator. I still haven't really learned to trust this one. It uses the visual sort of barber pole, which changes as you increase the load - I guess it's basically a voltmeter. After 20 miles or so, when climbing a hill in Assist 3 or 4, the visual will bottom right out and even blank itself on the screen, but the power keeps coming and when I get to the end of the ride the battery itself will still show me two or even three of the four light indicators. I've never had it go below 2, and I've done plenty of 30 mile plus rides. Therefore, even though it scares the hell out of me sometimes near the end of a ride when I know I've got some distance and/or hills remaining, it always seems to get me back. I do plan on buying a second battery since I find I love the distance riding.
Once you get on this thing on a good day, you just never want to get off! I don't know a better recommendation.
That Pedego Ridge Rider would be great as would a bunch of other choices out there, but this bike was under $2000 brand new and came with a bunch of very good features. I am loving riding it. My wife, as a point of comparison, is loving her new City Commuter as well, and I love that we can ride together. However, out on my own on a good rolling road or bike path, I really enjoy revving it up and getting a good workout on this thing, and it is a great partner in that effort. Highly recommended.
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