Thanks!
Additional pictures attached for those who asked.
Went out on a 1 hour ride today. It was cold (32 degrees Fahrenheit) and very windy, so the effective temperature with windchill while in motion was probably more like 22 degrees. Even so, battery is showing 27 mile estimated range at 78% charge, so down very little from the previous level. So, I’m now less concerned about this.
Further brief impressions:
1. I’m still not loving the tires. To me, it’s basically like they’re nearly bald in terms of having any real abrupt stopping ability. If I keep it, I’m definitely going to swap the tires. I’m sure some people find them to be great, but I don’t think they’d be right for me in the long term.
2. My route home on my commute entails a modest-grade uphill sustained stretch of maybe 10-15% (I’m not good at geometric estimates) for about 10 minutes/maybe a mile. I went to test that out today (on a Sunday, so that needing to keep up with traffic wouldn’t be an issue). Although I’m reasonably fit, I wouldn’t be able to *comfortably* keep up with 20-25mph traffic on that entire stretch, even on High. The motor just isn’t powerful enough: I wasn’t sweating or panting, but in trying to keep it at what felt like about 20MPH on that stretch, I was definitely putting in some actual work. (I could go back and check what my heart rate on my Apple Watch, I suppose). In contrast, my Vintage Electric Cafe will shred that hill even just at Level 3, with my contributing only very little pedaling effort. Now: this isn’t actually a problem for my use case for the Dutch for a few reasons: 1. I don’t actually need to keep up with traffic on that stretch: there’s a separate bike lane. 2. I decided to get into biking both for the exercise and for commuting, so I wouldn’t actually consider it bad to do significant pedaling effort on this stretch just for the exercise; 3. I could just ride the Cafe on a day when I didn’t feel like putting in that effort (90 degree heat and 90% humidity, for example) and 4. as I mentioned, the Dutch on High definitely *can* do this hill with the amount of pedaling effort that I’m capable of putting in; it’s just that it would require some significant, but not exhausting, pedaling effort (at least in my case: reasonably fit 50 year old male, but by no means “quads of steel.”). There are, however, many other hills around here that I would be sweating and panting to get up on the Dutch, even if it’s on High. I fully understand that that’s not what this bike is really for; just sharing it for others’ benefit.
3. In addition to the step-thru form factor, the other reason I looked into the Dutch was because of the upright cycling position. Riding in that position, even pedaling fairly hard as described above, made a *dramatic* difference in aches and pains during and after riding. In the more forward riding position of the the Cafe, I have significant back tightness and hip flexor discomfort after a lengthy ride; nothing that can’t be cured by a little post-ride stretching, but still: I have none of these whatsoever after riding the Dutch. I’m sure this is due to a combination of factors, but the difference is so dramatic that it’s at least substantially attributable to the upright posture.
4. The seat and grips that come on the Dutch are in my opinion far below the quality of the rest of the bike’s workmanship. And I found the seat - a Selle Royal Essenza - to be *very* uncomfortable. Notwithstanding the padding that it has, it is far less comfortable than the Brooks B17 on my other bike, and the B17 is just barely broken in; so I may look into one of the Brooks saddles designed for upright riding (there are a few: still doing my research)
5. The gear shifting is a lot less smooth thus far on the Dutch than on my Cafe. Might just need some time for things to loosen up/break in, though. Or maybe my gear shifting technique needs to be modified for the Dutch.
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