FIRST DAY OUT ON THE EVO STREET!
Finally a
nice day, around 55 to 60 degrees. Got the bike out for its maiden voyage. Needed to adjust handlebars and turns out I needed to increase my seat height up about 4 or 5 inches to accommodate my leg extension when pedaling, as I suspected I would need to do. That means feet don't touch the ground when stopped. I found dismounting and getting going to be just fine. It's what I have to do on every bike.
Took me half a mile or so to get my 'sea legs' going and get the feel of the settings. The bike is quite nimble with no power at all. A relatively fit person could ride it without much of any assist, but I'm not that person. My terrain contains grades up to 5%, with the average around 2% with some 3% in there. That's like nothing for you cyclists but for me I sure need the help!
I used mostly the PAS function, although I did try out the throttle just a little bit. I tried each level and with the rolling hills in my town I found I needed to be on mostly "Sport" mode and then some "Boost." Oh am I out of shape. In ECO mode I have to work harder than I thought. I was working decently hard though, my legs were feeling it and I did work up a sweat, though the cool air kept that under control. My ears were the only thing that got cold so I'll add my fleece headband next time.
I stopped a few times to adjust this or that and take swigs of water. I purchased a bolt-on water bottle clamp for the handlebars and the clamp doesn't fit with the hex screw they sent, as my handlebars are too thick (or the hex screw is too short). There's hardly any room on those bars to add anything with all the wires and the sweeping curve of the bars. The bars are not wide either (which I like) but the amount of real estate to add anything is small. So not sure if this solution will work, but I need something as I sip a lot of water when I ride and a camelback is a no-go for me.
The bike came with a bell installed on the right hand side (nice!)
A display with larger font will definitely be a necessary swap out with my over-50 yr old eyes.
I rode quite a bit on the sidewalk (
) where no one was, not pedestrians and not cars, then a bit on a bike path, and finally the road when I needed to. My average speed was around 12 mph. The sidewalks are not even so I was careful and took those slower. Tried a few little hills and felt great that I don't have to be afraid of getting back home.
As for range, the first bar dropped at 5.7 miles. I got home with the odo around 9.1 mi and it was still one bar down. I was hoping to get 15 miles on one bar, but I don't think there's any way unless I can stay in eco mode. Let's just say the rider needs to drop 30+ lbs STAT and build strength.
Did I mention I was actually kind of tired and feeling the muscle burn in my legs? I was pedaling and kept the gears mostly in the middle ring front and rear so I'd have to work a bit.
Anyway, a decent first voyage. I was out for a little over an hour, just tooling around.
