new to everything- momentum vida e plus step through

[lizzie]

Hi everyone, I just ordered 2 bikes after a quick happy test ride. I only tested this one bike and prior to that I rode a citibike and a Joco bike rental. im 61 and 5'1. I was looking for pedal assist only, small frame, step through. my daughter is even shorter and has autism and needs small frame step through. I need to bring her wherever I go for the most part! she was afraid of an e-bike due to the heavy resistance when no power on a citibike. I may have been too quick to buy but the rest ride was amazing and I went local. I asked about price matching and he went from the 3200 quote to 2500 based on sale prices. I have a lot of questions, should I have got a 1000 dollar bike, should I have bought one with a throttle etc. also I am now looking at racks and I have a 800 quote on a Thule t2 pro. I have an old toyota corolla with 100k miles but I expect to use it for 200k more lol. I bought lights right away but that's it for now. I cant find anything on momentum vida online! I do have great experience with Giant non-electric bikes. can anyone advise about this bike, the rack, and anything else. the shop advised against storing in cold garage but I have a small apartment and plan on garage. will it be stolen. is it okay to keep only the battery inside my apt. im excited and not regretful yet other than the 1k prices I see on other bikes and adv to others about getting a throttle. I know my daughter needed the pedal only and the shifting gears that I can do for her while bike is stopped. seems like the vida is custom for us but I did not shop at all. okay that's all I have for now. ))

 

[pmcdonald]

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on the purchases. I think the Vida's should be very easy bikes to live with: internal gears, punchy motor that belies it's specs, good sized battery for 30 - 50 mile range. The price sounds good and you've got the backing of a very large dealer network for after sales support and servicing. Consider making them a bit more user friendly with a rack, pannier bag and fenders.

The Syncdrive motors are renowned for being torquey from a standstill - they offer a surge of power from the get go rather than building up like some other motors - so after a few rides I'd be surprised if you missed a throttle.

Regarding the rack you might be best talking to a specialised towbar installer for their thoughts. I see the Corolla has a maximum towball rating of 200 lbs, which you would come nervously close to with 2 bikes (110 lbs total) and an ebike-rated rack (44+ lbs). It'll have to be a hitch rack for that weight.

I ended up with a Rockymounts Splitrail for my bike. It was the lightest ebike-rated rack I could find at 44 lbs, so easier to put on and off and less overall down weight. No complaints. Other racks popular with North American's are the 1up Double at 46 lbs and the Hollywood Sports Rider at 56 lbs. The Thule you are looking at gets a lot of love but it's heavy at 53 lbs and one of the more expensive offerings (along with the Kaut NV2). Again, get some advice on the maximum weight.

The Vida has a removable battery and yes, it is advised you store the battery inside if you live in a cold climate. The rest of the bike will be fine in the garage. Will it be stolen? That depends on how safe your garage is. Thieves can cut through anything but a bike without a battery is a less attractive target. Consider adding the bikes to your contents insurance if that's an option. Adding mine didn't do much to my overall insurance cost. Mine only covers the bikes if stolen from my home, not out and about.

Only other advice would be to avoid shifting gears when putting pressure on the pedals. Back off a beat while you change gears then keep pedaling.

 

[lizzie]

thank you for reply! and for adv about the gears. will do or try. that was another selling point, my daughter doesn't use the gears so I liked I could switch for her if necessary to lower on a hill. I think the bikes are about 40 lbs each so the weight should be ok but I have a lot of research to do. I called uhaul for the hitch and I need a small one for my car (1.25in v 2.0) . the bike shop owner told me with that restriction and with a corolla, my rack would be dangerously close to the ground so I have to watch for damage to rack. sounds like the rack will be heavy and so will the bikes. ill google the ones you provided. originally I thought who cares, ill ride local, but im getting excited about other adventures. I have one of the bikes, and im thrilled!!! I want to ride it to work tomorrow but I forgot to get a lock. and re insurance, do I need a rider on an existing rental policy?? why would I need to add it? seems it should be covered, but I will def look. also, there is no manual for this bike, even on momentum website. very strange. I know things are online so no paper sometimes, but not even a pdf. at all.?? its not that new of a company or bike, what is up with that. I'll see when the other comes in since it will be ordered and not stock. the guy showed me how to take the battery in and out but a manual would be nice. also even to go over the on/off. anyway!!! I spend many weekends and vaca in Nyc and otherwise LI and we have our regular bikes in the city. with the little locks and helmets etc. now I feel like I need a herculean lock! in the city there are horror stories of robberies even while riding the bike by thugs for resales etc so for now ill keep the ebikes where they are in suburban apparent safety. I want to sleep with it tonight ;DDDD ty again

 

[pmcdonald]

The Vida is 53 lbs (source: https://www.theproscloset.com/products/2021-momentum-vida-e-500-lds-20mph-s-red-1). The cheaper, weaker hub motor Momentum Voya is closer to 40 lbs so maybe that was what you had in mind? Anyway, you can lose about 12 lbs per bike by removing the battery before putting it on the rack.

Bike security can be an expensive exercise. This one has lots of fans but remember, anything can be broken if the thief is given the time and the lack of witnesses. I can't advise much as I don't leave my bikes unattended in public, but if I do have to lock them up in a secure shared bike hub I use a combination of a Abus Bordo 6000 and a hefty ulock.

There are plenty of threads here and elsewhere on best practice bike security (ie. park within view of CCTV, take the battery with you if possible, use a combination of locks, hide a tracking device on it like an Apple tile thingy, etc). They're ultimately tools to enjoy, so it's balancing anxiety around theft with the pleasure of the bikes taking you places.

By insurance I simply meant adding the bike to your home contents policy if you have one. Some insurers require bigger ticket items being listed. Mine does. Yours might not. Velosure and others can insure your bikes away from home but they might have requirements for specific approved locks. Last time I looked into it it worked out about 10% of the bike price per annum.

You can find documentation here if you're really hard up for some technical reading: https://www.momentum-biking.com/au/manuals. It includes details on how to remove and install the battery, and what all those little lights mean on the controller.

 

[lizzie]

Very interesting. The bike pictured with 53 lbs is 2021 I have 2022 and I’m not sure if I have the same specs on motor and battery. Hope so but idk. Also the manual on your link is not the vida. Not sure why no vida Manual on momentum website. Odd!!!

And the on off etc button config is totally different. Not the best pic but all I have on my phone rn. And I did check my hi policy and yes no coverage for ebike. I’ll have to add. Lots to think about. Ty my

 

[ganther5000]

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