Ahoy, EBR folks. I've posted a couple of times here and there, but since I now actually own an e-bike, I figured it was time to contribute something. A little background on me: I recently turned 59, retired educator living in a remote border region of California with LOTS of dirt roads. Until my late 30's, I was moderate fitness and functional cyclist. A big ride was 50 miles, usually 20-35 mile rides on a mountain bike with road tires. No suspension. I tried a couple of tours but found the experience uncomfortable enough that I didn't do much more. In my late 30's, I discovered recumbents and kinda lost my mind--taking a long, deep expensive dive into that world. For a solid decade, cycling dominated my imagination and effort with my previous life-long passions of rock climbing, mountaineering, and back packing taking a back seat. I owned and rode many different models, all with an eye towards utility and, especially, touring--'bent trikes and bikes. The culmination of this mania was two big tours: A solo, unsupported coast-to-coast, Bar Harbor, Maine, to Ventura, California in 2007, and a Rocky Mountain tour from Jasper, Alberta, to the Mexico border in 2012. That was with my wife and our faithful, now departed, hound, Django the Wonder Dog. That beautiful beast walked every significant hill and pass between Jasper and Mexico. I miss him! I will post below links to the two books I wrote about those adventures. I'm not much of a self-promoter, so this is the only time I'll mention them unless folks have questions. I'm not here to sell stuff--just share my love of cycling and adventure.
Solo cross country ride:
https://www.amazon.com/Winky-Eyed-J...id=1494356690&sr=8-1&keywords=winkyeyed+jesus
Rock Mountain ride on trikes with our dog:
https://www.amazon.com/Cracking-Spi...1498589813&sr=8-2&keywords=cracking+the+spine
Enter Ebikes:
Since retiring and moving to this remote area, especially to get access to big, open spaces and lots of rock climbing, the cycling has taken a back seat once again. We hike, we climb, I do a little cycling. We got another dog with hopes he'd be into cycle touring the way Django was--no go. He's a crazy-ass cattle dog, Patchy, and he's got severe ADHD. In fact, you could call him a ADHDACD. We always run him off leash cuz he needs to go crazy and chase EVERYTHING--lizards and jack rabbits in particular. So no cycle touring for this guy. Meanwhile, we slog in and out of this rhyolite gorge to rock climb, and the packs and trudging are getting a bit old, especially for multiple trips per week. Our friends start talking up ebikes as a way to motor in and out. Hmmm.... sounds attractive. Then my buddy gets one--a pretty sweet Haibike, full sus MTB. I take it for a run around the block and can't stop grinning and laughing. Hilarious fun!!
Finally, we pulled the trigger: Two M2S 750 fat bikes, one a step-through model for my 5'3" wife, the other an XL for 6'4" moi. Last week, they arrived. We went with this brand due to the excellent reviews for customer service and the specs on the bikes. The only down side was that shipping is NOT free. We had to cough up $200 ea. to get them from N. Carolina to Cali. Ugh. We did up-grade to the 21 ah batteries for an extra $200 each. Maybe not necessary, but what the heck.
Working with M2S was great--good people and, as we hoped, great customer service. I recommend them highly. The huge boxes arrived in about five days. Assembly was the usual affair. The front brake hose on my bike was wrapped weirdly around the frame, so I had to disconnect the front brake and reroute the hose correctly. The front brakes on both bikes had to be dialed in to avoid disc rub. Rear drs. seemed dialed in.
The first few rides have been short--and EXCELLENT! I'm super pleased with the performance and ride quality. The seat is so much more comfortable than the old stuff I'm used to that I can actually see doing some miles on it. I've motored a little on the loose, sandy tracks we have around here, and those 4.5 in tires are amazing--so stable and sure-footed. The throttle is fun and useful at times to get going, but I don't see myself using it a lot. I like to cycle, after all. I don't want a motorcycle. I read a lot about mid-drives vs. hubs. Mid-drives, like my friend's Haibike, are sweet, and the added torque is significant, but the price point was, on average, close to $1k more per bike, which seemed like a deal breaker. Also, we had/have no intention of doing rad single track. We want to cruise dirt roads to wear out the pooch, have fun, and get in and out of one of our main climbing areas. Hub drives seemed okay.
Well, I can report that hub drives will work for us--fabulously. After a couple of short dirt road rides, I took the Green Monster into The Gorge for a day of climbing. I lashed the heavy rope to the rack and wore a pack for the rest of the gear--shoes, food, water, etc. Oh, I did use a small pannier, too, for the cable lock and a couple of sun-reflectors to protect our batteries from the heat. I'm about 185 lbs. So including gear, the load is north of 200 lbs. on this bike. My main test was going to be getting back out. There's about a mile or so of moderately steep pavement that we usually just slog with the packs--not terrible, but after many dozens of times, it was getting tedious. Also, my wife is suffering from some foot issues, so the hike was working against her. So, after the day's climbing, we load up the ebikes and head out. The grade has a short section of 10--11% and longer sections of 7--9%. After all the negative stuff I'd read about "hub drives can't climb," I was a little worried. I shouldn't have. I BLASTED up that hill. I used highest assist as a test and averaged between 15--18 or so mph with very moderate effort. I laughed the whole way out. Fantastico!
I'm super excited to get out more often on my M2S 750. It's everything I'd hoped it would be and more. We've already modified them a little with Topeak Ergon grips, and I put Flat Attack in all the tires. I'll probably get suspension seat posts as well. We use a Motow ebike rack for carrying the bikes. I'll do another post on the rack soon with some pointers for potential buyers.
Hooray for ebikes! Especially PHAT ones.
Solo cross country ride:
https://www.amazon.com/Winky-Eyed-J...id=1494356690&sr=8-1&keywords=winkyeyed+jesus
Rock Mountain ride on trikes with our dog:
https://www.amazon.com/Cracking-Spi...1498589813&sr=8-2&keywords=cracking+the+spine
Enter Ebikes:
Since retiring and moving to this remote area, especially to get access to big, open spaces and lots of rock climbing, the cycling has taken a back seat once again. We hike, we climb, I do a little cycling. We got another dog with hopes he'd be into cycle touring the way Django was--no go. He's a crazy-ass cattle dog, Patchy, and he's got severe ADHD. In fact, you could call him a ADHDACD. We always run him off leash cuz he needs to go crazy and chase EVERYTHING--lizards and jack rabbits in particular. So no cycle touring for this guy. Meanwhile, we slog in and out of this rhyolite gorge to rock climb, and the packs and trudging are getting a bit old, especially for multiple trips per week. Our friends start talking up ebikes as a way to motor in and out. Hmmm.... sounds attractive. Then my buddy gets one--a pretty sweet Haibike, full sus MTB. I take it for a run around the block and can't stop grinning and laughing. Hilarious fun!!
Finally, we pulled the trigger: Two M2S 750 fat bikes, one a step-through model for my 5'3" wife, the other an XL for 6'4" moi. Last week, they arrived. We went with this brand due to the excellent reviews for customer service and the specs on the bikes. The only down side was that shipping is NOT free. We had to cough up $200 ea. to get them from N. Carolina to Cali. Ugh. We did up-grade to the 21 ah batteries for an extra $200 each. Maybe not necessary, but what the heck.
Working with M2S was great--good people and, as we hoped, great customer service. I recommend them highly. The huge boxes arrived in about five days. Assembly was the usual affair. The front brake hose on my bike was wrapped weirdly around the frame, so I had to disconnect the front brake and reroute the hose correctly. The front brakes on both bikes had to be dialed in to avoid disc rub. Rear drs. seemed dialed in.
The first few rides have been short--and EXCELLENT! I'm super pleased with the performance and ride quality. The seat is so much more comfortable than the old stuff I'm used to that I can actually see doing some miles on it. I've motored a little on the loose, sandy tracks we have around here, and those 4.5 in tires are amazing--so stable and sure-footed. The throttle is fun and useful at times to get going, but I don't see myself using it a lot. I like to cycle, after all. I don't want a motorcycle. I read a lot about mid-drives vs. hubs. Mid-drives, like my friend's Haibike, are sweet, and the added torque is significant, but the price point was, on average, close to $1k more per bike, which seemed like a deal breaker. Also, we had/have no intention of doing rad single track. We want to cruise dirt roads to wear out the pooch, have fun, and get in and out of one of our main climbing areas. Hub drives seemed okay.
Well, I can report that hub drives will work for us--fabulously. After a couple of short dirt road rides, I took the Green Monster into The Gorge for a day of climbing. I lashed the heavy rope to the rack and wore a pack for the rest of the gear--shoes, food, water, etc. Oh, I did use a small pannier, too, for the cable lock and a couple of sun-reflectors to protect our batteries from the heat. I'm about 185 lbs. So including gear, the load is north of 200 lbs. on this bike. My main test was going to be getting back out. There's about a mile or so of moderately steep pavement that we usually just slog with the packs--not terrible, but after many dozens of times, it was getting tedious. Also, my wife is suffering from some foot issues, so the hike was working against her. So, after the day's climbing, we load up the ebikes and head out. The grade has a short section of 10--11% and longer sections of 7--9%. After all the negative stuff I'd read about "hub drives can't climb," I was a little worried. I shouldn't have. I BLASTED up that hill. I used highest assist as a test and averaged between 15--18 or so mph with very moderate effort. I laughed the whole way out. Fantastico!
I'm super excited to get out more often on my M2S 750. It's everything I'd hoped it would be and more. We've already modified them a little with Topeak Ergon grips, and I put Flat Attack in all the tires. I'll probably get suspension seat posts as well. We use a Motow ebike rack for carrying the bikes. I'll do another post on the rack soon with some pointers for potential buyers.
Hooray for ebikes! Especially PHAT ones.
