Starting my ebike purchase journey

Regarding class 3 restrictions, I've raised the topic before on these forums, and it seems examples of enforcement of any restriction is vanishingly rare. I faintly recall one mention, IIRC, in PA at the trailhead for one of their major bike trails, where someone was checking. Seems to me to be mostly a non issue for riders who respect others. Consider too that 20mph is plenty fast on a trail with other riders, and reckless on a mixed use trail with dog walkers, strollers and such.
 
Took a short initial ride on the Transend E+ this morning (it rained here yesterday so …). About 3 miles and it felt really good. First time back on an outdoor bike with any amount of riding since my knee surgery and felt good. All pretty flat terrain. Used the RideControl App which worked fine. Average speed was 12.5 mph as I did cruise a bit around the neighborhood at the start and end to try to understand the bike better. Top speed was 23.8 mph with full effort from me so I just confirmed how out of shape I really am 😂. Wind felt really good on my face at those speeds! Average cadence of 44 with a max of 82 so I need to work on that to be more efficient. Used 7% of the battery. We are headed up to our new home tomorrow morning to move more stuff up there and will take the bike and try it out on the hills and report back. So far so good!
 
Took a short initial ride on the Transend E+ this morning (it rained here yesterday so …). About 3 miles and it felt really good. First time back on an outdoor bike with any amount of riding since my knee surgery and felt good. All pretty flat terrain. Used the RideControl App which worked fine. Average speed was 12.5 mph as I did cruise a bit around the neighborhood at the start and end to try to understand the bike better. Top speed was 23.8 mph with full effort from me so I just confirmed how out of shape I really am 😂. Wind felt really good on my face at those speeds! Average cadence of 44 with a max of 82 so I need to work on that to be more efficient. Used 7% of the battery. We are headed up to our new home tomorrow morning to move more stuff up there and will take the bike and try it out on the hills and report back. So far so good!
Good to hear you had fun! Dumb question: do these bikes come with an actual display or do you have to use your phone screen? Neither bike I tried had one attached. But I forgot to ask! On a positive note, my bike is ready and I’ll pick it up this week!
 
Exciting news on your bike! No displays other than the simple dot LEDs on the controller. I used an iPhone with the RideControl App from Giant. It seemed to work well for me. I attached the phone to the bike using a simple phone mount that my sister gave me (ordered from Amazon) - made by E Tronic. It worked on my IPhone 6S Plus after I stretched the rubber holders at each corner. iPhone was very stable on the mount and mount was easy to install on the bike.

E Tronic Edge Bike Phone Mount - Rotating Cell Phone Holder for Bicycle Handlebar Compatible with iPhone 12 11 X 8 8S 7 7S 6 6S Pro Max Plus Android Samsung Galaxy Note Edge and LG (Rotatable)​

 
Exciting news on your bike! No displays other than the simple dot LEDs on the controller. I used an iPhone with the RideControl App from Giant. It seemed to work well for me. I attached the phone to the bike using a simple phone mount that my sister gave me (ordered from Amazon) - made by E Tronic. It worked on my IPhone 6S Plus after I stretched the rubber holders at each corner. iPhone was very stable on the mount and mount was easy to install on the bike.

E Tronic Edge Bike Phone Mount - Rotating Cell Phone Holder for Bicycle Handlebar Compatible with iPhone 12 11 X 8 8S 7 7S 6 6S Pro Max Plus Android Samsung Galaxy Note Edge and LG (Rotatable)​

Thank you for the info. Did you add anything else? I know I want a water bottle, and I’ll probably add a rear rack at some point. Don’t think I’ll want or need fenders, tho…
 
Front and rear lights and water bottle holder but on the handle bar so for small bottles only. Two Kryptonite U-Locks in case I need to leave the bike near a shop or restaurant briefly.
 
@GoGranny51

I bought my Momentum Transend back in 2020 and we bought a Vida E+ last year. I've added a few accessories, including lights, phone mount and water bottle cage. I made a few videos reviewing the bikes and going over all the accessories I've added. You can check them out if you like. Here's the link to the review and you can find the other videos on my YouTube page.
 
@GoGranny51

I bought my Momentum Transend back in 2020 and we bought a Vida E+ last year. I've added a few accessories, including lights, phone mount and water bottle cage. I made a few videos reviewing the bikes and going over all the accessories I've added. You can check them out if you like. Here's the link to the review and you can find the other videos on my YouTube page.
Thanks for the link. I appreciate all the shared info and tips you gave in your videos. It’s more than I have been able to find online regarding my new bike!
 
Update: finally picked up my new bike a couple of days ago from Bicycle World in New Orleans. It's hard to imagine I considered buying online now that I know how helpful the folks at the shop have been! The 70 mile drive home with the bike on my new Kuat rack was totally worry-free, no noise or vibration. So I'm no longer worried about the 8 1/2 hr drive to the mountains. On that note, I have kept the rack on my car for over a week now, and I plan to keep it there until I run into a reason I must remove it. For all you "Sr"riders out there, loading the bike using the ramp is easy, although my hubby has been there to help when I practiced. I play tennis 3-4 times a week, golf twice, and I cook most every night (groceries!). So I'm in and out of the back of my car (an SUV) all the time. Being able to raise and lower the car rack easily has become a VERY big deal. As to my new Vida E+, I believe it will be a good choice for me. Riding it is so intuitive and quiet, it's easy to forget there is actually a motor (until you increase the pedal assist and your pedaling gets easier as you go faster!). It's been cold and rainy here since I got the bike, so my rides have been short and primarily to try out the PA and shifting. I'm very pleased all around. That said, the real test for me will be when I ride in NC!
 
Fantastic news! Looks like we share some common interests too (tennis). I haven’t been able to ride my bike much either due to weather and a stomach flu but am itching to get it on the road soon. Enjoy and congrats!
 
Glad things are working out. Last spring, availability of ebikes in New England was pretty poor, so we were glad to snag two allant 8s, even though we paid a bit more than we wanted. Looks like things are a bit better this year. We're really looking forward to warmer weather. Here temps have been well below freezing for weeks, and often below zero. Not good riding weather. But this will change in a few weeks. After all, we're having global warming, aren't we?
 
Update: finally picked up my new bike a couple of days ago from Bicycle World in New Orleans. It's hard to imagine I considered buying online now that I know how helpful the folks at the shop have been! The 70 mile drive home with the bike on my new Kuat rack was totally worry-free, no noise or vibration. So I'm no longer worried about the 8 1/2 hr drive to the mountains. On that note, I have kept the rack on my car for over a week now, and I plan to keep it there until I run into a reason I must remove it. For all you "Sr"riders out there, loading the bike using the ramp is easy, although my hubby has been there to help when I practiced. I play tennis 3-4 times a week, golf twice, and I cook most every night (groceries!). So I'm in and out of the back of my car (an SUV) all the time. Being able to raise and lower the car rack easily has become a VERY big deal. As to my new Vida E+, I believe it will be a good choice for me. Riding it is so intuitive and quiet, it's easy to forget there is actually a motor (until you increase the pedal assist and your pedaling gets easier as you go faster!). It's been cold and rainy here since I got the bike, so my rides have been short and primarily to try out the PA and shifting. I'm very pleased all around. That said, the real test for me will be when I ride in NC!
Glad you got your bike! I have two different Kuat racks and really have enjoyed them. Had to buy the heavier duty one recently to handle the weight of our new e-bikes - can't wait to travel this summer up to Ohio and do some rides through the countryside!
 
Took my first real ride today - a round trip of 11 miles. I’m sure that the hard core folks here would laugh at that short distance. Winds were at 25 mph as we are experiencing the Santa Ana winds here in SoCal today so it was tough sledding coming home but I put it on power assist 5 and could manage 14-15 mph with just a little effort. Hopefully do better after I get in shape. Averaged 12.7 mph and used 25% of the battery. So I suspect I could get 40-50 miles range on even the toughest days with this bike right now. Perhaps better as I get in better shape. Knee held up well until the end when it started hurting a little but felt fine as soon as I got home! That’s good news for me. Privates started to go numb about half way but didn’t get worse and were fine at the end of the ride no lingering issues. Must admit I did this in sweats and no padded bike shorts just to test things out but will make sure to use proper attire and perhaps a knee brace from now now. So far so good with this beauty!
 
Looked at Strava and it had a shorter duration for the ride as I forgot to pause it on the Ride Control App. It said my average speed was 13.2 mph and top speed was 21.5 mph. Small elevation change as expected. Anyone know which one is more reliable for actual information?
 
Looked at Strava and it had a shorter duration for the ride as I forgot to pause it on the Ride Control App. It said my average speed was 13.2 mph and top speed was 21.5 mph. Small elevation change as expected. Anyone know which one is more reliable for actual information?
I always use whichever one gives me a longer ride 🤣🤣🤣!
 
Took my first real ride today - a round trip of 11 miles. I’m sure that the hard core folks here would laugh at that short distance. Winds were at 25 mph as we are experiencing the Santa Ana winds here in SoCal today so it was tough sledding coming home but I put it on power assist 5 and could manage 14-15 mph with just a little effort. Hopefully do better after I get in shape. Averaged 12.7 mph and used 25% of the battery. So I suspect I could get 40-50 miles range on even the toughest days with this bike right now. Perhaps better as I get in better shape. Knee held up well until the end when it started hurting a little but felt fine as soon as I got home! That’s good news for me. Privates started to go numb about half way but didn’t get worse and were fine at the end of the ride no lingering issues. Must admit I did this in sweats and no padded bike shorts just to test things out but will make sure to use proper attire and perhaps a knee brace from now now. So far so good with this beauty!
Glad you were able to get out and enjoy your new ride today! My longest ride so far has been one mile, so 11 sounds good to me! Been too cold or too wet (at least for me!) every day even here on the MS coast. Also good your knee seemed to tolerate the strain pretty well. Did you encounter any hills? And, if so, how did the bike do?
 
Not much in the way of hills - just some dips and rises going under roads and freeways. Also a small climb up to get to the bike path. Nothing I would consider too big though. The wind was the biggest factor. Understand that a headwind of 25 mph can cut your speed by 12.5 mph!
 
@GoGranny51 Too cold on MS coast? I was born and raised on MS coast, I'm in North Mississippi now and really miss the mild winters and flat terrain on the coast. 😜 We are supposed to have highs in low 50s this weekend and I'm planning to get in a few miles while I can.
 
@GoGranny51 Too cold on MS coast? I was born and raised on MS coast, I'm in North Mississippi now and really miss the mild winters and flat terrain on the coast. 😜 We are supposed to have highs in low 50s this weekend and I'm planning to get in a few miles while I can.
Awesome to hear you are also a Mississippian! I grew up in NO but fell in love with the coast as a kid. Fortunately, my AR hubs loved it here, also. Yes, often say I don’t live down here bc I like it cold!!! So on days like today, high temp maybe 52 with 17mph winds, I’ll play tennis instead of riding a bike! Too cold for this wimpy girl! I’m looking forward to our usual 60s.
 
I feel cold at any temp below 70, so I bundle up when I ride; gloves, warm up pants, skull cap, neck gaiter, etc. Best bit of cycling clothing I ever bought was a cycling jacket. This one has snug cuff sleeves, a flap behind the zipper to keep the wind out, zippered hand pockets, pockets on the back, it's warm and best of all it's extra long in the back so you don't get a draft on your back side when you reach for the handlebars. I wear it with a long sleeve t-shirt when it's not too cold and I can add additional layers under it as needed. Consider buying one size larger than normal as they run a little small.

 
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