Superdelite purchase

[Muso]

Funny i was thinking the same thing, planning on bringing my expensive camera gear along and would rather not have it bouncing

Otherwise I’m 6’3’ 1/2 - so this is a good bike for taller guys? Haven’t had a chance for a test ride yet, but it would be the largest frame size for me?

I got the 56cm size, and I'm very happy with it (I'm 6'4"). This may be the first bike where I didn't have to pull the seat tube all the way up to the limit lol.

 

[Muso]

Available in selected European countries only. The name is Stormguard E+ and the e-bike is ugly compared to Superdelite! Not advocating for Giant!
I'm very glad when the people I like have bought a good thing such as a Superdelite!

Aaahh! Yes, that's the only other one I've seen! You Europeans get all the good stuff!

 

[CyclingDan]

Aaahh! Yes, that's the only other one I've seen! You Europeans get all the good stuff!

I was interested in the KOGA touring bike that CyclingAbout is so fond of, but can’t get it outside of the EU

For cars and EVs the US is the place to be, for bikes the EU probably

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I was interested in the KOGA touring bike that CyclingAbout is so fond of, but can’t get it outside of the EU

You would be very surprised to see that the Yamaha E-Bikes site is unreachable from Europe! Perhaps it is their deal with Giant but Yamaha does not sell its e-bikes in Europe!

 

[CyclingDan]

One small thing surprising about R&M is they save a few bucks and don‘t smooth over those welds. If you price it as a Cadillac it better look like one!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

One small thing surprising about R&M is they save a few bucks and don‘t smooth over those welds. If you price it as a Cadillac it better look like one!

IMHO raw aluminium welds are cool!

 

[Jay Kay]

One small thing surprising about R&M is they save a few bucks and don‘t smooth over those welds. If you price it as a Cadillac it better look like one!

It’s a strength thing. Grinding down and smoothing those welds may look better (I quite like the industrial look personally) but it seriously can degrade the strength of the weld. For a relatively heavy e-bike that I ride on MTB single track, function over form is important. The Superdelite strikes a great balance between these two design drivers.

 

[CyclingDan]

It’s a strength thing.

Then you’ll have to explain why heavy machinery (e.g. CAT D10 dozers) machinists normally grind on repair, just so they have a professional appearance for their clients. Nope I don’t buy it, if you need thickness the normal procedure is to grind bevel the edges and weld on top, which increases surface weld and puts more thickness at the edge. A simple butt joint is a faster cheaper solution, but leaving raw welds is bush league IMO. Besides which about a million other bikes do it

Not a huge deal but unprofessional cost cutting on this level in my view. The design is a touch too chunky as it is, it needs some streamlining IMHO.

 

[Muso]

Then you’ll have to explain why heavy machinery (e.g. CAT D10 dozers) machinists normally grind on repair, just so they have a professional appearance for their clients. Nope I don’t buy it, if you need thickness the normal procedure is to grind bevel the edges and weld on top, which increases surface weld and puts more thickness at the edge. A simple butt joint is a faster cheaper solution, but leaving raw welds is bush league IMO. Besides which about a million other bikes do it

View attachment 150048

Not a huge deal but unprofessional cost cutting on this level in my view. The design is a touch too chunky as it is, it needs some streamlining IMHO.

I'd like it smoothed out too, but even professional welders argue about the matter of grinding or not. I'm good either way, as long as it's a solid job. But having it smoothed out does look purty.

 

[Jay Kay]

Good luck with your purchase.

 

[CyclingDan]

What noises does it make? Any cable rattle from the internal cables? Other than the Rohloff hub, any other squeaks or rattles?

Actually I found it appears I can order the Koga Signature touring bike overseas. It has Rohloff/belt drive and hub for powering lights and phone. I like touring bikes for their practicality and carrying photography gear (lenses, filters, tripod). I want to go on enjoyable rides, get some nice exercise (I’m on a daily trailing program with my home Keiser and cross train so exercise isn’t the primary consideration but also be able to do the photography I normally do when hiking). I carry a lot of expensive photo gear in my backpack nomally - with the bike I‘d like to keep bringing that stuff along.

So I think it’s a showdown between the Koga unpowered touring bike and the Superdelite. I can carry more with the Koga, it’s half the price, but the gear has no shock absorption other than what I use in the panniers. Which I’ve read isn’t too hard a problem to solve. With the Superdelite being powered I can concentrate more on the ride and go further, but I can’t carry as much.

Is it possible to use any panniers on the standard rack? Or only a small top bag? They have a pannier rack option but I’d rather the standard rack which is part of the suspension system.

 

[Muso]

What noises does it make? Any cable rattle from the internal cables? Other than the Rohloff hub, any other squeaks or rattles?

Actually I found it appears I can order the Koga Signature touring bike overseas. It has Rohloff/belt drive and hub for powering lights and phone. I like touring bikes for their practicality and carrying photography gear (lenses, filters, tripod). I want to go on enjoyable rides, get some nice exercise (I’m on a daily trailing program with my home Keiser and cross train so exercise isn’t the primary consideration but also be able to do the photography I normally do when hiking). I carry a lot of expensive photo gear in my backpack nomally - with the bike I‘d like to keep bringing that stuff along.

So I think it’s a showdown between the Koga unpowered touring bike and the Superdelite. I can carry more with the Koga, it’s half the price, but the gear has no shock absorption other than what I use in the panniers. Which I’ve read isn’t too hard a problem to solve. With the Superdelite being powered I can concentrate more on the ride and go further, but I can’t carry as much.

Is it possible to use any panniers on the standard rack? Or only a small top bag? They have a pannier rack option but I’d rather the standard rack which is part of the suspension system.

That's quite a dilemma, between two very different beasts! I'd definitely recommend test riding at least the Superdelite, and both bikes if it is at all possible.

As for noises, there's the usual sound of the motor that any e-bike makes. Hard to describe, you just have to ride one I guess. The Bosch motor is quieter than the one on my Priority Current. But it gets drowned out by the wind most of the time anyway. My Delite doesn't have any rattles that I've noticed (it's also brand-new).

I just got back from a pleasant 17-mile ride along the LA River and I gotta tell you, having a suspension is mighty nice! The power doesn't hurt, either, even though according to the handy Bosch app, I rode without any assist for about half the time.

The standard rack looks like you can attach any bag that's made for bicycling, by which I mean the mounting rail bits look like every other rack I've owned. It just has MIK clips built in to the center area, which I happen to appreciate. It's rated to carry 44 pounds of stuff, which being German, probably means it can handle more like a hundred lol. But seriously, I didn't even carry 44 pounds of stuff when I traveled to Europe for two weeks last month. And I think the pannier rack (unsuspended) option is actually rated for less.

Sometimes the shopping is almost as much fun as the having (paraphrasing Mr. Spock), so enjoy the shopping

 

[CyclingDan]

Yeah it’s fun for sure … really about self discovering, finding out what you most want to do and how to go about it.

One big wrinkle - I live very near a California State Park I frequently hike in, the rules for ebikes appear to be only class 1 (up to 20 mph) on trails and roadways. The Superdelite is 28 mph assist - Class 3, correct? If so, darn, there’s some great cycling there but it seems like this bike isn’t allowed. Arg ….

 

[Muso]

Yeah it’s fun for sure … really about self discovering, finding out what you most want to do and how to go about it.

One big wrinkle - I live very near a California State Park I frequently hike in, the rules for ebikes appear to be only class 1 (up to 20 mph) on trails and roadways. The Superdelite is 28 mph assist - Class 3, correct? If so, darn, there’s some great cycling there but it seems like this bike isn’t allowed. Arg ….

I ride my Class 3 anyway - and just go slowly. There's really no way for anyone to tell the difference, unless one goes flying by at warp speed!

 

[CyclingDan]

Yeah, I hear you, but honestly not for me. I don’t want to look like a jerk if a Ranger did notice. Not passing judgements here! But a story … I hiked from Tahoe to Yosemite in a once-in-a-lifetime hike when I was younger, anyway when we finally ended up in the valley we ran into a guy showing off for his family by dropping stuff over a bridge to watch it go downstream - we were pretty disgusted to see him messing around like that in the valley, after we had ‘left no trace’ in the backcountry. Later, we saw him getting lectured by a Ranger for it which was pure schadenfreude … anyhow ebikes aren’t allowed in National Parks at all and I don’t want to ignore the rules which are there for a good reason, rules aren’t made just for other people (again not passing judgement on this forum - this is just my moral compass).

Well anyhow that tilts heavily at the unpowered bike for now, and it’s better way to ease into it. And, I’m very very likely to get the ebike sometime later for public roads and such. So with both bikes I’ll have total flexibility.

 

[Muso]

No worries. I do it because as long as I go slow, and I always do, it may as well be Class 1. The speed of assist is the only difference (and you can get a Class 1 Superdelite). Unless e-bikes of any kind are not allowed, which is a bummer, but I'll stay out if that's the case.

But yes, both bikes would certainly solve all the problems!

 

[sammcneill]

Yeah, I hear you, but honestly not for me. I don’t want to look like a jerk if a Ranger did notice. Not passing judgements here! But a story … I hiked from Tahoe to Yosemite in a once-in-a-lifetime hike when I was younger, anyway when we finally ended up in the valley we ran into a guy showing off for his family by dropping stuff over a bridge to watch it go downstream - we were pretty disgusted to see him messing around like that in the valley, after we had ‘left no trace’ in the backcountry. Later, we saw him getting lectured by a Ranger for it which was pure schadenfreude … anyhow ebikes aren’t allowed in National Parks at all and I don’t want to ignore the rules which are there for a good reason, rules aren’t made just for other people (again not passing judgement on this forum - this is just my moral compass).

Well anyhow that tilts heavily at the unpowered bike for now, and it’s better way to ease into it. And, I’m very very likely to get the ebike sometime later for public roads and such. So with both bikes I’ll have total flexibility.

For what it’s worth, I’ve gone down a similar pathway and have a couple of e-bikes (R&M SuperCharger 2 as a daily ride / commuter / car replacement) and a Specialized Turbo Levo eMTB) and recently added a gravel / touring bike for longer, unpowered adventures.

I’m not familiar with the KOGA specifically, but if I was planning on carrying heavy / expensive camera gear and I wasn’t going overnight / multi day without an easy place to charge,I’d pick the R&M eBike over the touring.

Some blogs of my setups:

Overall decision making process:

Reflections On Owning A Riese & Muller SuperCharger 2 eBike

eBikes are a big investment and there is growing choice - in this blog post I share my selection journey towards the Riese & Muller SuperCharger 2

samuelmcneill.com

Overnight with all camping gear etc:

Waitangi Weekend eBike Wandering – February 2021

Sharing my eBike Touring journey around Banks Peninsula on Waitangi Weekend 2021

samuelmcneill.com

Intro to gravel / touring bike:

Off Topic: My Soma Wolverine “Do Anything” Bike

Having completed my first custom bike build using the Soma Wolverine v4 frame, I want to share the journey, the value of a great local bike shop, and the joy of riding something you designed!

samuelmcneill.com

Multi day experience on it:

Tour Aotearoa: 6 Days 5 Nights In Lower North Island – December 2022 (+ bonus 2 days in South Island!)

A summary of my 6 days of bikepacking on the Tour Aotearoa trail as I wound my way north from Wellington to Levin via a dirty detour (Plus a bonus 2 days in the South Island)

samuelmcneill.com

Hope this helps

 

[CyclingDan]

It does help @sammcneill! Thanks for pointing out the writeups, I like your pros/cons on the Supercharger 2.

It’s not a car replacement for me - owned an EV for six years and getting another one before I retire. But yeah I’ve come to think I’m not likely to do any serious touring, I‘ll be working pretty hard on second vocation in retirement - it’s all brain/desk work, so need to get out of the house and unwind from a day of that. So a lot of cycling around all the nature and parks we have here is just the ticket.

You said some things I’ve been thinking about

I want to ride this bike every day – there is nothing about it that makes me feel like I’ve compromised on my selection criteria and it’s as fun to ride now as when I first bought it. But it’s still a lot of money for a bike!

Pretty much summarizes it - I’m thinking I’ll ride the R&M more than an unpowered. But it’s just getting used to that nosebleed price.

 

[sammcneill]

I’ve just lost my job at Microsoft as part of their global cutbacks of 10,000 employees so I’ve got time on my hands right now and riding the R&M more than ever and still love getting on it every time.
Put a pannier on the rear yesterday and added a couple of tennis rackets, balls, drink bottles and sun hats and e-biked to play tennis with my wife in the sun yesterday morning (benefit of being temporarily without a job!) and it was way more fun biking there and back than getting in a car.

Then took the eMTB out for a forest blast in the afternoon near the beach:

I’m also planning a “redundancy ride” on my gravel bike, a two week jaunt around the South Island of New Zealand

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I’ve just lost my job at Microsoft as part of their global cutbacks of 10,000 employees

Sorry to hear about it!