- Joined
- Jan 12, 2016
- Posts
- 758
I’ve been thinking about whether to post this review, but it does say “city bikes,” so here goes:
I never thought I would be an e-bike owner, much less a city-hybrid e-bike commuter owner. This, for me, started mostly as a lark, a diversion during too much home confinement. Why not, thought the former e-bikeless me, get something to have a little fun with and maybe ride to the office a couple days per week without sweating through my clothing and needing to shower upon arrival? Granted, the fact that the office is mostly unoccupied does give me a bit of a pass with personal hygiene and the building’s gym showers are still COVID-closed, but regardless, no one likes to be in close proximity to a stinky mess, social distancing be damned. Yes, I invented my reason to buy this, as bikes also follow the N+1 rule, so I just needed a plausible explanation should my better half get the Amex bill in the mail instead of me. Call me Ralphie if you will – I was going to get my Red Rider BB gun.
There are numerous reviews, both written and YouTube, of this bike, so I will not belabor the specs – you can find them elsewhere – the geometry, Bosch performance line motor, battery capacity, Shimano Deore, etc. I own a couple road bikes worth a good bit more than this bike and a cyclocross bike about half the price of this bike; at the price point, I think most would agree it’s a heck of a lot of performance for the money.
The use-case for this bike is quite broad, which I found appealing. City commuter, check. Weekend runabout, check. With kids around the neighborhood, check. Light grocery getter with pannier bags, check. Vacation beach crusier, check. Extra exercise machine, but outside, with a pick-your-effort button, check. Smile producer, check, in spades. This is the bike I want to ride everyday, regardless of what I am doing, or rather, need to do. Granted, it is new to me and newness helps. I’ve only had it for 7 days and 112 miles so far. Like anything else we get into, we could eventually lose interest, and this is no exception. The only thing I would say in response to such an argument is that because the bike can pretty much do anything on pavement and perhaps very light off-road, there aren’t too many reasons not to grab it and go do one of those things.
One thing I found lacking in the reviews I studied at length before taking the plunge is discussion of the ride quality. I may have missed it, but most of what I saw discussed all the specs I stated earlier I would not be covering in this review. The ride experience, in a word, is sturdy. This is not a flickable bike, as it weighs in at almost 60 pounds in the 53cm variant, before bags, locks, and rider. This is the Danner Mountain Light of e-bikes, the full leather version, well broken-in and, therefore, familiar, but instead of putting those boots on to head to the trails, you grab them with your favorite jeans and fleece to head to the store. It reminds me of my mid-size SUV with the 3 pointed star on the grill – solid, planted, sure-footed, but if you hit the right buttons and apply the right input, it will scoot. I wouldn’t call it nimble, but it doesn’t mind being tipped sideways for a bit of light counter steering and you can guide it quickly around the pothole you saw too late, as their ain’t no way you’re bunny hopping the thing. I am at least passingly aware of the fact that this is a ski site, so there should be a ski analogy too. Is there a Volkl or Kastle you can ride on any day on groomed or light crud terrain and pay virtually no attention to until you want to, and then you can take it up several notches? If so, that is this bike.
In keeping with the theme, time for a couple dislikes. This bike is heavier than all hell, especially when my panniers are loaded with laptops, locks, and the gigantic charger, which you don’t really need to carry unless you plan on exceeding 30 miles while on Sport or Turbo mode. I’ve stopped carrying my charger and leave it in the garage for an overnight charge. Also, while the battery integrated in the downtube is nice, it also creaks when in bumpy terrain, which I find annoying. I much prefer silent bikes. One additional small complaint – the integrated lights are good, but I wish there was a way to set the front and rear to strobe mode for more visibility to cars. As it is, the front and rear are either always on or always off. That’s about it, honestly.
So, who’s this bike for? Everyone. Large or small, heavy or thin, young or old. My 9 year old has ridden it on turbo mode as has my social security-eligible receptionist. If you want to ride a bike, and want to ride more often in more situations but find yourself wondering whether you’re up to putting in the “effort” to ride, this is the bike for you.
Who’s this bike not for? People who, like former me, believed that biking in whatever form was a thing that you go do somewhere instead of a means of conveyance and/or a lifestyle. And it’s also not for people who are hung up on the question of whether e-biking is cheating, or perhaps more importantly, people who still give a damn whether the stranger on the corner who sees them on an e-bike will think they are cheaters.
I’d add pictures, but again, they are all over the internet. Thanks for reading, and stay safe out there.
Ok, maybe just one pic with the kind request you ignore my cluttered garage – I’ve been out riding and ignoring the Honey Do list.
I never thought I would be an e-bike owner, much less a city-hybrid e-bike commuter owner. This, for me, started mostly as a lark, a diversion during too much home confinement. Why not, thought the former e-bikeless me, get something to have a little fun with and maybe ride to the office a couple days per week without sweating through my clothing and needing to shower upon arrival? Granted, the fact that the office is mostly unoccupied does give me a bit of a pass with personal hygiene and the building’s gym showers are still COVID-closed, but regardless, no one likes to be in close proximity to a stinky mess, social distancing be damned. Yes, I invented my reason to buy this, as bikes also follow the N+1 rule, so I just needed a plausible explanation should my better half get the Amex bill in the mail instead of me. Call me Ralphie if you will – I was going to get my Red Rider BB gun.
There are numerous reviews, both written and YouTube, of this bike, so I will not belabor the specs – you can find them elsewhere – the geometry, Bosch performance line motor, battery capacity, Shimano Deore, etc. I own a couple road bikes worth a good bit more than this bike and a cyclocross bike about half the price of this bike; at the price point, I think most would agree it’s a heck of a lot of performance for the money.
The use-case for this bike is quite broad, which I found appealing. City commuter, check. Weekend runabout, check. With kids around the neighborhood, check. Light grocery getter with pannier bags, check. Vacation beach crusier, check. Extra exercise machine, but outside, with a pick-your-effort button, check. Smile producer, check, in spades. This is the bike I want to ride everyday, regardless of what I am doing, or rather, need to do. Granted, it is new to me and newness helps. I’ve only had it for 7 days and 112 miles so far. Like anything else we get into, we could eventually lose interest, and this is no exception. The only thing I would say in response to such an argument is that because the bike can pretty much do anything on pavement and perhaps very light off-road, there aren’t too many reasons not to grab it and go do one of those things.
One thing I found lacking in the reviews I studied at length before taking the plunge is discussion of the ride quality. I may have missed it, but most of what I saw discussed all the specs I stated earlier I would not be covering in this review. The ride experience, in a word, is sturdy. This is not a flickable bike, as it weighs in at almost 60 pounds in the 53cm variant, before bags, locks, and rider. This is the Danner Mountain Light of e-bikes, the full leather version, well broken-in and, therefore, familiar, but instead of putting those boots on to head to the trails, you grab them with your favorite jeans and fleece to head to the store. It reminds me of my mid-size SUV with the 3 pointed star on the grill – solid, planted, sure-footed, but if you hit the right buttons and apply the right input, it will scoot. I wouldn’t call it nimble, but it doesn’t mind being tipped sideways for a bit of light counter steering and you can guide it quickly around the pothole you saw too late, as their ain’t no way you’re bunny hopping the thing. I am at least passingly aware of the fact that this is a ski site, so there should be a ski analogy too. Is there a Volkl or Kastle you can ride on any day on groomed or light crud terrain and pay virtually no attention to until you want to, and then you can take it up several notches? If so, that is this bike.
In keeping with the theme, time for a couple dislikes. This bike is heavier than all hell, especially when my panniers are loaded with laptops, locks, and the gigantic charger, which you don’t really need to carry unless you plan on exceeding 30 miles while on Sport or Turbo mode. I’ve stopped carrying my charger and leave it in the garage for an overnight charge. Also, while the battery integrated in the downtube is nice, it also creaks when in bumpy terrain, which I find annoying. I much prefer silent bikes. One additional small complaint – the integrated lights are good, but I wish there was a way to set the front and rear to strobe mode for more visibility to cars. As it is, the front and rear are either always on or always off. That’s about it, honestly.
So, who’s this bike for? Everyone. Large or small, heavy or thin, young or old. My 9 year old has ridden it on turbo mode as has my social security-eligible receptionist. If you want to ride a bike, and want to ride more often in more situations but find yourself wondering whether you’re up to putting in the “effort” to ride, this is the bike for you.
Who’s this bike not for? People who, like former me, believed that biking in whatever form was a thing that you go do somewhere instead of a means of conveyance and/or a lifestyle. And it’s also not for people who are hung up on the question of whether e-biking is cheating, or perhaps more importantly, people who still give a damn whether the stranger on the corner who sees them on an e-bike will think they are cheaters.
I’d add pictures, but again, they are all over the internet. Thanks for reading, and stay safe out there.
Ok, maybe just one pic with the kind request you ignore my cluttered garage – I’ve been out riding and ignoring the Honey Do list.
