eBikes

I plan to mostly cut-and-past this first-ride review to the Ride1Up page. So if it sounds a little generic (and with no f-bombs or references to girly-men), you'll know why:

First Ride (8/20/22): Green Mountain, Kitsap County. 8.25 miles round trip. Elevation gain is about 1050 feet.

First off, if you're thinking of getting this for a, quote, "commuter bike," this is going to get the job done spectacularly. 5 stars. Some of the less expensive bikes from Ride1Up might suit your needs too. But if you spring the extra bucks for this, you won't be disappointed. The only thing you'll have to do is accessorize it a bit.

But my only commute is between the beaver ponds and the bear dens. I ride off-road entirely because where I live the roads are not very amenable to biking. Some roads and routes do exist that are great. And some risk their lives to inattentive car drivers by riding to work on 8" wide shoulders, if that. But, overall, it's just not a good place to ride a bike alongside the road.

So that means mostly off-road. And in this area (on-road or off-road) that means hills and hills and more hills. And the rest of this review is in regards to how the LMT'D fairs as a substitute for, or adjunct to, a regular mountain bike. And my reasons for buying the LMT'D were twofold: One, just to try this newfangled eBike thing out and, two, because, at 64, I was looking long-term at extending my ability to ride bikes, in the mountains or otherwise. My legs and knees aren't getting any younger.

And it's a mixed bag in this regard. And none of this reflects badly on the bike but simply with what I want to do with it. And this was a first ride so there is still a learning curve.

What I would say right off is that – wow – the brakes and derailleur work superbly. I have a medium-quality mountain bike and I must say, I wish it had the same quality brakes and derailleur. And I wondered how the 2.4" non-knobby tires would handle the dry gravel on the logging roads which, because of the lubricating qualities of a light layer of dust, have become like riding on marbles. We haven't had a real rain in a couple months now.

I was surprised that it actually handled a little better than my $650.00 medium-quality mountain bike which has aggressive knobby tires. Part of this might have been that the bike shop guy (I had a professional assemble it) had the tires a little soft. I have since pumped them up a little (about 38 psi back, 35 psi front). Some of it might have been the extra weight of the bike and the superior hydraulic brakes. But it was definitely more stable running fairly straight-and-true on a logging road (often down steep hills) with a de facto paving of marbles.

As far as being able to mountain bike with the LMT'D until I'm 80, the reality is a little clearer after one ride. First, I didn't want a motorcycle. I wanted to work out. And I got a very good work out. You can basically put as much into the peddling as you want. That said, you must peddle to a certain extent. This bike is not set up for a free ride. You have to do some work.

And in this regard I'm still figuring things out. I wouldn't say offhand that it's going to necessarily save me wear and tear on the legs and knees. It just depends how I use it. I'm thinking the first modification I will do is to have the bike shop guy switch the front gear from a 44 tooth sprocket to a 38 (or whatever the typical next step down is). I'd like a little more low-end gearing. I don't need to go 25 miles per hour. In fact, it's not particularly safe to do so on these dirt roads. So a little more gearing at the low end should enhance my experience.

That said, with my normal (non-electric) mountain bike, there are 7 places on the 4.25 incline up Green Mountain where I just say "forget this" and I walk it up a hill. The route is composed of mostly a steady incline interspersed with some short, but very steep, sections. Using full assist, and full throttle at times, I made it all the way without walking the bike...barely in a couple places. Of course, had I remembered to lock-out the front fork (and had the tire pressure been a bit more), it would have been a little easier.

Still, it took a pretty full effort to make some of these hills. And it's interesting that the LMT'D's motor resembles a stallion. It doesn't really like just chugging along at 1 mph. If you can build up even the tiniest bit of speed, the horse bolts and you then really feel the assist when you need it. That is, you have to put some real effort in and then this stallion of a bike kicks in fairly efficiently and helps you.

The power output (smoothness) at the default settings was superb. The bike felt very natural and in no way was difficult to handle. I moved the power range setting from the default 0-3 to 0-5, but I think, as a practical matter, I won't need those finer increments.

My only criticism has nothing to do with Ride1Up or the bike. It's just that at 53 (or more, from what I've heard) pounds, this is on the very edge of what I would honestly call a "bicycle." That extra weight is there and you're aware of it. I don't imagine this would be particularly good for tight-curved narrow trail riding off of the logging roads. Still, that might be something I try next. I wonder if the weight will make it less maneuverable. And it's not like I'm jumping logs and doing wheelies. I do just middle-skill maneuvering of typical bike trails where the path twists and turns and is littered with tree roots. Still, at 53 (or so) pounds, that's light compared to many of the other eBikes out there.

The seat is okay as it is. I will be adding a gel-seat cover over it...the same kind that I have on my non-electric mountain bike. And the power assist number on the display is in blue and is a little hard to read. I would recommend changing that to white if Ride1Up has the ability to do that in firmware. I hope to post maybe once or twice more as I gain some experience on the bike.

Here are a couple more points that I may integrate into a second review:

Mr. eKung was right: That throttle is the ticket. I was right to buy a bike with one of those. It's like having the ability at any time to ask Scotty for Warp Speed.

The color, "sand," as shown on the Ride1Up web site, is nowhere near what I have (and I prefer what I have). A pretty close Pantone color equivalent is Pantone 410, which is a warm medium-dark grey (and this online chip looks a little lighter than it actually is). This is generally the same hue as the color shown on the website but darker. So at a glance, my bike sort of looks like black and dark grey and I do prefer this over what you see on the web site. And I prefer this two-tone over the straight black, which is one of the options when you buy. I'll take the Pantone 410 sample to Lowe's in the next week or so and get some touch-up paint made.

The bike is about 22 pounds (or so) heavier than my 33 lb. non-electric mountain bike. I had the distinct impression while on my first ride of the eBike that some of the power output was just balancing for that added weight. Yes, you were being boosted, but a certain amount of that boost was simply to bring you up to "normal."

I went to Lowe's tonight in Silverdale and got a special mix made based on Pantone 410. It looks pretty good in the can...maybe a hint too red. But close enough and who knows how it will dry?

The paint store guy suggested I use some 1-2-3 primer so I bought the smallest quantity that I could of that. Still, a guy needs some good primer laying around, right?

And the mix of the Pantone he could sell me as one of their $4.00 samples. Can't beat that. I'll let the primer dry for one hour and then put on a coat of the Pantone 410 mix.

Nice match. I think adding another two coats will also smooth it out. 

No matter what kind of bike you have, electric or regular, I recommend the SuperSo Bike Gel Seat Cushion. It goes over the top of your existing seat and generally fits nice and secure.

The LMT'D came with a very cushy seat. But after a somewhat short day of riding it on Saturday, when I got on it again on Sunday just to tool around the neighborhood a little, my but was sore, and very much so. Not a little, but a lot.

And note that I have been riding on my other bike (which has the SuperSo cushion on it already) off and on this summer. That is, my butt was already conditioned.

So I got one of the SuperSo cushions for the LMT'D eBike. It arrived today and it feels so much better. Some people buy a seat post that has some shock-absorbing capabilities. And I won't say a thing against those because they sound like a good idea. But no matter how rough I ride, I've never needed more than the simple-to-install $12.00 gel cushion. It's the first accessory to add to any bike.

I was having trouble with that link as well but thought I got it working. I find a different link to the product and updated it.



Kitsap County: Not safe (unless you drive to one of the trail areas). But I've seen lots of videos of guys demoing eBikes, and quite a few have been in Texas. There seem to be yuge wide-open residential areas that look real sweet and easy for biking.

As for the bike itself, I found it to be completely stable...probably more so than my current bike. Part of the reason is the added weight. Another is that the eBike has 27.5" wheels and my Fuji human-powered bike has 29" wheels (and a larger frame as well). That puts you higher off the ground with a higher center of gravity. It's just a little bit more unstable higher up.

But with the keen brakes on the LMT'D (my brother tried it this afternoon and was impressed), control of the bike is superb. And the wide tires (not all of brands and models have wide tires) really add to the stability as well...especially if you were ever to unexpectedly come across a bit of wet mud or even oil. (I don't think it snows much in Texas.)

I was tooling around the neighborhood tonight, doing 4.76 miles fairly effortlessly. I was in the mood for the bike doing most of the work. Wow, that new gel seat makes all the difference but I think I need to loosen the front air shock just a little. It seems a little firm.

Normally I would keep rather close to home. Where I live is extremely hill. The road ahead may look enticing but you calculate inside your head, I have to peddle back up that hill too. In fact, our office is on one of the highest hills in Bremerton. Right next door you can find the old foundation of what used to be a water tower. And across National Ave. you can still find large concrete foundations where barrage balloons were tied up. That's how high we are.

So most anyplace you want to go is up and then down. Up and then down. So there isn't a lot of fun to be had in just tooling around the neighborhood, at least if you just want a casual experience.

But the eBike allowed me to roam round and just get out. I had it on the highest assist setting because, like I said, I didn't feel like working too hard. There was one stretch of flat pavement I came onto. And I found that you can peddle almost effortlessly and hold a speed of 15 mph. In a couple places tonight (with a slight downhill assist) I got it up to 25 mph. And that felt completely stable.

I used the throttle liberally on some of the hills. And the weird thing is that it's like crack cocaine. Don't try to go cold turkey. Get all the way up that hill before letting off because when you do let off, it suddenly feels like you're peddling in sand. You can get used to letting the bike do all the work instead of most of the work. But at least I have the choice and it extends the kinds of things I can do with it for fun.

This video shows another reason I will have to think very carefully about an electric bike. There are a lot of nuts out there in cars and a bike, including motorbike, does not have any steel protection surrounding the rider. 

That said, I admit that I have always hated the way motorcyclists do not stay in their lanes, but drive up along side of cars till they reach the stop sign or stop light. I have been startled several times by such motorcyclists. I have almost turned into one or two in the past. They drive as if  there were two lanes when there is only one.  If there are ten cars ahead of them, they should stay in the order they arrive at the light or stop sign. 

The one scene in that video which I would have liked to have been a part of was the one in which the one man got obnoxious with the handicapped man on his vehicle. When he mentioned that he was handicapped, the asshole of a wife said something like, "well you should have led with that." Even after that, her husband wouldn't let it go. 

I would have torn into those two scumbags big time. 


I was going to say, "nobody can complain about that," but then I remembered that, in most instances, there is always an asshole within spitting distance.