MACS wrote:Got an e-mail saying the Lectric bike will be here Saturday.
Unfortunately... the fkn cargo baskets will ship in JANUARY.
I think you'll like it.
I use mine almost daily just to tool around town to run errands, back and forth to work and stuff. Obviously you can't use it to load up a weeks' worth of groceries but if you have a backpack and/or saddle bags, you can get most of the simple stuff with the bike. I live in a small town so everything I really need is within a 2 mile radius, outskirts of town is probably 4 mile radius so the bike serves most of my needs for daily travel. I can get just about anywhere in town in under 10 min bike ride.
In many incidences using a bike is easier than a car. On a bike you really don't have to follow rules of the road - technically you do but in the real world you don't really have to. You can go down one way streets the wrong way, cut corners through parking lots, don't necessarily have to stop at stop signs. You don't have to find a parking spot, just pull up to the store and put down the kickstand as long as the bike is not in the way of the doors.
My bike is 36V/10.4Ah, 350W motor. Most e-bikes have a governor on them that won't allow you to get over 20 mph. In my state and most states, after 20 mph the bike is no longer a bike but a motorized vehicle. Then you'd need to get a license plate, safety inspections and all that crap. My bike does 19.8 mph (governor limit) on flat terrain and easily does well over 30 mph downhill (my town is pretty hilly). I can delete the governor on my bike if I wanted to by going into the settings on the control unit. Guessing it could probably get to 30-35 mph on flat terrain but I think 20 mph on a bike plenty fast enough.
I've dumped it twice already. Once last winter when I first got it and trying it out in the snow. It slid out from under me and I ended up in a snow bank. No harm, no foul. Another time, last spring, leaning into a corner and caught some sand and whoop... no traction. That one that one led to some road rash on my knees and elbows. I need to learn "tuck and roll" defense.
The local bike shop guy has a couple e-bikes. He claims one of them can get 50 mph. That's a bit too crazy of a speed for me on a peddle cycle.