New E bikes!

[Brushogger]

14 months ago I had a knee replacement. There was a bad issue with swelling that made biking pretty difficult. 6 months later when we went to Ireland for a month, I found my lovely wife had reserved us a couple of E bikes for the day. Man we're we ever hooked! We rented some again in Asheville NC last fall and started making plans to buy us each one. We researched and test rode several brands and models. I guess you would say we are dual sport riders. We don't need full blown mountain bikes, but do need something that will hold up and not dump us on dirt or gravel tracks. Our final decision was to get the Giant Quick E+. It has a very sturdy frame, and a 500 mah battery. In the pics you can see the projected ranges in the different modes. There is also enough clearance to upgrade to a larger, more aggressive tire if needed. The pedal assist cuts out at 28mph which is scooting along pretty quick. The feature that made our final decision was the dual chain rings up front. Very few E bikes have this. Going fast on the ones that don't make you think your in a spinning class. This bike also comes kitted out with fenders, integrated lighting, and a micro USB port for charging phones etc. So far I'm really digging it! It also rides pretty good with the power assist turned off. Some of the others were complete slugs without it turned on. There is also a heavy plastic rock guard to protect the motor and electrical components. I'll report back when we get some miles on them.

View attachment 29256

 

[100acre]

Next time you're in Asheville feel free to look me up.

 

[jscusmcvet]

Will it charge overnight from a regular household plug and also from a 12v system?

 

[Brushogger]

You have to charge from 110v. The charger pulls 300w, so it should charge ok from an inverter.

 

[Brushogger]

Next time you're in Asheville feel free to look me up.

We will! We were there for the LEAF music fest. It was a great one. Hope to make it again this year.

 

[Dave]

Super cool! It's amazing how technology that only a few years ago was "pie in the sky" is now attainable for the average Joe. Looking forward to the review!

 

[100acre]

@Brushogger Have you had a chance to ride them yet?

 

[Brushogger]

Just around a mile or so. Hope to do about 40 tomorrow!

 

[100acre]

I looked at a E-Bike today at rei. It looked like a girls bike with the low slung top bar. The clerk said it's a beach cruiser style. It came in at right around $3000 OTD.

 

[Brushogger]

$3000 is about average for a good bike with a quality drive, battery, and components. I originally planned to convert our existing bikes, but that was going to cost about $1200/bike with similar drive units. We did a 20 mile ride yesterday, bucking a 15 mph headwind and some hills going out. We averaged 15-20 mph at about 60 rpm in normal mode. It was very enjoyable. My battery was at 67% when we finished, and it took about 45 min on the charger to top it off. The next few rides I'm going to start logging the data, so I can have some better info to share.