Ebike

Thatgrimguy

I’ve been eyeballing these for years. My old Cannondale hardtail was stolen a couple years ago and between work, kids and getting older I’ve let my weight get to the 300lb range.

so I’ve been wanting to get back on a bicycle. I finally took the plunge on this overbuilt monster!! Not exactly street legal but I doubt anyone will care down here. 

The guy says on assist level one it rides like his bikes that don’t have the extra weight from the batteries and motors. And goes up to level 5 where you can hit 40mph. 

His point was if you pedal for 30minutes straight you are going to get great cardio. If in 30 minutes you could ride to the mall and back instead of around your neighborhood a couple times which are you more likely to do? 

https://www.soulbeachcruisers.com/sonic-ss/

I should be getting mine by Christmas 

Eggcelsior

Neighborhood. The mall is 10 miles and many dangerous intersections away.

I stick to the back roads around me, though it has been a while since I went out.

SciAggie

I think ebikes have a place in the world. You bring up a good reason. My wife is another example. She doesn't ride at all. I ride lots. Sometimes we go on vacation to places that have great cycling. If she had an ebike we would be able to enjoy rides together. 
I don't see myself having one but they have a place in cycling for sure. The only down side I see is folks with little cycling experience - or skills - zooming along at high speeds around other cyclists or pedestrians. They will end up hurting themselves or someone else or both.

xfire_ATX

Im giving these away as a promotion to my customers who hit a target.
https://www.radpowerbikes.com/products/radwagon-electric-cargo-bike

One of these will likely come to my house first to test assembly and quality.  We are giving it away with saddle bags even but a basket could easily fit on that back rack for runs to the store.

Just like @Thatgrimguy noted I can easily get to the 1st Grocery Store and @Eggcelsior noted getting to the next places are more challenging but as a long time biker I could pull it off.  I used to commute 13 miles each way to work on a road bike and this would have made life so much easier.  Im all for it but I doubt another person in this house will ride it.  Maybe SWMBO will if we go to the local pub but I doubt it.  I just sold one of my SS bikes, and that road bike I hardly rode since I quit commuting to make room for this monster.  By biggest issue with this one is "IF" I want to take it somewhere will the wheelbase fit my sportrack.

Gulfcoastguy

I bought a bike a couple of years ago. At one time I had gotten up to 268 but am now down to 218. I will be heading over to Planet Fitness in an hour or two. I have to be careful where I pedal if I want to arrive alive. My goal is 195 at my age , if I were younger I would say 185. You are getting started going down ward earlier than I did . One important and overlooked thing, get enough sleep.

Thatgrimguy

I guess I'm pretty lucky. I can pop out of my neighborhood and stay on a well marked bike lane till I hit the beach and then I can ride on the huge walkway that follows the beach all the way down to the mall, aquarium, parks, pubs. Whatever I may want to do on a bike.

Carolina Q

I have no interest in going anywhere near a mall! Heaven forbid!! Fortunately, I live in a small town, right next to even smaller towns so I have many back roads to enjoy! Most are like my own private bike lanes. I don't even see other bikers! Haven't needed an ebike... yet.

SciAggie

@Carolina Q That's some pretty country. I'm also blessed with miles upon miles of roads with little traffic. I wish my views were as pretty although I guess our wildflowers here in the spring are usually pretty impressive.

Carolina Q

@SciAggie, Yeah, my Fall colors only come along once a year too. Nice bike! Is that Trek's new Checkpoint SL5? 

SciAggie

Carolina Q said:

@SciAggie, Yeah, my Fall colors only come along once a year too. Nice bike! Is that Trek's new Checkpoint SL5? 

Yes. I love this bike. I ride it to school. It's wonderful on our beat up paved roads and all the chip seal - the bigger tires smooth out so many bumps. The relaxed geometry makes it a very plush ride. The decoupler is pretty cool too but I think most of the benefit is from the larger tires. I run tubeless and I'm loving it. It's almost a bonus that I can ride down all the local unpaved county roads. Now I have literally hundreds of miles of road that I can ride and see very little traffic.

It gives up a little speed to the road bike. It certainly doesn't accelerate well if you're riding with an aggressive group. The road bike is still king for pavement and pure performance but I'll often take the gravel bike now even in a  group just because it is soooo comfortable.

Carolina Q

@SciAggie, This might be of interest to you. This guy and his girlfriend rode Checkpoints (one carbon, one Al) from coast to coast (OR to NYC). Here's an brief overview of the bike with a link to the whole trip. Check out the tires too... 3500 miles, two bikes, not one flat!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBYZQUa9SNk

Cornholio

I’m all for e-bikes, as long as they aren’t ridden on trails where they aren’t allowed. Mountain bikers have fought, and continue to fight, for trail access and e-bikers who are riding where they are explicitly not allowed are not helping. The local trails I ride to from home have signs all over saying “none-bikes” yet I come across many young and capable guys riding them there. Usually when I say something to them they say that they don’t care and it’s that kind of entitlement that makes me angry.

HeavyG

I suggest going to Walmart and dropping a single Benjamin on a simple beach cruiser style Huffy and riding that around your hood for a few weeks and see if you are really going to like trying to bike ride for exercise before dropping 50 Benjamins for a bike where twisting a throttle is definitely going to lessen the caloric expenditure on your part. You just know you won't be able to resist cracking that throttle wide open.

E-bikes are great and I'm sure they'll become very popular in the US but I do hope that their top speed is limited by law when used on designated bike paths/lanes. I'm not sure where I think the speed cutoff should be (15, 18mph maybe??) but anything over that speed limit and they should be regulated like mopeds and prohibited from use on bike paths/trails.

Good luck with your program!

milesvdustin

For gravel paths, rail trails, etc I think e bikes are awesome. For legit mountain bike single tracks and such I think a big part of experiencing that is pedaling yourself out there to see it. 

alaskanassasin

I have been sniffing around these and the only advice I was going to provide is shop around because there are a lot of different options but that is the coolest one I have seen

Thatgrimguy

HeavyG said:

I suggest going to Walmart and dropping a single Benjamin on a simple beach cruiser style Huffy and riding that around your hood for a few weeks and see if you are really going to like trying to bike ride for exercise before dropping 50 Benjamins for a bike where twisting a throttle is definitely going to lessen the caloric expenditure on your part. You just know you won't be able to resist cracking that throttle wide open.

E-bikes are great and I'm sure they'll become very popular in the US but I do hope that their top speed is limited by law when used on designated bike paths/lanes. I'm not sure where I think the speed cutoff should be (15, 18mph maybe??) but anything over that speed limit and they should be regulated like mopeds and prohibited from use on bike paths/trails.

Good luck with your program!

Legal limit is 26 and the general consensus is to not use them on regular bike trails. But fine on bike paths on roads as a commuter like i plan to use mine. I know I’ll use that throttle but I spend 8-12 hours a day at a desk or slowly roaming around a car store and am doing basically no cardio. Any incentive to get out there and pedal some is an improvement lol. 

I’ve had a bike my whole life. Like I mentioned my Cannondale was only stolen a year or two ago.

Thatgrimguy

I didn’t think about trails because we don’t have any that would interest me on a beach cruiser. I’ll be riding down a 8ft+ concrete slab alongside the beach for 90% of my riding.

SciAggie

@Thatgrimguy If an ebike gets you out and helps you begin exercising I think it’s great. I’m sure you will ride responsibly. 

thetrim

I love getting out on my bike.  I’m mostly around trails in our community and will take it with me on the road when doing an overnight in a bike friendly town. 

alaskanassasin

Honest question, what’s the big deal with having ebikes on mountain bike trails?

milesvdustin

I think there is a concern that they will just evolve into electric motorcycles and destroy the trails 

Thatgrimguy

alaskanassasin said:

Honest question, what’s the big deal with having ebikes on mountain bike trails?

When my ebike can blast through the trail at 25-35 and anyone else is riding hard only hitting 7-12 on a narrow path. It would make it impossible for regular bikes to even ride if eBikes fill up the paths. And with that power and speed you would cut into the trail harder. Basically like trying to ride bikes on dirt bike trails.

alaskanassasin

I could see trail degradation as a issue but if more people are enjoying the outdoors and getting healthy... 

WeberWho

Completely random but I just looked up Shirley Fabrication and your pit comes up as their main photo for their website. I thought that was pretty cool. 

Thatgrimguy

Hey that is pretty cool!! It’s an amazing pit. I spent hours, days and weeks tweaking the trailer layout and Tyler executed it amazingly. Plus their smoker design just works really really well. I’ve raised about $56k for charity with it In The last 3 and a half years.

WeberWho

Thatgrimguy said:

Hey that is pretty cool!! It’s an amazing pit. I spent hours, days and weeks tweaking the trailer layout and Tyler executed it amazingly. Plus their smoker design just works really really well. I’ve raised about $56k for charity with it In The last 3 and a half years.

That's unreal. Thank you for all your hard work and generosity. You and Shirley Fabrication have done wonderful things. The Shirleys are big supporters of Veterans. It goes way past the smoker itself that makes me a proud owner of a Shirley Fabrication smoker.

I think they chose the perfect pit and person to represent their business. A truly wonderful thing you have done. Thanks!