Electric bike

Howboutthemdawgs

5 year old buck +
I hate the term game changer but…
I broke down and bought an electric fat tire mountain bike before the season. I hate the noise and scent of my side by side and four wheeler and I’ve been using a regular 10 speed for the last three years but screw that. Mounted a bow holder on the handlebars and I’m in business. I cruise at 24-25 mph down the paved road. The only “weakness” is it won’t climb steep hills so I have to route accordingly.
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I have one, and have found it clearly does not replace the side-by-side, but is great for getting into the woods and to the far blinds. Changing rear flats is a pain (experience), but overall it has been a good purchase. It also makes me plan what I need to take to the blind, and is great for checking a few non-cell cameras that I still have out there.

Mine will definitely NOT climb step hills, although it does pretty good in first gear. If the battery goes dead, be prepared for a workout! Another lesson from experience

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I have one, and have found it clearly does not replace the side-by-side, but is great for getting into the woods and to the far blinds. Changing rear flats is a pain (experience), but overall it has been a good purchase. It also makes me plan what I need to take to the blind, and is great for checking a few non-cell cameras that I still have out there.

Mine will definitely NOT climb step hills, although it does pretty good in first gear. If the battery goes dead, be prepared for a workout! Another lesson from experience.
Yeah I’m not going to drag a deer out with it but I needed a quiet scent free way to get to my stands and this checked the boxes. And like you said running little errands is another use for it.
 
Report back the good, bad, and ugly.
 
Report back the good, bad, and ugly.
After 4 weekends of use here’s my rundown

The good-
-Amazingly little effort to get from a to b.
-fast. 25mph on flat ground
-On a full charge will go up medium sized hills with no effort.
-Pretty dang quiet. When it’s dead silent predawn you can hear the motor in the hub when it kicks on but still minimal.
-Super comfortable
-wasn’t terribly priced relative to some of the others like quietkat. It was like $1700 shipped

The bad
-On my terrain the battery doesn’t power as long as advertised (30 plus miles). Not a huge issue I just charge it whenever and it’s as good as new.
-Battery doesn’t power equally through its charge. When it has a lot of charge it’s unstoppable. When it get below 50% you can tell. Takes more effort pedaling. I was confused by that cause I had always thought lithium powered at full power until it died.
-It’s heavy! Like 70 plus pounds.
-could use rear suspension. Gets pretty bumpy on rough roads. Worry sometimes about my bow

The ugly
-front brake squeaks badly. It can be fixed but I haven’t gotten to the bottom of it yet.


All in all it is a great purchase. If this one breaks or something happens I wouldn’t hesitate to get another. Best way I’ve found to get to my stand so far or run and look at a food plot etc. It will awesome come turkey season and if I ever venture to some public land.
 
Thanks! I looked quite hard at electric UTVs. The only one that I thought was a candidate was the new LI powered Polaris. This was during COVID and you couldn't even get one after they were released, but with the huge cost premium, I could not justify it. I ended up with a Honda 700 deluxe.

I could see eventually adding some kind of electric bike for accessing stands. I can always go back and get the UTV for deer transport. Thanks for the report!
 
I have one, and have found it clearly does not replace the side-by-side, but is great for getting into the woods and to the far blinds. Changing rear flats is a pain (experience), but overall it has been a good purchase. It also makes me plan what I need to take to the blind, and is great for checking a few non-cell cameras that I still have out there.

Mine will definitely NOT climb step hills, although it does pretty good in first gear. If the battery goes dead, be prepared for a workout! Another lesson from experience

.View attachment 46604
Similar Experience: Using Howboutthemdawgs criterion:
The good-
-Amazingly little effort to get from a to b. (Agreed)
-fast. 25mph on flat ground (22MPH...fast enough...and too fast on bad ground)
-On a full charge will go up medium sized hills with no effort (agreed)
-Pretty dang quiet. When it’s dead silent predawn you can hear the motor in the hub when it kicks on but still minimal (yeap!)
-Super comfortable (Not for this old guy....I am toying with buying a better seat--I am in my 60s at 250#...not comfortable, but tolerable).
-wasn’t terribly priced relative to some of the others like quietkat. It was like $1700 shipped ($950 shipped)

The bad
-On my terrain the battery doesn’t power as long as advertised (30 plus miles). Not a huge issue I just charge it whenever and it’s as good as new. (similar)
-Battery doesn’t power equally through its charge. When it has a lot of charge it’s unstoppable. When it get below 50% you can tell. Takes more effort pedaling. I was confused by that cause I had always thought lithium powered at full power until it died. Mine does the same...interesting
-It’s heavy! Like 70 plus pounds. (66#...still heavy)
-could use rear suspension. Gets pretty bumpy on rough roads. Worry sometimes about my bow (I lowered the tire pressure and that helped. Front suspension works great).

The ugly
-front brake squeaks badly. It can be fixed but I haven’t gotten to the bottom of it yet.
- my ugly is a 1/2" stick caught in the detailer...bent it pretty bad...I was able to get it straightened out enough to use the power to get me home (without the chain hooked up) but will need to be more careful out in the woods. I've had mine about 1 year. I also had a flat in the woods. I am toying with no-flat tires, but they add another 8#.

Thanks for posting....it may be a good idea to start an electric off-road bike thread. Here in Missouri, we can now use these on what would otherwise be closed trails.
 
Did you guys buy these on-line or from a local shop? If on-line, how do you deal with service? Can you post make and model?

Thanks,

Jack
 
I bought a Jamis Hudson E2 this spring and very happy with it. The weight is less than 50 lbs. This model is more of a road bike than a trail bike, so I did change the tires and tubes to trail type. It is advertised for being able to go 40 miles on a charge, but my longest trips are never more than 2 or 3 miles. I usually just keep the battery topped off by plugging it in after every use, but it isn't necessary to do that. My hills are not extremely steep, and I'm generally riding through fields or open woods. For my land it is just what I need, but if the terrain was steeper, I would probably need something else. I did test it at another spot on very steep terrain, and it lacked the power for that.

I bought this bike from a local dealer who does service, but none needed so far.
 
Bike shops will service it but I haven’t needed any. The derailleur was a little misaligned out of the box so that took a little tweaking on. Mine is a vtuvia
 
When reading about them a bit from the guys in western hunting they made it seem like common ones in the $3k price point were cheap junk that needed constant repairs. So while I would love one, i stopped looking as i don't want one $5k bad. Seems that feedback was probably based around a little rougher use case in the mountains?

Glad to hear they are working out good for you guys, I may have to revisit with my research!
 
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I noticed a shop in Monticello.

I have a cheap himiway. I like it.
 
I have an aventon adventure. Similar review. I think $1700.
 
Do you guys happen to know what the wattage is on your motors and the volts? I acquired a free 20" fat tire bike with a DIY electric bike in mind. I have been researching kits on amazon/ebay. There is a kit on amazon that will fit the bike that is 1000w and 48 volts, the motor would be in the front. That kit with a 48v 10ah battery would be around $500.
 
I have rolling terrain grade may be 6% in places and maybe a bit more (not more than 10%) but only for a few hundred feet. Folks with lower cost ebikes, how do you think your bikes would perform on grades like this?

A second question. Most I've seen use derailer type gears like most bicycles. Folks have talked about quiet, but mostly in reference to the motor. Is there chain noise when shifting?
 
I have rolling terrain grade may be 6% in places and maybe a bit more (not more than 10%) but only for a few hundred feet. Folks with lower cost ebikes, how do you think your bikes would perform on grades like this?

A second question. Most I've seen use derailer type gears like most bicycles. Folks have talked about quiet, but mostly in reference to the motor. Is there chain noise when shifting?

I have rode a 6k Rambo, 1000w quiet Kat and a rear drive himiway the himiway impressed me it went right up the hills with minimal effort. I like many of the others have contemplated very hard about getting one.

A lot of my friends have them and collectively they can’t seem to keep derailers or chains on them. The rear hub appeals to me as it can at least get it out of either breaks. Yes you can hear the chain shift just like a normal bike.


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I have rolling terrain grade may be 6% in places and maybe a bit more (not more than 10%) but only for a few hundred feet. Folks with lower cost ebikes, how do you think your bikes would perform on grades like this?

A second question. Most I've seen use derailer type gears like most bicycles. Folks have talked about quiet, but mostly in reference to the motor. Is there chain noise when shifting?
The gear changing noise is minimal at best. I’ve never paid attention to it so it must not be bad. It can handle grades like you mention if it’s on a smooth surface like a road. If you are on a bouncy surface the back tire will have a hard time staying connected to the surface killing your momentum.
 
The gear changing noise is minimal at best. I’ve never paid attention to it so it must not be bad. It can handle grades like you mention if it’s on a smooth surface like a road. If you are on a bouncy surface the back tire will have a hard time staying connected to the surface killing your momentum.
When I do off road riding.....I seldom change gears. Usually your going pretty slow. Slow and steady is your friend. I have a fat tire RAD step-thru bike and it's got a twist-grip throttle and about a dozen gears....which I seldom change off road. Nothing crazy.....'cause I got pretty flat land......but in the lower gears, I've got enough power on any trails I want to ride.
 
I'm looking pretty hard at a Biktrix Stunner X 6 for my application.

1) My place is less than 1 sq mi, so range is no issue.
2) I have other means for transporting deer, so I don't care about that.
3) My biggest issue will be hills. I want to be able to use throttle only (especially as I get older).
4) I want a girls bike (step-thru frame is the politically correct term today), again for aging.
5) From the reading I've done, it seems like mid-mount motors provide the most torque for hill climbing.
6) I want to keep the price under $3K
7) it seems like the most wattage I can find in that price range is 750 watts with 1,000 watt peak.
8) It has 9 gears which should help for the hills.

While I'm buying an ebike for hunting, I'm also considering using it for cardio as I get older. I'm thinking that the pedal assist will help me keep up with my much younger wife who is in great shape. And, when she wears me out, I can just throttle back home and cry myself to sleep!

Can anyone identify a competitor under 3K with these characteristics that I can consider?

Thanks,

Jack
 
Well this thread is timely! Just hopped on a deal that came up from Rad ebikes - Radmission is the model for $450 shipped. Had to give it a shot at that price, will be delivered later this week. Only use I need it for is to get to and from stand locations and check some trail cams quietly once every blue moon. Pretty flat land and I’ve got a trail system so hoping this bike will be good enough.

Been wanting one for 3+ years now but price always kept me away. This should keep my ground scent very minimal now which is benefit 1B for getting this.
 
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