I got an ebike!

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

[TL;DR: got one, love it, and it was pretty much free!]

I did!

I thought being strapped for cash was going to prevent this for a while, but Amazon sells quite a few, and there’s a thing about being a teacher-- the Chanukah/end of the year gifts parents give to us have moved away from Starbucks cards to Amazon gift cards.

I had saved the ones I got last winter, and got more at the end of the year from families both in the preschool and the Hebrew school, and also one from the Hebrew school ($100!) One family also gave me one for $100, and I got several for $50.

So I ordered a bike from Amazon.

It’s a cheap one, but it works great. I had to do about 35% of the assembly, but I’ve assembled biked before, and used my own tools, as well as the (blue) Loctite.

Did my research, and found that the cheap ones from China have the same safety ratings as the much more locally grown ones, and the frames have he same compositon, weight the same, and so forth. A bicycle is basically a frame, and he parts. You get a good frame, and put cruddy parts on it, and you have a cruddy bike, even if the frame is Cannondale or Bianchi.

So I found a China brand called Funhang (it’s probably pronounced foon-hong, but I like to say “fun hang”), with a good safety rating, that uses Shimano for all the moving and safety-related parts-- brakes, derailleur, etc are all Shimano. The actual motor is something else, but I looked it up, and it seemed reliable. The few parts that were not Shimano besides the motor were a few of the switches, and the seat.

I ended up changing the seat anyway. The one I use has springs, and the original one didn’t. I added a turn signal that runs a steady red light on the back, when it isn’t signaling a turn better than a reflector (still use arm signals for cars in front of me). Added a mirror, and it came with a very good horn and front lamp.

It has a shock-absorbing fork, and is so damn comfortable. The pedal-assist has 5 levels, it has 7 rear gears, disk breaks, and mountain bike-style tires. It’s heavy, but with two hands, I can lift it up to my head. The handlebars adjust two ways, and the front wheel and seat have quick adjust.

It boasts a 40 mile range, but yesterday, a did a 19 mile trip, and the battery was down only one light from a row of six. Maybe I use the motor less that typical, or maybe because it’s new, that range is bigger. Battery lock easily, goes in and out easily-- it’s under the seat, but even though I keep the seat low, it doesn’t need to be moved to slip the battery in and out. Took 30 minutes to fully recharge after my 19 mile trip yesterday.

According to Amazon, the bike has a low return rate. It also has about a 4.75 star rating.

My only complaint is that usage is not intuitive, and there are paltry instructions. There are three 5-minute YouTube videos that tell you all you need to know, but the only way to find out about them is to contact the company. Which I did, and they responded within about 6 hours, but seriously, how hard would it be to print the URLs or a website with links to them, on the instructions?

It is comfortable and fun to ride. I was a bit nervous on it at first, but I’ve been going on longer and longer rides every day, and today I make a practice run to work. I’ve just had it a few days, so the learning curve is not sharp. I’m very much at ease with it now. I just love it!

The top speed is 21.5, and I get it up there easily, even on an incline. Most of the time, I am doing 17-18.

My knees, quads, and hamstrings feel 30 years old again! Freedom!

Thanks to everyone who helped talk me through it.

I started a new thread, and left that one alone, for people who are still wanting to discuss getting an ebike.

Oh! it’s blue.

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Congrats! What model did you get-- you mentioned that it has mountain bike tires, so is it this one? If so, nice looking bike.

My wife and I bought HeyBike models. As another Chinese ebike company, the quality is probably on par with Funhang (which is a great name!). Starting my third season and my wife’s 4th season with the bikes, and they’ve held up well so far.

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This one:

I needed a step-through.

4

Ah, the City Cruiser. That’s similar to my wife’s HeyBike model. I have a HeyBike that looks more like the mountain bike model I linked to. She loves her bike (as I do mine). Have fun!

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Glad to see you’re getting some mobility back after the unwanted drama! Though I always worry about injury when it comes to ebike speeds without safety equipment: but that’s Me not you. Heh one day I’ll be riding one wearing full motorcycle armor and helmet and everyone will be laughing at the dork.

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YAY and congratulations! also, it’s very good looking. :slightly_smiling_face:

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Mine is blue too. It really does make one feel 40 years younger.

Mine is an e-mountain bike and was quite expensive. It was well worth it though. I wouldn’t be going very far without it.

Nobody at the stores mentioned the fact that Class I ebikes are not allowed on the vast majority of trails. Class I has a throttle, works without pedaling and goes up to 28 miles per hour. Class II has no throttle and has 4 levels of pedal-assist up to 20 mph. Level 4 only requires light pedaling.

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Here is some info on classes:

Class 1 ebikes are limited to a top speed of 20 miles per hour, and the electric motor works only when the rider is pedaling. A bike with an electric motor that assists only during pedaling is called a pedelec.

Class 2 ebikes are also limited to a top speed of 20 miles per hour, but they have throttles that work when you’re not pedaling. That doesn’t mean the motor won’t assist you if you decide to pedal. Most Class 2 ebikes offer electrically assisted pedaling alongside throttles. As with Class 1 ebikes, you can generally ride them in the same places as an analog bike.

Here’s where it gets confusing. Class 3 ebikes can go up to 28 miles per hour and must have a speedometer, but they may or may not have a throttle. It depends on the state writing the rules

Source:

Note that where you can ride depends on the state/county/city/governing body.
for example:

The use of electric wheeled devices, including e-bikes of any kind is not allowed on the Kickapoo Valley Reserve. Mobility impaired permits are available for those in need. Mobility impaired permits are not guaranteed same day service. Reach out to the Visitor Center for more information.

Brian
Here are WI rules:

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I am pretty sure any division of bikes into “classes” completely depends on the state/country you are in; this was discussed a bit in the preceding thread. Same with whether an e-bike needs to be registered, and at what point (speed/power/whatever) you need a moped license to use it on the road.

Definitely don’t ask me about e-unicycles… (for some of them you pretty much need full motocross gear to ride safely)

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Yes, the class definitions vary, though the ones I have above are I THINK fairly common in the US.
Here is Wisconsin’s statute:

Your mileage or class may vary..
Brian

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Am I remembering right that you’re in New York City?

They’ve just set a city wide speed limit for e-bikes of 15 MPH. That’s probably reasonable when e-bikes are sharing space with pedestrians, but not when they’re mixing with cars.

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No. Indianapolis. We’ve been here about 14 years.

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Where I live, e-bikes in general have to have built-in speed limits, which are generally lower than US jurisdictions, if they are to be used anywhere a traditional bike can be used. But at the same time, our bike paths and multi-use paths also have speed limits, which technically apply to everyone using them, regardless of the mode of transportation. The path speed limits are lower than the built-in limits for the e-bikes. So if I use my e-bike on a road, with cars, I can go as fast as the bike is able*, but if I use a multi-use path, I’m required to keep to the lover limit.

Seems to me, this is a reasonable compromise. It makes using roads a bit safer since I can keep up with traffic better, but it also makes the paths safer for everyone.

*In reality, as fast as I’m comfortable. I know the bike can go faster than that under the right conditions!