So I got the bike yesterday, assembled it after work, and still had enough time to take it on a good hour+ long test ride. I put it through some paces. Long story short, it was a blast. I was flying on that thing.
First, I had to try out just the throttle (‘scooter’ mode 
). On a level stretch of road, it got me up to 20mph in no time. And I’m no lightweight, at north of 200 lbs. these days.
Then I went the complete opposite direction and tried working through the gears with no pedal assist at all. It’s surprisingly easy to ride unassisted, pretty much exactly like a normal bike. I’m used to riding an old Cannondale, which were notoriously heavy bikes, so I’m used to a heavy bike. I did a lift-test with the Cannondale and my e-bike, and the e-bike is heavier, but not by much.
Then I started testing out the 3 assist levels. This is where the reason why I got the bike really paid off. I felt superhuman with the pedal assist-- flying around all over the place effortlessly. I went to one area that is notoriously hilly-- a canal district for an entire neighborhood to access a nearby lake. The side streets have lots of bridges over the canals that are steep hills to give the boats clearance. I did the same route OK a couple weeks ago on my Cannondale, but it was a tough workout. On my e-bike I quickly learned to use the pedal assist like gears, going up to 3 just before a steep hill and back down to 2 and 1 right after. It makes steep hills that used to really kill my legs a breeze.
And of course, like a 12 year old, I had to try to ‘overclock’ the speed a couple times by going to high gear and pedal assist 3 on a slight downhill, and pedaling all-out to see what I topped out at. I was a bit disappointed that I only got up to 24.8 mph, couldn’t quite crack 25, but that’s probably more the fault of my old legs and excess weight than the bike.
The build of the bike seems very sturdy for what I paid for it. Though it’s called a mountain bike I wouldn’t do any serious off-roading with it, but it did just fine on our janky roads around here that are minefields of potholes and badly patched asphalt.
A few minor cons:
The pedal-assist effect has a small delay-- when I’d start pedaling after coasting it would take a couple seconds to kick in, and when I stop pedaling it still propels the bike forward for a second or two before it turns off, which is a bit startling when you’re expecting to slow down immediately. But I had read that when I did my homework, so I expected it. it’s not a big deal, and I quickly got used to it.
The battery is not in a great spot-- it takes up most of the inner frame triangle, so there’s no place for a water bottle holder there. I guess I’ll have to put it on the angled top frame- not ideal but I’ll make do.
I bought a rear rack that didn’t fit the bike, which was disappointing. I tried transferring the rack from my Cannondale, but it didn’t fit either. So it seems that the bike is not designed too well to fit conventional racks, though it has screw mounts for one. Googling didn’t help point me to a rack that would be a better fit. I’m used to carrying stuff in a hard-shell container on a rack, so I need to figure that out. That, along with the lack of an obvious water bottle spot means I can’t carry anything on the bike right now that’s not in my pockets. But I’ll figure that out.
All in all, a ridiculously great deal for what I paid for it. And to those in this thread who said “eh, it’s just a scooter, you won’t get any exercise” all I can say is it’s like any piece of exercise equipment. You can use a treadmill to get in shape, or use it to hang clothes off of. It’s a choice.
