|
electric scooter and bicycle reviews |
|
WaveCrest Rider Feedback Changing the Way the Earth Moves: The New Electric Bike |
||
Let us give you some examples of how the Wavecrest bike changed our lives. It was a six-mile trip up a steep mountain and I had not been on a bike in years. An hour and a half later I was at the top. My car was at the garage ten miles away and I had no way to get a ride there to pick it up. The bike got me there in under a half hour. Commutes to work, pacing family members as they run or walk, bringing back the enjoyment of mobility to those with bad legs, and the fun of challenging yourself without worrying makes this a must test drive bike. Best of all its truly earth friendly, people friendly, and user friendly. Okay, forget all you know about battery-powered bikes of the past. They had a short range, were top heavy, and had no ability to climb mountains. This 750, which is named for its adaptive 750 watt motor, has none of there shortcomings. Now don't get me wrong, I have nothing against cyclists who enjoys the challenge of a long bike ride, but for those of us who have bad legs, don't have the time to get in shape for long hauls, or just enjoy effortless travel, this tough bike is ideal. I especially like the idea that it can be used by a spouse to join the more athletic member of the family on biking excursions. You can even pace a family member as he or she runs. You actually find excuses to use the TidalForce. The bike can go about 20 miles on one charge and you can add another battery for longer travel. While traveling you have your choice of putting the bike on cruise control or in turbo mode for more thrust, but a shorter range. A small accelerator lever activated by your right thumb controls everything. The learning curse is more like a line as everything is intuitive. The frame folds in half to fit into a trunk more easily, and the bike comes in two main forms, a mountain version and a beach cruiser. The former rides a bit stiffer and has a more athletic seat, if you get my drift. The real joy of this bike is the fact it also has 21 speeds so you can pedal as much as you want. The gear changes are in the handle bar grips, the turbo boost lever is close-by, and so is the electronic read out that gives you your remaining battery life. A nice tidy package, but here is another plus. If you are going downhill the motor cuts in to recharge itself with a flick of the brakes. This is a well-engineered, user-friendly vehicle that deserves a test drive. And, not just by commuters. The local police could use these and so could beach guards. We were impressed, no doubt, but what sold us was how easy this Wavecrest bike was able to alter out habits. Instead of thinking car first, we thought bike first. Got Milk? If not, hop on and pedal or not to the local store. Parking a problem at the beach? Pack this in the trunk and drive there. Two negatives, which is probably a bad choice of words when describing an electronic featured bike. First, it weighs nearly 70 pounds so you need to know this when sliding it in and out of the trunk. Secondly, we strongly recommend the second battery as we noticed that when you were climbing and the energy left rating gauge was under half the power would cut in and out. A second
battery would eliminate this worry. Dewey
in Laguna Beach - May 13, 2004
After
easy unpacking and even easier instructions to assemble the
bike was on the charger for its
initial charge. The next day I put it through
its paces and
it performed all tasks demanded of it. Battery power was great and it had the
power to go up all but the most severe hills unassisted. As I have weak legs
owing to old polio effects I need the bike to perform unassisted. I would imagine
if you added pedal power to the equation it would be fantastic. The Wavecrest
motor is very Quiet and the boys at the local Pub have dubbed it "Stealth." If
I have any criticism of the bike is that it is sometimes frustrating when you
hit the front brake you lose power to the motor and it takes a seconds to power
back up. Not really a problem though as you quickly learn to use the back brake.
More
from Neal in Arizona - May 6, 2004 Jackal Feedback Andy
C. Au 10, 2003 I've had many people say...now THAT's Transportation! I've given out the Electric Cyclery website info to many people. Hopefully some of these will turn into future customers. So far, I've not yet had any encounters with the police. Once I do, I'll let you know how it goes." More
from Andy on Aug 17, 2003 My sister didn't have a working bicycle so I let her borrow mine and I took the Jackal! I got lots of comments like "hey, that's cheating" but it was all in good fun! All the feedback was positive! As far as the ride, I easily made it the 15 miles and had to take it easy, as I wanted to be careful not to disturb the other bike riders. All in all, it was loads of fun and a great experience for me. Had lots of questions as no one in St. Louis has seen anything like the Jackal." Hi
Everyone, The total length of the trip was 17.2 miles. I weigh 250 lbs. At the end of my trip, I could definitely feel the drop off in power that would signify the end of my battery life. I was able to make it home, but would not want to have pushed it more than another mile. Considering my size and the terrain I was covering, I feel that the Jackal's advertised range of 20-25 miles is completely reasonable. Had I been covering more level terrain, I would have easily reached 25 miles, and possibly more. I make good use of the freewheeling functionality, so I probably gained quite a bit of range on the downhill stretches, but there's definitely a price that's paid for climbing very steep hills. Other notes:I received a kickstand from Thunderstruck Motors. Originally,they had not shipped the Jackal with one. This had been an oversight. It was simple to install and works great. My brakes are working just fine. I'm soon going to adjust the rear suspension, as with my size I think it needs to be just a bit more firm. I've added a battery operated tail light and rechargeable battery operated headlight to the Jackal. I could have used a 48 to 12v converter and tied into the Jackal's battery, but decided I don't ride at night enough to warrant it. I've been riding about 6 miles per day on average, and have had a blast each time! Moto-Bob
Feedback |
||
© 2005 Electric Cyclery - All rights reserved |
||
Brian
in New Zealand - May 2004 - After looking extensively
at electric bikes and owning a fairly
basic unit already I was really looking forward to taking
delivery of my new M 750 WaveCrest folding mountain bike. As
I live at the other end of the world in New Zealand it
is not so easy to just go down to the local store and browse.
That's where the internet comes into play.
The bike was ordered, left LA on 15th May 04 and was delivered to my door in
Auckland 15 days later by sea freight !
