Well folks, let me tell you about my new ride – a Mongoose Electric Bike. Now, the picture might look a bit muddy, blame my cheap camera for that! But trust me, the bike itself is much clearer in person.
I haven’t had the chance to take it on a really long haul yet, so I can’t give you the definitive word on battery life when you push it to its limits. But in this review, I’m going to share my initial riding experiences and any quirks I discover along the way.
One thing I immediately noticed is that, like Reid with his ebike, I had to flip the handlebar stem around. Apparently, I’m a short-armed fella! Turning the stem gave me a good 8 inches of extra reach, which made a world of difference in comfort.
I also raised the stem to its maximum height, but honestly, a couple more inches would be perfect. New handlebars might be in my future, but for now, this setup works okay. The seat… well, let’s just say it’s one of those “sitting on a 2×4” types. However, it’s surprisingly well-cushioned, and I’m hoping that once I adjust from my old plush seat, this one will be alright. If not, swapping out a seat is an easy fix.
My maiden voyage was a short and sweet one. I had charged the batteries for a solid 6 hours – the green light was on, indicating full charge. However, just about 2 miles into my ride, the dreaded red light started flashing. Not wanting to risk it, I turned back home and plugged it back into the charger.
Trip number two was much more successful. I decided to pedal more and keep my speed in a comfortable 7th gear range. This seemed to be the magic formula! I completed a 6-mile round trip up and down the island without seeing that red battery light flicker even once. And the recharge time afterwards? Only about 1.5 hours.
(Speed on this trip was roughly 12-14mph – more on that in the Dec. 10 update below)
Now, I don’t have any fancy gadgets like a GPS, BrainDrain, WattsUp, or even a simple speedometer, so I can’t give you precise speed or voltage drop readings. But I can tell you this: the motor on this thing is powerful enough to outrun the bike’s gearing. It can launch you from a standstill without any pedaling – though I suspect giving it a pedal assist will help extend battery life if you’re aiming for distance.
My initial impression is that this Mongoose electric bike is a well-constructed piece of equipment and a fantastic value for the $279.46 price tag at Wallymart. It’s definitely geared towards a mountain bike riding style, not a leisurely cruiser. However, I’m pretty confident that with a few tweaks, like those handlebars, it can become a comfortable ride, even for us “more seasoned” riders.
I’ll keep you all updated as I learn more!
UPDATE – December 7, 2006
Last night, I put the battery to a no-pedal test to see how far I could go before the red light of doom appeared. I didn’t go full throttle, keeping it around 75-80%. I managed to travel just over 8 miles before the red light started to flicker, and by the time I reached home at 8.5 miles, it was on more than off. Recharge time after that run was about 4 hours. The wind picked up to about 17 mph during the ride, but the motor handled it like a champ, pulling strong against it.
(Speed on this trip was approximately 16mph – see Dec. 10 update below)
The saddle is starting to feel much better now, and I didn’t have any discomfort in that department. Handlebars are still a tad low for ultimate comfort, but I didn’t experience any pain at the end of the ride like I had on previous trips.
I’m really starting to warm up to this bike. I think it’s going to serve my needs exceptionally well, even if the range per charge isn’t quite what I initially hoped for. It can easily handle any point on the island, so the next challenge is to see how far onto the mainland I can venture.
Stay tuned for those results!
UPDATE – December 10, 2006
Well, the local police unintentionally lent me a hand today! Since I don’t have a speedometer, I’ve been curious about my actual speed. Today, they set up one of those “control your speed radar gun signs” along my usual evening sunset-watching route. Perfect opportunity for some speed tests!
Turns out, in 7th gear, my pedaling cadence puts me between 11mph on the slower end and 14 mph at the faster end. My top speed without pedaling assist seems to hover around 16-17 mph – it bounced back and forth before settling on 16 mph as the final reading. Considering I’m a bit on the “portly” side, that doesn’t surprise me too much.
Trying to go just 10mph was surprisingly difficult – maybe the sign doesn’t register speeds that low. I even tried my standard 2nd gear speed with no assist, and it wouldn’t register at all.
So, now I know – easy pedaling gets me around 11-12mph, and faster pedaling with assist gets me about 14-15mph. And let me tell you, I can’t pedal in 7th gear for more than a minute without that electric assist kicking in!
Venturing off the island is still on my to-do list, and I plan to do that soon. I’ll be sure to share the results when it happens!
