We are going to Baja for the winter and I brought my Husqvarna TE310 to ride around on, then my old motorcycling riding budding informs me he is bringing a pedal bike and wanted to know if I wanted to borrow one.
Not interested I said, but I still wanted to go out with him and I thought a bike for Sharon when she is around camp would be nice, The solution.......a eBike
So a little research on the internet and we decided on the Volt Bike Mariner http://www.voltbike.com/mariner.html They are located in Surrey BC, so we went down for a test ride.
I am 275 lbs so obvious I am a little skeptical on how much this bike will be able to do for me. I watched lots of youtube videos and thought this bike will fit the bill
For reference here is a picture of me standing beside the bike while it is hooked up to my charging station
My first ride was in Chilliwack in the rain to deliver my referendum ballot at night in the rain. It was a short 8 km round trip to the mailbox and bake. Again I was impressed it did the trip with no complaints and the battery still showed a full charge, so it will at least carry me 8 kms.
So I am now in California Castro Valley, and there are some real steep hills here. I mean hills I would not even want to walk up. We are staying at Mark Norris' house which is close to Lake Chabot. There is a helli pad about 5 kms away, that is a long steep climb to the top of the hill, not to mention all the hills between. You have to remember that this is a pedal assist bike so you still have to pedal but not that hard depending on the setting 0-9. This outing was a 10 km trip and only used an indicated 20% battery. Not bad if the battery monitor is correct.
My next trip I took another 10 kms loop around a few very steep hills (even considered steep to local standards) although the really steep hills required a lot of input from me they were still very manageable Battery still showing over 80% charge left.
Today I did a 15 km loop, through downtown Castro Valley and back up the hill. Lots of bike lanes, however you are on your own once the bike lanes end, very exciting at times. The electric bike gets you through the 6 and 8 lane intersections with ease and very quickly, so the car drivers dont have to wait on me.
So in three days I have ridden over 35 kms, and everyone that stops by take the bike for a short ride. The terrain here is more than challenging. The battery is still showing over 60% charge left. I am going to put it on the charge because we are leaving here tomorrow and want a full charge. So far I am very impressed with the value of this ebike.
I will continue to post more on this bike as our trip continues, if you have any questions go ahead and post but it might take me a couple of day to reply
Thanks for looking
Tom
Not interested I said, but I still wanted to go out with him and I thought a bike for Sharon when she is around camp would be nice, The solution.......a eBike
So a little research on the internet and we decided on the Volt Bike Mariner http://www.voltbike.com/mariner.html They are located in Surrey BC, so we went down for a test ride.
I am 275 lbs so obvious I am a little skeptical on how much this bike will be able to do for me. I watched lots of youtube videos and thought this bike will fit the bill
- It folds so it can go into the toad
- at 58 lbs including the battery I can lift it on my own
- rated load at 300lbs, so it should carry me and at least a 12 pack of beer, on the included rack
- Its a fat tire bike with Knobbies so that gives it the cool dirt bike factor
- it has a twist throttle on the right side instead of the thumb thingy
- and the price was right, at 1695 cdn I got a deal on his demo bike with 50kms for 1400
For reference here is a picture of me standing beside the bike while it is hooked up to my charging station
My first ride was in Chilliwack in the rain to deliver my referendum ballot at night in the rain. It was a short 8 km round trip to the mailbox and bake. Again I was impressed it did the trip with no complaints and the battery still showed a full charge, so it will at least carry me 8 kms.
So I am now in California Castro Valley, and there are some real steep hills here. I mean hills I would not even want to walk up. We are staying at Mark Norris' house which is close to Lake Chabot. There is a helli pad about 5 kms away, that is a long steep climb to the top of the hill, not to mention all the hills between. You have to remember that this is a pedal assist bike so you still have to pedal but not that hard depending on the setting 0-9. This outing was a 10 km trip and only used an indicated 20% battery. Not bad if the battery monitor is correct.
My next trip I took another 10 kms loop around a few very steep hills (even considered steep to local standards) although the really steep hills required a lot of input from me they were still very manageable Battery still showing over 80% charge left.
Today I did a 15 km loop, through downtown Castro Valley and back up the hill. Lots of bike lanes, however you are on your own once the bike lanes end, very exciting at times. The electric bike gets you through the 6 and 8 lane intersections with ease and very quickly, so the car drivers dont have to wait on me.
So in three days I have ridden over 35 kms, and everyone that stops by take the bike for a short ride. The terrain here is more than challenging. The battery is still showing over 60% charge left. I am going to put it on the charge because we are leaving here tomorrow and want a full charge. So far I am very impressed with the value of this ebike.
I will continue to post more on this bike as our trip continues, if you have any questions go ahead and post but it might take me a couple of day to reply
Thanks for looking
Tom
