e-Bikes – A year on
We have had our Momentum Transend eBikes for a year now (wow thats gone fast..) and thought we should do a quick review a year on.
Are we still happy? Yes. That pretty much sums it up!
The nitty gritty:
Pros:
- Long battery life
- Quick recharge
- Comfortable ride on the 2.75in tyres
- Look great
- Not too heavy
- Very smooth power delivery
- Hydraulic disc brakes are incredible
Cons:
- No lights
- Could use maybe a suspension seat pole?
- Stock tyres and tubes very easy to puncture with Goat Heads thorns…
- Really that’s about it…
So overall the only ‘issues’ we have are the lack of factory fitted lighting (we have added USB rechargeable front and rear lights) and we may look at at a suspension seat pole to remove the occasional jarring from larger bumps in the road.
The tyres, well, that can happen to any brand. The tyres are reasonably thin for a nice ride and had standard tubes. We had an option of offroad tyres which are much tougher, but they would have also made the ride much stiffer. We elected to try puncture resistant tubes (4mm thick rubber under the tread) and green slime from Super Cheap! If we do get a puncture the slime very quickly seals the hole as it reacts with the air rushing out the hole. Apparently can seal up to 4mm hole.
I am pretty sure we have had a few more Goats Head thorns through them since then and they keep holding air well. The initial incident we had ridden approximately 14km in Bowen to a lovely park where the movie Australia was filmed and stopped for lunch. I looked back at my bike and noticed the front tyre was flat. While looking over the tyre I notice the back was also almost flat… Fortunately I had a hand pump and was able to pump them up enough to get about 5km, then pumped up again, then a few km later stopped at a service station and pumped up one last time and made it back to the van.
Upon pulling the wheel off I discovered 26 punctures in the front tyre alone from the damn Goats Head Thorns… These things are designed by Satan himself..
We did have an intermittent issue with power on one of the bikes, turned out the connectors for the battery needed a good clean. When travelling we remove the batteries and store them in the van, leaving the connectors for the battery exposed. I had some 50mm thick plastic foam sheeting I picked up on the road (that stuff is handy!) and cut a chunk for each bike to wedge in over the battery terminals for transport to keep them covered from the elements. No problems since.
Overall still very happy with our purchase and highly recommend eBikes to anyone looking to use bikes to see more of the country side.
I love all your reviews and information for travelling. Can I ask how do you store these for travelling? Is it easy to get on and off racks?
Hey Kiki, brute strength!! The rack sits about mid-chest height on he front of the van, I just lift them up holding the forks and frame near the back wheel. Once up sitting on the rach they are clamped and strapped in place. Being eBikes does make it a little harder due to the weight (about 17kg) but for now can still do it pretty easily on my own! This post was on the rack itself so you can see what I mean – https://www.andaroundwego.com/caravan-mods/bike-rack/