ebikes are awesome!

[ilanarama]

It's been a month since Britt and I bought our Priority Embark ebikes. Verdict: YAYAYAYAY!

In this month, I have ridden mine 172 miles! The longest ride was ~25 miles: a bunch of errands, followed by a long ride up a dirt road into the mountains for a picnic, and then back home. But I also rode 6 miles each way to a doctor's office twice, as well as lots and lots of shorter rides: to the library, to go running along the river or at the high school track, to the farmers market, to the grocery store, to the recycle station...basically everywhere I would otherwise have to drive.

I'm a lot more comfortable with the throttle-style gearshift for the continuously variable transmission now. Also, it's become second nature to turn up the motor assist going up hills, and turn it down on the flatter terrain. I rarely ride with the assist off completely, but I pretty much always strive for the combination of gearing and assist that means that I pedal against a little-but-not-a-lot-of resistance. This works out to being in eco or tour mode most of the time, with sport mode for hills and turbo mode for steep hills; I have only actually tracked my mileage after one battery charge, and that gave me 48 miles on the charge, woohoo! (I am trying to charge only to 80-90%, because that is better for long battery life, and I don't run the battery down completely because I want to be able to get home up the hill with some assist, so I suppose if I charged it all the way and ran it down all the way I'd get even more mileage.)

I bought some cheap (in both senses of the word) panniers, and they look ridiculous, but they work well for the purpose I require, that is, to carry groceries, empty bottles, and so on.



Look, I can carry a vase of flowers! (I bungeed the vase against the rack so it would stay vertical and not spill any water.) There is also a large bag of bok choi in there, behind the mail I just picked up from our mailbox, and two six-packs underneath. In the other pannier is my u-lock and the rest of my farmers market veggies and fruit.



This last photo also shows my mirror, which is so useful that now I keep looking at the space where the mirror should be but isn't on my mountain bike, as well as the cheesy little bell the city was giving away for free during Clean Commute Week last month. Today I installed what will hopefully be my last bit of extra bike gear, a handlebar-mounted water bottle cage, because it's been really hot and I've been getting thirsty while biking around town doing my errands.

If this were a real blogger's review, I'd probably talk about the belt drive, or the motor, or other technical stuff. But you know what? I don't actually notice any of these things. I just notice that I can get on my bike, and haul stuff around, and ride places, and not get overly sweaty or tired despite the hills and the heat - but also that I feel like I'm still getting some exercise. I bought this bike to fulfill a specific purpose, and it does so unobtrusively and awesomely, and this makes me happy!

Comments

[china_shop]

Yay, that's awesome! :-D

I am trying to charge only to 80-90%, because that is better for long battery life

Oh, huh, I wonder if that's true for my battery too. I've always just defaulted to plugging it in when I get home...

[ilanarama]

Well, you have the same battery I do (now), right? This is where I got my information: https://electricbikereview.com/forum/threads/e-bike-battery-guide.24443/

But that's generally true for all lithium-ion batteries, I think. I have an app on my phone which gives me an alarm to unplug when I hit 80% for similar reasons. I also have an app which does this automagically for my laptop, except it is set for 60% and not changeable, and that's not enough power for me to use unplugged for any length of time, so I just keep it plugged in all the time except when I don't, and it is probably terribly degraded now but whatever.

(Britt doesn't bother doing any battery management. We shall see if it makes any difference!)

[china_shop]

Thanks for the link! It's definitely something to think about.

[mergatrude]

\o/

[ilanarama]

Very \o/!

[zulu]

That's awesome!

[ilanarama]

We are both loving these bikes.

[thalia]

Exciting! And it looks like you bought yours at the right time--Priority's website says they're not shipping till December 1. (Yes, I was thinking about it. [g])

[ilanarama]

Email their help line! A guy on the electricbikereview.com forums mentioned that he was disappointed that Costco wouldn't have them until December, and he emailed Priority, and Dave said they would be getting some demos with under 50 miles on them returned soon and he'd sell one to him for $2600 shipped! Maybe they'd have one in your size? Doesn't hurt to ask.

[semielliptical]

Yay! The bike sounds very useful *and* fun!

[ilanarama]

It is definitely both!

This is thrilling

[jesse_the_k]

...because MyGuy isn't getting any younger and there are electric trikes which I might be able to ride!

Priority sounds like an A+++ manufacturer.

Re: This is thrilling

[ilanarama]

If you're interested, I recommend you check out https://electricbikereview.com/forum/ (where you may notice a poster named ilanarama :-) - there is a subforum for trikes, and also one for ebiking with disabilities.

In fact I was not surprised to see that Priority has sold out of their ebikes and there is a waiting list now, with delivery in December!

[canetoad]

It's one year later! I bet you're still loving your Embark...

I'm considering finally getting one (!) and I'm wondering how you're liking the bike a year in.

Also, out of curiosity, how long does it take to recharge?

[ilanarama]

I am! I didn't hit my mark of 1000 miles yet because pandemic (since I only use it for errands/shopping as opposed to biking exercise, for which I use my non-electric bike, and those have been reduced) but I hit 875 miles on my bikeaversary a few weeks ago, and I'm at ~900 now.

I did eventually buy better (and more expensive) panniers, which is what I probably should have done in the first place. I am considering a $$ suspension seatpost also, as bumpy pavement is extremely bumpy on the bike.

To charge from where I usually charge the bike (just after hitting 1/5 blip on the battery monitor, or with 2/5 blips and >35 miles) to where I try to remember to disconnect (while it's on blip 5/5 - the battery has indicators which flash as it charges, full charge is all 5 solid green, I try to get it while 4 are solid and 1 is flashing) is about 2 hours.

[canetoad]

Excellent to hear!

Good to note that the ride is hard/bumpy on rough pavement--is this because of the weight of the bike, how inflated you keep the tires, something else? Which suspension seat post are you considering?

I have really good quality panniers; they're... jeez, 20 years old? and still going strong. But they're kind of an awkward shape for grocery toting. I liked how boxy your old pink ones were. :) What kind did you end up upgrading to?

[ilanarama]

It's really just a stiff bike and the tires are pretty hard (when I let them get too soft I got a flat going over a pothole, ugh). I'd like to get a Kinekt, if I can bring myself to shell out the money.

I bought Ortleib rollers, a slightly older model at a discount (still not cheap). They are also pink! :-) I did like the boxy shape of the old ones but one bounced off the rack when I was lazy and didn't tie it on, so. The Ortleibs have a big open top so I can still stuff groceries in pretty well.

[canetoad]

Oh, yeah! Ortleib is what I have. They'll probably outlive me. Mine also have big top openings, but they narrow toward the bottom in a way that annoys me. I guess they make other shapes, and the new bags all seem to have a small mesh inner zipper pouch (which my old ones lack). But pretty pricey for just a shape/inner pocket upgrade!

[canetoad]

Welp. I did it. Should get my bike in the mail next week. :)

If you decide to spring for the Kinekt, let me know what you think!

Oh! And what water bottle holder did you end up with? I can't imagine not having one.

[ilanarama]

Woohoo! Which bike are you getting?

I had to look it up - I have this handlebar-mount water bottle holder: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LZS50I2/

[canetoad]

A Priority Embark! I know, terribly unoriginal of me, eh? ;) At least the color is different? (charcoal)

So did you ever spring for (no pun intended) the Kinekt seat post? It looks like a great solution to a hard ride.

[ilanarama]

Aw, yay, I hope you love it!

[canetoad]

So far, YES! I DO love it. It is transformational, living as we do at the lowest elevation point in the Champlain Valley, where everywhere else is uphill. It's now so easy and quick to go places.

I will say though, I don't love either of the seat options that came with it. The standard seat is a skinny men's seat too narrow for my sit bones, and the "comfort" seat is this ridiculously wide pillow that puts enough pressure on nerves that I end up with my toes tingling. Also, the seat attachment doesn't have a tilt adjustment. It strikes me as a peculiar thing to cheap out on for such a slick piece of gear overall.

I'm actually tempted to scoop up a vintage Avocet seat off of eBay! Love those things. Or do you have a recommendation for an excellent modern women's saddle? I have one on another of my bikes, but it's only so-so. I know, I know, I just have to go out and try a bunch and see what fits and feels good for my sit bones and the riding position this bike puts my pelvis in. But I want magical perfect everything! :D

[ilanarama]

I can't help you with the saddle issue - I have freakishly narrow hips and I find men's saddles perfectly comfortable. Britt didn't like either the regular or the comfort saddle - I think he stuck with the regular one.