# Had a big day.



## Fuse6F (Jul 5, 2017)

So im on vaca in brasil and stopped by a lbs that is owned by a relative. They handed me a sj ebike. Levo or something or other. My first eride. 

It was 40c outside, the bike was two sizes too small. But they are on a hillside and the roadside sidewalk is typical brasil. You can find smoother trails on a mountain in colorado. Think torn up brick cobble stone some drops etc. Anyways lets take this 50lb bike down a few hundred yards, turn drop the gears and pedal up, im pretty quick to drop down near the bottom. Next repeat and come up full assist. 

you can easily come up full steam if you want! Thats not really biking in my opinion! Thats an electric moped. Im quite shocked. Not what i expected.

When you hit the flats and back off, the bike keeps accelerating as its not smart enough in the control system to sense a drop in pedal load. Just pours out power, have to actually hit the brakes to slow down. Dare not pedal coast.

guys.... as an electronics design eng. this generation of control system is flawed. For the money that people are spending on these things, i thought it would be better!

so thats not really a big day....

later on i made a journey out to a farm of some friends. There under a tree was a modded out yamaha wr450f still ticking down from the last run a few minutes earlier. Guess the owner is into hard enduro or something. So i jumped on it when he offered a chance to sample. 

So ive owned cr 250’s and kx 250’s and a few street bikes. its been awhile.. I was un prepared for the full sky high rpm pull of this beast. Of course its again setup too sizes too small for me and such, but when you compare to the levo and this its a pellet gun vs a machine gun. 

while i didnt ride a regular bike like my sj i did get to taste two unique bikes each offering steps up from my regular ride.

pretty unique day. Glad it happened.


im happy with my human powered bike. Im still learning on it every ride and enjoy challenging my fitness as much as my skill level. 

if its your thing. Fine. Just lets all respect and get along out there! Mtb riding is a peaceful pleasure to enjoy!


----------



## Fuse6F (Jul 5, 2017)

Still processing the whole ebike thing...

Concerns
i imagine on my regular xc ride of a 30km loop, that i have done at an average of 18km/hr. I could easily hold 30km/hr the whole way or more. Thats just too fast for a two way trail when you normally dont expect to see someone ascending your way super fast!
Eg 40k. Down + 30k up is 70km/hr. The down rider is supposed to stop. 

What experiences are you people having with regards to speeds?


----------



## Fuse6F (Jul 5, 2017)

Couple other observations

the frame stength on the ebike was noticeably improved vs my sj. 

the suspension feel on the yamaha was soft like butter. You dont have much feedback Which is not necessarily a bad thing. But i remember that after riding my old cr, getting into my honda felt like driving a cadillac. That was on the gravel leaving the farm. 


the brakes on the yamaha are on off. Especially the rear. The front has no feedback either. You just dont trust it. Power is there. But it would take awhile to adapt. Test surface was loose over hardpack. You are not going to finess brake through a tech section very well on the wr. 

also i think we are luckt they make multiple frame sizes for bikes. Vs the one size fits all moto world.


----------



## bplaizier (Feb 1, 2011)

Fuse6F said:


> So im on vaca in brasil and stopped by a lbs that is owned by a relative. They handed me a sj ebike. Levo or something or other. My first eride.
> 
> It was 40c outside, the bike was two sizes too small. Of course its again setup too sizes too small for me and such, but when you compare to the levo and this its a pellet gun vs a machine gun.
> 
> !


Just wondering how tall you are....? I get that a mtb has different frame sizes, but as you mentioned, dirt bikes only come in one size. I have owned an older (2003) WR and it was a big bike for me and I'm 6ft.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N915A using Tapatalk


----------



## vikb (Sep 7, 2008)

Fuse6F said:


> Thats not really biking in my opinion! Thats an electric moped.


And presumably you rode an unmodded e-bike. Hack them or buy an e-bike that's not restricted and you can punch out more power. Just be kind and don't spray the rider behind you with too much roost.


----------



## dundundata (May 15, 2009)

there is certainly a fine line between ebike and moped. most ebikes have different levels of power output so that you can dial it in. you don't always need all the power. sounds like you might like a good torque sensing ebike, it will cut the power immediately when you stop pedaling.


----------



## roughster (Dec 18, 2017)

The only time I have felt extra power boost like you describe without pedaling is from rear hub driven e-bikes. Mid drives Bosch and Yamahas don’t do that from my experience and I have ridden several different brands / models / styles and own a Bosch mid-drive (Bulls Monster EFS). 

18 mph (30 kmh) is near max pedal assist for a class II, so yes you could ride a local system all out with that but with any reasonable amount of hills at that level of assist you will drain that battery pretty fast. I think people who go into a first ebike ride with a potentially negative preconceived notion think about the worst case, “What is the worst thing I could do on this?”

When you ride your regular bike do you think, “How can I ride this in the most dangerous way possible?”


----------



## Fuse6F (Jul 5, 2017)

yamaha Bike owner was about 5'10". Im 260lbs 6'6". 

coming up a medium road incline on the ebike requires some juice. Again why this power is impressive. Then you hit the flat parking lot and just lightly keep the pedals turning the bike accelerates forward just when your brain is saying you ahould be slowing down. 

hey they were talking portugese and i didnt read a manual first. So i dont know really what the bike can and cant do. Or whats out there in the industry

i just didnt like the control system the way it worked on my brief test

i had a similar experience on a honda pilot test drive. Accelerating through a curved on ramp where the steering assist dials back with speed but the speed and dial back in assist was matching the curve. So as i asked for more steering input the car gave less and the brain was like whoa whats going on here. Cars not correct the lane. Then the lane departure sustem kicked in and shook the steering wheel in my hand further freaking me out. Didnt buy that car either.


----------



## roughster (Dec 18, 2017)

Just like regular riding, there are some skills / techniques and finessing that allow for a much more even distribution of power. One of the things many “beginner” e-bike riders forget to do is shift gears. Shifting gears accomplished pretty much what you are asking, but no there is not an automatic transmission feature you describe yet available.


----------

