We have been waiting for our new Lectric e-Bikes for awhile now. A little something to lift us up and get us out in a healthy social distanced kinda way. Also something to give us more capability and options than our old bikes ever did. Bikes that ONLY lazy chicken adventurers could really appreciate, today was the inaugural voyage. 14 off-road miles ridden and 1000ft climbed... believe me when I say we could not have done it on a normal bike. On one steep section we passed a very in-shape dude on a MTB and I'm sure he was cursing our "cheater-bikes" under his breath. But here is the report... (* technical e-bike performance review at the end) |
Ruley to Floeter - We started on the Scappoose side at the Ruley TH, which sits at about 550 feet elevation, and headed up. Along the way we encountered minimal foot traffic and a few bikes. The trail surface went from gravel road to dry dirt double-track to muddy and sloppy (thanks to Saturday rain) and back again in turns. The trip to the summit at 1220 only gets steep-ish for the last quarter mile or so has an old broken-down 1700ft long train tunnel you can visit, but that is best done on foot so we skipped it. If you have a hard hat, headlamp, backup light source, good waterproof boots and a death-wish you can go all the way through it. But don't...
The trip down 300ft to the Floeter Trail Head (named after the Floeter pioneer family) was a blast. Flying on the mostly uninhabited trail through tall grass and wildflowers prepare for a little calf-whipping if you are wearing shorts, but not bad. You zoom in and out darkness as you speed through groves of trees far away from the road until eventually you see and hear the Scappoose Vernonia Highway looming to the left and you enter the Floeter pull off area which is just above Scaponia Rec Area and where we turned around.
As we rounded the summit on the way back we took a side supur up to the highway and the sign, then it seemed like we were all the way back down to the car in NO time. But you gotta watch for walkers and families on the lower section so check your turbonium. We were wiped out (despite the pedal assist) and truly enjoyed our veggie scramble on a bed of tater tots when we got home... there may have been some Gin oriented beverage involved as well.
The trip down 300ft to the Floeter Trail Head (named after the Floeter pioneer family) was a blast. Flying on the mostly uninhabited trail through tall grass and wildflowers prepare for a little calf-whipping if you are wearing shorts, but not bad. You zoom in and out darkness as you speed through groves of trees far away from the road until eventually you see and hear the Scappoose Vernonia Highway looming to the left and you enter the Floeter pull off area which is just above Scaponia Rec Area and where we turned around.
As we rounded the summit on the way back we took a side supur up to the highway and the sign, then it seemed like we were all the way back down to the car in NO time. But you gotta watch for walkers and families on the lower section so check your turbonium. We were wiped out (despite the pedal assist) and truly enjoyed our veggie scramble on a bed of tater tots when we got home... there may have been some Gin oriented beverage involved as well.
* E-Bike performance review. Not many real world off-road or climbing performance information on YouTube for these bikes. So I will do what I can to bridge that gap here, and more in the future. We started with full batteries (56v / 10 bars) and pedaled the whole way contributing moderate force. The ride profile was a 14 mile out-and-back on gravel, dirt and mud. It climbed up 700ft with varying degrees of pitch and down 300 feet on a more consistently steep decline. The return trip was that in reverse order (of course). When we got back to the car our batteries were at 47.3v / 8 bars and 46.8v / 7 bars respectively which is just under 50% battery power (48v). My guess is my better half was playing with the throttle a little more than me.
Overall impressions. Given the cost point and the understanding that components need to conform to that cost we were both VERY impressed. The climbing ability was better than expected given the weight of the bike and the big tires running around 20 lbs did a good job of soaking up some bumps. Ergonomics were comfortable (being 6ft tall I moved my seat back and rotated my handlebars forward a bit) and the ONLY thing I am going to replace immediately are the pedals. The center where they attach to the crank arm bumps up high enough to completely invalidate the traction spikes on the front and back edges. But that is my ONLY complaint everything else was sunshine and rainbows. Thank you Lectric, more reviews to come as we push the limits of this cool new piece of equipment.
Overall impressions. Given the cost point and the understanding that components need to conform to that cost we were both VERY impressed. The climbing ability was better than expected given the weight of the bike and the big tires running around 20 lbs did a good job of soaking up some bumps. Ergonomics were comfortable (being 6ft tall I moved my seat back and rotated my handlebars forward a bit) and the ONLY thing I am going to replace immediately are the pedals. The center where they attach to the crank arm bumps up high enough to completely invalidate the traction spikes on the front and back edges. But that is my ONLY complaint everything else was sunshine and rainbows. Thank you Lectric, more reviews to come as we push the limits of this cool new piece of equipment.