Mitch's Btown Blog

I was impressed with this Aventon Aventure, a 26″ fat tire mountain bike style that checks all the boxes for sturdy, well designed and good looking. It has an SUV vibe for sure, you feel really secure when riding. Unfortunately, none of that helps if the a fall happens, which was the case for this beast.

After the fall, it just would not shift worth a darn, and it was easy to see on quick inspection that while the derailleur itself was just scratched, the hanger was bent several degrees out of true.

So I removed the derailleur, took a ride to the hardware shop and got a long fine thread bolt of the correct diameter, and screwed it into the bent hanger. I applied some weight and leverage to the bolt, eyeballed it once, applied some more pressure, and voila, as close to perfect as I could get.

I reattached the derailleur, tightened the cable, set the high and low limit screws, and then (to my surprise) indexed the gears so that there was smooth shifting from top to bottom. I felt good that I was able to repair with having to replace anything.

But, if this were to happen again, I would want to replace the hanger, as it is softer metal, and will break with sufficient stress. But getting the right replacement is often a hassle, as each manufacturer has their own design, and with the supply chain issues we have, it can be a long wait for parts. So I think I did the right thing for now!

Last week the City hosted the Ebike Curious Event on Kirkwood in front of People’s Park and the Bike Garage, and we had nearly a dozen different brands (and one home-crafted) ebikes on display. There were two recumbents, two folding fat tires, three cargo,  and three commuter style ebikes. Quite a wide range, showing the various uses there are for ebikes in our city!

 

I never expected this from Bloomberg, but here it is, How to Make Cities Safer for E-Bikes by Ira Boudway really makes the case for the use of ebikes (my preferred spelling) in the city:

“With battery-powered motors that assist riders as they pedal, e-bikes enable a broader range of people to make more and longer trips than traditional bikes. And they are cheaper, more efficient, and less resource-intensive to manufacture than electric cars.”

So there are real economic and environmental benefits to ebike travel, as cited in the article, like ~60% of car rides in US are less than 6 miles/round trip (2017), meaning that a majority of our trips could be done easily by ebike.

But most importantly, Boudway emphasizes that safety is the main concern blocking wider adoption, and that this is best addressed through infrastructure choices that allow mixed use of our public spaces.

A 2018 poll from People for Bikes found that people “said that roads are not safe enough for families to bike and, of those, 63% said they would ride if they felt safer. The best way to make riders safer is to protect them from cars.”

So count me in, paint is not enough to stop aggressive drivers from making the streets feel unsafe!

Lots of folks want to take their ebikes with them when traveling, and there are a number of racks out there. I can’t recommend any of them from experience, but here are a few racks I see mentioned frequently online. The ones built specifically for ebikes can be a bit pricey, but are elegant. The ones built for dirt bikes are sturdier, but maybe a bit clunkier, but definately cheaper.

The most expensive is the Thule at $900
Thule EasyFold XT 2: https://www.amazon.com/hule-Easyfold-Hitch-Mount-Carrier/dp/B07954CY49/

1Up is a brand many folks seem to like it at $700
Super Duty Double
https://www.1up-usa.com/product/2in-super-duty-double-bike-rack/

The Hollywood rack is often most recommended on many of the ebike groups on FB, at $500
Hollywood Racks Sport Rider 2 bike https://www.amazon.com/Hollywood-Racks-Sport-Rider-

Here is a typical dirt bike rack that will easily carry two ebikes for $400.
Rage Powersports Black Widow AMC-600-2 https://www.amazon.com/Black-Widow-AMC-600-2-Aluminum-Motorcycle/dp/B004HL5SF0/

Hi, Mitch here at Zephyr Ebike Workshop. The shop is closed as of All Saints Day, 2023. I found that I was terrible at the business end of things, and according the IRS, three years of loss at a business means you have a hobby, not a business. So when the lease ran out, I moved my tools home, and pursue my hobby in my backyard shed (for now). Those who have been my customers have become my friends, and I will continue to help you with your ebikes, but I am not in business.

Scroll down to the blog posts for notes about ebikes, riding in Monroe county, music, nature and more.

We had two new brands (to us) in the workshop this week, Bee Cool and heybike, and both had advantages in their own ways.

Bee Cool Pathfinder – Fat Tire Step Thru

This beast is one of this year’s new design with maxed out specs, yet is still within legal limits on bike paths and trails. (750W motor, 22A controller and, massive 48V/20 Ah battery, hydraulic disk brakes). This one has a 100mm stem riser, and with the front suspension, it rides very high and wide. This is great for the owner, who is well over 6 feet, and needs big bike. It is extremely sturdy, and has no problem handling the extra weight of the power train and 4″ fat tires. At the same time, it has a 21″ low step-thru height, making it much easier to handle its 80 pounds of power. At $1800, it is a great value for all these specs, and built for rough riding!

Heybike Cityscape Cruiser

At the other end of the spectrum is this heybike Cityscape, an inexpensive ($900) Euro style commuter bike, it has a most of the extras that make it great for around the town errands, commuting, and just cruising. It has front and back fenders and integrated lights, as well as a chain guard and rear rack. It has moderate 36V/350W/10Ah power train, which will be good for 20-25 miles, more than enough for most city uses. I think it competes well with the Ecotric Peace Dove, which has similar specs, and sells for only $770. The Peace Dove includes a front basket, but has no built in lights. But the Cityscape has a damper seat post and front suspension, making it a cushier ride, and thus worth the extra $130 over the Peace Dove. All in all, I think it is a good value for entering the ebike world.

heybike Explore – Fat Tire Step-Thru

So I mentioned a new design this year, like the Bee Cool above, and suprisingly heybike has one called the Explore. It has very similar specs (48V/750W/20Ah), but seems to have mechanical disk brakes rather than the hydraulic disk brakes on the Bee Cool Pathfinder. So the Heybike costs $1900, while the Bee Cool is $1800 (down from the original price of $2000), and slightly better specs, and that makes it the winner in this catagory (for this month anyhow!)

We’ve had a lot of different ebikes come in for assembly, tune-up, and repair, and that is great news us, things are going according to plan. Our pivot to service and support from ebike sales has meant changes here with our workspace growing and sales space shrinking. Here is a sampling of ebikes that have come through the door this month. RadPower is quite popular now that the order time has reduced from months to weeks!

I ride a RadPower cargo bike, but I particulary like the new Blix Packa pictured above, as it has the second battery built in, plus it runs on standard 24″ tires (while the new RadWagons have propietary 22″ tires).

The RadCity below is particularly suited for commuting and shopping with a built in rack, sturdy front basket and easy to mount step through design. It felt very sturdy, a great utility vehicle. They all had some little quirk that needed special attention, but over all they were all interesting ebikes. (The Pedigo is in for a paint job…)

This bike came into the workshop because the torque sensor was working intermittently. It is a Juiced Rip Current, a monster of a fat tire mountain bike. The torque sensor is bolted between frame and gear cassette, and integrates the derailleur hanger, and was damaged in a fall. This ebike has a powerful 750W motor, hydraulic disk brakes, suspension front fork, and built in lights, with a massive 52V 19.2 Ah battery. This is a full sized “SUV” of an ebike, and is being used accordingly. Now back on the road, the new torque/cadence sensor makes this bike easy to start up and ride anywhere. It takes two hand to handle this whopper!