Has anyone bought an Ebike without riding one ?

[Crazee horse]

Yep, fell in love with my electric blue 2019 140 cube stereo pro as soon as I saw her. When I was told she was ex demo with 1k off I had to have her. Never even sat on one before. And I must say that if I knew how much fun id be having I'd have paid full price no question.

 

[urastus]

I'm not talking about riding the specific Bike you've bought, but any one ? I'm waiting for my new Bike to turn up and I've never ridden an Ebike at all ! Can you remember what it felt like the 1st time you rode one ? Were you hooked from the off ?

Me. I took a gamble. My bikes prior to ebike are circa 2012, so a few geometry changes too. Picked a frame size based on reach, watched reviews. I'm always value oriented so went for what was supposedly the best value brand here in Aus (bang for buck). I wanted aluminium and thought shimano should be the most reliable motors etc based on their experience.

The first ride was in steep country. Eco came standard in high; I was flying around everywhere and over everything. I was clearing stuff on steep climbs that I never would have got previously. I was very happy and amazed.

Of course I was also surprised to later find out how potentially short lived and troublesome the e side of emtb can be. I had a few issues with speed sensor - me not doing a sufficient job of the magnet on the new rear rotor.

 

[Astom22]

After four years with my Trance 2, I ordered my 2020 YT Decoy and have never even seen an ebike in person.

Came yesterday and assembled last night, still have yet to ride it, pouring rain here. View attachment 24641

Almost 2500 miles since this pic and have loved every one of them!

 

[j3ayy]

June?! Bugger that!

Yea but it will be worth it

 

[EebStrider]

Yea but it will be worth it

You hope!

 

[Kernow]

Everyone who’s ever had a go on my ebike has come back grinning , even the die hard I dont need to cheat with one of those until Iam 70 brigade , who incidentally I never really see having any sort of real off-road fun

 

[Jimbo Vills]

who incidentally I never really see having any sort of real off-road fun

it’s funny how the ‘cheaters’ brigade are normally miserable pushing up a hill! ?

 

[j3ayy]

Forgot to mention ? When i went to the LBS & put a deposit on my Rail 9, my wife decided she wanted an eBike so picked th Rail % which i bought her for Xmas ? I am so jealous has she loves it ?

 

[Trip Hazard]

I bought mine without trying one. Best thing I ever done. ?

 

[JetSetDemo]

Yup 4 years ago, the LEVO had not been out long, I got overtaken by 4 riders at Cannock whilst I was dying on my camber as usual on lung buster, they looked like they were tourists to be honest might have been wearing flip flops, the 2 girl’s anyway.but I knew they were in e bikes, chunky batteries.

I went home fired up google and discovered Specialized made an ebike, ordered it on line, and recover it Wednesday. This forum was just taking off and a short while later I mett Rob and Dom and a whole bunch of guys I still ride with all through this forum, life changing tbh.

I am in bike number 3 now never looked back??

 

[bsquared]

I'll quote DrStupid... same exact experiences...
"One ride in the parking lot and I was sold! (I rode for 30 seconds)

I describe them as superconductors to those who are uninitiated. I've let many folks have a go on mine, and the result is 100% the same everytime... a huge grin when returning. Even those folks who then go on to tell me its cheating, are grinning when the say it. Lol. "

My 13 y-o had a friend over and he asked if he could try - as of then, my son had yet to try it - and the kid came back... "this is the greatest thing ever"...

My son... can I try... Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

 

[Kernow]

i Bought my trek rail 9 without a test ride . From all the positive reviews and trek as a brand I knew it was good , i Think when you’ve been into these sort bikes for a while you know what will work for you and the spec you want A quick spin outside the shop is enough to seal the deal .
not much chance of a test Ride in the recent climate anyway , just finding the bike in stock at the right price locally is an amazing bonus . He who dithers has to wait and pay more

 

[Tonybro]

Most of us came at them from regular MTBs so we usually know what the feel of a bike is like - this is more about the assistance so most of us only got 10 mins in the car park and went, "Yup, I'll take it!"

 

[Kiwibloke]

Looked at an EMTB online just weeks before I bought mine, never ridden one before.

 

[BiGJZ74]

I did, I was searching for one but nothing in stock. Came across a 7 month used Rail 7 and pulled the trigger. As a big guy I was concerned about battery life but I don't ride in eMTB or Turbo much at all. Mainly Eco/Tour(eMTB lite) which gives me a good workout and 20-25miles of 3-5k ft of climbing. I Got it to ride socially so I don't hold up groups on climbs. Still ride my regular bike solo 1-2 times a week, but now ride the eMTB 1-4 times a week all depending on work schedule of course. Now I ride 75% of the time with others as opposed to before when I rode solo 98% of the time. eMTB's are just pure fun. You can get as much "effort" as you want out of it....is the work as hard as riding a regular bike...... I'd say no it's just different. It's like training Heavy in the gym versus volume training. You can get the same workload in the end but through different means. On a side note, my other 2 bikes....both coiled (Evil Wreckoning V3/Orbea Rallon) both feel like papaer weights when I ride them now as I'm so used to the weight of the 50+lb Rail.