Getting juiced on an e-bike?
Aug. 29th, 2014 02:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
robotech_masterSo I called the local e-bike dealer and chatted with him about my requirements. He's basically one of those dealers who works out of their home rather than a showroom. I can respect that. Among other things, means he'd keep the overhead down and hopefully cut me a better deal on the bikes. He doesn't carry any of the type of e-bikes I mentioned in my previous post, and he's hesitant to order them because if I didn't like them, what would he do with them?
However, he does have some of last year's model of an electric cargo bike called the "Juiced Rider" that he might be able to cut me a deal on—including cargo panniers he could throw in. It wouldn't be in the $500 to $700 range, but given that the bike costs like $2,000 brand new, I'm hoping it'll be around $1,000ish. I might even swing $1,500ish or more if he lets me pay on installments. I'll have to carve a chunk of money out from the amount I'm going to be paying down my debts with, but on the other hand this will let me stave off needing a car even further. And I'm going to have to have some kind of alternate solution for getting around when winter hits. Sub-freezing temperatures and trying to pedal a bike any great distance just don't mix.
Judging from this review and this other review, the Juiced Rider looks like it would be exactly the sort of thing I need. Designed from the ground up as a car-substitute, it can carry 330 lbs of rider plus cargo, and has an estimated 35 mile range. Not only would that be great for getting to and from work every day, it would even let me go down and visit Alex in Greenwood and come back without having to wait for it to recharge. I could do my Trader Joe's shopping without having to wrestle my cart onto the bus or pay extra for a Zipcar rental. And since it weighs the same 70 lbs as the other bike, I could easily bring it up to my room at night.
I'll be taking the bus and then bicycling up to Carmel on Monday afternoon to take a test ride, at which point we'll see how it goes. Would be interested to hear from anyone else who's had experience with e-bikes.
In other news, I bought a small window air conditioner unit off a fellow apartment building tenant who's moving away, and it's now cooling my bedroom. I slept very well last night, and look forward to another good night's sleep tonight.
However, he does have some of last year's model of an electric cargo bike called the "Juiced Rider" that he might be able to cut me a deal on—including cargo panniers he could throw in. It wouldn't be in the $500 to $700 range, but given that the bike costs like $2,000 brand new, I'm hoping it'll be around $1,000ish. I might even swing $1,500ish or more if he lets me pay on installments. I'll have to carve a chunk of money out from the amount I'm going to be paying down my debts with, but on the other hand this will let me stave off needing a car even further. And I'm going to have to have some kind of alternate solution for getting around when winter hits. Sub-freezing temperatures and trying to pedal a bike any great distance just don't mix.
Judging from this review and this other review, the Juiced Rider looks like it would be exactly the sort of thing I need. Designed from the ground up as a car-substitute, it can carry 330 lbs of rider plus cargo, and has an estimated 35 mile range. Not only would that be great for getting to and from work every day, it would even let me go down and visit Alex in Greenwood and come back without having to wait for it to recharge. I could do my Trader Joe's shopping without having to wrestle my cart onto the bus or pay extra for a Zipcar rental. And since it weighs the same 70 lbs as the other bike, I could easily bring it up to my room at night.
I'll be taking the bus and then bicycling up to Carmel on Monday afternoon to take a test ride, at which point we'll see how it goes. Would be interested to hear from anyone else who's had experience with e-bikes.
In other news, I bought a small window air conditioner unit off a fellow apartment building tenant who's moving away, and it's now cooling my bedroom. I slept very well last night, and look forward to another good night's sleep tonight.
