Has anyone bought an Ebike without riding one ?

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Mike Hampson

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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 ?
 
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Kind of.
Last year I ordered my Scott eGenius for my birthday before I had rode an ebike. Had tested several eMX bikes a few years back but nothing with pedals. When they advised my bike would be November delivery instead of September Scott NZ offered a 2018 bike to use until mine arrived. Was a 27.5 and not a 29er and a bit higher spec but when I recieved my bike I was not disappointed.
 
I purchased an e-beach cruiser prior to buying my Giant Trance E+2 so even though I did not ride the Giant until after ordering it and receiving it, I had an idea what it felt like to ride an e-bike. Yes, I would say I was hooked from the off. My wife was as well. Really, anyone that I know that has tried an e-bike for the first time ends up loving it. IMO, I think it ends up being much more fun than you expect it to be. It just enhances the fun experience of riding a bike. My wife and I ride so much more now. Also, it really does equalize our abilities on a bike. Prior to e-bike, I was always waiting for my wife to catch up and our rides were much shorter.
 
Mike Hampson said:
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 !
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I ordered my first Emtb withoutr ever riding a single emtb
Can you remember what it felt like the 1st time you rode one ?
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Yes. it was only 20 months ago. (have owned 3 in that time and ridden tons more)
Were you hooked from the off ?
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Been hooked on riding all kinds of bikes all my life... I see no sensible reason to ever get tied down to riding just one type ;)
 
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I tested lots of emtbs then I rode the 2018 Focus Jam2 6.8 (an alloy 27.5+). I thought it was brilliant, the first emtb where I just rode for fun and forgot what mode I was in etc. So of course I didn't order that! I ordered the 2019 Jam2 9.6 NINE (a CF 29er). Even better! :love:
But I suppose it could have all gone wrong! :unsure:
 
I pretty much did... first time I rode one was in the parking lot when I picked it up. I read a lot and watched a lot of videos... but I knew right away I needed one... I'm on my second now. I bought my first bike in mid-may, have had a couple significant injuries (concussions, broken ribs) and I'm on target to hit 1,000 miles this year... next year shooting for 2k.


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Yes in 2007 I ordered my first emtb with only small pics & scant detail on the manufacturer’s website. I remember reading their blog which promised the power to ride faster than an Olympic champion. There was no place to go for a test ride outside of Colorado but I just knew it’d be the first of many. Delivery took months, the anticipation was borderline excruciating :)

My first electro experience was a long midnight ride through a virtually deserted Sydney. It was a new type of transportation appliance totally unlike any other. Definitely memorable.
 
I bought my first eBike without even knowing what they were, I just knew I needed some help to keep up with my 23 y/o son. Got a Bultaco Brinco, way too much power, lots of fun though. I still ride it to work sometimes. If I knew better I would have bought a Levo instead.
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^^^Class 2 on steroids

Bought my Trance after just demo'ing around the shops neighborhood

Felt like someone grabbing ya by the arse end & givin ya a shove (y) Credit card shortly thereafter:p
 
One ride in the parking lot and I was sold!

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.
 
Mike Hampson said:
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 ?
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I had been riding my Specialized FSR for 20 years when i bought a Ghost SLAMR. The first sensation was a bit weird. The riding position was pretty different. The handlebar was much wider which made the bike feel a bit clumsy. This was just a matter of get used to it. It still feels a bitbig, but it is ok.
The most surprisingly and a bit disappointing was that with my Specialized i was in the flat much faster than the Ghost. The big surprise was riding uphill. Oh my god! This was gorgeous! Climbing trails in which i had to stop and walk with the Specialized. You have to overcome the point in which you usually would step off the bike and walk. Hold on, stay on the saddle and keep on pedaling. Unbelievable!!

The Specialized is an wonderful agile bike.
The Ghost is a muscle power, and a great freerider (or enduro or whatever, i don't know where is the difference. If somebody can show me a clear classification of different kind of bikes, i wolud be grateful to read it).
 
I'm a Cannondale and Specialised Hardtail owner and initially wanted a full suspension bike, then saw ebikes and saved up towards a Levo or similar. After joining the forum I got a brief ride on a large framed Giant Trance E+2 from a local rider and was instantly sold. I'm 53 and heavily built so I struggle a bit with my fitness and big climbs on the analogs but no problem on the ebike.

I'm really glad about buying myself a 2019 GiantTrance E+2 in medium, it's been fantastic and I am blown away by it every time I ride it.
 
Yes
Mike Hampson said:
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 ?
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I bought mine, Cube Reaction Pro 500 this August and had never ridden one.
First time on the road it was easy to exceed 25 kph and couldn’t feel the motor but as soon as you get off road on a trail there is s nice “kick” and even more uphill.
Love it!
 
Yes-I bought a Meta power without ever riding an Ebike.

First thought was this just feels like a normal MTB and is really fast up hill but is slower on flat trails as when the motor cuts out it feels like dragging a sack of concrete behind you. No real difference on downhill and jumps and drops.

Its great and even greater when it has the Badd Ass box on it.
 
I bought my first emtb (Haibike Hardseven) 4 years ago after a short trial run around an Aviemore car park. And it exceeded all my expectations.
My current bike (Haibike Alltrail 6.0 Flyon) I bought without a trial because there were none to try! So far, which is not very, I am delighted with it.
 
Yes, I've only ever bought two bikes, an Orange Aluminium 'O' in1989/90 and test rode that, but bought my Turbo Levo without a test ride. Once I decided to buy a new bike, I was overwhelmed by the range and choices available, but the Turbo Levo and YT decoy kept coming up in reviews. When I found a Comp Carbon for the price of a base Levo, I bought it.

Absolutely no regrets, I've only managed to get out on it a couple of times, but it's brilliant. I cant believe how quiet the motor is, and the assistant modes are great.
 
Me too, 1 minure on my mates meta power race in a car park, my fate was “a complis” so to speak.
18 Sworks and 19 women’s ht in one transaction. Best thing I ever did, no kidding at all. Buying a Transition was a landmark, yet tues pro too. Levo is on another level though, and had the advantage of appearing exactly at the right time as well. Nick of actually.
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Never rode e-bike when I bought a second hand Focus Bold HT 2 years ago. Been lurking on this forum so I sorta knew what to expect. My biggest gamble was size, but previous owner was my height and claimed it is a generous M.
Had a great fun with this bike, made my hilly commute so much easier.

Few weeks ago I decided it is time to upgrade to FS bike, hardtail was beating me up on trails too much (good excuse). Got myself great deal on Merida e160 900E from local LBS. Different animal altogether.

Sold Focus within couple of days of putting posting an ad on Gumtree.

Time to change my avatar.
 
I had never even seen one live when I ordered a canyon spectral on october 2018 and only in april 2019 I put my hands on it while traveling to France where the bike was delivered to my daughter’s house.
But had done lots of research on sites from portuguese, spanish, french and english. The bike has corresponded to all my expectations and the experience of riding an ebike has been extremely rewarding.
 
Mike Hampson said:
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 ?
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They are amazing, you won't be disappointed!
I bought my first Mtb on a recommendation from MT magazine and I wasn't disappointed. So when I wanted an Emtb I followed their advice and purchased the 2019 Vitus E Sommet VR 11. Guess what? I wasn't disappointed ?
 
Suppose it´is difficult now days to find bad products from known brands. Also we have more adaptive capacities than we sometimes recon. The big diferences I find is fit to purpose .
 
It's worth mentioning that as stated above, the first time I rode an ebike was in the parking lot after I paid for it. It follows naturally that the first time I ever rode one on the trails was on my brand new Levo. There is virtually no learning curve... It's almost automatic. Naturally you DO learn things with experience, but to paraphrase the joke..... the worst ebike I've had, was.... great
 
I used to quite like that joke until I recieved my first absolutely terrible one
 
Mike Hampson said:
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 ?
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Yeah! I bought mine with zero experience on one. It blew my mind the second the pedals first moved. You’ll love it!
 
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