Hi All,
Thought it was about time that I wrote a little bit about my bike.I purchased it about 2 months ago from Steve at electicmountainbikes.com. He will spec the bike however suits you best and spent ages on the phone with me due to being very enthusiastic about electric bikes.First a bit about me and why I picked this bike instead of another.About 4 years ago I had a near fatal Motor bike accident. Although grateful to still be here it has left me with some problems namely a weak right leg and wrists that don’t move very well any more. I work about 8 miles from my home and the route to work is quite hilly. We no longer have access to showers at work so an electric bike seemed right up my street. I wanted something that helps me with the hills so I could use it every day for work but more importantly I wanted a proper mountain bike. Something I could take on any off-road course without fear of it falling apart. Another issue I have is that I have to drop my 2 children off at their grandparents in the morning who take them to school so I needed something that could be easily transported in the car. Enter the Paratrooper.It is a folding mountain bike designed for the US paratroopers (they have apparently sold several thousand to the US army if you read the blurb on their web site). Steve fitted a high-torque (still road legal) Heinemann motor for me (fitted into a strong Maverick rim) and the battery is carried in a ruck sack to keep the weight off the bike.
Photo taken from Montague's web site
Steve customized the bike for my needs and it was fitted with folding pedals (which are now removed for serious off roading) and semi on / off road tyres that have knobblies down the sides but not the center.I cannot tell you how much I love this bike, (but I will have a go) my car has barely been off the path in the last two month (apart from taking kids to granparents) saving me a fortune in fuel. I have got the 8 miles ride to work down to around 30 mins which is only about 5 mins more than it takes me in the car. But it is off road where it really makes you smile. We have been through muddy bogs (see photo below), climbed over the top of Moel famau, done the intermediate route at CwnCarn south Wales and the bike has just taken it all in its stride. There are some sections that would just be sooooo hard on a normal mountain bike, like when cycling though muddy bogs that come up to axles, and try doing that on a normal bike without pedaling.There are a few niggling points (more annoying than anything). When you fold the bike all the cables rub the paint off the frame which could so easily have been fixed in the factory by just putting some protective stickers in the right place. I discovered the folding pedals are useless off road so I now have both folding and ridged and just change according to what I am doing.Below are some of the off road pictures taken over the last few weeks
lovelyOne final thing I have to mention is the service I have had from electricmoutainbikes.com. They have been so helpful (even fed me and took me for a tour of the countryside) and spent a lot of time advising me before I shelled out my hard earned cash. thank you
MARTIN
We investigated the possibility of adding an electric motor to our existing bike and contacted Steve at electricmountainbikes.com for more information. After an extremely informative and useful exchange by email and phone, we decided to travel up to Steve’s base (right in the middle of the North York Moors National Park rather than deal by post.
Booking into the Caravan Club site at Rosedale, we spent a few days exploring while he converted our bike. What a fantastic area. Good pub food on our doorstep, a local bakery and village shop, good hiking and gorgeous scenery. Well, the great day arrived and Steve delivered our bike – we then had great fun “testing it out”, cycling around the local area, also part of an old railway line on the coast from Robins Hood Bay to Whitby.
We were extremely impressed with Steve's professional and friendly service. The motor and battery are compact, the range/versatility/ease of use great. As his speciality is folding bikes with electric motors – excellent for most motorhomers – we recommend, if like us you are beginning to feel the old muscles pull when cycling up hills, checking out his website.
Martin & Cynthia Webb