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10-17-2015, 04:12 PM
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#1
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Senior Member
Fleetwood Owners Club Freightliner Owners Club
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: East Texas
Posts: 2,269
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My New E-Bike
I retired with a spinal injury. I love bicycle riding but there are times when it is just too painful. I miss riding while camping so I came to the forum several months ago, hoping to get some ideas on a hybrid bicycle - pedal powered when I feel good, electric powered when I don't.
I came across many options, some very expensive at over $5000, some Chinese made stuff for under $1000. I decided on an American made e-bike by Prodeco, the Phantom X2 V5. The Phantom is foldable, making it easy to stow. This suits me well as I was hoping for a bike that I could store in the bed of my toad/truck, which has a tonneau cover.
At $1600 retail, this bike isn't cheap but it's a lot less expensive many other e-bikes on the market. The Phantom is sold widely on Amazon, where it gets good reviews. The 2016 Phantom starts production next week. It has some improvements over the previous model that I wanted such as a smaller but more powerful battery and hydraulic disk brakes. I may never need the improvements, but the the bike shop offered me the 2016 at the same price as this year's model, $1400.
I'll come back and post my review of the bike as soon as I take delivery and get a chance to take it for a nice long ride. Can't wait!
Craig
__________________
2005 Fleetwood Providence 39J CAT C7 350, MP-8 Power Module
My wife does all the driving - I just hold the wheel...
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10-17-2015, 11:00 PM
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#2
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Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Over the next hill, around the next curve...
Posts: 5,659
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Cool beans! Look forward to updates, as I feel E Bikes would work well for my wife. She is doing great now after spinal surgery, and hope she continues to do so! Having the ability to have assistance if/when needed, I see as a real benefit.
Will look for updates ahead !
Best,
Smitty
__________________
07 Country Coach Magna Rembrandt 45' ISX600
Roo II was our 04 Country Coach Allure 40'
OnDRoad for The JRNY! Enjoy life...
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10-17-2015, 11:34 PM
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#3
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Senior Member
Outdoors RV Owners Club
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 1,663
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Love e bikes
White one is my wifes and the black hot rod is mine. Blast to ride, the world is now flat.
__________________
2008 F450, 2016 Outdoors RV Glacier Peak 26 RKS
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10-18-2015, 07:30 AM
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#4
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Senior Member
Monaco Owners Club
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Olympia, Wa
Posts: 2,772
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OK educate us. I am looking but have no idea what is real. I understand regular brake then disk then hydrology do at and know to resize. But how many watts motor do I need, how big amp hour battery, and how many volts? Also how many miles will each do just on electric with a hill or two or a mountain to climb? From those that haveone, I can quote factory specs but want real world. I too have back fussion.
LEN
__________________
2004 Clss C 31' Winnebgo
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10-18-2015, 08:47 AM
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#5
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Senior Member
Fleetwood Owners Club Freightliner Owners Club
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: East Texas
Posts: 2,269
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My New E-Bike
OLYLEN,
I had the same questions when I started doing my own research. I started off by reading the Amazon reviews on different bikes. A lot of them are detailed and in depth. I talked to two different bike shop owners in person. Finally, I called Prodeco directly and asked which bike was best suited for me and my needs. Different models have different specs so there is no general answer to your question. For me, it was important that the bike fold for transporting, so it really narrowed down my choices.
Craig
__________________
2005 Fleetwood Providence 39J CAT C7 350, MP-8 Power Module
My wife does all the driving - I just hold the wheel...
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10-18-2015, 06:26 PM
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#6
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Senior Member
Fleetwood Owners Club Freightliner Owners Club
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: East Texas
Posts: 2,269
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Rickeoni,
Nice bikes! Love your black one!
Craig
__________________
2005 Fleetwood Providence 39J CAT C7 350, MP-8 Power Module
My wife does all the driving - I just hold the wheel...
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10-20-2015, 01:13 PM
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#7
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Senior Member
Outdoors RV Owners Club
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 1,663
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Quote:
Originally Posted by OLYLEN
OK educate us. I am looking but have no idea what is real. I understand regular brake then disk then hydrology do at and know to resize. But how many watts motor do I need, how big amp hour battery, and how many volts? Also how many miles will each do just on electric with a hill or two or a mountain to climb? From those that haveone, I can quote factory specs but want real world. I too have back fussion.
LEN
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There are 2 basic types of ebikes, hub drive and mid drive. Both get the basic job done , there are pros and cons to each type. hub drive = only one gear for electric drive , as it is driving the wheels directly, but lower cost. mid drive = motor takes advantage of the gear multiplication of the bikes gearbox resulting a much wider range of assist, but this equates to a higher cost.
Watts and voltage results in more power and a larger battery equals longer range. I would advise a pedal assistance bike as opposed to a throttle bike, as you would have a longer range, speaking of range , it all depends on how much power you dial in and how varied your terrain is.
then you get into the little details like , USB connector on battery for powering various items, what type of instrument cluster, what brand of components are on the basic bike and most important what is your budget.
There is plenty of good in biased reading out there as ebikes are in their infancy in North America, but are predicted to dwarf the mountain bike phenomena.
Rick
__________________
2008 F450, 2016 Outdoors RV Glacier Peak 26 RKS
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10-20-2015, 02:25 PM
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#8
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 35,317
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I built 2 E Bikes with kits from Golden Motors.
I used 500 watt front wheel motors and Wal-Mart bikes.
Our best distance, with no peddeling, was 16 miles at full throttle. About 20 MPH. We made it with very low batteries.
Our longest trip was 30 miles, along the Erie Canal bikeway, at bike speed and peddling. We still had power left.
My bike had a 25 AH battery and the DW had a 20 AH battery.
We used them for 5 years while full timing on our boat. Last year, the salt air took its toll and I pulled the kits and dumped the bikes.
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