Electric Bikes | Our New Hobby

When Paul and I travel, we always take our bicycles, and try to hit a few trails. The last few years, we’ve been talking about upgrading to electric bikes. It isn’t to take the exercise out of the trails, but to help get uphill, and to navigate the more challenging areas we sometimes come across. 

Also, Paul pulls the dogs on his bike, and Sadie isn’t quite as small as Sven. I wouldn’t say she’s big, but she is solid. Pulling them uphill can be a bit of a challenge.

We had some down time between shows in FL, so we decided to visit a few bike shops. Paul also got online, and did a lot of research on the bikes. He watched countless videos of pros, cons, and reviews. 

Between what we saw and what he learned, we had a good idea of what we were looking for. When we got home, we decided to go a few towns over to an outdoor shop called Jim’s Sports Center to see what they had. We were ready to buy, and were happy to support a local store.

Choosing Our Bikes

Jim’s Sports Center had a variety of quality outdoor items - the bike section was just part of the store. Even though they aren’t a big chain store, they still had 8 models of electric bikes. For a “country” bike shop, that seemed like a lot. Then the store employee told us they had so many, because people were buying them up like crazy. They were in high demand, so the store was doing its best to keep them in stock. That’s the same thing I heard from the bike shops in FL.

Paul got really excited when he saw the Rambos, because they had big tires, and were made for offroading. He was sold right away.

I on the other hand, wasn’t as excited about them. In FL, the bike shops had more options that were colorful and fun. I had it in my head I wanted a girly bike, not a plain black one. After I saw how excited Paul was, I ended up giving in though. 

I am the proud owner of a Rambo Ryder. Paul’s is slightly different; it is a Rambo Savage. We bought them on the spot, although we left them at the store to add bike racks to before brining them home.   

Other Bike Accessories 

Since we plan to use the bikes on the road, we knew we wanted a few storage upgrades. We each got a pack that attaches to the back, and Paul got me a really nice cell phone holder. We still want to add a few accessories, including bells and lights - but that will come.

 

Giving Them A Test Run

Our first trip on the bikes was a great success! We went 5 miles around “the loop” by our house- I know because the bikes kept track. How the bikes work is; you turn them on, and then you choose your speed. Mine is a 5 speed, and gears 1-5 are pedal assist. One is mostly peddling with a little help from the bike, and 5 is mostly the bike with a little help from you. Then there is also a separate button you can turn on if you don't want to peddle at all. The bike just goes on its own!

We used pedal assist the whole way, but Paul did turn on the “no pedaling” to get up the steep hill with the dogs. It was really great! I’m so glad we decided to try electric bikes. I may not have gotten my pretty girly bike, but I did get one that rides nice and smooth. I’m sure we will get a ton of use out of them. This year alone our bikes will travel with us through national parks in AZ, WA, NV and of course - Yellow Stone when we take our annual trip.