Remember the best bike company in the world www.ecells.com, tell them Christopher sent you.
First off, note to yourself, ANYTIME you buy a new bicycle there is going to be a learning curve that is needed, in order to work out things you may like or dislike about the bike. Because we are all different shapes and sizes, and because we are dealing with fallible people and parts (Yes, that includes all of us:-) one has to take time to sort out these things and get them fixed. For me, I found the E-Cells Bicycle to be perfect for what I want to do which is ride across the USA and experience the freedom of extra time and miles in the saddle that an electric motor affords me. However, because I want to do this and many other challenging things with this bicycle and am putting it to the test of long distance cruising, there are things I need personally. This is by no means a reflection on the quality and craftsmanship of the bike, it is just a fact of life for me.
Things I did to prepare my bike for a literal Cross Country trip.
1. Broken in Brooks saddle
2.) Delta plus cell phone carrier (Keep in mind this holder blocks the back camera which keeps you from being able to video out in front of you, which was a huge disappointment; therefore, I am going to have to do something about this before trekking across Texas. When I return).
3.) a minimum of 2 Extra batteries. (I have one extra battery now and for all intents and purposes I set out with hoping to keep the assist mode in level one, which if it were possible to do that I could have made over 100 miles on a charge. But Mountain Ranges and big hills force you to go to assist mode three or four in order to keep up a pace of 12-14 miles an hour under mostly my own power. That said, I could at times get 60 miles on a charge with the dual batteries that come with it and another 20-30 out of the spare battery. But on other occasions where I had already been pedaling for hours and days, and was a little tired, I had to stop and recharge the battery packs up to three hours in order to get to my final destination for example on this trip to Wickenburg. I charged for at least an hour to reach other destinations such as Boulder City, and Kingman. Most Convenience stores were very kind to me; just make sure you go in and ask permission from the manager first so there is no discrepancies as it will look bizarre with a big charger plugged into an outlet and a big ol bike . It can seem intimidating to people. Also, I recommend an extension cord so you can park in a regular parking place and not take up room on the side walk from other passerby’s; or just pull a trailer like I do and have at least two extra batteries with you.)
4.) Make sure you adjust the full suspension before leaving. These video’s are helpful for the front and rear suspension. The first one deals with both the front and rear. The second video is helpful because it is the actual rear shock we have on our GREAT and AWESOME bikes.
FRONT: https://youtu.be/z-JtggFcxAA
REAR: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=op6onk12nLs
You see, when I purchased this bike, it was a prototype from the Company and as such had no front suspension to speak of. I saw it bottomed out the day I got it, but the technician put some air in it and it seemed okay. I didn’t know it had a leak. This is nobody’s fault...and I am still so grateful to get to review and talk about this amazing bike. The Owner David Cleveland a real stand up guy, said immediately he would send me out a new front fork upon returning to the Cross Country trip and so in one flail swoop, BAM 💥 once again all is well. This is what I mean. We live in an fallen world so to speak. Things made from the elements deteriorate and go from a state of best to broken in a matter of time. It is a fact of life. Not a show stopper. As with every part on that bicycle or any other bicycle you will ever buy eventually all the parts will have to be replaced... Maybe not by you, but by whoever gets it next, unless of course it is totally destroyed and recreated into a new something else:-)
5.) A pull trailer is a must if you are going to go cross country, because no mater how well you plan there will be times when you need an extra supply of water, food, and shelter, plus a way to haul your gear and extra batteries. This is imperative for me as I have already taken the bicycle 400 miles, and when I return from my job, I will be taking it another 900+ miles.
The rest of the items are personal to my brand of comfort, suffice to say you need to choose what you want... You will need extra tubes, for the trailer mostly but a flat can happen although highly unlikely on the actual bike tires. Toiletries, sleeping bag, tent, food items, etc... all these things are a side note. But the bike comes with everything you need as is to plug and play. The tool kit is extremely useful, and as such the trailer is a blessing, although you want to make sure not to overload it. Here is the one I am using and a link to how to get one.
So after arriving to Kingman, AZ at around 17:45 and getting checked into the Holiday Inn Express (which is a great place). I went to Sonic which is just a short 5 minute walk away and got some grub. A very nice cashier there helped me who is trading in for a Management position and after ordering my food and doing a quick survey for her, headed back to the room. I was pretty tired and wind burnt as well. It was a very strong head wind most all day and that coupled with the AZ Sun just drains a person no matter how great the bike ride was... and it was a great ride:-). The plan was to head out early the next morning to Wickenburg, But I was tired and the backside just wasn’t ready for such a long ride. I decided to set the Velo Plush back on for the ride to Kingman to see how it rode for 100 miles, and as soon as I got to the room, and plugged the charger in I switched back to my Brooks. I got a really great nights sleep and got up rip roaring and ready to go. unfortunately as is usually the case, Things start to happen in the early morning like constitutions, and wanting to get a video and blog out so I got sidetracked and didn’t leave until 12:00 P.M. this is a problem when you have over 100 miles to go and mountainous terrain to traverse. In the next episode (Part 2) I will describe how the next ride was a 20 hour trip and lasted “All night Long”... Stay tuned and stay active. Thanks.
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