Townie Expensive Electric Bike (junk)

I have been wanting to review our personal experience with purchasing an electric bike.

First we are talking high quality peddle assist, not Walmart electric hub garbage.

03-07-23 update: Before reading the history let me just update the Bike situation. The cadillac bike, i call it this because it’s big and heavy, well the rear hub gave out. This is supposed to be a big upgrade to the derailler system, which is external, and this intra8 being gears internal. The bike shop wanted 450 dollars to replace the wheel, it became evedent why because this premium hub is not rebuildable. It has unsealed ball bearings that rusted badly and internal caged bearing that run against races that are pressed into the hub, which were rusted and parts not available (junk). We have to wash our bikes and clean the chains after every ride because we ride on the beach so sealed bearing are a must, I decided to ditch the intr8 hub for a standard wheel with 8 speed sproket. This is a great solution and runs for around 200, also has sealed bearings.

update and final working config pix

This is the new setup, the axle width is perfect for the frame, I had to drill and tap the frame to mount the derailer but there might be other mount solutions, this worked and was cheep, what you encounter is the frames use an inset for the mount so it kinda locks you into their original setup but as noted that was crap. This new wheel has sealed cased bearings, the sprocket is basic shamino. On the the shifter I was able to setup the original twist selector but it is backwards, all gears working and shifts are smooth. All in All I would say this mod is a winner, I got away from the junk internal gear and have external hardware that can be lubed and cleaned easily

Full disclosure I am not a fan of electric power, my research results in more environmental damage caused that saved but that’s another post on another channel. I was gifted an electric bike and before I outright refused to ride it i ventured out. The purpose wasn’t about riding about town trying to show we are fit and trim, the actual purpose was to ride on the beach. Natural Beauty and connection to the ocean.

Yeah, yeah get to the point. The bikes are top of the line townie and the local bike shop that received the over 5000 dollar payment turned out to be a complete incompetent youth training program or something like that, the thought of paying hourly shop rate for a less than lawnmower mechanic might have had something to do with it but it took several attempts to get the bikes even ride-able.

Just getting them setup

Firstly these units both have Bosh drive systems that are state of the art. Even after 2 years of punishment they are solid, even the batteries.

My bike had a serous chain glitch that in high gear it would jump a link, after several attempts I was informed the manufacture had incompatible chain and sprocket. (sure)

The other which is their top of the line had an intra8 internal geared rear wheel which exploded and needed replaced, the complete wheel because the bike shop in not talented enough to re-spoke a wheel.

Then a flat tire on a brand new bike, this one I suspect was a way to get the bike into the shop, turns out inside the wheel the spoke retainer had a tool mark that wore through the liner into the tube. I know right, how can a screwdriver damage a part so bad and the quality control missed it, quality control yeah right, these bikes all come from china, Trek the largest bike manufacture does china because that’s how American capitalism works, ship all the labor to china and pay pennies and get china quality to boot.

Sorry about that, I’ve been wanting to discuss this bike thing for a while.

In the end their worth every penny!

In the end the bikes are insanely fun and very dependable. We are starting out 3rd year riding our circuit, 20 miles to the beach, along the shore and home. It takes about 1hr 45min and burns 750 calories. The first year i mounted a camera on a gimbal and got some beautiful video. Recently I upgraded my camera and have started doing this again. We ride our circuit 3 time a week and also drag our bikes to the Florida Keys on a regular basis. A maintenance update and care tips update will be posted soon, there are some things that must happen to keep these saltwater exposed units humming