Q-electric Expresso S Ebike Review (Trip to Point Lobos)

Chaser

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I took the Expresso S on it's first long trip today...about 12 miles total. The trip started in Carmel, CA and toured south to Pt Lobos along Hiway one. After entering the park, I toured all the paved roads in the park and then returned back to our house in Carmel. For those interested in photos of the trip, I have uploaded views of Pt. Lobos and the bike on this forum (see photo gallery). I have also been discussing the bike on my blog site on Yahoo 360 under manicarver.

The bike was fully charged when I left home, and I ran the entire trip with the headlight on so I would be better seen by traffic. The e-bike ran out of charge about 200 feet from the driveway to our house on the return trip...so now I know it's maximum range with headlight on being driven at maximum throttle is about 12 miles.

The speedometer reads 25 mph on flat surfaces and slows to about 15 mph on moderate hills. On steeper hills the bike slows down to about 10 mph and needs pedal assist. On really steep hills, it's best to get off the bike and walk it up while holding the throttle partially open to help move the bike along.

I have put about 30 total miles on the bike and here is what I have noticed to date.

1. The bike does fine on flat smooth surfaces and is comfortable to ride.
2.. It's best to slow down before hitting rough surfaces, for the shock absorbers appear a bit stiff.
3. The pedal assist is just one gear and comes in handy on moderately steep hills where speed drops below ten mph.
4. The bike weighs 130 pounds and is definitely a bike you don't want to pedal far without electric assist.
5. Peddling the bike is a bit awkward at first and takes getting used to. The scooter design is not as convenient to pedal as a bicycle design.
6. The headlight works okay for night driving at slow speeds. The high beam doesn't give much of a boost to down the road vision for night driving.
7. I have tried all the positions possible for the rear view mirrors, and haven't found a position that gives satisfactory rear vision.
8. Only one small complaint on quality. The rubber mat on the scooter floor has no gromits surrounding the screws which hold it in place. The mat tore loose from the screws after about ten miles of use, so I put washers around a larger screws to hold the mat in place.
9. The bike is legal on bike trails and needs no special license or registration.
10. The brakes are drum front and back, and must be pumped to keep from fading on long, steep hills.
11. When fully discharged, the batteries take about six hours to recharge using the twin chargers supplied with the bike.
12. The bike can be lifted over obstructions, but is heavy and awkward going. This bike loves smooth, flat surfaces where it really shines. It performs fine on gentle hills, but if you are going up steep hills all the time, I would suggest another bike.

That's all I have for now on the Q-electric Expresso bike. The bike retails at $1,095 including shipping and I have seen them as low as $895, but I believe you must pay the shipping for this price. If the bike holds up well over the next two years, I believe I will have gotten my monies worth from the purchase. Time will tell on this unknown.
 
Be cautious operating an ebike with these numbers.

California Law states that an ebike must not be capable of over 20mph on flat land when powered by just the motor. In addition, Federal law TEA-21 states that to use trails, ebikes are to be no more than 100 lbs, but local jurisdictions can make TEA 21 rules more or less stringent. (In addition, the ebike must have pedals that work and a motor with less than 750 watts in most states, 1000 watts in some)

In reality hardly anyone is checking such things UNLESS you are in an accident.

In a recent court decision in Oregon, an ebike that exceeded these guidelines was hit by a drunk driver in a bike lane, and lost all damages and compensation due to the decision that they were operating an illegal and unregistered vehicle (ebike with 2 hp). The drunk driver's insurance company, one of the big companies, did not have to do a lot of research to get out of paying any money.

so be careful, especially with a Carmel address.
 
Thanks for the information. I am the guinea pig in my own experiment. The bike is rated at 18 mph, yet my speedometer reads 25 mph on the flat. I live in Monterey County, and I didn't see any weight restrictions on the bike...I will double check this for my bike weighs 130 lbs. The motor is 500 w and the pedals do work to help on steep hills.

I am not sure about the accuracy of the speeometer, but I will keep it to less than 20 mph. Thanks again for your insights.
 
I pretend like I am invisible to drivers. A habit which worked well for me when I rode motorcycles. Drunk driver's, cell phone users, and other distracted drivers...I will keep my radar on high for. They have really been cracking down on drunk drivers around here, which is great...now the cell phones are starting to disappear from people's hands as the hands free sets are becoming more popular. I believe a new law has made using a cell phone by hand illegal.

Thanks again for the tip.
 
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