Greetings to all on the Pedelecs forums from a new member.
I live in the outermost reaches of West Wales, so doing a “test drive” on several different demonstrator bikes at my nearest large ebike dealer would have involved a time-consuming round trip to Cardiff, Bristol or Buckley, near Chester.
Fortunately for me, a friend had an ebike (Giant) which she allowed me to ride to get the feel of an electrically powered bike.
This route may be the one for other ebike "wannabies", in a similar position, to adopt, just to get the feel of an ebike of any sort.
Obviously you first need to find a local person who owns an ebike. I find my local pub is an excellent source of information!!
I returned from a short ride with the usual “new ebiker grin” and I was immediately hooked.
Prior to this I had watched the BBC Countryfile programme and seen Matt Baker tackle the hills of Gloucestershire on a FreeGo Eagle.
Matt's companion pointed out that he wanted people to be able to get out and enjoy the countryside but without killing themselves trying to climb hills. That is precisely my situation.
It is impossible to leave my village without facing inclines similar to that of the Col du Tourmalet, so electric assistance is essential for me.
I should also point out that I am overweight and unfit, but I have been remedying the situation by following the recipes and exercise advice in the Hairy Dieters book (only £4.99 at the Book People). The pounds/kilos are coming off but I want to accelerate the process by using the bike as much as possible, preferably unaided, once I have managed to climb my steep exit roads using the assistance of battery power.
I looked at customer testimonials on the FreeGo website (the Countryfile video is there) together with feedback on these forums.
Thanks in particular to Eaglerider on these forums for his extremely detailed and informative reports on his experiences with a FreeGo Eagle.
The combined overwhelmingly positive feedback led me to choose the FreeGo Eagle with a longer range 36v/17ah battery.
I also spoke to John Heath, the MD of FreeGo Electric Bikes, who was most helpful and gave me a detailed description of the differences between the cheaper Hawk and the more expensive Eagle.
Broadly speaking, the superior brakes and suspension of the Eagle make it the better purchase, in my opinion, if you can afford the extra cost. John told me that he had several, otherwise happy, Hawk owners who regretted not stumping up the extra initial cash for an Eagle.
I purchased my FreeGo Eagle at a 10% discount from Peter Blackman at:
AXcess Electric Bikes of Honiton, Devon (Tel: 01404 41692).
I hope to report back in more detail in due course when I have given both myself and my Eagle some exercise.
I live in the outermost reaches of West Wales, so doing a “test drive” on several different demonstrator bikes at my nearest large ebike dealer would have involved a time-consuming round trip to Cardiff, Bristol or Buckley, near Chester.
Fortunately for me, a friend had an ebike (Giant) which she allowed me to ride to get the feel of an electrically powered bike.
This route may be the one for other ebike "wannabies", in a similar position, to adopt, just to get the feel of an ebike of any sort.
Obviously you first need to find a local person who owns an ebike. I find my local pub is an excellent source of information!!
I returned from a short ride with the usual “new ebiker grin” and I was immediately hooked.
Prior to this I had watched the BBC Countryfile programme and seen Matt Baker tackle the hills of Gloucestershire on a FreeGo Eagle.
Matt's companion pointed out that he wanted people to be able to get out and enjoy the countryside but without killing themselves trying to climb hills. That is precisely my situation.
It is impossible to leave my village without facing inclines similar to that of the Col du Tourmalet, so electric assistance is essential for me.
I should also point out that I am overweight and unfit, but I have been remedying the situation by following the recipes and exercise advice in the Hairy Dieters book (only £4.99 at the Book People). The pounds/kilos are coming off but I want to accelerate the process by using the bike as much as possible, preferably unaided, once I have managed to climb my steep exit roads using the assistance of battery power.
I looked at customer testimonials on the FreeGo website (the Countryfile video is there) together with feedback on these forums.
Thanks in particular to Eaglerider on these forums for his extremely detailed and informative reports on his experiences with a FreeGo Eagle.
The combined overwhelmingly positive feedback led me to choose the FreeGo Eagle with a longer range 36v/17ah battery.
I also spoke to John Heath, the MD of FreeGo Electric Bikes, who was most helpful and gave me a detailed description of the differences between the cheaper Hawk and the more expensive Eagle.
Broadly speaking, the superior brakes and suspension of the Eagle make it the better purchase, in my opinion, if you can afford the extra cost. John told me that he had several, otherwise happy, Hawk owners who regretted not stumping up the extra initial cash for an Eagle.
I purchased my FreeGo Eagle at a 10% discount from Peter Blackman at:
AXcess Electric Bikes of Honiton, Devon (Tel: 01404 41692).
I hope to report back in more detail in due course when I have given both myself and my Eagle some exercise.
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