Rifle on bike/E-Bike?

I’m not a wide glide by no means but I can tell you right now I’d be replacing that seat. Rough terrain along with comfort would mean no skinny seats...


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Black Friday sale , comes with wide seat ,suspension post and saddle bags .

 

Alright. Here's my review of using an ebike for a 6 day out of state hunting trip.

I was invited by a good friend to hunt MO public land from Nov 14-20 this year. He strongly recommended an ebike for the area we would be hunting. He also graciously extended a company discount good for 30% off retail for me to use. I had the option of Rambo or Bakcou. I initially ordered a Rambo Savage 750W, but due to being backordered I ended up cancelling and ordered a Bakcou Flatlander 750W instead. Price was a few hundred more for the Bakcou, but it was also rear hub driven and a 9-speed versus the mid-drive, 3-speed Rambo. The Bakcou also came with more out of the box accessories. I didn't spring for any accessories other than the gator grip, which I already commented on in a different post (short review: it's not great on a bike).

The bike arrived within 5 days of ordering 80% assembled and it only took me about an hour to finish assembly. Everything appeared very well built and I couldn't find any blemishes or loose bolts. It was very well packaged for shipping and there was no damage to the container. I tooled around on it around the house and yard and took it for a couple country block rides with the wife. In the couple miles I put on it around the house I knew I was going to have fun with the bike.

Fast forward ahead a few weeks to our trip. The area we hunted was setup perfectly for an ebike, with lots of roads/two tracks criss crossing the entire unit. Most of the roads were smooth and easy but some were basically gravel with large stone, which was less fun to ride on. The terrain was hilly but not mountainous. 50-150ft rolling elevation changes were standard fair. The 750W rear hub bike did pretty good in the hills for the most part, but struggled on steep and/or longer inclines without pedaling. There was one hill in particular I had to put the bike into walking mode because even pedaling I just wasn't going to make it. But those hills were the exception and not the rule. For the most part I was able to get around just fine with pedal assist, manual throttle, and some light pedaling. I'd be lying if I said half the fun of the trip wasn't just riding around on the ebike. It was a helluva lot of fun to ride those roads, cross creeks, and ride up and down hill to get to my hunting spots.

My bike is pretty dang quiet, and there were handful of times I rode up on deer right next to the road. The motor itself isn't dead quiet but it's a low electrical hum that can really only be heard in close proximity to the bike. As others mentioned it definitely helped mitigate sweating, except when I had to pedal a lot, but even then the wind from riding dried me out quickly. One thing I will advise is get a good set of windproof gloves and/or even some ski goggles if you are riding in very cold weather. One morning we hunted it was in the 20s. I had good gloves but no goggles like some of the other guys, and definitely got teared up pretty good riding in the cold.

I didn't run into any real technical issues or problems with the bike while there. The worst was the main power supply connection came loose a couple of times - a problem easily fixed by just putting some electrical tape on the connection (it's just a basic M to F pin connection). I also didn't tighten the front fender and light mount enough and it also started to come loose, but a few turns with an allen and a crescent got it nice and snug. As I also mentioned the gator grip I planned on using as a bow holster while riding was just entirely too rough on my bow. It rattled my rest containment arm completely off and my sidebar QD mounting bolt loose. Other guys using them experienced similar issues, but the worst was the rubberized grip wearing down to metal and rubbing finish off their bow risers.

So what's the final verdict? If you have the money for a new toy and they're legal in your area... go for it! It was super fun to ride and made getting to spots a breeze. My wife is even asking for one now just to ride around the house and town. I also expect to use mine in northern michigan to access some of the trout streams that are close to our cabin, and on any other out of state trips where they're legal. Ebikes kick a**!

 

Excellent review, thank you! If you had it to do over again, would you still go with a rear hub drive or go with a mid drive?

 

I have heard a mid drive is better for hilly/steep conditions. I don’t really have any experience with the mid drive bikes. A couple other guys had mid drive 1000w bikes and I don’t think I saw them pedal once. I’d say if you are going to be mostly flat and or gentle rolling hills a rear hub drive would be fine as long as you don’t mind some light pedaling. I’m relatively young at 37 and in shape (well, dad bod shape lol) and I was fine. From what I remember about hunting pigeon river forest there isn’t anything there a rear hub motor couldn’t handle with pedal assist and light pedaling. But if you have a some sort of health condition or just don’t want to pedal you would want a larger mid drive motor.


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Suspension seat post made a huge difference. Also, play around with tire PSI The 30 PSI they recommend is ok for pavement but no dice off road.

 

For those that have bought one of these electric bikes which one did you end up buying abs why? Which few did you narrow it down too and what was the deciding factor on the one you chose? How are these bikes holding up in cold weather( battery)? Do they work good on steep hills? In mud? Travel distance between charges? I’m assuming less distance in cold weather. How does it handle in snow? I would think it might be tough to carry lots of gear. You would really have to be a minimalist. I have two bad legs and I think one of these bikes would help me out tremendously. Plus they seem to be silent. I bought an electric utv to get around silently on my farm but it sucked and couldn’t hold up to the steep terrain. I made them return it. I had it three months paid almost $15k for it and was very specific about the terrain when I purchased it. I was told it would do anything I needed and then some. But every time I drive it down into the bottom I had to get the tractor and tow it out. It sucked and no way I would ever buy another one. I found out that my Polaris ranger made noise but the deer paid no attention to it. I used to drive it to with in 150 yards of my stands and had no issues. If the bike holds up and is stable and silent I think it could be an asset to help me get around. I think I would need some kind of decent sized rack on the front or back to carry some stuff though.


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Do you have a link to the Black Friday deal?


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Read my review above. My bike came with a rear rack but you can get front racks and baskets too. I will be getting some expandable pannier saddle bags for my bike eventually. I hauled all my gear including 4 climbing sticks cinched to the rear rack and rode with my frame backpack on packed with my saddle platform, saddle, 1800 cu in day pack, calls, Binos, water and snacks, extra layers, and my bow on built in sling on my pack. I’d you had saddle bags you could stuff a lot of extra crap into them. The higher end bikes will no question get you up and down hills with minimal effort no problem. Like I said most of the guys I saw with the larger motors weren’t even pedaling to go up steep hills just using manual throttle or the pedal assist to get around. As for battery life I did approx. 12~ miles each day and still had a bar or two of battery left at the end of each day. That was with a 14ah battery. I know they make larger 20ah batteries or you can also buy a spare (they’re not cheap though). Haven’t rode it in any extreme cold yet so not sure how or if it affects battery performance.


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I read your review. Very thorough and I appreciate it. I want to make sure the one I buy can handle steep hills. What is the best brand of bike out right now?


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https://lectricebikes.com/?gclid=Cj...fwxx_IJUq1ChyRbjFNvsESpC9Gm1SxeRoCokQQAvD_BwE
Looks like they sold out on step through but there's normal ones left, scroll to bottom of site

 

Hard to say about brand. Most are basically the same bike frame and parts with a different logo on them. Rambo and Bakcou are the only ones I know of specifically marketed for hunting, but as to whether they’re better or not than some commuter/trail rider brands it’s hard to say. The guys who had a bakcou all really liked theirs. I know I like mine!


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