E-bikes Good Or Bad?

E-bikes Good Or Bad?

Lisa and I have been riding bikes for many years now. We purchased our last four bikes from The Bike Route because they have such great customer service along with expertise.

While in the shop earlier this year to pick up my new Specialized Roubaix, Finn suggested I take the new Specialized eBike for a test ride. I actually laughed when she suggested it because I had never even thought about riding or buying an eBike. I even said to Finn, “Why would I want an eBike when I just purchased a new road bike?”  Finn laughed and told me to just give it a test ride.

I took the Turbo Como for a quick test ride and the rest is history. I couldn’t believe how much fun it was riding the eBike.  I mean, you just barley start to pedal and the bike takes over for you. You can ride for miles and never put much effort into the ride. In July, this means you can take the bike for a ride downtown and arrive without being completely wet in sweat. This reason alone is a game changer when cycling in NWA in the summer time.

After the test ride I decided to get my wife to also test ride a new eBike. Lisa jumped on the new Specialized Turbo Como and she was equally surprised at how much fun these bikes are to ride.  The fact that you have to put so little effort into riding these bikes makes them so much fun. Again, the little amount of effort translates to arriving at your destination cool and dry even when the temperature outside is in the 90’s.

Lisa and I decided it would be fun to have a pair of these bikes to ride around town.  Our son (Will) and grandson (Jaxson) live just a few miles away from our home so we thought it would be a lot of fun to jump on the bikes and ride them over to their house. There are a few big hills between our house and their house but the eBike had no issue at all climbing them. Again, this is a deal breaker because those hills are what prevented us from riding our regular road bikes to their house.

We decided to order two eBikes from The Bike Route and we have never regretted our decision. We have had the bikes for about four months now and we are using them for just about everything. We find ourselves riding over to our son’s house a couple times a week.  We ride our bikes to downtown Bentonville a couple times a week. We use the bikes to go to the grocery store which is a mile down the road from our house. We take the bikes to visit friends that live a couple of miles away from our house.

Lisa soon decided she would start riding her bike to work each day. Her ride is about six miles in a car but with the addition of all the new bike trails in Bentonville, she can actually get to work on her bike almost as quick as driving her car. The battery in the bike holds enough charge to get her to work and back a few times before having to recharge. She enjoys riding her bike to work so much that she has now suggesting that we sell her car.

Lastly, the absolutely best part about owning the eBikes is when we ride them to Will’s house to pick up Jaxson. Jaxson is only 2 ½ years old but his favorite thing to do is ride bikes.Jaxson has grown up around bikes all his life.  He sees his daddy riding bikes almost every day. He loves to help his dad clean and tune up the bikes after each ride. One of the first words he learned to say was “bikel” which is short for bicycle. After buying the eBikes we immediately put a seat on my bike for Jaxson.

Jaxson absolutely loves riding the eBike. He gets so excited when he sees us ride up on the bikes. We ride all around town stopping at most parks and fire stations. Occasionally, we stop to get a snow cone then back on the bike for more riding. There really isn’t anything Jaxson would rather do than go for a bike ride. We can be gone for a couple hours at a time and he still says he wants to ride more.  There isn’t anything else Lisa and I would rather be doing either. The eBikes are what makes all this possible. Taking Jaxson for a ride on any other type of bike is just not very practical.

When Finn called the other day and asked me how I like having the eBikes, the answer was we absolutely love them. She asked if I wouldn’t mind writing a brief paragraph or two about our experience. Well, I guess I wrote a little more than two paragraphs but I just couldn’t help myself. The amount of fun Lisa and I are having on our eBikes is too much to write in just two paragraphs.

Thank you, Finn, for convincing us to take the test ride on the Specialized Turbo Como.  Our lives have not been the same since!

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