She’s a beaut, Clark
Took delivery of my Launch Edition Friday, got it assembled and have ridden it around 25 miles since. It’s beautiful.
Assembly wasn’t too difficult, but did take a while. I did end up re-seating the front wheel after noticing I had misaligned it a touch the first time. It’s definitely a precise assembly, but the included torque wrench made it straightforward. I think ALSO could stand to strengthen a few parts of the shipping box design, because FedEx beat the living hell out of it and there was quite a bit of damage to the box. Thankfully, everything inside was OK.
I have never owned an e-bike before, so I’m coming from riding a cruiser around the neighborhood for the last 10 years. I was absolutely blown away by the ride of this bike. The shocks made some of our abysmal road surfaces feel quite smooth. I was able to maintain a near-20mph hour speed up a very steep hill that, in the past, has been extremely painful to ride up or I’ve mostly avoided. It was thrilling. I’ve suddenly shifted my bike-riding thinking from “cruising around the neighborhood” to “I could go anywhere” which is really amazing. I can’t wait to get the front storage accessory so I can actually carry more stuff conveniently.
My only complaints about this bike are that it is quite loud, and that the handlebar design is not as comfortable as I think it could be. I find the placement of the turn signal buttons a little awkward, and the foam grips are not doing much for hand comfort. Noise-wise… my god this thing is louder than my Rivian. You couldn’t sneak up on anyone on this bike—they can hear you coming from a block away.
As other folks have probably mentioned, ALSO did not ship my ordered fenders with my bike. I assume that’s because of whatever redesign they’re doing there. Here in the PNW it is not an issue yet, but will be soon since rainy season starts in a few weeks and riding without fenders then would be a real mess.
Happy to answer any other questions, and excited for others to get their bikes soon! The wait was worth it, in my opinion.