Quietkat fat bike

[Sir Henry]

The battery on e-bikes is usually hidden in the downtube - the tube that runs from the front end down to the pedals. The actual motor is part of the crankset (pedal) assembly. The batteries are Li-ion rechargeables.

The range you get on a battery charge is a matter of what power setting you use and how much you use the motor and how much you use the motor is also a matter of how the bike is geared. On our e-bikes and e-trikes, we only use the motor to climb the steepest hills and, because of the way our trikes and bikes are geared, we can still climb without the use of the motor. The workout we get, then, is totally up to us.

We typically use the motor on our e-trikes for maybe 10% of our riding to get up the steepest hills (and our area is all hills). Even so, we can still get 180 miles or more on a single battery charge. If we chose to run the motor full time, we'd get less than half of that.

Do you have any recommendation for a year round e-trike? I would like one to run on county roads. It is common to see bikes and tractors on the county roads and people drive slow on them. In the winter you will see all kinds of vehicles on them also so it’s relatively safe. Now State and US roads are a different story.

[North Country Gal]

Gene, standard e-trikes with regular tires can do a good job on hard-pack snow and ice covered roads when you replace the summer tires with the right studded tires. Then you just replace the studded tires with standard tires for riding on pavement in the warm months. That's on hard pack winter roads, say after a plow has gone through or in the summer on well packed gravel and/or hard dirt roads.

When conditions are soft, as in fresh snow approaching six inches or on thick, freshly applied gravel or on muddy dirt roads, then you need to be thinking about wider tires, the wider the better.

My fat trike with an e-motor excels at any kind of winter riding or summer riding in soft conditions. I can ride it out on pavement in the summer, of course, but it is way overkill for that kind of riding.

The one caveat with trikes is that a motor is a must for any conditions that increase pedaling effort. Trikes are really designed for road work on firm surfaces. Pedaling effort skyrockets in the soft stuff. You won't get far pedaling a trike without a motor in snow or loose gravel or dirt. Trust me, I know.

Keep in mind that I am an extreme conditions winter rider. In all my years of winter riding on area roads, I can go years without seeing anyone else on a bike in the winter. My neighbors all think I'm nutty the way I ride in the winter in the sub-zero snow, but they think I'm a lovable nut and support me.

To be honest, you really need to decided how much riding you will be doing in extreme conditions. if I had to pick one machine that is the best all around choice for three season riding under a wide variety of conditions with some winter riding thrown in the mix, I would chose an e-mtb if you really want to go electric.

Even if you don't want to go electric, I would still recommend a good mountain bike. It's always the most versatile choice in an upright bike. You can use a mountain bike anywhere - on pavement, gravel roads, dirt roads, logging roads and, of course, a mountain bike is the standard tool for serious rail riding. Just a matter of using the appropriate tires for a given kind of riding.

I love fat bikes. When conditions require a fat bike, you really need a fat bike, but they are overkill for most kinds of riding. Under typical conditions they are slower and harder to pedal than the usual mountain bike. I use mountain bikes with studded tires for snow riding, too, when conditions are safe. It's when conditions become more extreme that I switch to the fat bikes or fat trike. In summer, for instance, I use the fat bike for trail riding after a heavy rain when the trails become soft. Those fat tires don't sink in the soaked trails and chew them up the way my regular mountain bikes do. As soon as the trails dry up, I go right back to the mountain bikes.

If you do go mountain bike, be sure to check with me, first. This is the day and age of specialization in mountain bikes with specific designs for specific types of trail riding. Some do a good job for a wide variety of riding and some do not.

Again, time to think of just where you will be riding and the conditions you expect to encounter, as well as how far you want to ride and how fast.

[BigAl52]

NCG the efat trike is cool but I bet the cost of that thing wasnt to cool. I like the cat trikes and there is a group of them that ride the trail I ride all the time.

[markiver54]

After my visit and many questions at the cycle shop today, I learned a heck of alot that I had no clue about previously.
I learned enough to now know that NCG is not only a gun expert, but also a very knowledgable expert regarding cycling as well!

[Sir Henry]

Gene, standard e-trikes with regular tires can do a good job on hard-pack snow and ice covered roads when you replace the summer tires with the right studded tires. Then you just replace the studded tires with standard tires for riding on pavement in the warm months. That's on hard pack winter roads, say after a plow has gone through or in the summer on well packed gravel and/or hard dirt roads.

When conditions are soft, as in fresh snow approaching six inches or on thick, freshly applied gravel or on muddy dirt roads, then you need to be thinking about wider tires, the wider the better.

My fat trike with an e-motor excels at any kind of winter riding or summer riding in soft conditions. I can ride it out on pavement in the summer, of course, but it is way overkill for that kind of riding.

The one caveat with trikes is that a motor is a must for any conditions that increase pedaling effort. Trikes are really designed for road work on firm surfaces. Pedaling effort skyrockets in the soft stuff. You won't get far pedaling a trike without a motor in snow or loose gravel or dirt. Trust me, I know.

Keep in mind that I am an extreme conditions winter rider. In all my years of winter riding on area roads, I can go years without seeing anyone else on a bike in the winter. My neighbors all think I'm nutty the way I ride in the winter in the sub-zero snow, but they think I'm a lovable nut and support me.

To be honest, you really need to decided how much riding you will be doing in extreme conditions. if I had to pick one machine that is the best all around choice for three season riding under a wide variety of conditions with some winter riding thrown in the mix, I would chose an e-mtb if you really want to go electric.

Even if you don't want to go electric, I would still recommend a good mountain bike. It's always the most versatile choice in an upright bike. You can use a mountain bike anywhere - on pavement, gravel roads, dirt roads, logging roads and, of course, a mountain bike is the standard tool for serious rail riding. Just a matter of using the appropriate tires for a given kind of riding.

I love fat bikes. When conditions require a fat bike, you really need a fat bike, but they are overkill for most kinds of riding. Under typical conditions they are slower and harder to pedal than the usual mountain bike. I use mountain bikes with studded tires for snow riding, too, when conditions are safe. It's when conditions become more extreme that I switch to the fat bikes or fat trike. In summer, for instance, I use the fat bike for trail riding after a heavy rain when the trails become soft. Those fat tires don't sink in the soaked trails and chew them up the way my regular mountain bikes do. As soon as the trails dry up, I go right back to the mountain bikes.

If you do go mountain bike, be sure to check with me, first. This is the day and age of specialization in mountain bikes with specific designs for specific types of trail riding. Some do a good job for a wide variety of riding and some do not.

Again, time to think of just where you will be riding and the conditions you expect to encounter, as well as how far you want to ride and how fast.

I may not ride a lot it’s more of a survival necessity. I need a 4WD, a snowmobile or an ATV for the winter. I’m looking for the ultimate winter trike as I have a beach cruiser for the summer.

Edit: and I want the best electric one.

[North Country Gal]

Two choices in premium fat trikes, with a couple budget options from TerraTrike or Sunseeker. The two serious choices are the Azub Fat (with or without e-assist) or the ICE Full Fat (also with or without e-assist). The ICE does have suspension, while the Azub does not. However, the fat tires on fat bikes and/or trikes provides some suspension effect, so suspension on a fat is more or less personal choice. I have run fat bikes with front suspension and for me it something that really didn't add much to my riding. (Suspension on a serious mountain bike is a MUCH different story.)

My trike is the Azub Fat with the Shimano EP8 motor, Shimano's best and most powerful.

The issue you are going to encounter is availability. Very unlikely you will find a shop with either in stock. That means placing an order for the Azub (Czech Republic) or the ICE (England). Absolutely cannot go wrong with either brand. Top of the line, both.

Fortunately, we have an internationally known trike shop here in Wisconsin at Steven's Point called the https://hostelshoppe.com. Excellent shop with excellent people. They know me very, very well. Give them a call or a visit and tell them I sent you. Be worth a day of your time to stop in there and visit with them. They also sell Specialized,Giant and Intense mountain bikes, both regular and e versions. That's also where I got my Specialized e-mountain bike.

[North Country Gal]

After my visit and many questions at the cycle shop today, I learned a heck of alot that I had no clue about previously.
I learned enough to now know that NCG is not only a gun expert, but also a very knowledgable expert regarding cycling as well!

Thanks, Mark. More like bike addict than expert.

[RanchRoper]

Badger struggles getting his head around all these new fangled contraptions.

[GeoBoy]

Wowser, some of those nice e-trikes are more expensive than my nice new John Deere!
What about these Day 6 e-bikes, they sure look comfortable.
https://youtu.be/O39vPkjKhIY

[North Country Gal]

Folks, my advice before purchasing any electric bike or trike is to do your homework and educate yourself. This is a rapidly expanding technology and market. That goes double if you don't know much about bikes or trikes without motors in general.

One of the key considerations for us oldsters is the added weight of a motor and battery. With an e, you can typically add 15 pounds or more to the weight of the same model without a motor. Keep that in mind if you plan to pedal a lot without using the motor. Also check the gearing on any e model. E models typically have higher gearing than the same version without a motor. That could be a very big deal if the battery or motor run out of juice and have to pedal home without the help of the motor. Lastly, if you adding the extra weight to an already heavy bike or trike, you might have your hands full loading it into the back of a vehicle. And speaking of weight, a lot of bike/trike manufacturers are reluctant to list the weight on their various models, so you might have to do some digging.

That said, weight by itself is not a good way to rate bicycle/trike performance. It's just one of many things to consider. For example, modern full suspension trail bikes have actually gotten a bit heavier in the last ten years, but performance is better than ever.

[markiver54]

I learned yesterday about the motor weight and location. The fella I talked to mentioned the rear hub motor location vs the central location. It made sense to me that central would be preferred over rear mount because of all the added weight being in the rear as opposed to better weight distribution with it centrally located.
I was also very impressed with the suspension on the higher end mountain bikes. Wow!...much like a motorcycle, which he said provided some inspiration when they started designing them.
It had been many, many years since I looked closely at bicycles. It was very eye opening. VERY sophisticated these days.

[Centaur]

Got in a good off-road ride this morning. Bike performs great and climbs with minimal electric assist. 900 feet of vertical on this ride, and my legs aren’t jello.

[North Country Gal]

That's the way we use e-assist. Gets us those nasty climbs, but most of the time the motor is off.

[markiver54]

I discovered a bike mfr. right here close, in Asheville nc, ( m2sbikes.com ) Their bikes look pretty good, based on the booklet I picked up. I plan to go to their facility soon to get an in person look.

[Coach]

Here’s my fat tire E-Bike.

It’s a cruiser.

host a photo

[markiver54]

Very cool! Headlight, saddle bags and all!