eBike John's Link
John
Rules vary. Here in CO they are considered a "bicycle" by law (Class 1 and 2) and permitted wherever other bikes can go. They are allowed in State Forest, State Parks, State Wildlife areas where bikes are permitted, and most county open spaces. USFS will eventually allow them on bike trails and closed roads, but as the Regional Trails Manager told me, the wheels turn slowly in DC. USFS and BLM initially lumped all e-bikes together with their travel rules where other jurisdictions like the State of CO recognize the distinction between pedal-assist and a true motorized bike more powerful than 749 watts.
The next big question that I have gotten was how the range will restrict the hunting? Honestly this is a major question I had as well. So far, I haven’t run into an issue. I have had several days that I have had to run one of the cheapo Harbor Freight generators for a couple of hours near the truck to recharge at night but during the day I had plenty of juice to get around.
Overall, I have found the function of the bike to be incredible and in all honestly, it’s been a game changer on how I view hunts. Here in California there are almost endless trails in the unit I’ve been running around in. What the bike has allowed me to do is run these trails in a fraction of the time and energy to hike them. After I get to a ridge or drain that I want to be in, I’d park the bike and begin my hunting. I was in a situation at that point where instead of hiking 10- or 15-miles round trip and spiking out, I was able to get back to the truck every night. With this being my first true year hunting in California it’s been vital that I stay mobile. While this year has been a learning curb on what low deer densities really look like, I have been starting to figure it out. Unfortunately, the only thing I have to show for my efforts so far is hair off a bucks back after a LONG stalk. Hopefully this weekend changes the look of things.
Some of the things I have noticed the Rungu bike really showing the design difference is for me as a novice rider. It is very stable, even with a pack and bow on my back, I felt very stable on some skinny trails. The places it showed it’s worth the most is when I was riding on some skinny trails where if I was to fall I’d have a LONG LONG time to think about what just happened before I found the bottom.
I hope this helps
Good Luck to everyone as we start to come up on the home stretch of the year!
The next big question that I have gotten was how the range will restrict the hunting? Honestly this is a major question I had as well. So far, I haven’t run into an issue. I have had several days that I have had to run one of the cheapo Harbor Freight generators for a couple of hours near the truck to recharge at night but during the day I had plenty of juice to get around.
Overall, I have found the function of the bike to be incredible and in all honestly, it’s been a game changer on how I view hunts. Here in California there are almost endless trails in the unit I’ve been running around in. What the bike has allowed me to do is run these trails in a fraction of the time and energy to hike them. After I get to a ridge or drain that I want to be in, I’d park the bike and begin my hunting. I was in a situation at that point where instead of hiking 10- or 15-miles round trip and spiking out, I was able to get back to the truck every night. With this being my first true year hunting in California it’s been vital that I stay mobile. While this year has been a learning curb on what low deer densities really look like, I have been starting to figure it out. Unfortunately, the only thing I have to show for my efforts so far is hair off a bucks back after a LONG stalk. Hopefully this weekend changes the look of things.
Some of the things I have noticed the Rungu bike really showing the design difference is for me as a novice rider. It is very stable, even with a pack and bow on my back, I felt very stable on some skinny trails. The places it showed it’s worth the most is when I was riding on some skinny trails where if I was to fall I’d have a LONG LONG time to think about what just happened before I found the bottom.
I hope this helps
Good Luck to everyone as we start to come up on the home stretch of the year!
Otherwise we ride all over in sharp rocks with no problems.
But some agencies allow Class 1 but not Class 2. I haven't gotten an answer on whether I have to physically remove the throttle or can simply disconnect it to make mine "Class 1". I rarely use the throttle anyway so it doesn't matter to me. But nobody has ever checked so it's probably like the minimum bow draw weight rule.
The funniest thing is on USFS, where even USFS folks don't know their own rules and don't seem to care. This summer I encountered 9 different USFS folks back in on closed logging roads and nobody said anything besides how cool they seem to be. One USFS guy rode his conventional MTB along with us for awhile and joked that he needed to get one. A supervisor suggested other closed roads we could ride, where deadfall had been cleared.
Nope, I don't like it.
Podcasts, YouTube and other social media outlets have already done a good job of doing that
The best I have used in my bike shop is Flat Attack if you are going to run tubes. It is completely biodegradable and works. Going tubeless also works well, just be sure you understand how it works. Orange Seal is probably the best tubeless sealant I have tried.