Steve is a biker from Canada and when I asked for sharing his experiences, he started to write his text immediately. DONE! A few words about the why R+M and the changes.
„I feel that all heavy Ebikes should have stronger suspension and brakes and chains.“
Steve travels with his Riese&Müller Charger in Canada and during his trips, he takes pictures of curious or nice things – either seldom cars or specialized cargo bikes – in this EBR-Thread he shares a lot of his photos. A few days ago he passed the 12.000km mark – WELL DONE Steve!
„Before I bought the R+M Charger I purchased a R+M Nevo which had a spring fork.
I was not happy with the NCX fork so the dealer allowed me to exchange and upgrade to the Charger. The Nevo has a comfortable upright riding position. I feel that all heavy Ebikes should have stronger suspension and brakes and chains.“
[SPECIFICATIONS AND PHOTO: Riese & Müller]
Motivation and Usage: „HELLO FROM CANADA!“
„I bought this bike on Halloween Oct 31, 2018 so almost 11 months ago . Before this I had a Chinese hub motor bike which I put 6000 km until it died. I use this bike only for touring and pleasure and excercise, not commuting as I am 65 and retired. I bought it for 2 reasons. Firstly, I was feeling in poor health after being quite inactive since retiring and wanted it to motivate me to excersise ( it has) . Secondly, now that my wife and I are both retired we only need one car so I sold mine and use this bike for errands. My wife has a Womens Trek Powerfly 5 with 5000 km on it which she loves.“
Optimizations: „These are the changes I have made to my stock bike in order of importance to me.
Bikespeed RS delimiter.
Larger Shimano 203 mm Ice Tech rotors with Kool-Stop finned organic pads. I love these pads and I believe all heavy ebikes should have larger rotors.
Extra Bosch powerpack 500 which fits in a 4.5 litre bar bag from Topeak.
Selle Royale Respiro saddle. I tried a Brooks B17 but prefer this one.
Xpedo pedals (and FiveTen bike shoes).
Ergon gp3 grips.
Klickfix waterproof rack box (with lock removed so as to be more accessable) which fits perfectly with the Racktime rack and bungee.
Inexpensive 25 litre Axiom double panniers which I have attached to the Klickfix box.
AirZ air horn ( very loud if you need it to be).
This bike came with a Thudbuster st suspension seatpost which I appreciate. It has 3 different rubber inserts for different sized riders. You can drill holes in the inserts to make them more soft if you like. I also use an Ebike rated chain.
The stock tires are Schwalbe Super Moto X . Where I live we get about 1900 mm of rain per year and there are many hills with dirt and gravel trails, so I use a Magic Mary on the front and a Smart Sam on the rear. Both tires also have Tannus Armour inserts which add more flat protection and allow for less air pressure.
This is a very solid stable riding frame. The front suspension is an Aion air fork which I appreciate. This bike is rated to carry a large load and it is very stable on descents.
The Bosch motor and batteries have been perfect so far.“
„Now I have the bike exactly the way I want it!“
Thank you Steve for your article! As I can see in the EBR-Forum you do a lot of wonderful trips. As I can see on the scratched flat pedals you are really using your Charger a lot. And when I look on the last picture with this wonderful landscape I understand why you use your R&M so often. Enjoy the next 12.000km, and a lot more.
[PHOTOS: Steve]
Auf jeden Fall bergauf 