Just got mine. Previous Woot sale was $20 more expensive. Some notes:
-
This is a “pedal assist” bike. It has 3 levels for the electric motor to kick in when you peddle. Ideally you start low and then go high, but can just start high if you need to jump off a line. I’m no expert on e-bikes, so I can’t really compare to anything other than an e-scooter I had a while back. That thing just jumped when you put on the gas. This one is much more reasonable and gentle by comparison.
-
It’s not black. It’s a dark blue. You can only tell up close. Doesn’t really matter.
-
Assembly instructions suck. The typical mix of machine translation, tiny text, and diagrams that could be abstract art. Easier to just look at a photo of the final piece. “Oh, the front fender thing goes that way…”
-
The version I got doesn’t actually have “cruise control”. It came with an instruction manual for a different set of controls that DID have such a setting (get up to speed, hold down a button and the bike maintains that speed) but this one just has 1-3, so you have to keep pedaling the bike in order for the motor to kick in or keep running. The instructions for the controls that actually did come with the bike are on another pamphlet/quick start kind of thing. Not sure what’s up with that switcheroo.
-
Gears seem OK. Haven’t mucked about with it much yet.
-
I also haven’t played around with the range or hills. I’m really just planning on riding this thing around town (suburbs) so I won’t be doing any stress testing. So far I’ve just been breaking it in on a few 3-5 mile trips. Seems to take a while to charge, but not a ridiculous amount, and that charge hasn’t gone down much more than a tick (1 of 5) on the power indicator so far. I’m sure the batteries will age a bit and it’ll get less powerful, but looks pretty good for now.
-
There’s a key that unlocks the battery component so that it angles out the front. I haven’t bothered taking it out entirely (what’s the point?) but it seems like one would be able to swap them fairly easily. Might not be the case as I futz around with it.
7a. I don’t know why but I was expecting a key to start/use the electric motor. The aforementioned scooter had one. Don’t know how normal that is for e-bikes.
- Like a lot of factory bicycle seats, the version on this thing is meant to punish your ass like a cranky dominatrix. That particularly sucks on a “touring” bike where you’re meant to sit more or less upright with much of your weight on what seems to be Satan’s saddle. Might want to consider buying something cushier on the glutes. I have something from an older bike I’ll try. (Haven’t yet.)
Generally, so far so good. Aside from the $20 extra I paid it seems fine.
Some general advice:
A. I haven’t had a bike in a while, so had to dig up the various accessories: helmet, pump, bike lock, etc. Most was fine, but the pump had sprung a leak, and when I went to fill up the front tire, it just deflated the thing. Derp. Had to duct tape the thing then ride the bike carefully to a gas station to use the air. (They want $2 nowadays for air/water. Nostalgia: it was free when I was a kid. We’d tool up and use it like drinking from a public water fountain.) Might want to get that sorted before you get this thing.
B. I put a wire “box/tray” (actually a dish rack) on the back and fixed it down with the zip ties that came in the packaging. Worked surprisingly well. There’s about enough room on there for a milk crate, which I think I might try. This being a “step through” model that should be fine, and it won’t be like trying to mount a water buffalo. It seems like you could get some sort of “side saddle” arrangement too. I’m looking into that.
C. Hurley is a hilarious name for the company. If you get one, you can call yours a Hurley-Davidson. Do not miss out on this joke potential.
Congrats on getting a Swell 4U. I bought one, then bought another after the first one arrived and I got a sense of the quality, so I’m up to 2 of the bikes now.
Join us in the “Swell 4U Owners Thread” that’s going on reddit:
https://old.reddit.com/r/ebikes/comments/152i49y/hurley_swell_4u_owners_get_in_here/