ENGWE E26

Bici comodissima, oltre le mie aspettative, di buona fattura e robusta! Abito in un paesino in collina e devo dire che ha soddisfatto a pieno le mie esigenze!

A month ago I bought an engine x and after that an E26. I don't know which one is better. Design is a separate story. Both bikes look almost futuristic.

Dopo tante ricerche ho scelto di comprare questa Ebike Engwe-e26. Qualcosa di spettacolare. Ottime rifinure, stabile, possente, qualità eccezionale, bellissima. Secondo me la miglior ebike esistente attualmente sul mercato. Di facile installazione, arriva praticamente quasi montata. La cosa piú sorprendente é l'assistenza che ho trovato di Engwe. Sempre disponibili a qualsiasi domanda e richiesta di assistenza. Top N.1

i bought this bike to take on an 800km tour from Santander to Valencia.
About me - not a proper cyclist, very much a wobbly. Heavy (at the upper weight limit for the bike - and not because I am all muscle or "big boned" either!)). Unfit. Old (63). Had never done a bike tour before nor cycled more than 40km in a day before I started training for the tour.
About the tour - largely on the Santander-Mediterranio Via Verde which is of variable quality ranging from tarmac to pretty rough stony track. Some very steep climbs, especially at the start over the Cantabrian mountains.
Bottom line - the bike did the tour and it was the only way I could have done it.
Tyres - the fat tyres were very comfortable and reassuring on the rough parts, they had a side benefit that the rolling resistance helps slow you down on some of the extreme downhill stretches. It would be good if they offered a smooth tyre option for the bike. The tyres did stand up to the tour with just one puncture.
Range - I get about 85km of range at level 3 assist (which gives you 13km per hour) with mixed on-road terrain (circuits of Richmond Park, London). This drops dramatically if you are trying extreme climbs - so 12km up the Cantabrians did about 75% of the battery and I had to push the bike for the last 2km in order to save what was left for the rest of the day (which was hard wok but I had always considered a risk so not a massive surprise). But remember I am heavy and had bike tour kit on board - and that road is winding steep up a mountain into the clouds. The other thing about the range is that the battery bar loss is not linear. So the first bar goes after about 40km and then the remaining bars each after 10km ish. Not a problem if you know to expect that.
The throttle came deactivated but I also removed it because I found it created a bit too big a gap to the gear shift.
The brakes were awesome although you do have to alternate pulse them on long downhill runs (this is true of all disc brakes).
The frame is very heavy and very solid.
The seat post is sprung but the internal spring was not strong enough for me - essentially I sat on the seat and it just gave up, leaving me too low down. That was easily fixed though - I bought a stronger spring on ebay and switched them.
Assist levels - The assist level set the maximum speed the engine will boost you to - so at level 3 about 13kmph and at level 4 18kmph. I mostly rode at L3 because that was a known quantity when it came to battery use (and it gave time to appreciate the landscape) but sometimes went up to 4 after half way. It does not seem to matter what level of assist you are at in terms of torque. So you can power up a steep hill at any assist level, just at higher levels the engine will try to make you go faster.
The ride experience - riding this is not like riding a bike (I know that is a weird thing to say), because it is so heavy and because of the fat tyres, it feels like a moped. Because of the weight you very much need the assist to keep you going. I can go faster much easier on my other (more traditional) ebike and it is a lot more fun to ride. But the E26 has the range I needed, could carry me and was tough enough for when the path was rough.
Finally, my friend nicknamed mine (I chose yellow which I love) "the hornet" and the road noise from the tyres does indeed make a happy buzz on downhill runs.

The best Engwe bike out there