BikesDirect Gravity Bullseye E-Bike
Posted by blip01@reddit | ebikes | View on Reddit | 12 comments
Took the plunge on one of these for commuting to work, even though there were really no reviews of the bike out there. http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/gravity/ebikes/electric-bikes-fat-bikes-bullseye-monster-xe-ebikes.htm
Have two commutes done so far. Getting to work with zero sweat is awesome. It's 6 miles, relatively flat, and I can make it in about 25 minutes (regular bike was about 35 minutes, but that was riding pretty hard). Only a few minutes slower than by car. All throttle with just a bit of ghost pedaling. LOL
Weighs about 64lbs. Was tough to get an accurate weight with my luggage scale.
750 watts seems like plenty of power for what I want. Good acceleration with the throttle from a stop, and will hold 26ish MPH with throttle only.
Battery is a bit small, 11ah, but got me round-trip all throttle on my work commute which is a total of abut 13 miles. Checked the battery voltage after the commute and it was a 46.7v.
Front fork. Meh. I have a MTB bike with a Rockshox Yari, so a coil fork is going to be a let down compared to that. It also seems a bit undersprung for the increased weight of the battery/motor that was added to the bike. It clunks noticeably even on small stuff. Will probably just lock it out for now and maybe go rigid.
Gearing is a bit off for it being an e-bike. 32t in front and 11-36 in back. In assist level 5 you're spinning like a hamster at top speed. I have a bigger chain ring on order. Not sure the biggest that will fit, there 's maybe 1/2" clearance from the chainstay.
The base bike, Gravity Bullseye, is solid, and there are lots of reviews on that and happy owners. Good components. SRAM GX derailleur/shifter, Shimano hydraulic brakes. Handlebars, stem, grips, etc. all seem totally fine. Grips are actually very comfortable. WTB seat is comfortable. Motor and display are Bafang and seem fine so far. Display is big and easy to read while riding.
Going to play with tire pressure to find a sweet spot between rolling resistance and cush ride. Roads suck, which is why I went fat bike.
Came mostly assembled. Had to put the front tire, handlebars, and pedals on. Came packaged well, but the battery did pop off the mount in transit and cracked the controller cover. I emailed BikesDirect a few pics and they've got a new cover on the way already, so that's promising, from a service standpoint.
Let me know if you have any specific questions, since there's very little info on these bikes floating around.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/4gpBd5T6xoLiGJxH7
Edit: A 38t chainring fits, barely, and gives you a much more relaxed cadence!
Brittany_Delirium@reddit
Hey! How's this bike holding up? I'm thinking about grabbing one myself and have just been a bit leery on the lack of information available on them. I guess I don't have a lot specifically to ask, just kinda wondering how it's working for you!
Oh uh, how easy was it to assemble? I'm a bit scared at buying one of these and not knowing how to put it together lol.
blip01@reddit (OP)
Been commuting to work almost every day. I'm probably at about 200 miles. No issues with the bike at all.
I use it 99% for commuting on roads/sidewalks, so keep that in mind. There, I think it's great. I have used it a few times on our local MTB trails when I'm taking equipment out to do some trail work. For trails with any sort of tech to them, I'd say this is not a good choice. It gets me out to where I need to work lugging a bunch of gear, but it's really too heavy and the hub motor with cadence sensor isn't the best choice for trails.
Commuting with a fat e-bike is pretty great though. Pot holes, curbs, etc. are no problem. All of the components are holding up fine so far. I would highly recommend the 38t chaining upgrade I did. When you;re going 25mph and try pedaling, a 30t chainring up front is way too small.
As far as putting it together, I'm pretty good with working on bikes, so it didn't seem hard at all to me. You need to put on the front wheel, bars, seat, pedals, etc. Aside from personal stuff, like adjusting brake lever position, etc. i did need to tweak the derailleur slightly. One of the limit screws wasn't adjusted properly and it would shift past the largest gear in the back and the chain would get caught between the gears and spokes. Easy adjustment. A shop could probably set everything up pretty cheap.
It's actually one of the few e-bikes currently in stock, so that makes it a good choice right there!
Brittany_Delirium@reddit
Thanks for the reply! Sounds like something I'd definitely be able to handle. I mostly just want it for a little cruiser and to take it down logging roads and stuff, so I think it'll fit my needs pretty nicely.
The big thing that intimidates me is getting the electronics put together properly, I've had so many electronics projects that have gone bad... As long as that stuff's easy I should be set. Think I'm gonna buy it today, appreciate the input!
blip01@reddit (OP)
The electronics are a breeze! The motor, controller and battery are all installed already, and I think the only things you would need to touch regarding the "E" part of the bike are the display and the throttle. I can't actually remember if they were already on the bars. If not it's literally just tightening a couple of screws and plugging two color coded cables in.
I was riding up and down the street in about 30 minutes!
For what you describe the bike would be perfect. My commute is 13 miles roundtrip. I can make it back and forth, barely, at assist level 5, using 100% throttle. That's going 28mph top speed. I actually use level 3 mostly now, which is about 20 mph, and will have just under 50% battery left when i get home.
Brittany_Delirium@reddit
Sounds like just what I want! I went ahead and bought it. I'm excited to give it a shot!!
Oh yeah one other thing... Does it come with a charger? And if not, do you have a recommendation on one?
blip01@reddit (OP)
Yes, charger is included. Enjoy! It's a blast.
First thing to do is watch this to up the top speed.
https://youtu.be/LUaxDeOJOJo
Brittany_Delirium@reddit
Hey! I've got one more question. How do you get the voltage readout on that bafang LCD? I can't find mention of it in the documentation or online at all but it looks like you got a readout from it? Thanks either way on that!
blip01@reddit (OP)
Was checking the voltage on my battery last night after a looong ride (28 miles), and I remembered you asking about how I got the voltage reading I mentioned in my review. I am using a multi-meter. It's not on the display. Battery was at 44.7v after the ride. Ride was a mix of 6.5 miles into work on PAS level 3, all throttle (no sweat!) , then 21ish miles to REI to pick up some Fox knee pads for when I hit the bike park (not on my e-bike, lol), that was a mix of level 2 and 3 assist with pedaling.
Brittany_Delirium@reddit
Oh wow! That's really damn good range actually. I figured you used a multi :P
I'm still waiting for my damn Luna to show up so my wife and I can bike together lmao. Sounding like it'll be here in another week or so. BD certainly has Luna beat in fulfillment time, my god. I'm excited to compare the two!
That's really encouraging to hear on the range too, Furthest I've taken it so far is about 9 miles, but mostly in PAS 0-2 and only dropped one bar of battery. I've been afraid it'll just start plummeting! Haha.
blip01@reddit (OP)
I was pretty sure it would die completely at some point, but it got me all the way home, still pulling in PAS 2. I think if I hadn't used all throttle on my way to work I'd be able to squeak out 35 miles. All of this commute was fairly flat though.
avo_cado@reddit
still going well?
blip01@reddit (OP)
Coming up on 3400 miles. I replaced the battery late last year with a bigger AH model as the original had lost some range, but other than that, all good.