February 5, 2024
Max is a Class C RV, which means it's an "all-in-one" vehicle - basically a small living quarters stuck on the back of van chassis. The upside is there's no trailer to deal with in small towns and gas stations, and backing up is less of a concern. This also means that when we setup at an RV park, with our levelers, slide-out extended, electricity, water (and eventually sewage drain) connected, and all our stuff re-arranged for 'living', we're slightly stuck there - once we're setup, it takes at minimum 15 minutes to stow, un-hook, and get mobile again. If the RV was a trailer towed behind a pickup truck, we could un-hook the trailer and drive off into the village, leaving the 'house' behind. But that's not our case.
Which makes it hard to explore a town. So, we realized we'd need some e-bikes. We knew we'd be near a lot of beaches and trails, so we wanted bikes that could handle those terrains. After some research, we ended up going with the Philodo H8.
These bikes are beasty! The first thing you notice is the 4" knobby tires on the 26" wheels. They have two 1000 watt brushless motors (front and rear, obviously), powered by a 48v 23 Ah (Amp hour) battery. Specs say they can go around 30 miles at up to 35 miles an hour (!). They have both "pedal assist" and throttle modes.
Due to almost continuous rain on our trip so far, we've only had them out for two ~5-6 mile rides so far, a (one of those up a mile long very steep hill, which they were almost too eager to burn rubber on) and the charge indicators are still at 100%. They have 21 speed Shimodo shifters, front fork shock absorbers, hydraulic disc brakes, fenders (because, mud), LED system display panel, phone mount + charger, padded seats, 2 mirrors, removable / lockable battery, built in headlight, rear/brake light, horn, and rear rack.
They arrived about 85% assembled, and I did the rest, which took about an hour+ each. I should say that if you don't feel comfortable assembling Ikea furniture (or a bike), you probably don't want to try to assemble these, although they do provide a manual and video tutorial.
These bikes are also heavy. You don't feel the weight when you're riding them at all, but when you're walking them around, mounting / dismounting, up & down curbs, and especially lifting them on and off the relatively high bike rack on an RV, you'll definitely feel the 78 pounds for just the frame & wheels, and 97 pounds with the battery attached!! Ugh! To be honest, walking them around, it's almost better to think of them as lightweight motorcycles.
In the pics, you'll see a little black pouch inside the frame under the seat. This houses one of the 2 controllers for the motors, and the other controller unit is under the frame near the pedals. I mention this so you'll know that these spaces are already occupied with stuff, and not an available for tools, knick-knacks, or snacks. And that reminds me, there is not an obvious place to put a water bottle holder, I had to use bungee cords to strap my water bottle to the rack over the rear wheel. I'm hoping I find a better solution than that.
Apart from the weight, these bikes are actually quite amazing. Way more powerful than I expected, for sure. Assembly was slightly challenging, especially the rear rack which needed some extra force and bending to fit into place. Had I fully comprehended the weight prior to purchase, I may not have purchased them for our situation, due to the need to un-rack/re-rack for every use, but heck, who couldn't use some weight lifting squats every now and then?
We obviously needed to haul these on back of the RV, so I got this Young eBike Rack.
Due to the weight of the bikes and the size of the tires, I was a little worried about the rack being able to hold them, but after assembling it, and attaching it to the hitch of the RV, and then finally getting the bikes lifted and mounted, I'm pleasantly surprised at the build quality, and simplicity of use. This rack is heavy duty, well made, and totally up the challenge for these bikes.
Being electronic bikes, they don't love being exposed to the elements, so I got this Team Obsidian cover for them.
On the day that we moved out of the house and into the RV, it was pouring rain. After moving stuff all day, I lifted the bikes up on the rack, and in the dark, pouring rain with no extra lights, I was able to unfurl this cover and get it properly situated over the rack-mounted, beasty knobby-tired bikes, and get the cover all zipped up, strapped up, and tightened. In the dark, in the rain. Kudos. Did I mention it was a dark and stormy night?
One feature of this cover is that the area covering the wheels is semi-transparent, so your brake lights will shine thru. Turns out that's not necessary for the RV, as the brake lights are wider than the bikes, but thought I'd mention this advantage in case you have a smaller vehicle. One downside is that the rack, bikes, and bike cover obscure the rear license plate. There was another bike cover available that had a waterproof pouch where you could put a photo copy of your plate, but the delivery time of that one didn't match our move-out timeline, so I had to go with this one. We'll see if it becomes a problem (it may turn into an advantage as some red-light cameras may not be able to see the plate!).
One of the reviews of the cover said that it ripped to shreds on their first trip. We've traveled over 1,300 miles thus far and it's holding steady, so my guess is that they didn't strap it tight enough. Speaking of that, and partially due to that review, I'd also purchased a bungee cargo net to assist with keeping the cover tight, but it turns out in this case we don't need it, as the built-in straps seem to do the job well enough.
That's the story of the Philodo e-bikes. Let me know if you have any questions!
Next, read about Cayucos, CA - our first stop!
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