Hi all,
I am new to this site.
I am interested in purchasing an electric bike--commuting back & forth to work (20 mi round trip, leisurely riding). I have looked at a ton og bikes on the web. I came across the R10, R11 electric mt bike. sold by R Martin out of Austin, Tx. The bikes look great and seem to be of a good quality. Has anyone had any experience with R Martin bikes, their customer service, etc. good or bad. Would appreciate any information you may be able to provide. Thanks.
Curt
The R Martin R10 is great. It has good components and the crank motor is awesome. I had a minor problem after a week with a connector and they took care of it right away. They offer personal support from a real bike expert. This is the kind of company that you want to support - and they support you.
What makes these bikes so much better than other electric bikes is that the chainring is driven with the bottom bracket mounted motor. This means that the motor works with your gears so that the power in 1st gear is amazing for hills, and in 7th you fly along with little or no effort. No effort is required if you twist the throttle. It is so easy to ride though - that I rarely use the throttle. When you use pedal assist, you use much less battery power so you get more range. The throttle is really handy on hot days of summer. You can get where you are going without needing a shower when you get there.
The web site has changed to www.electricbikedistributor.com The bike is here: www.electricbikedistributor.com/R10_electric_bicycle.html
Check out their other bikes too. They all are pretty good.
chuck
Check out this article in last weeks LA Times. Good info.
http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-gear19-2009oct19,0,2319065.story
I recently purchases the R Martin R12a. Very pleased with the bike. Excellent quality and a joy to ride. I have driven a Giant, Ezee and Liberty and this bike is the best buy. Great attention to detail and good customer service. You won't be disappointed. http://www.electricbikedistributor.com/r12a-electric_bicycle.html
My wife and I purchased the RMartin R12 (cruiser style) & R10 (mountain bike style) about 8 months ago. We are very satisfied with the performance and feel they are very sturdy bikes with plenty of power.
It seems there are two categories of bicycles.... department store quality (low end components)and bike shop quality (higher end/more expensive components).
The R10&R12 are definitely department store quality bikes with good quality electric motors attached.
STRENGTHS: Heavy duty frames, smooth ride, incredible climbing power, good distance range on battery.
WEAKNESSES: R12- After a few rides the chain guard fell off. This prompted me to check all screws and bolts and found many in need of tightening. The screws that hold the battery bracket to the frame come loose regularly.
R10- The chain kept jumping off the front chain ring when in 7th gear. Adjusting the derailleur didn't help. Found that the chain ring was out of line with the 7 speed freewheel. Ended up putting a shim between the motor/pedal assembly and the frame. Never jumped again.
Noisy/rough shifting. 5th gear always slipped under load regardless of derailleur adjustment.
Replaced DNP freewheel with a Shimano. Smooth quiet shifting now.
Subj: R10- The chain kept jumping off the front chain - Just bought new 2 days ago
I hope someone can give me a tip. We just bought a new bike from RMartin (R10) and the front chain keeps "derailing". Upon searching I found this site with the same issue. I have left two phone messages (1 service and 1 sales) and two emails for guidance with RMartin but no response back. I only have 7 days to figure out if this is a defect or normal issue. I really want to keep this and buy a 2nd one. I will try to post two photos.
Thank you for any suggestions, William
(photo in 3rd gear it will not jump in upper gears (8)
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1360549/CIMG1826.jpg
(photo to show the extended rod seems the be the cause)
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1360549/CIMG1825.jpg
I went to RMartin HQ this afternoon. They helped me with my new bike issue. They were fast and friendly. We are going to buy a 2nd bike in the near future!
A warning about the R Martin R10 electric bike battery. It has a Li-Polymer battery...costs about $450 to replace. IT WILL ONLY LAST ABOUT TWO SUMMERS OF BIKE RIDING. Manual says 800-1000 charges and not to let it totally discharge. After first summer of riding, the battery only had about 80% capacity when new. By second summer, down to less than 50%. This Spring (third season)...charge was down to about 10%! Cost to replace will be between $400 to $500. Or about $250 per riding season. About the cost of replacing a medium quality dirt bike once a year. Batteries+ tech told me that the Li-Poly batteries should only be expected to last from one to two years. So one season's cost will be about $250. Guess I am going to go back to my 50cc moped, I can get 5,000 miles out of it for $250.
Also, the Li-Polymer batteries are environmentally nasty and need special recycling when thrown away.
I would never buy a RMartin Bike.I purchased a R10 bike and should have read the specs more carefully. But the specs never said anything about battery life and that you are going to spend about half the cost of the bike in battery replacement. I find that very dishonest. Also, I never realized the bike weighed 70 lbs. In looking back, the specs did say that. But, look at their warranty timing very careful.