Couple Tries E Bike Rickshaw For the 1st Time? What Will They Think? Real Life Test Ride of EBike

Dustin: Are you guys here to test ride the Rickshaw too? Alright, well.

Fred: You can go first if you want. I got all day.

David: Okay.

Dustin: We're gonna film by the way. I don't know if that's okay with you.

David: I've watched your videos.

Dustin: Okay, I'm Dustin. Nice to meet you.

David: I'm David.

Dustin: David, nice to meet you.

Siri: Hi, I'm Siri.

Dustin: Siri, nice to meet you guys.

David: You guys have put out a ton of videos and that's a testament to your persistence with marketing. Because you sell it directly, right?

Dustin: Yes, yeah. I also know like... People want to see the things being tested and ridden, especially the Rickshaw. I mean, I have three kids, so I use it a lot. Are you guys going to use it for your kids or a family member or the two of you? 

David: So the idea is that we live in Newport.

Dustin: Okay.

David: We live pretty close to schools and all that close enough that we're thinking about like possibly a product like this with like the harness. You guys have like a three or five-point harness that you can put on this.

Dustin: You can buy them separately and then you would just kind of hook them up through the back here and you could do two of them.

David: Yeah.

Siri: Because our daughter's a year and a half right now. So we still like and she's very curious and very regular. So we would want.

David: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Dustin: We have a video that I think we had about it. We think we had about a one-and-a-half or a two-year-old. I brought my son and daughter on here when they were about that age. So yeah, I mean, it works definitely, but I can understand being a little bit unless one of you is back there with them, I suppose, you know, but.

Siri: And it would potentially be, you know, I don't know like you might take her around a little bit where it might just be her in the back or.

David: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Siri: It would likely be, you know, one of us back there and one of us on the front of the Correct.

Dustin: Cool. Well, feel free to do whatever you want. I got the parking brake on. So you've got two parking brakes up here. You pull these. You just push that down and…

David: then that's the parking brake and the accelerator. 

Dustin: This is the throttle here. So it's on your thumb. This works like a gas pedal.

David: Yeah.

Dustin: So when you get on, don't... Do you have e-bikes now?

David: We do, but they're like Jupiter, like foldable e-bikes.

Dustin: Okay. Do they have throttles or not?

David: They... How would you say? No, you go like this.

Dustin: Twist throttle?

Siri: They're twisted on the handlebar.

David: Nothing like this. I mean, this is a heavy-duty bike you got here. And to be honest, I am a bit curious... Have you ever tried riding these on the boardwalk in Newport? Because this does have a wider profile than a standard bike and I just wonder if that will present some degree of frustration.

Dustin: To like police or something?

David: And I know that every municipality does things differently in terms of allowing bikes on sidewalks and all that stuff. I'm just curious.

Dustin: It's not much wider. So the actual width is the same as a standard trike. It's a little wider because of the fatter tires. But in terms of the actual width, like our other trikes, they're about the same. Now, the length is a little bit longer. To your question, I mean, I've taken this all over Dana Point and San Clemente. You know, I haven't gotten... Most people are like... Like, where do I get that kind of thing?

Siri: Yeah.

Dustin: But I can't talk to Newport. I mean, you can't fly airplanes over Newport Beach, so they have their strict regime. Yeah, and to your point, it's really like city by city these days.

David: Yeah.

Dustin: The only thing I would suggest is probably not using the electric, depending on where you go. Yeah. Run it on a low-level assist so you're not blazing through places.

David: One thing I'm curious about is how this feels with trying to walk it.

Dustin: You also do have a walking mode where you can put this on. I think it's the up button. Let me see. Oh, that's the light. So you hold the up button and your light goes on. And then I think the down button is the walking. Yeah. So if you hold this, it actually like... Sorry.

David: So you just…

Dustin: Hold the down button.

Dustin: Yep. Wait till it kicks on and you'll see a little guy. Yep.

David: Oh.

Dustin: So if you had to walk it up a driveway or a hill, you could use that to bring you up. 

David: Yeah. Okay. And then the parking brake…

Dustin: Yeah pull this in and then pull the brake.

David:  Okay.

Dustin: The way they steer. So you have to turn the handlebars leaning's not going to do much in terms of getting the bike to go the direction you want I say this because I've had a lot of people this is also sloped.

David:  Yeah.

Dustin: So be careful to stay away from the cars here and go as far to the left as possible Yeah, that's my only advice is, you have to turn the wheel, and you have to just trust that it will stay balanced back here.

David:  Now, regarding the seating configuration in your videos, it seems like two adults maybe her size can fit in there, but for me, I'm not sure. 

Dustin: So you're tall. How tall are you? You're pretty tall.

David:  I'm 5'8".

Dustin: Okay.

Siri: I mean, it's not going to be the most comfortable ride.

David: I'm just thinking about a baby in you. Yeah.

Siri: I mean, this is not sustainable. We can make it….

David: Right. No, you never, I don't think two adults our size would work, but a baby and you.

Dustin: If you put your arm around her too, it gets a little more comfortable. Well, we've had like, I have a guy who's 6'5", who works for me. He rides with someone else. If you kind of like really get in tight, it gets a little bit better.

David: I just think that what you encounter here is you can't make it any wider.

Dustin: Exactly.

David: Because then it's a real nuisance. So, you know, a baby and an adult, I think that's about as much as you can hope for for something that's going to be, like, somewhat compatible with existing bike lanes and roads.

Dustin: No, it's true. Yeah, that's exactly, like, I get a lot of comments on it, and they're like, make it wider, do this. But the integrity of this is to try to make it like a bike.

David/Siri: Yes.

Dustin: But still allowing passengers. And the minute you start, like, extending.

Siri: And we were talking about that, too, and I was like, yeah, that's, yeah.

Dustin: And then the cost goes up.

Siri: People go, oh, I can't. Yeah, exactly. Like, oh, wait, I can't ride it on sidewalks or bike lanes. Like, I have to gain traffic. 

David: So for cycling through modes, I guess.

Dustin: So this, don't push that.

David: Oh, sorry.

Dustin: So this is a derailleur, like on a normal bike.

David: Oh, what does that do?

Dustin: It changes the gears, you know, like gears on a bike.

David: Okay.

Dustin: You can push it, but you can only change the gears while you're pedaling. So when you start pedaling now, you're going to hear the gears start changing as it slides into the gear you put it in. And then, do you want the seat higher, or is that good for you?

David: Yeah, let's do it higher. So that changes the gears. Can I bring it back down to one?

Dustin: Yeah, don't change it now. This puts it up, and then pushing this up brings it down. 

David: Up and then down?

Dustin: Correct. So now you've got it in kind of a high gear. It might... It might be a little bit difficult for you to get moving. Well, you're in a parking brake, too. So just click it. Pull the lever.

David: Yep.

Dustin: Now you're out. There you go.

David: Turning is very strange in this thing. You've got to reorient your brain. You can't use momentum or anything like that.

Dustin: Exactly.

David: This turning radius, I mean, this is…

Dustin: Yeah, that's why I ease into that. Yeah, you've got to get familiar with…

David: Oh.

Dustin: So it's a 750-watt motor. That's the largest size motor you can have to classify it as an e-bike. I get that comment a lot too you can do a thousand watts you can do bigger some states allow that, anyways, California doesn't. So my point is that that hill situation can't be rectified if you want an e-bike. So when you do it though, throttle will not be an option to go up the hill. You're going to have to put it into level five and pedal. Because the pedal assist will give you a little more power as you're pedaling and doing it. The throttle in and of itself up a hill with weight on the back.

David: So you're recommending not putting it in one, putting it in five going up the hill?

Dustin: You'll have to. If you're going to try to go up any of these hills over here, yeah, one won't give you the power. And don't use the throttle because that will burn the motor out. Again, on a steep hill with that kind of weight, it's just not equipped for that sort of terrain, you know? But I live on a pretty steep hill. I put it in five. I take my three kids up the hill. I live over here. You can see it's pretty hilly but it's you can test it. You'll see it's not going to be easy like a walk in the park, but you'll get the assistance.

David: It's going to be assistance. It won't be like a normal bike.

Dustin: Correct. But you've got three wheels. You've got four-inch tires. So we'll warranty everything for a year. In terms of anything mechanical, well, you guys are close by. You could bring it here. Or any mobile mechanic is usually how we do these, could come out. And within the first year, anything breaks, we just cover the labor that they would have to do or whatever.

David: Beyond that, I mean, I assume that it's a bicycle. It's made of all these parts that are swappable for this and that. You know, in terms of your product lifecycle and all that, you know... How long do you guys think that you're going to continue making these? Because what invariably ends up happening with a lot of products is, you know, get them, they stop making them, then you got to get something new or with a new company, yadda, yadda, yadda. So beyond that year, what do you think?

Dustin: Well, I can't tell you indefinitely. I mean, we've been in business since 2005. So we stock the motors. So the cool thing about the front motor is this is easily changeable. So in a situation where the motor blows out, it's just taking the front wheel on and off. And then the battery is interchangeable. So your two biggest things that would go wrong would be those. I can tell you that we're doing well with these, so I don't plan to not have it in the foreseeable future.

David: With us being local, assuming that we wanted to get it, would it be possible for you guys to be able to assemble it? Deliver it to our house or?

Dustin: Delivery I'd have to charge you for because I don't have anything equipped to do that necessarily. We could assemble it for free.

David: I'm just thinking about the tension because it'd be a family that's going on this thing. And I know that I saw your video of assembling about an hour, and 30 minutes long. I'm sure that if you follow all the steps, I'm not handy. And my wife's not handy either. So I mainly want a professional field to put it together. So you guys would be able to do that and then just a delivery charge or…

Dustin: Yeah, yeah. The assembly is no big deal.

David: Okay.

Dustin: Yeah the delivery would probably be, I'm guessing 100 to 200 bucks would be the estimation. And just so you know too, the throttle is not linked to those levels yeah if it's in one you get full throttle the throttle works like a gas pedal so if you're in one it's like okay throttle enabled and then you just dictate the power with your thumb the levels are to the output of the pedal assist so okay yeah…

Siri: And then here because I'm gonna be honest, I have not ridden but with like..

Dustin: Yeah, yeah, yeah. 

Siri: So if I wanted to…

Dustin: Put your thumb on here. So thumb up here. And then push this with your thumb. Put your thumb on this one.

Siri: Oh, sorry.

Dustin: So it's a thumb for both.

Siri: Oh, okay.

Dustin: So thumb here, thumb here. Same direction, yeah.

Siri: Okay.

Dustin: This pushing-up is going to move this one down.

Siri: Great. And then pushing up here…

Dustin: Is going to put it up.

Siri: Yeah. Okay.

Dustin: So on flat ground... level five, you'd want, you typically would want this to be in five, six, or seven because you're going to be going fast.

Siri: Right.

Dustin: And then uphill you want to be one, two, or three.

Siri: Yeah, okay.

Dustin: And it's always good when you enter the hills to shift in advance so you don't get into that grade and you're like, oh god I gotta get down into level one, you know? 

David: And can you change it to miles per hour on the digital display?

Dustin: I'd have to break, let me get my guy because I'm not even sure. Hold on one second.

David: my wife brought up a question about the harness but my understanding with the harness is that because I watched your video you pull this cushion off and then you put it back here and you can put it anywhere on this seat, right? Not just the corner?

Siri: If he was just going to take our daughter out, for example, could she, could the harness be installed in the middle of the seat?

Dustin: Yeah. You just slide the things here. He just took the one inside. There's, I have a harness on one of them. 

Siri: Okay.

Dustin: But I also have a video. There's a video of a family. I can show you here. Hold on.

David: And when you're on that corner. And her love.

Dustin: Let me see about that. Here, let me try to do the display quickly.

David: So in Newport, it's called the Battle of the Boardwalk. They allow bicycles along with pedestrians and all that. There's a very strict imposition of a speed limit for bicycles on that boardwalk of 8 miles per hour.

Dustin: That's pretty typical. Hermosa Beach is that way, too.

Siri: Yeah, what's the limit on the boardwalk?

David: 8.

Siri: 8?

David: I mean, the kids... do not go eight.

Dustin: Yeah. I mean, you're not going to want to go much faster, or you're not going to, I mean. 

David: It's a utility bike, not a performance bike. Yeah.

Siri: Yeah, I mean, I was, when I was just driving it about and I, you know, totally felt what you said about, like, yeah, turning, you have to get used to a little, you know, it's just…

Dustin: yeah.

Siri: Feeling. But I just said out loud, I was like, this is probably as fast as I'm going to go.

Dustin: Did it work? Good job, Pete. Do you want to see? Here, drive it back to the back here. What did you think?

Siri: So what we did some…

David: What we did was somewhat problematic. I was like, hey, try it out going up on this hills so I stopped on the, there was no momentum and then she got it and she’s like I can’t get it up so of course if you go from a place where it’s flat to going up, it’s a lot easier once you have the momentum. It’s good but if you stop…

Siri: And then it was easy with exactly the settings that you said for me to pedal him up. It was….

Fred: I don’t work for him, I’ve got a business in Coronado. If you don't know any place come and visit. I give you a free tour of the island.

David: Very nice.

Fred: And I'll have one of these. No. I’ll have one of the Rckshaws you can ride in it. One of the ones you're buying.

Dustin: Yeah, it's as is true of a lot of bikes and or e-bikes, stopping in the middle of an incline can be challenging. You know what I mean?

Siri: But Question too on the, like, coming down the hill. Is it just, like, any bike where, you know, just regular service is good for this? But it's like, I was breaking the whole way down because I did not want to just cruise. That's, like, is there anything we need to be aware of with that or any kind of do's and don'ts?

Dustin: No, I mean, that's good.

Siri: Okay, great.

Dustin: Do you want to be holding the brakes, especially with the amount of weight you have in the back?

Siri: Yeah.

Dustin: You don't want to be, like, waiting until the last minute?

Siri: No, I was, but I was breaking, like, I was. Maintaining a consistent pace the whole way down.

Dustin: So these are disc brakes. 

Siri: Okay.

Dustin: So, if you, this is one thing that, it's not under warranty, it's just normal wear and tear but here's the disc, and inside of here, there's pads.

Siri: Okay.

Dustin: So, and there's two on the rear, so you have three of those.

Siri: Okay.

Dustin: Over.

Siri: Which side can, like, which one controls which?

Dustin: So we can just look at the pad. So this is the rear.

Siri: Okay.

Dustin: And that's the front. So you can see. Yeah, pull it.

Siri: I see. Okay. Yep.

Dustin: Yep. So clamps down. So those pads wear down like pads on a car. And over time, you'll want to replace them. If you're doing, you know, if you're not riding, I don't know how frequently you guys are riding. The more you ride, the more you have to check those. Right. The brake pads cost... $5, $10 something. You could either do it yourself or, again, a mobile mechanic can do it. That's just the one thing you want to make sure you're paying attention to with the maintenance of the bike.

David: Do you guys have anyone who is affiliated with your company who's a mobile mechanic who's familiar with a product that could come to us and service it?

Dustin: It wouldn't matter. These disc brakes are Tektro disc brakes. They're the number one most common brand of disc brake on all e-bikes. So on this bike, it's the same with any given bike shop.