Ebike La Paz

Etiqueta: ebiking

  • Bluelander Bicicleta Electrica Calificación

    An electric bike that looks and feels like a normal old-school mountain bike. Perfect for giving you a boost when travelling across town.

    Easy Assembly Out of the Box

    This ebike came almost complete and assembly takes less than an hour. The only tricky part is aligning the front brake, which you might need a bike mechanic for if you don’t know much about tools.

    Light Weight Ebike

    With a 250 watt motor, you hardly notice the difference between the weight of this bike and a normal mountain bike. Even with the 10 amp hour battery, the Bluelander isn’t heavy.

    Riding the ebike feels like riding my normal 26 inch rim mountain bike. It’s really a joy, but the frame is too small for 194cm me (a common problem for us giants) but, a perfect option for a normal-sized person.

    Despite being light-weight, it feels well-built, and it can take the rugged roads of La Paz with ease. If you didn’t see the battery and hub motor, you really wouldn’t know you were riding an electric bicycle, which is pretty cool!

    Small Motor Means More Exercise

    With my 1000 watt ebike, the pedal assist felt jerky and out of sink as all that power kicked in. Not so much with the 250 watt motor on the Bluelander, it performs better if you help it to start up and then maintains the top speed for your power level pretty easy on flat terrain.

    Plus, it’s super easy pedalling the Bluelander. In fact, I hardly want to use the motor and pedal it with my legs most of the time without feeling dragged down by the weight.

    This is a great choice if you want to maintain your fitness level, but might need a boost up hills or when your late for a meeting (it still goes over 35 km with the motor).

    Small But Adequate Battery

    I imagined the 10.4 amp hour battery might worry me with a low range, but I found the opposite. I have ebiked across La Paz Centro three times and the battery is still over 50%, which is pretty awesome. I have not charged it yet, but I imagine it will charge fast being so small.

    This is probably due to it’s light wieght, which means I pedal more on the Bluelander than with my beefy 1000 watt motor and 23 amp hour battery. With the Bluelander, there is no worry about running out of battery, I can pedal home with my legs without a problem.

    The only complaint I have with the battery system is that I have not found a way to see the battery voltage. The built in battery meter is ok, but knowing the voltage gives me a better idea of how much juice I have left.

    Great Way To Turn Off Pedal Assist

    I found you can still use the throttle when the pedal assist is in 0. This is a great way to get the motor’s power but not worry about the bike taking off when you are making slow moves.

    For my main ebike, I had to basically hack into the computer to turn it off so that I could have throttle only. The Bluelander way is much simpler.

    A Great Ebike For Urban La Paz

    This is an awesome option if you want to ride around in the city. The mountain bike tires give you comfort and confidence to conquer the baches and sandy stretches.

    The motor is just enough to give you a boost. I like the idea of pedalling down hill all the way to Coromuel, then getting a ride with the motor to return home up the slow gradual grade to where most people live.

    At around 12,000 pesos, this is a solid ebike at an incredible price. Buy yours now before they sell out!

  • Trip Report: Ebikeing From La Paz To Playa El Saltito

    Trip Report: Ebikeing From La Paz To Playa El Saltito

    I bought my ebike with one goal in mind: being able to ride to my favorite beach, el Saltito. After about five months of ownership and thinking about trying it out, I finally got to it.

    My Keteles K8 took me to the beach and back to my home without completely draining the battery. Unfortunately, it took me longer, and I was more tired afterward than I had hoped.

    Looking back, I didn’t give this first attempt my best effort, and there are things I can do to make it more successful. Keep reading to hear how it went and how I will improve it next time.

    Why Playa El Saltito?

    El Saltito is about a half hour from centro La Paz, but you have to get there by a pretty knarly sand road. My little honda makes it there, and plenty of other little pos’s do, but it doesn’t like it and I always feel like I’m going to break my car when returning.

    I love this beach because it has deep water for swimming, an island and sea rock to look at, extensive coral, and an awesome choose your height cliff jump! It gets surprisingly crowded for the rustic road, but it’s a fantastic beach and super close to the city.

    Also, the paved part of the road to get there is one of the best in the world. With stunning views, and impeccable condition, until it abruptly ends and turns into soft, steep sand two KM from the beach.

    Can You Ride An Ebike To Playa El Saltito?

    Yes! It’s an amazing ebike ride, but the hills are pretty huge and you need to help your ebike to not overheat or use all it’s juice.

    I have a 20 amp-hour battery, and I used most of my capacity with a lot of pedalling that made me tired when I got home. For future rides, I’m going to find the best route to make the playa more accessible.

    Which Route Did I Choose?

    This ride started on a whim, I wasn’t sure I wanted to make it to El Saltito becuase I left late in the day, around three in the afternoon. It was super hot(duh), so I went on the carretera escenaria so I could have a swim before tackling the big hills.

    Also, I stopped at the repsol and bought a six-pack of beer, because I thought I was just going to a close by beach to chill. Well, you know, I swam off the ciclovia, and then decided I should just go to Saltito, por que no?

    Oh yeah, I didn’t have too much water either. So I rode up the steep hill by the stupid golf course, then up the hill of the trucker highway and turned past the Mordor electrical generation plant on the beautiful highway to the beaches. On the way back I went through the sandy road neighborhoods and around to 5 de Mayo, which is certainly nicer becuase there is no traffic.

    How Was The Ride There?

    Except for the advantage of being able to swim at the start of the route, it’s not so good. You have to go over the big hill by the golf course, and then the big hill with semi-remolques from the ferry, not too fun.

    The highlight of this section was finding an oxxo floppy cooler on the side of the road! Total score, it was in good shape. Once off that highway it is pretty nice because there is no traffic and it’s beautiful.

    There are lots of side roads I want to explore. You have to ride two more big, paved hills but they are awesome looking and not too difficult, especially with help from the motor but you have to pedal or it could overheat I imagine and you need to save battery for the way back.

    The Sandy Section

    Wuuujuuuu this was super fun riding down! You go super fast and the K8, with beefy tires and suspension makes it comfy. My brakes were good enough and the road is wide.

    Coming back up wasn’t bad at all. I let a Toyota Tacoma type awesome beach adventure truck pass me, but they ended up taking it super easy and I had to slow down not to pass them. I felt pretty cool about that.

    I made it to the pavement again without a problem, but I think somewhere near the top it overheated and shut down, but I was able to continue pedalling and restart the system after a few minutes to get the power back.

    Returning In The Night

    This trip started too late and I rode home in the dark. Yes, it’s probably dangerous because for sure people drive home from the beach drunk.

    But I was pretty comfy with the nice lights on the K8 and it was not too hot! After the highway to the playas I went through the sandy roads through some of the most rustic neighborhoods of the city.

    It was pretty damn dark for a long while with one or two ranchos and a straight rode that I was doing 30 km on, feeling tired and ready to be home and drink water. Soon enough I came to the lights of the city and I only worried a little that my battery was running low.