A2B Metro - www.ultramotor.com - Video Page4

[Ypedal]

The Metro has been around for a while now, and since day one i've been itching to get one. Of all the ready made E-Bikes out there, none ever appealed to me before the A2B, up to this point i've been testing/using every " kit " out there...

Sooo..

On Febuary 15 2010, a friend contacted Ultra Motor USA and hooked me up with a contact, a few emails later I found myself on the phone and an order was placed. Hey, even Jay Leno has one !

Price tag new : 2700 $ USD

Rest assured i'll be putting it gradually thru hell on the behalf of the sphere ! Lets start with the journey !

The A2B would normally be purchased from a local dealer, this seems to be the focus of Ultra Motor and the Owners Manual reflects this and even comments on it. Me, well i'm in Moncton NB and there are no local dealers, and i'm perfectly willing to assemble my own !

Shipped FedEx in a very large box on top of a pallet. 200$ for shipping from San Francisco CA to Moncton NB. Left Feb 17, Delivered March 4.

Last night, weather was a mess, blizzard type stormy snow, but hey.. this is the maritimes so whatever .. i'm going to go get my bike regardless ! Bribed the neighbor and off we went in his pickup truck !

[Ypedal]

I have a strange feeling Customs inspected this box

[Ypedal]

2 suspicious holes in the box.. Turns out it's the kick stand, all good..

The box is actually in relatively good condition!

[Ypedal]

I"ve been working at a shipping company for 13 years now, i've seen my share of terrible packing jobs.... it warms my heart to open a box as heavy as this and see this professional job of protecting the contents with carefull placement of cardboard... +1 Ultra Motor !

[Ypedal]

Quick peek inside !

She's White !

[Ypedal]

Ok.. sorry for the picture quality, this was taken late last night and my living room lighting is not right for this. Will take some better pictures tomorrow in daylight.

[Ypedal]

Pedals, reflectors and Charger in a double box..

Flat profile pedals, fair quality, perfectly fine for foot pegs, but i will be upgrading those to a nicer set sometime this summer. Nothing wrong with them but i'm strange like that.

[Ypedal]

The charger, very well known " High Power " brand, pleasant surprise it's a 4 amp unit ! Quiet, reliable, metal box with fan, i like the H-P chargers...

They are a bit heavy and i don't recommend bringing them along for the ride on bumpy roads, but otherwise good quality chargers !

The owners manual says 2 amps, but 4 is way better !

Standard XLR charge port.

[Ypedal]

Alright.. time to charge this baby up !

Ever the curious type, i checked the pack voltage via the charge port, 37.68v , good, that's roughly 50% dod.

I have XLR connectors with andersons i can use to hook up a Cycle analyst inline with the charger.. so after double checking my polarity..

Reset to 0.00 ah, and powered up ! Charger fan spins up nice and smoothly as expected and CA shows 3.7 amps ! Sweeeeet !

[Ypedal]

Does this void my warranty ?

[Lyen]

Nice photos you have! I love the creamy white on your Metro with the creamy snow on the back of your truck. LOL

[Ypedal]

hehe .. thanks !

The charger put 5.5ah back into the pack so far and has dropped to 25w, ballancing stage, peak voltage hit 41.7v then dropped to 41.2v right now at 25w.

That's all the pictures for tonight.

Tomorrow, if the roads can melt enough to clear some of the salt i will be heading out for a short road test !

[Ypedal]

Just about fully charged !!!

[kentlim26]

Hi Yepedal,

wow this is the most beautiful ebike i ever seen, wow, the price is abit NICE. i really like you to post abit more photos more sharper ones.
the frame is really solid build on its suspension. it's wonderful ebike. i like the thick tyre, they are certainly best to grip well on hi speed.

best regrads,
kentlim

[Drunkskunk]

Thats one good looking bike.

So its mid day, have you ridden it yet?

[Ypedal]

Rolling it out the door right now !!

[Ypedal]

Nice and sunny today, perfect for some pictures !

[Ypedal]

Very nice welds, this thing is built to last ..

No stickers either, the decals are painted on ( screen printing i think ) and covered with clear.

Wires run inside the frame and protected by a plastic gromet with a weather resistant flap.

[Ypedal]

Rims are Alexrims DX-32 with black spokes, these rims are awsome, wheels are true and spokes are tight, after a few rides i'll re-check them but both wheels spin true.

Kenda Kraze 20 x 3.0 tires, thick rubber for puncture resistance, nice and smooth long lasting tires..

[Ypedal]

Epoch Sport 7 speed shifter, i googled it and strangely enough only reference to it i can find is on the ES forum ! regarding freewheels, made in Taiwan by a company called " Long Yih Industry Company" http://www.dnp.com.tw

Works good, shifts accurately, solid unit, no complaints .

[Ypedal]

Throttle, with 3 LED battery status indicator, works well, standard Hall throttle, half grip twist that i personally like best of all the throttle types ( thumb, or full grip ). The LED lights are really not visible in bright daylight or i need to adjust the handlebars/throttle to have them pointing at me while sitting down, will play around with it later.

The grips are a bit rough on the hands, i always wear gloves when i ride so this is not much of a problem but with bare hands the grips would be a tad harsh. Your hands won't slip on these babies !

[Ypedal]

Brake levers with built in cutoff to disable the throttle when applied, tested and they work as expected, the front brake cuts the power but power comes back on as soon as you release the lever, the rear brake cuts off the power until you release and re-apply the throttle.

Metal levers on the brakes, solid, no flex.. ( more on brakes in a bit )

Cables covered with nylon braid, very nice touch, clean and tidy..

[Ypedal]

Calipers are Avid BB5 with 185mm rotors ! These are as good as the brakes on my Norco Chaos, amazing brakes on this bike.. .love those brakes... nice smooth feel and i'm sure a handfull of brakes could lock the wheel up with ease.

[Ypedal]

Shimano Alivio derailleur, good quality unit, works very well.

Notice in this picture the built in torque arm ! recessed into the frame and screwed down. Perfect for modding when that time comes..

[Ypedal]

The pedals, these are ok, made in taiwan types, i will be replacing them with big fat black one's in the near future.. personal preference thing.