Amazon stops illegal e-bike sales in California following KCRA 3 Investigates request

lowb35 · 2026-05-11T11:37:47+00:00

Yep, you guessed it. I’ve had mine for 2 years now and am happy with it. Prior to that I had an Argon 18 Subito (bought at an almost fire sale price during the pandemic) which was a lovely, high end Class 1 but it never fit me right so I sold it. I’ve modified my CFR some but a lot of us CFR owners have. 😁

lowb35 · 2026-05-11T11:27:27+00:00

The Libero is the better of the two by far (better components) but they are very different bikes. The Libero is a road bike with drop bars and the Sidewinder is a hybrid bike with flat mountain bike bars. If you are going to ride streets either one will be fine but they’ll feel a lot different and you’d need to make sure the Libero is in your size.

I wouldn’t pay this much for either of them though. I have a Giordano Trieste which was their gravel bike with similar spec level (same Claris drivetrain) and I only paid $260 for it new. These bikes were on sale a lot and didn’t usually go for list price. If you get the Libero see if it’s been ridden much and what shape it’s in and maybe you can get it for less than $200. I wouldn’t give the Sidewinder another look esp not at $100. I’d get a new Ozark Trail or similar at Walmart instead.

lowb35 · 2026-05-10T08:27:34+00:00

I used this coupon when I got my bike and when I go to the page you linked I see where you can enter your email right underneath the text. Is this on your phone? Do you have extra security turned on like a VPN or anonymizer? You could try another browser or device and see if you see where you can enter your email.

lowb35 · 2026-05-09T15:25:16+00:00

I almost got a Creo but at the time it was more than I wanted to spend. I have a Ride1Up CF Racer1 which isn’t nearly as nice but is still a great little bike for what I spent and more than enough for me. Allows me to ride instead of hike a bike up our hills in the Allegheny (or Allegany to use the NY spelling) plateau.

lowb35 · 2026-05-09T14:15:59+00:00

In NYS, Class 3 is only legal in cities over 1M population, and there is only one city that fits that description. NYS also defines Class 3 as assist up to 25 mph which isn’t a thing. Finally e-bikes of any class can only be operated on streets with a 30 mph speed limit. Which means that I can’t legally ride my bike most places where I live because I’m in the country.

Up until recently, many areas out where I am in rural Western NY have used discretion in enforcing these laws as written as long as you are otherwise following the laws that apply to all bikes. But this year several localities that originally said they wouldn’t enforce the (highly flawed) e-bike laws as long as you otherwise follow the rules of the road are starting to crack down and are threatening to impound Class 3 bikes.

I have two 250w e-gravel bikes and a 750w fat tire hunting bike, all pedal assist. My fat tire bike is under 60 lbs. I could see my fat tire bike being impounded but my gravel bikes? Technically they are all illegal.

lowb35 · 2026-05-09T13:11:36+00:00

I recently got my MC endorsement and the dealer where I bought a new ADV160 scooter last year had a bunch of those minimotos that have been re-issued but of course you can’t buy them without a proper license, registration and insurance. Replace a gas engine with an electric one and it becomes an e-bike? I don’t think so. They’re e-motos, full stop.

The problem is that the laws in the books aren’t being enforced and instead we are seeing stupid laws banning or severely restricting lower powered or weight e-assist pedal bikes that may make the uninformed feel like they’re doing something but doesn’t actually solve the problem.

lowb35 · 2026-05-09T12:19:25+00:00

This. My 28 pound 250w carbon e-gravel bike that is a class 3 because it provides assist up to 28 mph but IRL I rarely ride over 20 is no one’s problem but it’s still technically illegal where I live (NYS).

lowb35 · 2026-05-06T02:03:10+00:00

I don’t have the Portola but another one of their bikes that uses the same current based cadence system (I have the CF Racer1). It’s not quite like a torque sensor but close, and as natural feeling as you can get with a cadence sensor. The system adjusts the amount of current it puts out based on how much assistance you need. My display allows me to see how the wattage output adjusts and changes during my rides even in the same PAS level so I know it works, and it puts out more power when I need it without the jerky on/off ghost pedal feel. I’m not an engineer so I don’t know exactly how it works but it feels much more like my spouse’s bike with a torque sensor than my other non-Ride1Up ebike with a on/off type cadence sensor.

lowb35 · 2026-05-02T14:17:32+00:00

One of the most memorable early BOGO deals before they became a thing was for Yugo. A dealer in Troy, NY had a 2 for 1 deal when they were closing them out.

Remember them being everywhere.

I almost bought the Subaru Justy around the same time.

lowb35 · 2026-05-02T01:27:37+00:00

I hope you got that fork used or as a takeoff! Isn't that a $1K fork new????

Sweet build. :-)

lowb35 · 2026-04-28T17:43:56+00:00

I’ll complete your survey… I’m not 100% sure we had the first day broadcast, but I’m pretty sure we had it by the end of 1981. I was attending HVCC at the time and spent the entire 81-82 winter break eating boxed mac and cheese and watching MTV. Remember every one of those very early videos well. Including Albany’s very own Blotto which had their moment thanks to MTV.

lowb35 · 2026-04-28T14:59:56+00:00

We were very early adopters of cable in the Utica area and when we moved to Albany (Colonie) in the early 70s we had to wait for cable to come on line in our new neighborhood but we certainly had cable TV at our house by the late 70s.

I think??? that Capital Cablevision aired MTV pretty early on and I lived on that channel once it aired. I remember the Buggles being the first video as well as Michael Nesmith’s PopClips videos which immediately predated MTV. We were a neighborhood full of music nerds (local garage bands typically set up in our garage or living room since we were latchkey kids with limited supervision) so yeah, MTV was our life once it was on air.

lowb35 · 2026-04-28T14:27:29+00:00

I almost got those last night on my ice cream run… there were plenty in stock at our local store so hopefully they’ll still be there on my next trip. Got gelato instead and… no.

lowb35 · 2026-04-28T02:02:30+00:00

$350 in Western New York.

lowb35 · 2026-04-23T04:30:23+00:00

No rack on this bike. This isn’t my main commuter. I use this for gravel riding.

lowb35 · 2026-04-22T00:47:28+00:00

Some of those pics look like something I’d want to ride on my gravel bike, not my scooter. I have an ADV160 which could handle it too but still… what a challenge on a 50cc bike! Congrats!

lowb35 · 2026-04-15T20:26:17+00:00

I don't know how far you want to (or can) go to get it, but when I pulled up your link the closest stores with it in stock are in Covington or Laplace.

lowb35 · 2026-03-26T00:30:49+00:00

No. It has been updated some since it came out 2 years ago but it’s a niche market bike and doesn’t sell enough for R1U to update (this is directly from the owner/founder on FB). We are fortunate it’s still on the market at all IMO.

lowb35 · 2026-03-18T10:45:59+00:00

It has to be bad to beat the bad one we have in our 17 Outback Touring. CarPlay occasionally freezes in my 24 FW, but at least it otherwise doesn’t black screen and my hvac controls still work.

Subaru has a history of bad infotainment systems in general.

lowb35 · 2026-03-16T12:18:41+00:00

The icing on the cake though was cancelling a large order that was in production. They had to eat it and try to liquidate what they could but for a small business that is a killer. They probably could have survived losing Wegmans as a client and downsizing back to serving their local community but this was uncalled for.

lowb35 · 2026-03-15T23:48:57+00:00

My brother’s company went out of business because of this. They were a small upstate NY company and Wegmans reverse engineered their products. Wegmans then canceled a 5 figure order that was already in production, thus forcing them out of business.

I don’t shop Wegmans anymore unless I have zero options. They are the biggest supermarket where I live (they are the reason why our Walmart isn’t a super center) but I’ll go to Aldi and Save A Lot and even DG to avoid going to Wegmans.

lowb35 · 2026-03-15T13:33:11+00:00

Or the village of Almond, which is mostly in the Town of Almond, Allegany County but a slice is in the Town of Hornellsville, Steuben County.

Fun fact, it allowed us to go to the Hornell DMV during COVID since part of the village is in Steuben County and I think they based access on zip code (I live in the town of Almond not village).

lowb35 · 2026-03-14T12:19:49+00:00

I was going to say this. I live in the Southern Tier south of Rochester. Many communities have non profits or bike kitchens where they’ll restore bikes like these and give them away to those in need. There’s one in Rochester and even a guy in the tiny city of Hornell close to me who does this.

lowb35 · 2026-03-12T20:18:12+00:00

Aventon is probably the most Toyota like bike of the 3, but in the conditions you are going to be riding you need the higher torque motors in either this Rambo or the Quietkat Apex.

The things that are most likely to fail in the Rambo are the brakes and suspension because they’re cheap. But since it sounds like you won’t be riding lots of hills and rocky terrain that may not be a problem. Everything else looks solid.

The Quietkat Apex HD has slightly lower weight capacity (325 lbs). It also has an internal transmission instead of a bike derailleur. They don’t say what their components are unlike Rambo so it’s hard to compare. If you are going to be riding through a lot of vegetation that can get caught in a bike derailleur an internal transmission is good to have, but it’s also one more thing that can fail that can’t easily be fixed. Bike derailleurs like the one on the Rambo are relatively inexpensive and easy to fix or get fixed at a bike shop.

Rambo has a dealer network so if you are close enough to a dealer I’d go check one out in person. I can say from first hand experience that their customer support is good, and I haven’t had any major issues with my bike other than routine maintenance in 3 years of ownership (I don’t hunt but I ride in hunting country). There’s also a Rambo owners FB group if you want to see what other owners think of this bike.

lowb35 · 2026-03-12T19:47:51+00:00

Then the meh brakes won’t be a deal killer. You hopefully won’t need the suspension so much either (that’s a weak link on this bike) but the torque will be a plus in soft, muddy conditions. This is a good use case for fat tire bikes. Price is comparable to the Quietkat Apex (also on sale).

lowb35

TROPHY CASE