At this price point, you’re going to have to deal with some compromises. I wish the bike came standard with thru-axles or quick-release kent road bike skewers for the wheels. If I ever got a flat on the road, it’s going to be that much more difficult to change the tire.
The New Jersey tiny bike business eventually grew into a larger establishment. The business has been producing excellent electric motorcycles and supplying their parts to retailers across the country since 1947. On my second test ride, I tried out the short 3.4-mile singletrack trail that we ride each week. But I ended up popping both the front and rear tire tubes, probably due to my weight stressing the tubes. Popping a tube wouldn’t be so bad, except I had to walk the bike the remainder of the trail.
Although this is a kid’s bike, it is doubtful how it would perform on trails better suited for adult riders. There have been criticisms involving consumers complaining that the bike has a very weak frame and breakable gears thus weakening its ability to travel in long hikes. The 10.4-amp hour battery promises around 1 hour 20 minutes of run time, or around 25 miles, using the electric assist at varying levels over the course of the ride. The Kent Electric Cruiser is a very pretty bike, with the removable Samsung lithium-ion battery integrated into the frame. Given the fire-engine red color scheme, 26-inch whitewall tires, and swooping handlebars, I felt like a fatter, hairier Pee Wee Herman pedaling around my city. If you’re looking for an inexpensive ebike for casual weekend rides, the Kent Electric Cruiser demands consideration.
Everything was going great until I encountered a 11%, 6-degree incline. Even while pedaling and in the highest level of assist, the bike barely had enough torque to push me up the hill. At one point, I smelled burning plastic kent road bike when it hit me that the smell came from the motor, which was burning hot from overuse. When I sold the CrossFit gym and moved to Gainesville, Georgia, I lost all of my MTB-riding friends, so my bike went into storage.
A group of us would carpool out to a lake trail, then ride with reckless abandon, flying over the handlebars multiple times each trip. One of the biggest benefits for adults is that electric bicycles can help make rides longer by not exhausting the rider so quickly. When the kent road bike family goes out for a ride together, kids can’t always keep up with their stronger parents. But if the kids have small helper motors, a longer ride is definitely in the cards. Although mode in low power appears to last longer, high power mode consumes the battery faster.