Kent Torpedo review: A kid’s e-bike, tested by a fun uncle and some kids

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. Everything was going great until I encountered a 11%, 6-degree incline.

It held a 155-lb adult flying through the air, even though I was half expecting a pedal to snap off on my repeated landings. But no, the thing is overbuilt for its ratings, just like Kent’s lawyers surely insisted that it should be. The V-brakes similarly aren’t incredibly high quality, but then again, they work just fine. This is a $498 kids e-bike after all – not a $17,000 S-Works for lycra-clad dads.

This system will hopefully stop users from leaving their vehicles in trash cans and on top of roofs. “As long as you’re within that area and if not then let’s say you’re a block away, you just walk to the nearest spot,” said Jim Kraus, the senior assistant director for the department of recreational services. Making trips to downtown Kent will be more accessible for students– as well as trips to grocery stores and other shopping locations within SPIN’s GeoZone. Within the zone, there are a few no-riding zones, however, those areas are either parking lots or places with high traffic.

Anyone who takes the quiz, regardless of their score, is given the opportunity to order a free helmet, shipped directly to the rider’s home. Kent State University supports alternative mobility options to best serve the needs of our campus community. The safety of our campus community remains a top kent hybrid bike priority, and we encourage everyone to Share the Road and look out for their fellow Flashes. For a little more money, the Schwinn Coston DX provides a more complete spec list and a more powerful motor. Schwinn also offers a Mendocino cruiser, though this looks more vintage than beach styled.

Mid-drive motors, on the other hand, are more costly to produce due to their more complicated design. That complication also makes them a bit more touchy, at least for new riders that aren’t used to shifting a bike. For our third eMTB trip, I chose a 16-mile gravel forest service road in nearby Helen, Georgia.

The Shimano drivetrain shifted flawlessly between its eight speeds, and the mechanical disc brakes on the front and rear worked capably in dry conditions. To turn on the bike, you need to first hit a button underneath the battery, then another on the LED display. The battery’s on button isn’t in a highly visible place but is slightly raised so you can find it by touch.

kent electric bike

I installed new front forks on my bike, purchased her a ride, and we started making the weekly trek for a short 30-minute trail excursion. One day while riding a local trail, I took a wrong turn and found myself on a black diamond trail with some huge drop-offs. My front suspension forks took the brunt of the punishment and consequently locked up. For the next couple of years, I continued to ride that bike with the broken forks because standard MTB trails—the greens and blues—don’t require high-end shocks (or apparently any shocks at all). The website also hosts a safety quiz that reinforces the messages seen in the videos about proper rider behavior, including where to ride and how to park. Scan the QR code on your phone or click on the link below to take the Safety Quiz.

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. The price means that it lacks some of the advanced features of many electric models, and even more basic ones like quick release, but it looks great and rides well.

“If the cell gets hot you know it’s not good, but I haven’t had that so far with these vapes, they are pretty good,” Mark said. By charging them up and draining them, he was able to determine how much power they could hold and confirm they were the right spec. Happy with his working prototype, Mark is in the process of developing “stage two”, in which he plans to buy a proper casing for the batteries, so kent hybrid bike the wires are not sticking out. After narrowly avoiding being questioned by a neighbour, he set off on his maiden voyage to Sevenoaks, a few miles away, on May 22. He bought an “ordinary bike”, a seven-speed pink Cannondale Adventure 2, online and decided to convert it into an e-bike himself. Mark had had an e-bike since 2017 which he used on a daily basis to cycle to and from his office in Canary Wharf.