Considering CAB Motorworks Powerful Ebike

I've been looking into getting a powerful ebike for a while and test rode several that local ebike club members have. I test rode the Sur Ron X and didn't love it. It's drivetrain is loud, I didn't think it felt powerful or smooth enough. After trying a few other ebikes I'm finding that I want:
- Large hub motor
- Sinewave controller
- High Power
- Has Pedals (so I can say "it's technically a bike", which is sufficient in my area)

I looked into the Vector Typhoon, but I'm hesitant based on some reviews I've read about Vector.

CAB Motorworks has a good reputation from what I can tell, but they're expensive. Are they "overpriced", or is this a case of "You get what you pay for"?

I want an ebike that I can use for commuting at a reasonably high speed (40+ mph for 14 miles) and has impressive acceleration. None of the ebikes that I've ridden yet have that.

Any thoughts on CAB Motorworks? Any other suggestions?

Thanks

There's a woman that has to be well into her 70s that rides around everywhere here on the falcon. I see her literally every single day, for the last year so I guess that's a good sign but I doubt she is using it for what it's really intended

They do seem to be a reputable company though

Addons aside, those frames look suspiciously like the $300 EEB Alibaba specials.

cbr shadow said:

- Has Pedals (so I can say "it's technically a bike", which is sufficient in my area)
[...]
I want an ebike that I can use for commuting at a reasonably high speed (40+ mph for 14 miles) and has impressive acceleration.

Click to expand...

Top speed, range, and acceleration all trade off against each other to some degree. The way you get all three is to have too much motor and too much battery (thus excess weight and cost) for whatever you'll be doing most of the time.

Even if you have pedals on your unlicensed, uninsured motorcycle, the local authorities can impound it if you're caught going 40+ mph on the street. Y'know, technically speaking. California allows 28 mph before you're required to make an honest motorcycle of it.

Chalo said:

cbr shadow said:

- Has Pedals (so I can say "it's technically a bike", which is sufficient in my area)
[...]
I want an ebike that I can use for commuting at a reasonably high speed (40+ mph for 14 miles) and has impressive acceleration.

Click to expand...

Top speed, range, and acceleration all trade off against each other to some degree. The way you get all three is to have too much motor and too much battery (thus excess weight and cost) for whatever you'll be doing most of the time.

Even if you have pedals on your unlicensed, uninsured motorcycle, the local authorities can impound it if you're caught going 40+ mph on the street. Y'know, technically speaking. California allows 28 mph before you're required to make an honest motorcycle of it.

Click to expand...

I understand the rules. They're not enforced here very much at the moment. I speak to lots of ebike club members in the area and they've all said the same thing "As long as you're not ripping by families on bike paths you wont get hassled at all". Good enough for me. They're definitely not impounding ebikes around here.
Anyways I'd hate for the thread to get side tracked on laws, what I should or shouldn't be doing etc. I just want to know about CAB Motorworks ebike

HK12K said:

Addons aside, those frames look suspiciously like the $300 EEB Alibaba specials.

Click to expand...

Would you mind linking me to those? I've heard other people say the same thing but I can't find ones that look like CAB's.

https://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale?catId=0&initiative_id=AS_20210601085038&SearchText=enduro+ebike

Take your pick.

If you Google electric enduro bike frame you should be able to find them eady enough mate. From memory there are 2 versions, one is around $200.and the other $300. They have different rear dropout wheel mounts.

voilamart also has the stealth style frames for 250ish shipped within us

I appreciate the info guys. I'm really looking for a pre-built bike though, not just a frame.

My point was that they're asking absurd money for bikes which appear to be built based on the cheapest of the cheap knockoff frames out there. They're not particularly forthcoming when it comes to the bikes components either. Not particularly confidence inspiring. At all.

If you look around here at ES you'll find many brands discussed, some better than others. I'd suggest doing your homework before committing to anything. Off the top of my head you may want to have a look at Qulbix, Stealth, Sur-Ron, maybe Vector. There are others mentioned here at es which may pique your interest as well.

Not many complete bikes which satisfy your requirements (look at Stealth Fighter and M1Sportechnik though) AFAICT. If you're satisfied with 35 mph and good acceleration, consider Ariel's dual 1000w motor "bike".

I bought a Cab Motorworks Falcon around 9 months ago and here's some thoughts based on my experience.

The bike itself is good. With the upgraded battery I get around 50 miles of range and has a top speed of around 50mph. I have only ever taken it down to about 30% of charge at the lowest, so the 50 miles is an estimate. How you ride obviously effects range greatly. The bike is super smooth in terms of acceleration, you wont be wheel standing this every time you take off but the power keeps coming which I like. It has regenerate braking, which both as a brake and for generating power isn't super effective but helps a bit. I only got the Magura 2 piston brakes but wish I got the 4 piston. It chews through brake pads like nothing else. That said, they do work well when you need them. Suspension is good and once I switched it over to road tires, its a really super smooth ride. The reason why I paid more and went with one of their bikes is that I wanted the ability to have after sales service and a company that was available if I had questions. I had hoped a local company might give me that ability. Sadly what I have experienced is the worst customer service ever. The bike turned up with no paperwork at all... not even a receipt. It has no serial number either which makes insurance tougher. Every time I have written to them either asking a question or with an issue with the bike, I think I have gotten a response less then 50% of the time. They really dont seem to understand that even though I didn't buy their top of the line bike, spending nearly $7k is a big deal for most people. Also not everyone who buys one of their bikes is either a bike or e-bike genius.

So in summary, would I buy another bike from them? Its tough because to be honest I love the bike, its not perfect but its a ton of fun...but from my experience buying from them I would say no I wont be a repeat customer and usually when people ask me about my bike (which a lot of people do) I tell them the same.

What road tires did you find for the Falcon? I've tried to find road tires for the Vector Typhoon 18" rear and 24" front and have been completely unsuccessful. Do you have a link?