In the realm of test bikes, some definitely have an easier go of it than others. Not only was the Easy Motion Neo Jumper one of the earliest test bikes to
reach Electric Bike Action, but it was also destined to
serve double duty, as it was also to be used for a test
in our sister ’zine, Mountain Bike Action. By the time we
got to the bike, it had already logged quite a few hours.
Fast-forward six months and the Neo Jumper has over
500 hard miles on it, and few of those miles were on
pavement. Given its duration as a test bike and the many
people that it has been passed around to, it’s a safe bet
that, at least in our neck of the woods, our test bike has
introduced more riders to e-biking than any other single
bike. The bike has been ridden hard by off-road vets and
suffered through a string of newbies galore who didn’t
always understand how to treat it.
Through all the abuse, the Neo Jumper has performed
fabulously. We’ve learned to keep an eye on the air
pressure in the fork and shock. The shock works best
with somewhere close to the rider weight in psi, but the
fork likes about 25 percent less than rider weight. On the
subject of air pressure, the weight of the rear hub motor
requires more air pressure than normal to prevent pinch
flats or tire wallow. We used at least 3 5 psi and sometimes more than 40 depending on conditions. We still
had our share of rear flats. We learned to carry a 19mm
wrench along, and changing a flat on the trail was no big
deal, but we prefer not to.
We also learned tricks for maximizing the assist available. Like all hub motors, they can overexert and stop
working. That happened to us on a few occasions when
our eagerness to make use of max assist on a long climb
brought the bike to a halt. Luckily, when this occurs, it’s
just a matter of letting the motor cool down, and once it
does, it’s back to riding. As with any long-term relationship, the more time we spent with the Neo Jumper, the
more we discovered about how best to get along.
Testing the boundaries of
e-bike survival with Easy
Motion’s Neo Jumper
{ BIKE TEST }
USED, ABUSED
& STILL GOING STRONG
“So we learned it was best to burn human and battery energy on short climbs. We just want o keep the motor in the
happy place on climbs.
