The Wild Goose is Daymak’s fat electric bike offering and much like its other classic ebikes this thing is designed to be affordable but still powerful and fun. You get four color choices including bright orange or red and standard black or white but only one frame size in medium 19″. There are many ways I’d seek to improve this bike or bring it up to speed with other offerings including a downtube battery vs. unbalanced rear rack, throttle override on assist vs. throttle only, Quick release on the front wheel, a 12 magnet cadence sensor vs. 5 for faster response and the ability to take the key out of the battery when riding…
I like that they’ve included a bell and independent headlight here but you’d do well to add a rear light as well if you plan on riding around town. The suspension fork is also a highlight for me because it adds comfort at high speed over bumpy terrain but also has lockout for efficiency on flats. This is a heavy bike at ~69 pounds (31.3 kg) and a lot of the weight is positioned towards the rear, impacting balance and handling. Ideally, weight should be low and center so the fact that the rack positions the battery extra high and that it’s not designed to work with a bag or panniers is a real drawback to me.
Driving the bike is 500 watt gearless motor that’s relatively quite but not silent (as with some other gearless motors I’ve tested). This one also doesn’t offer regenerative braking but that’s not really a surprise given the value price. The battery provides good power and range with 48 volts and 10 amp hours but range is somewhat impacted by weight and the drag of larger tires… this is the case with all fat e-bikes. When it comes time to pedal, you’ve got six gears and a nice oversized shifter mechanism that is easy to use with gloves.
Overall, the bike is fun and you get six levels of pedal assist along with throttle-only operation. To me the throttle is a blessing and a curse. Instead of a half-twist design or a trigger throttle which tend to feel more stable on bumpy terrain, Daymak has used a full-grip throttle more akin to a motorcycle. Some people prefer this style, it’s variable speed and easy to use on flats but unlike motorcycles which also weigh a lot but have full suspension to take out the jitter… electric bikes just aren’t as smooth and I’ve found myself bearing down on the grips during intense moments resulting in accidental throttle manipulation. Daymak offers a six month warranty and many shops in Canada carry their products so it’s easier to take a test ride, get a tuneup and support but for those in outlying areas or most of the US you’ll have to pay extra for shipping and do some assembly yourself.
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Erik
8 years agoNot a bad bike for the price; however I would never buy one with rear rack battery- they are so ugly.
ReplyCourt Rye
8 years agoYeah, I’d much prefer a downtube design… especially if you can’t use the rear battery rack for a bag or panniers which seems to be the case here, or at least it would be difficult. Pedego’s old Trail Tracker design had a similar exposed battery but they’ve moved to downtube now and it’s much better balanced and there’s still room to add a rack if you want.
ReplySkurm
8 years agoI just got one of the new ones, they’ve switched to a down tube battery 10.4ah and it’s now a 7 speed. They also made the switch to a Bafang 500w geared hub motor, the cadence sensor looks to have 12 magnets(rough count way more than 5), and it also now has a rear rack. Works pretty good so far. Went 18 km in 30 minutes. Didn’t think it would be this fun, just got it for rural transportation. I don’t ever use the throttle, just pedal. My neighbour has one of the scooter ones and this is way more fun. Personally I wouldn’t have got one, of the old design. I was going to get a Vermont, but winters are horrible and long here. I’m going to give it a long distance test and see how far it goes.
Eric Crews
8 years agoCourt, do you remember what your thoughts were on the fork on this bike? I’m in the market for a fat bike suspension fork and looking for some info on Top Gun’s offering before I pull the trigger on getting one shipped in. Thanks!
ReplyCourt Rye
8 years agoHi Eric! I’ve seen other Top Gun forks and usually they are like the generic basic level offering. It’s better than nothing in terms of comfort but can add weight. I don’t have a detailed memory of the Daymak Wild Goose, might be worth watching the video closely to see how it performs?
ReplyJoe
3 years agoHey Court. I have this bike and would like to make it go faster. I was looking to buy a 2,000w ebike wheel kit from Alibaba but I was wondering if I could just switch the wheel/motor and keep all the rest on the bike… Is it possible to take off everything, all the cables from inside the frame and put a whole different ebike kit? Also, will I be able have to find a store or someone who is capable of doing that? And how much this project would cost… I have a bunch of questions, I’ve been researching for a month and if I’m going to have to do this I gotta start somewhere because the shipping will come after the summer is over… I need to talk to someone who can help me by email or my phone or message if possible, instead of going back and forth and take days or weeks to answer or have a conversation you know :) thanks a lot