Garrik Palumbo

I started building ebikes after I retired from doing stuntwork and found myself behind a desk.  Looking for some exercise and adrenaline, I started biking again. Due to knee issues from a life time of physical training and activities, this could only be done periodically with lots of icing inbetween.

Ebikes were starting to become available, and I found one I really wanted.  Once I saved up the money, I gave them a call with a few simple questions before I made my purchase.  That did not go well.  I was hit with an attitude that resulted in me putting my card back in my wallet and ending the call.

Next, I headed to a local bike shop and gave a few a ride. At the time they all handled like crap.  Having only the simplest rear suspension and  none that had big travel (8″+). They were all badly balanced and had crazy price tags nonetheless.

Firtst, I watched every video, read every article I could find, and decided to build one with a Bafang BBSHD. I already had a “DH” Bike I had gotten while living in Australia.  A Fluid Rapid.

I first attempted mounting the battery using the support from a bag carrier that attached to the seat post.  That worked well on the street, so I took it to the bike park nearby. After performing my first jump, the support couldn’t take the stress, resulting in my first pushback  to the parking lot. Something I would relive often in the early days.

Next, I mounted it to the underside of the down tube .  A diamond plate cover was engineered to protect and help with stabilization on the original single Bob’s (from Grin) I was using.  This worked remarkably well and I really liked how it lowered the CG and stabilized the bike.  I let a much larger and heavier friend take it for a ride.  My occasional tire rub on the battery turned into a constant rub under his weight, and a hole in the battery cover.  Thus my second creation, the “Dirkes” cover for the top of my battery.  Originally, sheet aluminum was used.

I was looking for new forks, and discovered PinkBike classified.  Now, at this point, I really didn’t know anything about MTBs.  I started trying some different dual crown forks.   Window shopping and research followed as I looked for “unicorn” frames I liked.

After I purchased and building my first Intense M3, I was hooked. 5 new bikes and a variety of forks and my first ASI bac800 were added to my collection (my collect grew to 25 bikes before the end of covid).  As I was collecting these I received my first two ASI bac800 controllers from ERT.  At that point, the ERT controllers were quite buggy, and the throttle response was lacking.  Alan was very helpful and attentive, but my timeline was short.  I wanted 3 more from him but it was going to take too long. I obtained 3 directly from ASI, convincing them to sell the controllers and software for them. Calibration of the tuning was the next challenge.

Riding my M3 with ASI controller gave me an experience I have never had. Even with my professional experience as a gymnast and martial artist for 25 years.   My stunt training and onscreen performance didn’t prepare me for the reaction I had. A spontaneous, gutteral, and slightly maniacal laughter erupted from the depths of my soul!  I got to test my courage to skill ratio in an unrelenting manner, and at a speed that made me feel like I was a child on a Star Wars speeder bike.

The VPP is such an amazing thing at speed. You can travel over rock gardens like you are on a magic carpet. No other suspension I have tried can do that. The crazy low CG makes them handle even better. Like a speedboat, it feels like they have a keel, and want to land on their wheels.

Know what I discovered as well?  I am old, and I like the fact that I can go ride for hours and have fun the entire time.  I do not have to spend 20 minutes of hardwork to get 5 minutes of fun.   I get a much better whole body workout and overall fitness because I am standing up a lot more, riding for longer, and wanting to ride more often.

Years of engineering and research have resulted in solutions to common EBike issues. Let me help you have as much fun as I am having.