Sharing my thoughts on the full suspension Shengmilo MX03 fat tired Chinese e-bike 6 months later while filming with the DJI Mavic Air 2 drone along the River Dulnain and over Burma Road toward Aviemore. The main cameras used were the DJI Mavic Air 2 and the DJI Action 2 as well as the Insta360 Go2.
Now after six months of using it mainly off-road in the Scottish Highlands how have I've found it?
The impromptu video was filmed on the tiny Insta360 Go2 camera mounted on the handlebars just using the cameras inbuilt microphone as I headed home from filming some drone footage on the Burma Road and along the River Dulnain back to Slochd.
I hadn't originally intended to publish this clip but was so impressed by the Go2 video and sound quality given it was just clipped to the handlebars that I thought it may be worth sharing, what do you think, is this of interest and should I do more?
Originally when I started to look at fat tired e-bikes I was told by so called biking experts that I'd need to spend at least £4000-7000 to get a decent e-bike for off road use and that cheap Chinese e-bike were a waste of money compared to the well known European and American brands.
As an OAP I'd never had that amount of spare cash in my life and the thought of ever owning an of-road e-bike seemed an impossibility. Now after using the bike off-road for close to six months I'm pleased to say that despite my initial reservations about how the front and rear suspension and the hydraulic brakes would fair on the rough off-road tracks here, they have performed great and certainly as well or better than my Specialised Rock Hopper MTB which as a non e-bike cost actually about the same!
The fat tyres are simply amazing on an e-bike and cope with every type of terrain whether it's normal roads, heather, grass, rocky loose tracks, gravel and sand, mud and even snow as well as absorbing a lot of the bumps . The hub motor, controller and battery have all survived the often wet and snowy Scottish conditions though I do take care to clean and dry the bike off after use and avoid dunking the bike in deep local rivers to clean it, though it's been OK with the odd shallow river crossing!
The only issues I've had so far were with the folding pedals hitting rocks and jamming, the rear mudguard/fender hitting the rear tyre and frame going over deep potholes and a failed pedal sensor covered in mud, all of which were either changed by myself or sorted with spare parts been sent out under warranty. Also my bike originally didn't have brake motor cut-off's but when queried via Shengmilo factory support they quickly sent out a complete set of brakes and later an updated controller once pandemic lockdown supply issues were resolved. So generally the bikes quality is good and any issues are quickly sorted by support.
Would I buy another MX03 bike and would I recommend Shengmilo, well my friends have already bought two bikes a MX02 and an MX03 and support at the factory are keen on feedback about improvements, any potential ware issues on how the bikes are fairing in the Scottish Highlands. so the bikes are only going to get better and better! :-)
Now the bad points the bike is big and heavy compared to a normal bike but then so are most e-bikes and you do need to do your own assembly and maintenance or know a friendly bike shop.
Finally, I should also point out that I'm not well off or sponsored by the camera's or bike manufacturers and it was only after a lot of online research and financial sole searching with the aid of a glass of wine that I pressed the PayPal button and I bought the Shengmilo MX03 bike and I'm glad I did as it's great fun!
I hope this helps and if you find this useful please subscribe to my YouTube Channel and like the video as well a post any comments which I promise to answer ;-)
The Shengmilo MX03 e-bike was purchased at an amazing all inclusive discounted price direct from the Chinese manufacturers rather than through a reseller at often double the price by using the following link to https://www.shengmilo-bikes.com/discount/RonWalker. There was great communication in English with the bike arriving surprisingly quickly without the additional Brexit customs or delivery charges to Highlands of Scotland!
