My Buzzraw has arrived

"Buzzraw" You may be thinking, "what the hell is a Buzzraw". Well it's a unique, funky, somewhat retro styled bike, some may even say a scooter (How dare you)  I prefer the term bike, as a scooter to me is one of those little things that you kind of push along with one foot and I once had a bad experience as a kid, on one of those when I face planted and got gravel rash.

Coast Cycles Buzzraw in Coast Blue

The concept, design and manufacture of the bike is by a company from Singapore and they are called Coast Cycles  I discovered the bike quite by accident or possibly fate, after chatting to a couple of amputee friends of mine. We had been discussing how as an above knee amp, it can be quite tiring trying to keep up with your mates on a ride out. I'll be honest I always considered eBikes as.... well kind of cheating, so had steered away.  However after talking to a few friends I decided to have a look on-line at various eBikes.

I started by looking at your everyday run of the mill electric mountain bikes, but to be honest nothing really caught my eye. They all looked a bit ugly, to me and apart from offering me a bit of electrical assistance, well I already had a number of mtb's. 

I then came across the Buzzraw and instantly fell in love with it's simple looks and retro styling. Add to the fact it is a Fat Bike, which are my favourite type of bikes to ride and the rest is history. Well not quite. You see I couldn't make my mind up exactly what it was I was after. Being greedy I wanted to get a bike with the biggest motor available. This is a 1000W beast, that is capable of around 35mph with a independent throttle. Of course this was not going to be possible as UK/EU law prevents this size electric motor being used legally. Here in the UK we are limited to 250W and cannot have an independent throttle, it has to be (PAS) pedal assist only to help you along to 15.5mph, where the motor then cuts out.

Coast Cycles were absolutely awesome with their customer support. They are 8 hours ahead of us, yet always managed a reply the following day to keep me in the loop. I have to admit they were also very patient as I swapped my order around a few times. Coast Cycles also worked with me to try and get shipping costs down as far as possible something I really appreciated, thanks guys. I have to say the whole process has been a very positive experience. I particularly liked an email I received from Coast Cycles after my purchase, it stuck in my mind as it simply said "Welcome to the Coast Cycles Family!" and it does feel like that, you get a sense that their products are very important to them, as are their customers.

All boxed up

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Now to the bike. It arrived around dinner time today, some of the accessories I ordered along with the Buzzraw came yesterday. These were a front rack and race number plates. Inside my bike box was the bike itself along with a pair of mudguards and a pair of road type tyres. It means I can swap out the knobbly Vee Tire Mission commands for the Innova Road-Rally tires.

Ern stop messing around it isn't bubble wrap

Ern,Baxter and the Buzzraw

The Buzzraw was very well packaged. Really once the bike was out of the box the only thing to attach was the front wheel and then set about putting the handlebars in place. My dad Ern helped get my bike out of the box and in it's assembly, Baxter watched on more in a supervisory type of role and of course posed for a few pics.

Baxter and the Buzzraw

Baxter doesn't like it when he is not getting all the attention

Wor Baxter and the Buzzraw

A very proud owner love this Coast Cycles Buzzraw

Bike feels great to sit on

I did not attach the pedals as I will be using clipless pedals alongside my BTK Crossover. I opted for something a little different, as normally I use Time ATAC's and went for these DMR V-Twin's. I will let you all know how I get on with them.

DMR V-Twin

I have also decided to add a bit of bling by fitting some Hope Tech 3 X2 brakes alongside Hope Trial 160mm rotors. Just awaiting the after mentioned parts to arrive. Will get some pics when fitted. I know the colours are slightly off, but hey Hope do not do a matching clipless pedal.

Hope Tech 3 X2

I am thinking come the summer my Buzzraw may make a very useful bike for short bike packing adventures. There is plenty of space to stow a few bits and bobs and if it helps me up the odd hill, well that would be awesome. A little preparation for said trips as I bought some dry bags from Alpkit in a lovely blue described as "Lego". They come with various loops so attaching to the Buzzraw and keeping stuff safe and dry shouldn't be a problem.

Dry Bag in Lego Blue

More to follow once I take delivery of the battery. I will also show you the Buzzraw accessories. I was pleasantly surprised at the mudguards and race plates, thinking they would be made from some sort of abs. They are in fact made of what appears to be steel and very sturdy.

Ok folks that's all for now...