Rungu’s dual-front wheel electric bicycles are in contrast to anything on the street or the paths. And now the corporate is releasing new updates to make them higher than ever.
I’ve examined a LOT of electric bicycles over time. Like, a whole lot of them. So after I say one thing is the weirdest I’ve ever tried, which means one thing.
But simply because it’s bizarre doesn’t imply it isn’t enjoyable too! Rungu’s odd-looking electric bikes could take a couple of minutes to get used to. But then they grow to be so addicting that you just received’t wish to get off.
That’s precisely what I skilled when Rungu was type sufficient to have me out to their Southern California services for some take a look at driving again in 2019. And now issues are wanting even rosier for the model.
First off, I do know the Rungu goes to be very divisive. The dual-front wheel setup could look odd, and the naysayers will definitely say nay. But they’re lifeless improper.
The complete level of the setup is to assist the fats tire e-bike go the place different fats tire e-bikes can’t go.
When I rode it, I used to be carving exhausting in free sand that will have washed out another two-wheeled fats tire e-bike.
And I used to be flying at breakneck velocity over football-size rocks that will have had me checking my life insurance coverage coverage had I been on another e-bike.
Rungu has some nice movies evaluating their e-bikes to typical fats tire e-bikes with a single entrance wheel (so old style, I do know). They’re fairly eye-opening. Check out the comparisons on mud, on sand, and on snow. The two wheels simply freaking plow over all the pieces. In mud and sand, the twin entrance wheels forestall sliding and hold you extra secure. On rocky and uneven terrain, one entrance wheel could also be within the air however the different is often on strong floor, supplying you with a weirdly clean experience as they commerce off for traction.
There are 5 fashions within the full lineup of Rungu e-bikes, and the most recent updates see a number of upgrades to make the experience even higher.
The entry-level Rungu Dualie Standard in addition to the Rungu Steep mannequin now each embody a brand new body design to combine the battery. The new body makes swapping out batteries simpler due to the brand new 780 Wh built-in battery pack. The up to date body additionally will increase the peak of the Bafang BBSHD 52V mid-drive motor, giving higher floor clearance to assist clear extra obstacles and higher cross shallow water like creeks and streams.
The subsequent fashions up, often called the Rungu Dualie Rugged and XR fashions, each get new increased capability lithium-ion batteries that provide 30% extra vary in comparison with the earlier fashions. Actual ranges are notoriously exhausting to nail down on e-bikes as a result of many elements that have an effect on them, resembling rider weight, help degree, terrain, tires, and different elements. On one thing as wild because the Rungu, the vary unfold might be even wider. But any means you slice it, the brand new 936 Wh batteries have much more capability in them to assist take riders farther. They are additionally backwards suitable with earlier Rungu fashions, that means homeowners can improve to the brand new increased capability batteries.
Considering that Rungu’s e-bikes are designed for dealing with the trickiest and most difficult terrain, extra battery is all the time factor. Riding by means of brush, snow, sand, and different free terrain shortly eats away at an e-bike’s battery, making these giant packs a necessity.
As the corporate defined:
The 2022 fashions proceed to supply ATV-like “Go Anywhere” Performance that outclasses any comparable e-bike available on the market immediately. Since 2018, Rungu’s patented double-front-wheel design continues to display its off-road bona fides conquering well-known rock crawling trails just like the Rubicon Trail, Poison Spider, Hells Revenge in addition to mud and sand backcountry terrain just like the Alpine Loop in Colorado and the Mojave Trail in Southern California. On iconic off-road terrain like this, Rungu Dualie Double Wheel Design nearly eliminates washouts and over-the-bar wipeouts widespread to costlier fat-tire e-bikes of comparable energy.
![The weirdest electric bike I've ever tested just got a big new update, and I love it](https://i1.wp.com/riderungu.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/David-Holder-1x1-Standing.jpg?w=900&ssl=1&is-pending-load=1)
Rungu e-bikes have been despatched to prospects around the globe, and the fashions have grow to be more and more standard with bow hunters.
Rungu’s e-bikes are constructed regionally in southern California. While the value definitely displays their American manufacturing, they aren’t fairly as steep as you may need feared – at the very least not for the entry-level fashions.
The bikes begin at round $4,900, and Rungu additionally has financing choices for round $160 monthly.
If you wish to see my very own testing of the earlier model of those e-bikes, try my take a look at experience video beneath the place a younger, starry-eyed Micah has his socks blown off by this stuff.
FTC: We use earnings incomes auto affiliate hyperlinks. More.
Subscribe to Electrek on YouTube for unique movies and subscribe to the podcast.