You can’t just sit on the bike and have it zoom you around town — you actually have to pedal to engage the electric motor. This plants it in the territory of pedal-assisted e-bikes rather than full-on motor-assisted. Finally, the position of the plug connector mongoose bmx for the battery pack means it can only be recharged when taken off the bike. It would be more convenient if it could be left in position on the bike and plugged in. The frame for the Schwinn Tailwind’s electric gear is built for urban and suburban riding.
With 2.6″ tires, you’ve got a lot of air and rubber under you to tackle more than just well-manicured bicycle lanes. Hitting curbs or potholes will be smoother than most pure commuter bikes, especially considering the inclusion of the front suspension fork and suspension seat post. 7-speed drivetrain with trigger shifter lets you adapt to your terrain with ease, while mechanical disc brakes deliver all weather stopping power.
These things do take some getting used to, but with repeated tests became expected, second nature behaviors of the bike. The battery, which cannot be plugged in or charged while attached to the bike, is advertised as lasting up to 30 miles per charge. Then again — the bike is still a functioning piece of equipment once the battery is dead, so maybe schwinn electric bike we should all stop being so lazy. Of course, some of that weight is in the 288-watt battery which Schwinn adversities as being good for up to 35 miles of range. We’ll get into the range in a moment, but the rest of the bike is fairly standard fare for any bike. You get a 7-speed gear system on the rear wheel with a single gear on the front.
In addition to the front and rear lights, there are two highly visible light bars…… Powering this bike is a 26.6 volt 10 amp hour battery pack that uses Lithium Polymer cells. For the time period it was released, this was a pretty awesome battery and that shines true today with bikes still on the road. Lithium is known for being light weight and since this pack is also relatively small at 266 watts vs. 360 or so, it helps to keep the overall weight of the bike down. The pack has a built in handle and LED light readout for a quick estimate of remaining battery capacity.
So now that we’ve waxed philosophic about e-bikes, let’s get to the Coston CE. When you’re a parent of two who works from home, this sort of quick trip to the store can happen fairly often. Normally, I’d hop in my car and zip down to the store, but this summer, I was able to stop using my car and start using my bike for almost everything. It looks just odd enough for drivers to take a second look in a “what the heck is that thing? A second look is invaluable as a rider, where we’d often even be grateful for a first look from drivers. Take on greater adventures with our e-bikes, which stay true to the superior quality that’s made Schwinn famous for over 125 years.
In many cases, we get these bikes still-in-box from both manufacturers and bike shops as overstock. While you will typically not be eligible for manufacturer warranty for these bikes, this is how we are able to offer them at such a steep discount. What makes me excited about the bike is the possibilities that it opens up, but like a lot of aspects of this bike, it’s something of a double-edged sword.
I like that they included little things like water bottle mounting points that so many ebikes skip (in part due to midframe batteries). The suspension isn’t top of the line and doesn’t include lockout but it definitely smoothes out the ride and the adjustability of the stem and handlebars is wonderful. The motor driving this bike offers 180 watts nominal power and up to 250 watts peak. It’s a planetary geared design by Protanium and it offers good torque while keeping weight down. The motor is quiet during operation and blends in with the rest of the bike. One downside to a front mounted hub motor is that it increases the steering weight and changes the ride quality a little bit but the impact is minimized here due to the smaller size of the motor.
In terms of pricing, this is not the cheapest e-bike you can buy. But it’s one of the least expensive ones you can buy from a bike company. Respectfully, most of the e-bikes you find online come from companies with alphabet-soup for names that may sell just as many portable batteries as they do e-bikes. If you’re using schwinn electric bike an e-bike to commute or run errands, or if it’s a particularly hot day, the throttle might be a better way to go. The throttle is a thumb lever on the left side of the bike, next to the LED panel. It has about an inch of travel between off and full, and you can push the throttle part way down or all the way down.