The mountain bike shape makes it easy to ride on rough trails as well. The balance with the the battery takes a bit to get used to but then it’s all fun anywhere you go. So to offer a full-size electric bike with otherwise nice commuter features yet with such a small battery is a bit surprising. We have a video that details electric bike assembly and with a few basic tools you’ll be out and about in a matter of minutes. We’ve also put together a guide for new electric bike riders that details each step you should take before you ride.
I was also sent the medium frame version, which turned out to be slightly small for me but fortunately, the build ended up being just right for how I like to ride. Instead of fumbling with it myself, I go to my favorite local bike shop, Spin Bicycle Shop, in schwinn beach cruiser Lansing, Michigan. For $70, the shop put my new Schwinn e-bike together and offered to make any tweaks after I rode it for a little bit. I tested a couple Schwinn e-bikes from the demo stable at the end of the Square 2 Square ride in Bentonville recently.
All the options listed below are from established brands though, and we’ve checked the continued availability of these electric bike conversion kits as of April 2024 and updated this guide accordingly. Even though this electric bike offers 24 speeds (and thus has grip shifters on the left and right handle bars) the cockpit is relatively clean. The grips are comfortable, the brake levers work fine with the Tektro rim brakes and the display console and thumb throttle are easy to reach and use. There’s not a lot of choice here, you just turn the console on with a 0/1 toggle switch and either begin pedaling or push down on the giant paddle trigger. This makes the bike easy to use for just about anyone and reduces distractions when riding. If you want to know how fast you’re going you will need to add an aftermarket LCD display as seen on the bike in this review and that could cost ~$25.
The bike offers a seven-speed gear range, with a derailleur and double-trigger shifter from Microshift. The rear hub motor offers assist levels of 0-5, with 0 being no assist and 5 being the maximum assist. On the mostly flat trail, the bike rolled easily enough that I could have pedaled its whole length without using any assist at all, just shifting the gears to accommodate the gentle rise and fall of the path. Of course, I wanted to try the assist, and when I did, I found that I never needed more than level 1 to roll at a comfortable trail speed. But it being a midweek day, I had the trail mostly to myself and was able to test all the assist levels — learning that the bike could indeed do the advertised maximum assist speed of 20 mph.
Some thought was put into the idea there and I appreciated it. The Coston e-bike comes with a typical brick-on-a-string charger that plugs into a normal 110v outlet. Schwinn advertises that it takes about four hours to charge. You can plug the battery in while it’s inside the bike, or you can use an included key to remove the battery from the bike for charging. The battery meter is comprised of five segments to give you an estimate of how much power you have left.
A tough, well-balanced, affordably priced, single-speed electric bike from a well established brand, available in three frame sizes for improved fit, sporty forward-leaning geometry. No suspension elements but the fork is steel which provides some vibration dampening properties and…… A comfortable, cruiser style electric bicycle with classic styling Schwinn, made only in the approachable step-thru frame style and one frame size, but you get four bold color choices, matching fenders, and a rack. The Bafang Max mid-motor is efficient, extremely quiet, and capable of climbing steeper hills if…… A commuter ready electric bike with upright handlebar, adjustable suspension seat post, and comfortable plus sized tires. It comes with sturdy aluminum alloy fenders, a rear rack, and integrated lights..
The up and down are mostly for adjusting the pedal assist levels up and down. The motor stops assisting when you hit 32 km/h (20mph) with the throttle or pedalling. For most of my riding around trails and small paths in the city, the 32 km/h motor limit is plenty.
But Schwinn knows many riders want to go farther, so we developed higher capacity batteries that are super easy to install (you’ll only need a screwdriver). These additional batteries extend schwinn dealers the riding distance up to 80 miles on both our Coston and Marshall series of bikes. I mostly used the motor in pedal-assist mode, though I will cover the throttle in the next section.