For running slowly on flat terrain, the schwinn beach cruiser brakes are just fine. The rear brake, if a bit springy, will get you stopped, and the front chimes in quickly to bring you down in a hurry if you need to. The wheel lock is a Basta Defender, if you’re curious (apparently now, the AXA Defender). It’s a good blend of “comfortable while sitting on it at the store” without being horrendous to actually ride. It’s, obviously, 3D – I really hate those 2D seats, so this is a good one.
Use the power button on the handlebar controller to activate the pedal assist. Use the “+” and “–“ buttons to select your level of pedal assist. We recommend starting on the lowest level of pedal assistance. There is a HUGE market gap right now, for quality ebikes that are priced between $1000 and $1500, and deliver the value needed for a would be e-bike candidate rider. Certain functionality has to be there, to get these ebikes more past the early adopter, or even past the early mainstream type of buyer. Those market ‘chasm’s’ have yet to be jumped here in the US, where bikes aren’t seen as transportation or for commuting practicality as they might be in Europe or Asia.
They’re a Toshiba SCiB unit, and have, on paper, an insane cycle life. It’s not fast – you’ll cruise comfortably at 12-14mph, maybe a bit faster if you pedal, but this is a rather slow running bicycle. You’re also not going to tuck down over the bars, ever.
As is often the case for expensive, weird, new things that don’t have a well defined use case, within a few short years, the bikes were being closed out for under $1000. They were down to $700 in 2013, and can now be found for $350 with bad batteries on eBay. Surprisingly few websites seem to have actually gotten around to riding the thing when it came out. Most of the reviews seem to be “paper reviews,” with a few reviews written by people who had never ridden an electric bike before, rode it briefly, and came away impressed (not a high bar). While riding, use the “+” button to increase the level of assist as desired, and use the “-“ to decrease.
By default, the console shows the battery left, speed, total distance and pedal assist level. Nothing feels cheap, plastic-y, or vulnerable to quick failure. It all seems like a robust and well-built electric bike. You also get two different frame sizes to choose from, which is a big upgrade over the single one-size-fits-all frames that many e-bike companies still offer.
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.
Road or trail grit will stay out, and chain oil will stay in. They can do this because all the shifting is done in the rear hub – so it’s a straight, simple chainline with nothing other than two sprockets and a chain. I really, really like this feature – I can ride it in long pants and not get dirty, and if I take it on a dusty trail, the chain will stay clean and grit-free. This is awesome, and I’d love to see more bikes doing something like this.