We've Gone Electric...Don't Kick Us Off the Stage!

After about a year of riding the Boda Boda acoustic, and not being able to break my eight-mile-per-hour average speed, I decided to listen to my biking buddies and bloggers and my own burning muscles and go electric. In mid-August, I had Ferris Wheels in JP add the Bionx kit to my bike.

My first impression, as I rode the 15 miles home, was "This thing is awesome!!"

It doesn't kick in power until you're going two miles an hour, so the feeling is less throttle and more tailwind...until you pedal hard — then the analogy I'd go with is "matching funds." It feels like the harder I pedal, the more kick the motor gives me. I fly on the straightaways and pedal uphill easy like I'm cruising down a flat bike path.

I've ridden over 130 miles on the bike with the e-assist so far: commuting, riding my kids to school, going to the farmer's market, synagogue, a political event the next town over, and other errands. I towed a heavy steel city bike five miles along hill roads without breaking a sweat. I am no longer intimidated by hills, even supersteep ones. I hardly ever think, about a destination, "That's too far to bike."

The quarter-mile hill up to my office? Not a problem.

The giant hill up to my son's preschool? We don't have to walk up it anymore, and we have arrived on time every day so far this year.

Some aspects of the electric bike have taken a little getting used to.

•  Getting used to which level of assist I need in different situations:
  > level 1 — doesn't feel like much lift until you turn it off and realize how much it's been giving you
  > level 2 — smooth sailing, but not enough to really help up a steep hill
  > level 3 — great lift up moderate hills and very very fast on a straightaway
  > level 4 — any hill, any amount of weight on the bike, no problem

• Getting used to gearing plus e-assist level:
  > Gears 1 and 2 — I never use them anymore since they slow me down to 6 or 7 mph; instead, I switch up the e-assist level and keep my speed at 8 to 10 mph, even uphill or into a headwind or with kids onboard
  > Gears 3 through 5 — I mainly stay here, going at a steady pace up and down hills, using the e-assist levels to move quickly uphills and decrease speed going downhill (or keep speed up if I'm running late and am not in traffic)
  > Gears 6 through 8 — I use these on downhills where I can pick up speed and get where I'm going quickly; also finding that I can stay here on uphills and move faster than I expected (11 to 13 mph) on moderate uphills when I'm in a rush

Another thing I've noticed is that I still totally feel like I'm riding a bike. The Bionx motor in the rear hub has a torque sensor, and it is supposed to give you more juice the harder you pedal. If I want to get somewhere fast, especially if I'm climbing hills on the way, I pedal fast the whole way and arrive breathing hard — even with the e-assist on level two or three. When I have the kids on the back and I turn on level three or four to get up the hill, I find myself pushing hard on the pedals and leaning into the handlebars to get some leverage. I still feel like I'm getting a workout. 

I did some quick back-of-the-envelope calculations and figured out that last week I biked a total of 54 miles and only had to charge the battery once, at the end of the week. My thigh muscles were pretty sore by Thursday, but I still rode to preschool and work on Friday figuring I'd have the weekend to recover. Then I rode with the older one on his own bike to Hebrew school yesterday and ended up towing his bike with him on the deck of the Boda Boda on the way home. 

I feel awesome about our investment. I've gotten a lot of curious questions from people on the streets and parents at the preschool. It would not surprise me if these Bionx kits become popular with family bikers because they make the decision to bike so much easier, yet you can still say you are riding your bike, using less fossil fuel to get where you need to go and getting in shape at the same time.