Ever since I got two cute little scooters for our house in Arizona, I have been intrigued by electric bike technology. Clearly riding bikes can be better for you than many cardio/repetitive activities like running, hiking, etc in terms of wear and tear on the body. I’d like Nancy to be able to do it with me without tearing into her knees and I’d like to participate with some of my friends who are really good bikers and in great shape and would otherwise leave me behind.
My friend and former colleague at Insitu, Ryan Hartman, is an avid mountain biker and I told him of my interest in electric bikes. He received an offer through his contacts for a reduced price on an electric bike from Kilowatt Bikes. I studied the specs of the E-Boo and it seemed to meet or beat my expectations based upon other bikes I was studying and the core BionX technology appears to be really good.
So I ordered the bike through Ryan. He offered to set-it-up and do a little customization. My target was to get Nancy on it. She has not ridden any bike in almost 20 years. I also got my trusty Trek road-bike tuned and ready for the test ride. Today Ryan delivered the bike to us all charged and ready to go.
Nancy was excited and we took it to the Mark Hatfield Trailhead to do the 5 mile each way trip on the old gorge highway. Shannon was already on the trail and was planning to meet us for lunch.
We got the bike fitted to Nancy so it was comfortable and gave her a quick brief on how to shift gears and operate the electrical system. Note that this system does not have a throttle. It senses your pedaling torque and then adds power to your propulsion. The generator is on the front wheel. It has three settings of augmentation. Of course, the goal is to get exercise, enjoy the ride, and make sure the battery lasts for the entire trip in case there hills at the end.
Nancy completed the trail each way, with lunch in between, without stopping and only used up about 25% of the battery. She operated mostly at the lowest augmentation, but boosted up to level 2 occasionally. She liked it and wants to schedule future trips with expanded routes.
We also had a great lunch at the Thirsty Woman – An Independent Pub.
I have since been reading and Nancy’s bike is a close-out from Kilowatt Bikes with a Protanium front wheel drive system that is 29V and 250 watts. This system is very popular in Europe. They had to change as they are working with municipalities and many specify rear wheel drive. So apparently the new version of this bike will be rear wheel drive with a 36V | 350 watts system.
I would rate the experiment as a success. Enjoy the picture gallery as well …
Share this Post