But whenever I need it, such as when trying to quickly get across a major road full of death machines with heated seats, a twist of the throttle unleashes the power of two to three highly conditioned cyclists cranking on my pedals for me. That means I’m the only thing supplying any power when I pedal. In fact, I almost always have my e-bikes “on,” just with the pedal assist set to zero.Įssentially, I’ve turned off the bike’s pedal assist power. Because it’s not that I always ride with the bike off. I know you might be thinking, “well then just ride a non-electric bike, ya dingbat.” And I hear you, but I don’t want that either. Pedal assist level zero became a new concept to me. And so I started just turning the pedal assist power off. I would use lower and lower levels of pedal assist power until eventually I realized that maybe I don’t even need the pedal assist. My cycling fitness improved (though I was by no means an athletic cyclist). Over time I became better and better at it. There was something to the idea that you weren’t on a machine, you were part of it. But I eventually discovered just how much fun pedaling could be. I wasn’t really in search of the fitness aspect I ran 3-5 miles a day. E-bikes were always just a fast, efficient way to slice through the heart of a city in a fraction of time it would take a car (and with several times the amount of fun!).īut over time, the idea of pedal assist began to grow on me. My early years of e-biking were entirely utilitarian. Don’t laugh, this was circa 2009 and things have come a long way. So it should come as no surprise that I wasn’t what most people would consider a cyclist. That was my introduction to electric bikes. This was a decade and a half ago, before most e-bike laws were a thing, and I had unwittingly built what was basically a DIY light electric motorcycle. Rim brakes, zero suspension, and the foolish bravery of a 20-year-old male. It was built on a rigid Trek mountain bike with a twist throttle that unleashed 2,000 watts of power to get me flying at over 30 mph (48 km/h). My first e-bike didn’t even have pedal assist. Instead, they were just a better way to get around the city. I wasn’t a cyclist and I wasn’t drawn to electric bikes because they were bikes. That was before it was easy to buy one, so I built one instead. I first got into electric bicycles back around 2009. It might sound strange since electric bikes are known for their ability to ride faster and farther with less exertion, but I often ride my e-bike with the power turned off.
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