For the last 6 years or so I have been a bike commuter. Not a normal commuter because I ride my bike not only to work but also to meetings with clients. I cheat sometimes as well by taking a cab or bus, especially when I am going to meetings in professional work attire. I do own a car, my wife drives it to work and back everyday, but we made a decision years ago to live with one. Finances were part of the decision then but not such an issue now.

So why not buy another car? All the usual reasons apply here, gas, parking, insurance and quality of life. A friend of mine, adventurer Dan Buettner (www.bluezones.com), calls it “living car free” and not driving all the time does impact my quality of life. I like living car-free.

Recently Varsity Bike & Transit (www.varsitybike.com) delivered a new bike for me. For years I was telling Rob Dehoff, the owner, to find me a bike no one else has, a bike that is irresistible, a bike that turns heads and makes my life even more interesting. Months would go by, years even and I forgot about my request eventually. Then I got the call, “your new bike is here, why don’t you come to the shop and take a look. Oh and by the way, its electric and it has no chain.”

The Schwinn Electric bike is shaft driven and battery powered. If you go to the Schwinn web site (www.schwinnbike.com) you can only find this model under the International Bikes, go figure. The model is called the “Continental” and it is the only shaft driven model in the electric bike options.

This bike is awesome. It’s a perfect commuting solution because it takes less effort (but is far from effortless) and because there is no chain to rip into my clothes, no more ankle strap necessary. It goes up to 18 miles an hour, but in a way is slower than my current 1-speed Bianchi SASS simply because I can go faster than 18 mph if I want to. The Schwinn will top out and it’s wasted effort to try to go faster.

I have had the bicycle now for 3 weeks and everyday I like it more.
However it is far from perfect and I have many questions and only a few answers. For instance:

What does it ride like with no power (dead battery)? – Like riding in the sand and in slow motion.
How long does the battery last? – Unknown, although 30 miles did not kill the battery.
How much does it weigh? – Feels like 400 pounds, but rides like its 20.
Does it generate power for the battery when pedaling? – No.
Is it the coolest bike since sliced bread? – As far as I can tell, Yes.

I have offered to blog about the bike, about commuting, and about the many adventures I expect the e-bike to have on the Varsity Bike & Transit web site (www.varsitybike.com) in hopes of hearing from others who either know about or are curious about e-bikes. In the few short weeks since I got the Schwinn e-bike I have learned two very important things. The first is that riding this bike is really fun, the second is the e-bike is a great conversation piece, kind of like walking a cute dog, but without the leg humping.

-cb