When my wife and I were on vacation in Vancouver, BC, we rented a pair of BionX ebikes.

Were rode from Yaletown into UBC and on a steep hill climb, I hurt my right leg.

I kept thinking, “How the heck are we going to get back in time to return the bikes or get charged another 2 hours of rent time?”

Thank goodness there was a throttle control on the bike. I hate the thing because it’s a tiny button. The more you push down, the faster the bike goes. It’s the range of motion of the button that’s not so great. Very little range.

Because of that it sort of makes the bike feel squirrelly to ride, BUT it saved me. We were able to make it back to the rental on time.

Riding with the throttle left the battery with only 1 bar, but I was so thankful for that throttle control. I wish the Kalkhoff had that option.

I’ve fixed them all.

Josh has another mini-review of the Kalkhoff coming up, and we’ll try to get it right the first time.

Good points on the use of the bike. The advantage of the hub motor is that you can use the motor more efficiently by allowing it to run at higher revs at low speeds. That explains, I think, why going up hill at low speeds works with the Kalkhoff, but with a front or rear hub motor going up hills slowly really saps the battery quickly.

I did this 200-mile journey in in less than a day, and then continued on to Washington DC. I was on a 1000cc Honda Gold Wing motorcycle. Which, in the minds of some people, is no different from having done it on an e-bike.

I also get why some people would like to get an e-bike. As I progress in the years, I do see a day where I would like to bike but my muscles might not be fully capable of supplying all of the energy that I need to fulfill my heart’s desire.

It is like a scene from a very bad “Star Wars Parody,”: “Ted, Ted, I am your father, look at me, the mechanical assistance that I need to stay alive is not all that bad considering the alternatives, do you really just want to ride a bicycle with a little electric motor and battery or do you want to drive a three-thousand pound automobile using only your mind and a very few muscles?”

Only on this website will you find such a magnificent argument, “…To use electric assistance or not to use electric assistance,” that is the question. “Is it nobler to reject any type of innovation in the pursuit of cycling purity and idealism, or do we allow a pragmatic thought to alter our model of an ideal universe?”

Whoa, I think that I just blew out a frontal cerebral quadrant on that one. Time to chill and meditate.

You truly have at least nine lives because you you fear “The Man.” I am afraid of riding anything in New Jersey let alone a powered two wheel cycle device.

Live long and prosper my friend.

The last couple of months, I was kept off of my bikes because of a lot of traveling I needed to do via airplanes and cars.

I had bumped my right knee just beforehand, so when I sat and sat — with my leg bent — on the airplanes and in the cars I developed some inflammation in a ligament just left of the kneecap. I’m just now getting back to having full motion of the knee without any swelling or pain.

The few times when I have commuted on either bike, as I hit a pretty nifty little upgrade close to my office I have been heard to exclaim “Ouch, ouch! Oo, oh! Dang! Wish I had an e-bike!”

Joel – Well, because of the fact that the Kahlkoff looks so much like a regular bike, I think the hippie-radical-commie-pinko side of me would prevent me from NOT risking riding it in Jersey!

This kind of explains my position on e-bikes, although I think it convinced absolutely nobody who was already anti e-bike.
http://www.commutebybike.com/2011/09/26/e-bike-is-to-bike-what-trolling-motor-is-to-rowboat/

I think “Why not just get a moped” could be an entire post. I hear that a lot. But the short answer is:

I want to get exercise. I don’t want to use gas. I don’t want to make motor noise. I want to contemplate hauling four or more bags of groceries up that damn hill without ultimately deciding, To hell with it, I’ll just use the car.

Frankly, I don’t think I want an e-bike either, but I think I get why some people would.

New Jersey, also paraphrased as the “*estopo State” only recognizes bicycles as being fully powered by humans with no other sources of energy.

Drive one of these bikes at your own risk unless it gets registered as a Moped or other power vehicle requiring all licensing and insurance as other motor vehicles.

I love the idea but it will detract from the current free wheeling (pardon the pun) no license or paperwork required bicycle definition.

We could be inviting problems to the cycling world in the USA by encouraging non-human powered devices into our definitions.

I have been known for playing Devil’s advocate in my lifetime and many readers might want to send me to Hell for my thoughts!

It is OK, I ride like my seat is on fire anyway!