If you buy one, you’ll almost certainly have to bypass the BMS. If this doesn’t intimidate you, you live in the flatlands, and you don’t mind the style and riding position of a bolt upright bike, then go for it. $350 plus a bit of time and effort for a working 250W ebike is an amazing deal. Throw some bags on the rear, and you’ve got a great little flatland bike for grocery runs or potting around your retirement community. With the assist running on low or medium, the bike rolls smoothly and lightly, and the assist blends smoothly with pedaling.
Class 1It’s important to remember that not all e-bikes are created equal. Some e-bikes are classified as “Class 1” bikes where the electric motor only provides assistance to the rider when they pedal. Everything after that comes from the power in the rider’s legs.These bikes are allowed wherever bikes are permitted. Of course, some of that weight is in the 288-watt battery which Schwinn adversities as being good for up to 35 miles of range. We’ll get into the range in a moment, but the rest of the bike is fairly standard fare for any bike. You get a 7-speed gear system on the rear wheel with a single gear on the front.
That way, when you unlock the battery it doesn’t just fall out. Some thought was put into the idea there and I appreciated it. The Coston e-bike comes with a typical brick-on-a-string charger that plugs into a normal 110v outlet. Schwinn advertises that it takes about four hours to charge. You can plug the battery in while it’s inside the bike, or you can use an included key to remove the battery from the bike for charging.
In addition to the 5 assist levels, there are 7 gears. I really like the pedal assist and gear combination. On slow steep hills or trails a lower gear with a bit of assist keeps you moving. The lowest gear is a nice big ring in the back for helping on those hills.
Your workout ends, and the display powers off after 5 minutes of inactivity. Five buttons below the screen control all of the display functions, including Bluetooth, start/enter/reset, and up and down arrows. The Bluetooth button schwinn ebike is used to pair with compatible devices and the included heart rate sensor, while the others are used to start a workout or input a time, distance, or calorie goal for a manual workout.
When you want to stop, just squeeze the brake levers and the motor cuts off. When I finally started riding, I discovered that I couldn’t be completely lazy. You can’t just sit on the bike and have it zoom you around town — you actually have to pedal to engage the electric motor. This plants it in the territory of pedal-assisted e-bikes rather than full-on motor-assisted. But, another thing to consider is that the Shimano Nexus 8 with Roller Brake retails for around $250 alone – so if you want one, this one comes with a whole 700C based electric bike attached! Throw a better battery and a better controller on it, and I bet you can get a whole lot more than 250W out of the motor as well.