The throttle is integrated with the drivetrain and brakes. This is because the motor is actually an assistance system; primary meant to augment your manual pedaling. In fact, the motor disengages when you stop pedaling or when the brakes are engaged. A good thing in the case of the latter, as I discovered the motor is surprisingly powerful. The bike can also tell when you are going downhill or coasting and will disengage the motor to save battery power. The acceleration is palpable but not jerky or jarring, although, like me, you may be initially surprised at its strength.
The Schwinn Coston CE falls in the middle of its e-bike model line, offering a slight upgrade over the Schwinn Marshall but without some of the features found on the higher-end Coston DC. Schwinn has a long and storied history of making the best bikes on the planet specifically for younger riders. That youth-first attitude is fully embraced in our e-bike offerings as well. The included kickstand schwinn ebike is also nice because it mounts near the back wheel so it doesn’t get in the way when you need to back the bike up while the kickstand is down. Anyone who has tried to back up a bike while the pedals are locked with the kickstand will appreciate what I’m talking about. Before we get into the e-bike itself, I want to take a moment to talk about e-bike ownership and what it has meant for me.
If you don’t yet have one, then the cost of buying a bike, buying an electric bike conversion kit and then fitting it, is probably not going to be worth the time, effort, or money involved. However, if you have a bike that is in reasonable repair, then the value for money – and effort – will be greater. If you’re interested in fitting an electric bike conversion kit to one of your own bikes, you should consider your own personal requirements first and do plenty of research. You’re in the right place, as this guide will help you with a lot of that. So here are our findings, and our roundup of the best electric bike conversion kits you can buy right now.
If you need help, you may want to check out the voluminous guide to e-bikes my colleague Jo Borras created for CleanTechnica readers recently. The bottom line is that no electric bike is right for all riders and all use cases. Find one that works for you, then charge up and ride happy.
The bike offers a seven-speed gear range, with a derailleur and double-trigger shifter from Microshift. The rear hub motor offers assist levels of 0-5, with 0 being no assist and 5 being the maximum assist. On the mostly flat trail, the bike rolled easily enough that I could have pedaled its whole length without using any assist at all, just shifting the gears to accommodate the gentle rise and fall of the path. Of course, I wanted to try the assist, and when I did, I found that I never needed more than level 1 to roll at a comfortable trail speed. But it being a midweek day, I had the trail mostly to myself and was able to test all the assist levels — learning that the bike could indeed do the advertised maximum assist speed of 20 mph.
The mountain bike shape makes it easy to ride on rough trails as well. The balance with the the battery takes a bit to get used to but then it’s all fun anywhere you go. So to offer a full-size electric bike with otherwise nice commuter features yet with such a small battery schwinn dealers is a bit surprising. We have a video that details electric bike assembly and with a few basic tools you’ll be out and about in a matter of minutes. We’ve also put together a guide for new electric bike riders that details each step you should take before you ride.