Obviously, full throttle is the easiest to maintain. So, if you commute, or you frequently run errands, an e-bike can save you a lot of gas, and get you outside more. So now that we’ve waxed philosophic about e-bikes, let’s get to the Coston CE.
It was such a joy to ride around and truly turned me in favor of e-bikes (something I never thought possible). Unfortunately, Schwinn doesn’t outfit the Monroe 250 with any accessories you’d typically want for commuting, such as fenders or racks. To be fair, not many competing e-bikes tend to come with these extras anyway, so with its comparatively low price, you’ll have extra money to pick out the accessories you want. If you need to bring the pack inside to charge, you’ll love this setup. It slides right out, and has a nice handle to carry it. If they’re shallow hills (perhaps, what Iowa calls a hill), you’re fine.
The Coston and Marshall e-bikes also have lights along the battery for additional visibility and a sleek, modern look. Headlights, taillights, and integrated frame lights help you see and be seen in low-light conditions. Electric bikes put extra power behind every pedal so you can ride farther, take schwinn mountain bike on bigger hills, and enjoy cycling more than ever before. I live in Southeastern Ohio, amid the Appalachian foothills, so most of the bike rides in my area are hilly. Thus, for my next ride, I first headed for a local cemetery that sprawls over the top of a high hill and is accessed by a steep road.
On a subsequent test climb, I experimented with the throttle while not pedaling at all. The throttle kept the bike moving, but as I neared the summit, the speed became so slow that I would have fallen over had I not started pedaling. That struck me as about right, for as I said before, I wasn’t looking for a free ride. The bike also has a throttle, meaning that when I engaged it, the bike rolled without being pedaled. But I wasn’t looking for a free ride; I wanted the exercise, so I didn’t plan to make much use of the throttle. Still, it would be a good help for getting home if a rider became exhausted.
The Marshall ebike has a throttle and 5 pedal assist levels. The pedal assist level only affects the boost you get when pedalling, not the throttle speed. I mostly used the motor in pedal-assist mode, though I will cover the throttle in the next section. The motor on this bike is very aggressive in that is starts up quickly with even the slightest movement of the pedal, and it goes hard. When riding with level 5 assistance my pedals were free-spinning most of the time even on the highest gear. The standard batteries that come on our Marshall, Coston CE and Coston DX bikes are good for up to 45 miles of riding.
An interesting feature I’ve not seen before is a wheel lock. The upper horseshoe-shaped thing is a keyed wheel lock that lets you run a metal bar through the spokes. This keeps the rear wheel attached, and also prevents someone from biking off with it. It’s no substitute for a chain, but in a friendly community (such as a retirement community on a lake somewhere), it’s probably good enough.
But it’s just not a good bike for this – it’s heavy and slow. On flat ground, the bike is heavy but livable without the assist. The rear hub shifts quickly, and it’s nice to have a full range of gears without having to think too much about it (though, my commuter build also has this feature). It’s impossible to get the chain crossed up or do anything bad to this setup. The motor assist on this bike is purely pedal assist, though it’s more fair to call it “pedals are moving, motor is on” – since that what it seems to be. Start pedaling, and the motor will chime in at some power, mostly dependent on what you’ve set on the handlebar control.
But that doesn’t mean the bike doesn’t have a place. The features like the neat integrated lighting are rarely seen in the industry and are a definite win. And the build quality feels like it should stand the test of time.
It pretty much does that until you stop pedaling or hit a brake lever. Do recall that this bike was designed around 2008, so a lot of the more modern stuff didn’t exist. However, BionX was around, with their I2C torque sensing motors, so there’s at least some better stuff available. As is standard for geared ebike motors, it has no significant rolling resistance when the wheel is turning faster than the motor. It’s not a bad choice for a small assist – it’s not going to cause any drag when you’re not using the assist, and it’s fairly light. As this bike isn’t at all suited to hills, this isn’t a problem at all.