With 2.6″ tires, you’ve got a lot of air and rubber under you to tackle more than just well-manicured bicycle lanes. Hitting curbs or potholes will be smoother than most pure commuter bikes, especially considering the inclusion of the front suspension fork and suspension seat post. Putting your bike together is actually pretty easy. We have a video that details electric bike assembly and with a few schwinn dealers basic tools you’ll be out and about in a matter of minutes.
The LED controls are nice, but also missing some functionality. 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.
For most of my riding around trails and small paths in the city, the 32 km/h motor limit is plenty. For open road riding with traffic you may hit 32 km/h regularly. We tested the Marshall electric bike on pavement, gravel and dirt to see how Schwinn’s new models stack up against the growing number of ebike options. The low power motor is matched by a low capacity battery. With just 288 Wh of capacity, the battery surprised me, and not in a good way. Sure, I’ve seen plenty of e-bikes with 288 Wh batteries before.
The Coston e-bike is a good example of that in a much more approachable price range than some others. But a lot of the nicer features also have drawbacks. The bike is powerful but also discharges very quickly.
All three of the new Schwinn ebike models have step-thru and standover versions, 20mph speed limit and 250-watt brushless geared hub drive motor. It’s easy to ride the Marshall for hours at a time. The riding position is comfortably upright but still able to lean into things off-road. It still lets you stand if you’re trying to get up a particularly steep part of a hill or over a rough section on the trail.
Although it is becoming harder to find, many of these are still on the road with their original high quality Lithium Polymer battery packs. In my opinion it’s a great setup with everything you need to cruise around town running errands. It’s also great for commuting to work where you can easily remove the battery pack for a quick charge before heading home. The fenders keep you dry while the larger 700c wheels and hybrid tires provide efficiency in coasting. The front suspension fork pairs nicely with the seat post shock and the ergonomic grips, swept back handlebars and adjustable stem keep your hands and arms comfortable. Even though this bike uses a relatively weak motor, it rides well and keeps the overall weight down.
In the 1950s, Schwinn began to aggressively cultivate bicycle retailers, persuading them to sell Schwinns as their predominant, if not exclusive brand. During this period, bicycle sales enjoyed relatively slow growth, with the bulk of sales going to youth models. In 1900, during the height of the first bicycle boom, annual United States sales by all bicycle manufacturers had briefly topped one million.