I have a 12 km ride to work (24km return) and wanted to ride every day so my teenage daughter could share my car. After 12 months I decided that my 49 year old body was never going to be fit enough to ride every day so I started researching electric bikes. After months of internet research and test riding the two local electric bikes I decided on Solar bike. Solar bike appeared to have quality parts and battery, a reliable motor and I was confident Matt would be around to offer technical support should something go wrong or breakdown. I emailed and spoke to Matt at Solarbike several times and he was fantastic, always supplying the information I was after without pushing a sale. I eventually decided on the 200 watt mini motor with water bottle style battery. I originally wanted the carrier style battery for extra distance but they were out of stock and while waiting I changed my mind. In hindsight it was the best decision as the smaller battery is lighter and sits better on the bike and still allows me approximately 50 kms of riding. I started charging the battery every 2 days for convenience but I now charge it each night as I usually detour on the way home and travel over 30km and I don’t want to run the battery flat. Not being much of a bike mechanic I was worried about installing the kit myself but decided to give it a shot; I was amazed at how easy it was. About 2 hours and it was going, and that included putting the front wheel on the wrong way so the motor ran backwards. I have been riding every work day for 6 months now and am still loving it. Even on days when I’m feeling tired I know I can slack off and use the motor a bit more without worrying about hitting a headwind or struggling up hills. I also use the bike more for any short trips up to 5-10 kms. Many people have asked me what riding an electric bike is like, the simple answer is it’s like riding on flat ground with no headwind – all the time. I average about 27-28km/h on the flat, and about 20km/h up normal size hills. I’m 90kg’s and reasonably fit and I still get a good workout during the ride as the 200 watt motor needs a reasonable amount of rider input to stay at 28km/h. If you are over 90kg’s or not fit you may want to consider the 350 watt motor. I can confidently recommend Solarbike if you are interested in an electric bike. Thanks for the great electric kit.
John, 2012
