I just love my electric two-wheel drive (Australian designed) Cruzbike, which I have been using for five months. With the Solarbike hub motor on the rear it’s a dream to ride, the motor is so smooth and quiet.
I find saddles on upright bikes very uncomfortable, so always had a longing for those big seats I saw on recumbents. I purchased one of Cruzbike’s cheapest recumbents, their Sofrider model. It was a very steep learning curve riding this type of bike and it took a couple of weeks to get the hang of it; the hub motor is a great help for starting off uphill at the beginning.
Having just reached retirement, I was looking to make a bullet proof super reliable machine. After a bit of research I put on Schwalbe Marathon Plus Tyres and swapped the derailleurs for a Nuvinci CVP continuously variable transmission hub gear on the front. I researched various electrical assist options and Solarbike’s maintenance free, one moving part hub motor was the perfect choice! It was very easy to fit to my bike, I designed a simple aluminium holder for the battery and put the control box under the seat. I chose the larger 500 watt motor because I’m eventually planning to buy a trailer to take my two dogs regularly to the beach, with an all up weight of 26 KG, the extra power should help greatly up some of Albany’s hills.
As my riding is mostly recreational for keeping fit, I put as much effort into pedalling as I can. I use the motor minimally on flat roads, except with strong headwinds, and only use the throttle minimally on slight inclines just to maintain a reasonable speed. I use full power on steeper terrain. I do a regular two hour ride and only use 40% of the battery capacity. The electric boost is great for quickly getting across busy main roads. I have tried winding the power up on a quiet road just to see how it goes, it has amazing acceleration up to a high speed and is a very exciting ride!
I can highly recommend Solarbike products and you get great customer service.
Rupert from Albany, WA
