Despite that initial impression about the size, my first ride showed me that the Schwinn was eager to roll, and nimble in the way that a large athlete can be quick on his feet. Locate the button on the back of the seat and push in. This will release the latch, allowing you to lift it up and open the seat compartment. It looks just odd enough for drivers to take a second look in a “what the heck is that thing?
The cockpit and control design of this electric bike are incredibly simple. Once the battery pack has been filled and mounted properly to the frame, it does lock by the way, you just hold the power button on the control pad near the left grip, and it blinks to life. There are two menus here, the left chart shows five dots that indicate 0-5 level of pedal assist. The higher you go, the zippier and faster the motor will spin but it will also draw more power, depleting your battery more quickly.
The fully assembled bike appeared larger than the display photo had led me to expect. In fact, I briefly wondered if I’d mistakenly been sent the L/XL size instead of the S/M. But once in the saddle, I found the fit to be correct. I am 5’7″ and the bike fit me fine with the seat post in the lowest position, so it’s likely riders slightly taller could also use this size. I had my 5’3″ daughter try the bike, and she found it too tall for her. Perhaps Schwinn can help drive to jump this next market ‘chasm’ with these sorts of price points, and some decent features delivered to justify even $1200.
I built my own ebike and the ride on the Marshall 27.5 has twice the stability of my home made ebike. My wife loves the ride.” — Robert J.“It was great but now even better with the extended range optional battery that has an 80 mile range.” — Joseph O.“Love it. I live in a hilly part of the city and it helps to climb those hills.” — Karyn E.“The best ride!! Highly recommend their brand and amazing customer service.” — Maria P.
When you are done, fold it up and slip it into the back of your car — no bike rack required. And oh, by the way, it is $400 less than the Schwinn Mendocino. I sold the Schwinn and ordered a Lectric XP Lite for myself yesterday. By my count, CleanTechnica has published 1,457 reviews about e-bikes. Over the past several years, the number of e-bikes on the market has exploded as people realized they could use them to get to work, or school, or the grocery store and leave their cars at home. Today there is an amazing variety of e-bikes available to fit every need.
Take, for instance, our smaller Healy Ridge mountain bike. Designed for younger riders and with safety incorporated as a top concern, it purposefully has a top speed of 16 mph.But for the most part, 20 mph is the top speed on a Class 2 e-bike. And why is 20 mph the industry standard for Class 2 e-bikes? Because that’s where the federal government put it a number of years ago. So even if you hopped on something like our Coston DX, kept it fully charged, and used the throttle the whole time to race against the elite Tour athletes, you’ll still be well off the pack.
The Coston e-bike is controlled with a handlebar-mounted LED panel with three buttons on the side. The panel displays schwinn dealers your speed and power level, plus you can cycle through other functions like an odometer, tripometer, and other stats like average speed, max speed, and total ride time. Of course, the premier feature of this e-bike is the “e” part.