Electrifying.....

The first time i took the Christiania Bike for a ride i had a big grin ear to ear..... the idea of being able to throw everything in the bike and go...with kids, without kids, with surfboard without surfboard. It just made going for a bike ride with STUFF so easy. So much so that we're selling the car. Sometimes i've felt a bit like it was my agenda to sell the car, and that Sarena was maybe not so keen but going along with it....

...That was until today!!!  We've been at the kapiti sustainable living show over the weekend showing off some bikes together with EVLAB and Cargobikes NZ. Earlier in the week i had provided a Christiania Bike to EVLAB to kit out with an electric motor for Sarena. Deal is, we get a second cargo bike and then sell the car.

Neither of us were prepared for the bike Daryl built for us. We'd been thinking, "electric assist, cool, it'll help us up the hill and with some low gearing to pedal, should be just fine making it up the hill without a hernia" What we got is a bike that does burnouts on the grass and will haul the whole family up the hill without laying foot on the pedals!! WOW, the ear to ear grin was back again and had spread to Sarena.

I have to admit that i am happy to pedal the kids and shopping up the big hill we live on. We had both secretly been worried though that it would be difficult not having a car if Sarena didn't feel the same way. Particularly in the windy, wet wellington winter, if the ride is not to some degree enjoyable or fairly easy then it can be difficult to find the motivation... especially with kids in tow.

The bike is still a prototype, and we have some more work to get the speed, range and torque set to the desired levels. We're aiming for a top speed of 24km/h (a moderate and comfortable pace) and a range of 60 - 80k off a single charge.  Clearly we have solved the torque issue already!!

The great thing about the motor is not just the power, but the fact that if you don't use it, there is zero friction and the bike rides exactly like a normal cargo bike, just as smooth and effortless along the flat and absolutely silent...It would be a shame after all if the motor detracted from the ride itself, as that, as it should be, is king!!