The beauty of the e-bike

This story first appeared in the July issue of EVTalk – CLICK HERE to download the magazine FREE

When the roads are clogged and trains are slow, an e-bike’s the way to go.

I’m humming this mantra blasting down the Northwestern Cycleway on my electric bicycle commute between my West Auckland home and the Auto Media Group office next to Britomart in downtown Auckland.

Mercury kindly let me trial their SmartMotion eCity e-cycle for just over a week so I made the most of it.

The 20.6km one-way journey takes an hour – about the same time as the train from Swanson to Britomart.
Driving can take anywhere from 30 minutes to over an hour, depending on the Lincoln Rd backup, Northwestern Motorway and inner-city congestion.

Luckily, the weather was good (apart from a wet Monday morning), even in July.

Using pedal assist – power is applied between a setting of one to five on the e-bike computer display screen on the left handlebar – makes the run easy, especially on hills.

But I prefer a lower setting – one to three – to get some fitness back after a month off my normal road bike. It also has a throttle on the left handlebar for a surge when needed.

Mercury lists ten reasons to ride an e-bike.
Tackling hills, especially when your fitness is low, is one of the best reasons. Fitter road cyclists were passing me even when I was doing more than 30kmh on the flat. The e-bike can reach nearly 40kmh.
But come the hills and I start reeling them in.

You can change gears to get some pedal power if you want, which I found helpful.
I’ve just become a pensioner but e-bikes need not be limited to us seniors – they’re suitable for any age.
Although I wore my road bike gear – but with sports shoes for the standard pedals rather than clip-ons – an e-bike rider can just as easily ride in their casual or work clobber or even a suit.

You don’t need to work up a sweat and a good rain jacket with a hood, – like the one Mercury gave me – should keep out the worst of the wet. Get waterproof trousers too if you wish.

Having electric power is also good for a head wind and getting through some of the inner-city traffic where there are no cycle lanes.

Speaking of which, I found the Nelson St cycleway petered out near the waterfront (work’s underway to improve many of the links) so that getting to and from the Quay St cycleway was difficult.

Finding cycle path links like the Grafton Gully cycleway initially proved tricky – they’re not well signposted. There’s a plethora of traffic lights to negotiate too and if the green bike lights aren’t synchronised the journey requires frequent stops – like the traffic.

Motorists and other road users were really good – I had no issues. My bright yellow bike and jacket with the Mercury bumblebee logo, and a matching yellow helmet, brought a smile from some.
The beauty of cycling is you not only get health benefits but you can chat to other cyclists or at least wish them a good day as you fly past.

And the cost is minimal, even for an electric bike.
E-bike suppliers sell models like mine for around $2799, but if you’re a Mercury customer you can get up to $500 off selected e-bikes.

Charging them at home is easy and isn’t necessary every night – you can tell how low the battery power is getting on the bike. Even doing more than 40km a day, I found the charge barely declined.

On average, it should cost around seven cents to fully charge an e-bike from flat.
E-bike maintenance is minimal too – you mainly just need to check tyres, brakes and do a normal bicycle maintenance programme.
Parking and storage are easy and free. Mine was fitted with a key wheel lock at rear and a cable lock for the front wheel or to tie around a rail.

So it’s a no-brainer when comparing an e-bike with vehicles and their associated costs.
And you get to enjoy the sunrises and sunsets, hear the birds and take in the scenery on the way to and from work.
If you want to try one, free test rides are offered through Mercury’s partnered e-bike suppliers.

Check it out on mercury.co.nz/ebike