There are four or five pieces of plastic that clip together to seal this thing up very well. Road or trail grit will stay out, and chain oil will stay in. They can do this because all the shifting is done in the rear hub - so it’s a straight, simple chainline with nothing other than two sprockets and a chain. I really, really like this feature - I can ride it in long pants and not get dirty, and if I take it on a dusty trail, the chain will stay clean and grit-free. ” than a group that actually understood electric bikes, or even had a real mission for this bike. You have to turn the switch on first, then turn on the bike from the handlebars. I suspect this is designed to reduce battery drain when idle, but it doesn’t really work. For more information, check out our blog post on e-bike styles. Stroll through streets or mountains with the Schwinn Healy Ridge 24 in E-Bike. Ride up to 20 MPH with the 250-watt brushless geared hub drive pedal assist motor that gives you a boost while you pedal. Choose from several levels of assistance or use the throttle instead. The Coston e-bike is a good example of that in a much more approachable price range than some others. But a lot of the nicer features also have drawbacks. The bike is big and sturdy, but also super heavy. The bike is powerful but also discharges very quickly. The bike tops out at around 57 pounds, which is tank-like in the biking world. By comparison, my poor, neglected Trek bike weighs around 25 pounds. That's a big difference when you're picking up the bike to turn it around or put it on a car rack. A 7-speed transmission from Microshift also adds to the commuter street-cred, giving those in hilly areas the ability to run through the gears on hills. It looks just odd enough for drivers to take a second look in a “what the heck is that thing? A second look is invaluable as a rider, where we’d often even be grateful for a first look from drivers.