These are definitely easy on the feet or shoes, and are perfectly fine for barefoot riding, should you care to do so. They seem to be quite strong units, and I wouldn’t expect any problems with them, ever. Unfortunately, Schwinn doesn’t outfit the Monroe 250 with any accessories you’d typically want for commuting, such as fenders or racks. schwinn ebike To be fair, not many competing e-bikes tend to come with these extras anyway, so with its comparatively low price, you’ll have extra money to pick out the accessories you want. And with a step-through-ish frame courtesy of the medium height top tube, this is one e-bike that can be a classy ride for that special man or woman in your life.
Schwinn advertises that it takes about four hours to charge. You can plug the battery in while it’s inside the bike, or you can use an included key to remove the battery from the bike for charging. Nothing feels cheap, plastic-y, or vulnerable to quick failure. It all seems like a robust and well-built electric bike. You also get two different frame sizes to choose from, which is a big upgrade over the single one-size-fits-all frames that many e-bike companies still offer.
Many e-bikes also include extra features like integrated lights, storage, fenders, rear racks, and more. You can even add your own extras with our selection of e-bike accessories, including water-resistant pannier bags and heavy-duty e-bike locks. So, no matter how you like to ride, there’s an e-bike for you. For more information, check out our blog post on e-bike styles.
Feature rich, relatively affordable, light weight electric bike from ~2009 well suited for city use. Lithium polymer battery pack is fast to charge, easily removable and balanced with the front…… A tough, well-balanced, affordably priced, single-speed electric bike from a well established brand, available in three frame sizes for improved fit, sporty forward-leaning geometry.
The panel displays 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. So I can’t say that the Schwinn wins on value here. But that doesn’t mean the bike doesn’t have a place. The features like the neat integrated lighting are rarely seen in the industry and are a definite win.
It doesn’t make much sense to me for an electric bike – the focus on fast charging and a high power density chemistry on a bike that really doesn’t need much power is hard to understand. The only thing I can think is that they hoped it would become a delivery fleet bike or something – but a decent delivery rider would absolutely smoke this bike in any terrain. It makes sense, if you’re Toshiba and want to advertise this fancy battery chemistry you’re gearing up to produce, though. The Tailwind was announced in late 2008, and came out in early 2009, retailing for a rather high (at the time) price of $3,199. It also managed to get coverage in a lot of business-focused magazines – which is unusual for an electric bike.
Let’s me start off by properly framing your expectations. The Schwinn EC1 isn’t a powerhouse, and it doesn’t have top-shelf components. We’ve addressed those concerns by designing Extended Life Batteries for a couple of our best-selling e-bikes. In short, think primarily about what you want to do on your e-bike, where you’re most likely to ride it, and how much you want to spend.