Pete Prebus is writing our series on The Rise of the Commuter & E-Bike Specialist Shop (parts 1, 2, & 3).
Yesterday I borrowed an e-bike from Pete. It was the Revolve Business Casual that he reviewed last month.
The bike’s power is a little underwhelming. But gutless as it is, it made the hills on my commute home much easier. I had to pedal to maintain or exceed my usual unassisted speed on hills.
But this is not a bike review.
This morning, as I was getting ready to head in to work, I remembered that I still had this bike. At that moment, I felt a little bit of dread melt away.
Dread, you say? Yes. It was like seeing something out of the corner of your eye, and when you turn your head it’s gone.
But I can’t deny it was there. This e-bike offered me minor relief from something to which I was not looking forward wholeheartedly: my bike commute.
Let the introspection begin.
Do I embrace the e-bike as something that could make my bike commute easier? Or do I reject it, like a slippery slope that leads down to the seat of a car?
I think I have my answer. As penance, I’m going to take home a single speed bike, and take those hills the right way.
Let’s pretend this whole incident never happened.