PRODUCT REVIEW
It’s got a pretty comfortable seat. As far as push
bikes go. Its no XR250. Riding it for the first time,
was an uncanny experience. When the pedal
assist kicks in, it’s not to dissimilar to feeling the
turbo come on boost in a car. You have a certain
amount of forward momentum from your
pedalling, but then this swell of power comes
on from the little hub-mounted motor. The pedal
assist propels you up to 25km/h, at this point the
speed limiter comes in and the motor cuts out.
In top gear it’s reasonably easy to maintain
25km/h yourself with the motor kicking in only
occasionally to assist you up a slight rise, or help
you deal with a pesky head wind.
This e-bike is limited to 25km/h, and there are
bikes out there with higher limits, some will
assist you up to 40km/h. At first 25km/h seems
fast enough, and in reality it probably is as
you’re likely to be sharing some cycle ways with
pedestrians. But, it must be said, after about
10km of riding the wee Torrot, the dare devil
in me wanted to go faster.
The range is touted at around 50km, though
when you are up to speed, the motor is only
kicking in occasionally, meaning in reality your
range is a bit further than that. Torrot says the
recharge time is less than five hours.
Dealing with hills larger than a gentle rise is
a different story. I rode the City Surfer up the
Wainuiomata hill from the Wainui side,
KIWI RIDER 33