E-biking to work – Part 2: the first ride is a wet one
5.4.2022
Pictures: Thomas Kunz
Translation: Veronica Bielawski
I want to find out what it's like to travel to the office on an e-bike. The first ride on my bike named Tarzan is a merciless exposé of beginner’s blunders.
For weeks, March was sunny and dry. Of course, the very minute I pick up my test e-bike at the end of the month, it’s sleeting. I’ll admit that I’m more of a nice-weather cyclist. In bad weather, the furthest I’ll go is to the nearby train station, where I hop off the bike and onto a train that takes me to the office.
But I’ve committed to commuting by e-bike over the next two months. I had Daniel Meyer, CEO and owner of Ego Movement, teach me the e-bike basics. I got to pick out a bike – which has now been assembled.
It’s standing there in the cosy Zurich showroom – luckily. Outside, people are bustling through the gray with their umbrellas.
Tarzan won’t mind the wet and cold, Daniel and product manager Josh Arn assure me. They explain how my new ride works to me before I’m allowed to drive off. It stands there in all its matt-black glory. The saddle and grips look like leather but are, in fact, made of a synthetic material which lasts longer and is vegan. It also has a 10-speed derailleur as well as front and rear hydraulic disc brakes, and sensor-controlled lighting. To be fair, the latter has been made superfluous in Switzerland; as of 1 April 2022, daytime running lights are mandatory for e-bikes.
The heart of Tarzan is its mid-mounted engine, which delivers up to 95 newton-metres (N·m) and gives me support as I pedal. Unlike in many other e-bikes, this motor isn’t by Bosch; it’s made by Bafang, a company from Suzhou, near Shanghai. Made in China, then. Daniel explains to me that they deliberately chose Bafang, which is number two worldwide, because the motors are more powerful. He says that they’re also pleasantly quiet and not jerky when they kick in. In addition, Bafang allows e-bike manufacturers to freely integrate components such as batteries and displays – and, above all, it allows flexible IoT integration instead of essentially being trapped within the Bosch system.
On my e-bike, there are two sensors that measure the resistance in the bottom bracket, and another one on the rear wheel that provides data on rpm. From this, the control system calculates the motor assistance and displays it on the screen located on the handlebars. Alright, I’ve got the theory down.
I’m handed two keys: one for the frame lock and the additional spiral lock, another one for the battery. After all, I’ll have to remove it if I want to charge the battery at the office or overnight at home. Alternatively, I can plug the e-bike directly into a wall socket without removing the battery.
I pack the power supply and charging cable into my backpack. I’m ready to start my voyage home. Or so I thought. Dangling from Tarzan’s handlebars is my old helmet, a model with plenty of vents. Suboptimal, given the weather. Luckily, I get to borrow an Ego Movement helmet which should prevent rivers of rain from reaching my head. The silver bucket makes me look like a space traveller straight out of a 60s sci-fi flick.
Other than that, I’m equipped with a rain jacket and a pair of my gloves I use when running in wintertime. That’s far too little, as I’m about to learn the hard way.
I get on the e-bike and do a quick round for photographer Tom. All good. But the second I drive off and into Zurich traffic, it really starts pouring down. The first thing I notice are the sopping jeans over my thighs. I do have a pair of rain shorts that I typically wear with a belt and fasten to my thighs using elastic bands – in my closet, at home. Before I’ve even reached Oerlikon, my feet are already wet, too. Note to self: sneakers with a mesh top aren’t suitable footwear for longer bike rides in the rain. I’m in a minefield of puddles, and I can’t avoid them all. I either plough through them myself, or my feet get a good watering as the cars speed through them. And although my head stays dry under the helmet, the wind still seriously chills my ears.
As the saying goes, there’s no bad weather, just bad clothing. Agreed. I add the following products to my Galaxus watch list:
I’m soaked through, but also distracted. I took a close look at the route home on Google Maps before driving off and did my best to memorise it. Even so, I have to dig out my iPhone a few times because I’m unsure how to proceed. For drivers, the street signs are nice and clear; cyclists, on the other hand, have to find their own way. Or I just have to train my eyes to read the signs. In any case, I’m getting a phone mount for my iPhone installed on the bike by Ego Movement. That should make the whole navigating thing easier.
Continuous bike lanes don’t seem to be a thing in Zurich either, I notice. There’s serious potential for improvement.
Sometimes, I’m allowed to use a wide pedestrian lane; other times, there’s a narrow strip marked for me on the side of the road. It’s a constant search for the next connecting path, interrupted by way too many stops at way too many traffic lights. And no, the route towards Greifensee via Zurich-Unterstrass, Wallisellen, Oerlikon and Dübendorf is definitely not a scenic one. I’ll have to find alternative routing.
Only my underpants are appropriate gear
On my journey, I don’t come across many fellow e-bikers – probably due to the weather and route. Only one guy seems to be on a mission similar to mine. I catch up with his 45 model, which is recognisable by the yellow license plate, at a traffic light. He’s much better equipped for the weather. He’s wearing some kind of waterproof full-body suit, reminiscent of those worn by the guys who do tyre changes in Formula One races. The only garment I have on that I now feel is appropriate for my journey are my Comfyballs underpants in the Performance version.
After 14 kilometres covered in 48 minutes of pedalling, my e-biking debut is complete. I’ve got a first feel for the engine, which I’ve especially come to appreciate during uphill passages. Downhill, I get pretty fast thanks to the higher weight of the e-bike. This higher weight is something I notice on flat stretches of road, too. If I want to cycle at over 25 km/h, it sometimes feels like I have to fight the motor. However, Daniel has assured me that this is not the case.
In Part 3, I’ll talk about choosing a nicer route and navigating. And, hopefully, about more positive experiences wearing weather-appropriate clothing. If you have specific questions you’d like me to answer or tips for the Community about commuting by e-bike, drop them in the comments. If you don’t want to miss out on any of my e-bike experiences and tips, follow my author profile.
Martin Jungfer
Head of Content
Martin.Jungfer@digitecgalaxus.chJournalist since 1997. Stopovers in Franconia (or the Franken region), Lake Constance, Obwalden, Nidwalden and Zurich. Father since 2014. Expert in editorial organisation and motivation. Focus on sustainability, home office tools, beautiful things for the home, creative toys and sports equipment.