In America you buy an e-bike. In the Netherlands it makes sense to rent.
But these are different products.
My Edison can go 20 mph, about 30 kph, before the engine says you’re on your own. The e-bike speed limit in the Netherlands is 15 mph, or 25 kph.
The Edison has fingertip controls for the engine levels. You run the motor up to the top level to get up the hill, and if it’s a nasty hill you use your thumb to go up-and-down the mechanical gears, which are visible on the rear wheel. The brakes are all on the handlebar, and there’s a small throttle to get you started from the corner.
The Swapfiets I’m renting has none of that. To change the motor level, you must move your hand to the center of the handlebars. The mechanical gears are on the front, available with a twist of the wrist, and it’s the mechanical gears that define your speed more than the engine does. You’re supposed to always pedal at the same rate.
There are also just 3 levels on the Swapfiets motor, not 5. While I’m gearing for hills, the Dutch are gearing for comfort. Keeping the engine revved up means the motor is doing most of the work, regardless of speed. Since you’re on the flat, the display gives you a good estimate of your available range at each motor level, which the Edison can’t deliver.
One More Thing
I had to learn about some of the anti-theft measures built into the Dutch Swapfiets the hard way.
There’s a key over the rear wheel. You twist it to both release a chain you can lock to anything, and to bring a bar across the rear wheel which keeps the bike from moving. This is something I like.
But there’s something else built into the design I don’t like. On my Edison, I get on the bike before turning it on, feet on the pedals ready to go. Do that on the Swapfiets and the bike won’t run – it will think it’s being stolen. Instead, you must turn on the electricity first and wait for the bike to boot before touching the pedals.
That’s an important distinction. Now, as you read what follows, please recall that I’m now a 70 year old man, with an arthritic hip and scant knowledge of the local language or byways. Got it?
An Un-Excellent Adventure
After my first ride on the Swapfiets, I’d slid the battery out and recharged it overnight. But when I headed out the next day the engine didn’t work. I managed to get to Utrecht on manual power, huffing and puffing all the way. There I was shown how I hadn’t properly seated the battery under the downtube.
Embarrassed, exhausted, I went on my way, only to find that the engine wouldn’t run on the way back to Maarssen either. Cursing and crying, I reached a bar at the mall and called Swapfiets. I talked to a central dispatcher who said they could replace the bike in a week, which I didn’t have, or I could try and bring it in Utrecht to see if they would see me.
The result was a scary train ride. I helped a woman negotiate the ticket machine, as she needed to put money onto her train fare card and was lost in the buttons. This made me miss the train downtown. I wasn’t good with the machine either, wondering if I needed to pay extra for the bike, wondering if the train would even let me and the bike on during rush hour, and wondering if some burly Dutch conductor might toss me and the bike out on my keister, like Harold Lloyd in an old silent movie. (There’s an extra charge for riding the train with a bike, and the service isn’t always available during peak travel hours.)
I arrived at Swapfiets a second time, where I was shown the clever anti-theft system described above, and I managed to ride the back to Maarssen on electricity, still during rush hour. But FitBit called my day 6 ½ hours of exercise, and I’m still exhausted.
