CYCLE OF TIME

Does a battery and a motor enhance bicycle? We find out!

- Kartik Ware 

Like the overwhelming majority of kids anywhere in the world, my first tryst with speed also happened on a bicycle. Between the ages of seven and seventeen, I went through three bicycles and went everywhere on them. As with anyone filled with the heady fuel of youth, my legs barely even noticed pedalling through a 0-km trip back then. The city used to be far emptier, as was my head, and the bicycle was the first machine that taught me the importance of wandering. As fast as possible, of course. And 22 years after I permanently swapped pedals for engines, Hero Cycles asked if I wanted to ride their F3i e-cycle. And the memories came flooding back.

Well, to be honest, lactic acid flooded and set my legs on fire long before the memories returned. At that point, I was hugely grateful for the throttle that let me rest my legs and still move along at around 2 kph. Using just the throttle for the rear-hub motor gave me a range of 2 km, quite a bit more than I used during the time the cycle spent with me (and that’s with the inevitable burnout attempts). Also, for the most part, I preferred using the high mode of the electric pedal assistance, what Hero Cycles calls Pedelec; this setting was the most comfortable one for me and it also offered a greater range of 30 km. Hero Cycles claims a maximum range of km, though I bet that’s for a rider who weighs less than the 90 kg that I do.