I met an unusual character at a dinner with friends. An outsider whom we will call SAM, he came from northern Europe and was passionately committed to protecting the planet. In short, not really my thing!<\/p>\n
Even so, the machine he brought to the party immediately caught my attention.<\/p>\n
While some people around here arrive in rather flashy cars, he turned up on a bicycle\u2026<\/p>\n
The first thing that intrigued me about SAM was his horizontal hairstyle. I later realised that the wind had swept back the hair he had slicked down for the occasion.<\/p>\n
Although we initially had little interest in one another, I waited until he had had a few drinks before asking about his bike. He told me it was electric and that this was a common means of transport in his home country. At last I understood why both the rear wheel and the middle of the frame were filled in.<\/p>\n
My bright idea that evening was to ask to try it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not for girls,\u201d he told me. \u201cIt does 60 km\/h.\u201d<\/p>\n
Well, my friend, you have picked the right person: there are not many tomboys like me. I climbed onto the bike and it was bliss: breathtaking acceleration, wonderful silence, just a rush of air to remind me I was in control of a powerful motor fed by an impressive battery. I tried to go faster and faster \u2014 I later learned that I was only in second gear. I overtook cars, left scooters behind when pulling away, drew astonished looks and decided I did not want to go back.<\/p>\n
I loved everything about that electric bike. It was simply exhilarating, especially on steep climbs, when the motor pushed to its limit made a metallic \u201cTIE fighter\u201d noise that reminded you it was giving everything it had.<\/p>\n
I returned late, with my hair sticking out in all directions.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want one just like it,\u201d I announced to SAM. \u201cAnd if I can\u2019t have one, I want yours.\u201d<\/p>\n
Used to such enthusiasm for his bike, Sam paid little attention to my excitement. Nevertheless, he advised me to take a look in the sports shop he jokingly called \u201c\u00e0 font les formes\u201d. My reply opened the door to the conversation.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t tell me you bought it there. I can see you built it yourself. There\u2019s tape everywhere and loose wires\u2026 You made it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The machine was indeed a collection of mechanical and electronic parts, covered in LCD screens. It looked more like the vehicle from Back to the Future than a perfectly conventional, bland bicycle.<\/p>\n
I had touched a nerve with its designer, and the conversation got going, helped perhaps by the gathering night. There I was, a young Padawan being introduced to the language of electric bicycles and a custom kit to fit yourself to your own bike.<\/p>\n
The message, roughly, was: if you know nothing about mechanics, do not expect to get a bike like this.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, but SAM, you\u2019re here. I\u2019ll even take an interest in ecology if I have to.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then came the question of cost, which he hoped would dampen my enthusiasm. But when I really like something, I am willing to put the money into it.<\/p>\n
This is how the evening ended: SAM asked me to write an article about my very limited experience, to help me get started. If I earned the reward \u2014 in other words, the discount \u2014 Sam from Sweden would help me with the next steps and the assembly. I hoped to live up to my ambitions and, if I won the prize, I would be sure to tell you about my build and my experiences\u2026 as a girl.<\/p>\n
P.S. Reading other electric-bike riders\u2019 accounts did make me a little nervous about attempting such a build. But I was not backing down: I\u2019m a real SCHAWBLE!<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A customer recalls meeting Sam from Sweden and trying his custom electric bike, before considering a conversion kit for her own bicycle.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[127],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26820","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-user-experience"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.power-e-bike.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26820","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.power-e-bike.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.power-e-bike.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.power-e-bike.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.power-e-bike.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26820"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.power-e-bike.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26820\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.power-e-bike.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26820"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.power-e-bike.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26820"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.power-e-bike.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26820"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}