So Why Would I Buy An E-bike

It’s not that I have anything against e-bikes. I think they are great for people who want to use them as basic transportation or for whom cycling would be difficult otherwise. But for me cycling has always been a recreational activity I do for exercise, so for myself, I have viewed an e-bike as cheating.

So what has got me to change my mind. Well first my wife Christine decided she wanted one and that got me interested as well, so we went looking at e-bikes.

The first e-bikes we became familiar with were the Cubes because a number of friends had them. To us they seemed bulky and heavy looking. I tried riding one for a short time without power and found it as annoying as those heavy Dutch bikes I once tried. No offence is intended here to light Dutch bikes. I am sure they exist.

But we were both looking for something lighter and less scooterish and more bikeish. We came across a Parkway Civia at a local bike shop and it looked exactly like what we were looking for and the description stated “We intentionally made the Parkway a bicycle first, and an electric bike second.” Sounds just about right.

But they also had a Norco Scene VLT, which though it looked heavier was actually only one pound heavier than the Civia, and it was a Norco.

Christine decided to buy the Scene early in March. She waited till the salt was washed off the roads to take it out and it has proven so far, after a few days at least, to be a great bike.

Now my ideal e-bike is a bike that I can ride as a regular bike with the availability of an electric assist if I should ever need it (for particularly strenuous hills or winds or longer rides). So I took the Norco Scene VLT out for a ride for an hour without electric assist and it proved to be as easy, if not easier, to ride than my Brodie Sterling hybrid.

So, at the very end of March, I decided to get one for myself but by then the shop we got Christine’s at had none left. I ended up getting the last one available in Ottawa at a different shop. Norco does not have any available to order direct from them either. I am now anxiously awaiting delivery.