Yes, I am writing a detailed review of the COWBOY electric bike after a week of use. The day after tomorrow I have to return it, I hope it doesn’t get upset and doesn’t break.
I took it to ride from the hotel to work, a distance of 2 km each way. I could have walked, but I wanted a new experience, and I’ve liked taking bikes on business trips since Cambridge. Indeed, they offer much more freedom in the city than a car.
First, a brief overview of what kinds of electric bikes are available. Simplified – for the lazy and for the not so lazy. The first type: the motor can work fully autonomously. You press a button – it goes. You don’t press – it doesn’t. The second type: the electric motor serves as an aid and only activates when the cyclist pedals. You can even get tired on such a bike. Cowboy is among the bikes for the not so lazy. Seems like – I’m not sure – other types aren’t really allowed in Europe.
Also, the motor can be built into the wheel or the pedals. In the case of the wheel, the hub is thick, in the case of pedals – the pedal block. Bosch makes good pedal motors. Wheel motors can be front or rear. That is, there are front-wheel drive and rear-wheel drive bikes.
All these motors and batteries usually weigh a lot. The Cowboy is one of the lightest, weighing just 16 kg. But even 16 kg is quite heavy. I had a flat tire twice, and I had to carry it a kilometer to get it fixed. Understandably, you can’t roll a completely flat tire – the tire gets damaged. I tried carrying it on my shoulders, lifting the rear wheel. It’s very hard. I can imagine what it’s like when a bike weighs not 16 kg, but thirty.
The charge is supposed to last for 70 km, but for me, it was significantly less. Possibly due to the cold weather and uneven riding rhythm, and also the hills, which are plentiful here.
What does it feel like? It’s easier to say this – you ride up a mild slope as if you’re going downhill on a regular bike. That is, you can’t stop pedaling, but you apply minimal effort. If you need to climb a steeper hill, then your legs work hard, but on a regular bike, I’d be sweating after just a minute. Here, you need half an hour of that effort to sweat as much. That is, there’s not much sport in it, but it’s more than with an electric scooter, where there’s none at all.
The electric assist works like this: you press the pedal, and when a regular bike would jump forward by half a meter, this one jumps one and a half meters. Then you continue pedaling calmly, but your average speed is higher than it would be with the same effort without assist.
But! the bike won’t let you accelerate beyond 30 km/h. Even if you’re rushing downhill. It just brakes the wheel. I didn’t really like that. True, here in Europe there’s a law on the speed limit for bikes, and in the city, you can’t exceed 25 km/h (the program has this limit, but it can be disabled).
Overall, you can carry the charger with you; it weighs about one and a half kilograms. Not little but not a lot either. The thing is, when the battery runs down, the bike is not very pleasant to push. It feels quite stiff without the electric assist.
Included in the “package” is a phone app that controls the bike. It marks the point where the bike is located (it has built-in GPS), and there’s an activation/deactivation button.
The funniest thing is that you can only turn the flashlight on and off via the app. The light itself is relatively weak. Generally sufficient for the city, but it could easily have several brightness levels. It’s strange to skimp on LEDs.
Probably, the developers decided that there shouldn’t be any extra controls on the bike at all. Brakes and pedals, and everything else – in the phone. Probably, this makes it more reliable, but it’s not very convenient. It would be better if they introduced fingerprint start. That would be convenient.
It’s black, but underneath the paint is aluminum, and over time it will scratch off, exposing the shiny internals. For instance, the pedals and brakes suffer first. The pedals constantly scrape against the asphalt. The front sprocket is huge, it also gets hit. But – instead of a chain, there’s a belt drive. The frame also gets scratched.
Among the major downsides – strange tires. They are soft, without cords. That’s why I burst them twice. The first time, I don’t even remember – I just saw a flat tire in the morning, and the second time, I definitely hit a rather low curb. The front wheel jumped over it, and the rear wheel hit it. It seemed minor to me, but apparently not to the bike. That resulted in both tube replacements.
The battery locks with a key.
Interestingly, the manufacturer immediately sells theft and breakdown insurance. If someone steals the bike – the manufacturer immediately brings a new one. If it breaks down – they fix it. Only available in some European countries, Germany among them.
Handling and maneuverability are excellent. Hydraulic, disc brakes. Comfortable handlebars and seat. As a city bike for commuting (so you can travel many km without sweating) – just right. I would probably buy one for myself, but the price is steep. For 2000 bucks I’d rather buy a non-electric one, from which the thrill is greater. But renting one – fine.
Hi, I'm Rauf Aliev. 