Food & Drink
We Rode a Battery-Powered Bike Share to the Top of Queen Anne
Lime E-bikes are everywhere in Seattle
By Austin Iverson August 14, 2018
This article originally appeared in the August 2018 issue of Seattle magazine.
This article appears in print in the August 2018 issue. Click here to subscribe.
E-bikes are popping up all around town, including the approximately 300 added by Lime to Seattle’s bike-share fleet last February.
We took one out for a spin, starting at Seattle Center and ending on top of Queen Anne at Kerry Park, to test how the e-bike stacks up against the traditional “analog” version.
Ride Time:
Analog: 20-25 minutes
E-bike: 10 minutes
Cost (for a 30-minute rental):
Analog: $1
E-bike: $1 to unlock, 15 cents per minute, for a total of $5.50
Effort:
Analog: Serious muscle power required. Even with the bike’s multiple gears, it wasn’t possible to bike up steep Queen Anne hill; some walking required.
E-bike: Getting up a hill is where you want that motor; it made the climb up Queen Anne possible, but both peddling and motor assist were needed.
Sweat factor:
Analog: You’ll be ready to hit the shower after this ride.
E-bike: Sweat? What sweat?
Tips:
Download the bike-share company’s app onto your phone—Seattle’s three bike-share services each have their own; you need this to unlock a bike and go.
One small push of the pedals on an e-bike sends you forward quicker than on an analog bike; be ready for this!
E-bikes make going up hills a breeze, but if you stop pedaling, the bike will slow to a stop when you may not be expecting it.
The e-bike’s weight makes it cumbersome; be prepared for challenging maneuverability at higher speeds and around tight curves.
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