Last week we bought the twin of the red bike in Donuel's second link above. It has already started to save us car trips by helping us take our six-year-old to and from the school bus stop (now several km away - don't get me started on the offloading of public costs onto individuals or families!) Riding double is not actually legal, but the centre of gravity is so low that I feel safe doing it on our dead end road. I wouldn't dare ride with him up on a regular bike.

This sedate little beauty is called a bicycle with electric assist, under law, so here in Canada no license or registration is needed. You do have to be 16 or over. One can ride up most of our local ridges by pedalling to assist the motor. I believe the stated 35+ km range is realistic, if you take it easy. When I've an extra load, or to extend my range, I run or walk beside it on steep uphill bits. I'm holding the handlebars already, so I just twist the control enough so the bike powers itself uphill (with the kid aboard) and I don't have to push it.

I did once have to push the bike uphill. You see, I tackled a steep mountain trail right after a hilly 45 minute ride at full speed. Before I reached the top of the trail I was having to turn off the bike and let us both rest, then push it on up a little farther, with the bike power helping me all it could.

It recharges somewhat on the downhills, but it does not freewheel fully, so is heavy to ride with pedals alone. I stopped and visited friends for an hour while getting a partial recharge before finishing the ride home. Full charge from empty costs a dime or two.

The pedals are low gear only. With the wide seat, pedalling felt awkward at first but was not hard to get used to after all. It's an inexpensive, useful little machine; not for everyone, but we live at the bottom of a half mile hill, and the Scooterteq 500z makes it a lot easier for us to do errands without starting the car.

Maureen