Biria produces some beautiful, mostly city oriented, bicycles with classic styling and fun colors. One of the most unique frames I’ve seen from them is the Easy Boarding deep step-thru. It’s pretty clear just looking at this bike that it’s easy to board… very comfortable to mount, stand over and control at stop signs or traffic signals because there isn’t a top tube, just a long sloping downtube that curves all the way down to about 3.5 inches from the ground. Despite the unique single-tube design, the bike feels sturdy. It has two gussets on the angle points near the bottom bracket for enhanced strength and handling. And so with this frame, riders only have to lift one foot about 4.5 inches off the ground to mount the bike! Furthermore, the seat tube is extra short so you can lower the saddle height and possibly even sit down without having to balance on the pedals before you take off.
The Easy Boarding model model has been produced primarily as non-electric bicycle for several years. It comes with a basic seven speed Shimano drivetrain, cantilever breaks, a pair of Steel fenders, a rack, a nice set of cruiser bars and an adjustable stem. With the upgraded electric conversion model, that uses the trusted BionX drive system, you get even more versatility and assistance riding. Whereas before, riders were empowered to simply mount the bike, now they are further empowered to climb hills and fight the wind easier… or simply ride further and keep up with friends and family. Most anyone who can balance should be able to ride comfortably on this bike without even pedaling for at least 20 miles per charge… and probably many more if they do pedal. I mentioned comfort a moment ago and I want to stress that the bike feels great on smooth paved surfaces. You get a nice sloped back cruiser bar with an adjustable angle stem and a large padded seat. This positions your body more upright vs. forward, keeping your neck and back straight vs. curved and allowing you to look around, chat with friends and spot traffic more easily.
In my opinion, the Biria Easy Boarding Electric is a wonderful option for people who want to cruise around the neighborhood and maybe even run to the store for supplies. The rear rack is very well built and can accommodate trunk bags or panniers up to 15 lbs. While it doesn’t have a suspension fork and is rear-heavy due to the hub motor and rack mounted battery, the bike weighs significantly less than the very similar looking Pedego Boomerang. The Boomerang costs slightly less and has a headlight which is nice but you do get a tail light on the Biria Easy Boarding as well as regenerative braking, four levels of regen mode (to slow you coasting down larger hills or provide a fun challenge on flat ground) and a beautiful, backlit removable display panel. I love that that the BionX system offers so many options for riding and comes with a solid two year comprehensive warranty. There’s a lot more to say and I’ve included some pro’s and con’s below but overall, this is a unique electric bike, one that delivers comfort and accessibility to an audience that can really benefit from it. Whether you need a low-step bike like this or not, the drive system is a blast and very capable.
Pros:
- Super low-step design makes it extremely easy to mount, dismount and control at stop signs… The saddle can also go very low thanks to a shorter seat tube
- Comfortable grips, a swept back cruiser style handlebar with adjustable angle stem and oversized plush saddle make for a comfortable upright ride
- I like the color-matched fenders and plastic chain guide, these help to keep you clean and snag-free when riding, the rack is also useful and is compatible with most clip-on panniers like these
- While the bike comes in at least two colors (black and silver), I appreciate the silver because it’s more reflective at night, it’s great that the battery has a built-in LED light as well for safety
- BionX produces excellent electric bike systems and I love their display because it’s large enough to read but doesn’t take up a lot of space… it’s removable, backlit for night riding and comes with an independent button pad that’s easy to reach without taking your hand of the grip
- I was surprised that this bike only weighs ~50 lbs because the frame is extra thick, even so, you get a little trigger throttle to help you get started which becomes active at ~2 mph for safety
- It’s really thoughtful that they included bottle cage bosses on the downtube! I think many people will skip using them because it could crowd the standing space but for some, it will be nice to add a mini-pump or other accessory like a folding lock here that doesn’t stick out as much, I see people add these cup holder racks to bars sometimes and that could be an alternative way to store a coffee cup or other drink
- Given the weight and size of the bike, including the ~9 lb motor, it’s nice that the battery pack can be removed easily, either to lighten the bike for transport or to store and charge separately
- BionX uses high quality battery cells, in this case Panasonic, that will last longer than competing brands, BionX also has a “deep sleep” mode built into their controller which protects the battery over long periods of disuse
- Even though the drivetrain is simple, using a more basic derailleur with 7 speeds, I like that they have a derailleur cage protect it it from tips and that there’s a solid kickstand included with the bike
Cons:
- The motor and battery are both mounted towards the rear of this bike vs. low and center, it’s less balanced as a result but this is the trade-off for a deep step-thru design
- I appreciate the safety of having a throttle that only starts once the bike is moving but it sure would be nice if it could help you get the bike moving from zero… it’s a trade off
- Due to the unique frame design and rear-weight of the rack and battery, I found the frame to flex a bit (like if I jerked the handle bars back and forth), this thing is meant for neighborhood and limited urban riding… not off-road or trail
- The brakes on this bike are a little bit more basic and old fashioned, it uses mechanical linear pull style “v-brakes” which can require more effort than a fancy hydraulic disc brake, they work fine for slower riding and I like that the levers have motor inhibitors to cut power
- Even though the seat post can drop down really far into the short seat tube here, with an extra large comfort saddle (as shown in the video) you might end up with some collision where the back of the seat hits the battery rack so keep that in mind, might have to get a smaller saddle or slide it forward on the saddle rails all the way for clearance
- The bike offers four levels of assist and four regen AND the regen kicks in full power if you squeeze the right brake lever… but only the right one, there isn’t a motor inhibitor sensor in the left lever
- Because this electric bike is a combination of a pre-existing bicycle from Biria and the BionX drive system and wasn’t created from the ground up to only be electric, some of the wires aren’t fully integrated, you can see them near the seat tube tacked on with zip ties but at least most of them do run through the downtube so the front and mid sections of the bike are clean
Resources:
- Official Site: http://www.biria.com/bicycle/easy-boarding/electric
- More Pictures: https://goo.gl/photos/j48BEHhZUA4KxS8YA
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