THE POWER
The previous version of the Townie Go! had
a SRAM hub motor and the battery mounted on
the rack. The Bosch system allows them to utilize
a Shimano Nexus eight-speed internal-shifting
hub for many more gearing options. The gearing
seemed great for just about everything we threw at
it—from long, flat rides to some steep hills, nothing
felt like it needed more on either end. There were
a few times when the hub took a moment to shift,
but overall the twist-grip shift system was easy.
Bosch’s 250-watt Performance Line mid-drive
provides all the power you’ll ever need. There are
four power levels; Eco, Tour, Sport and Turbo. We
found that we used Eco and Tour almost exclusively, unless we hit a big hill. Sport, at the highest,
provided plenty of assist. On a flat road, acceleration to 20 mph was plenty fast, even in Tour mode.
The Bosch Intuvia display is the most common
of the Bosch lineup. Its backlit, monochrome LCD
is easy to read, can be angled in whatever way
you like and can be removed when you lock up the
bike. It also has a “Shift Recommendation” indicator that can be turned on or off to let you know if
your pedal cadence is too high for the motor. The
display has a button to turn on the front and rear
lights.
{ TOWNIE }
Electra’s Flat Foot
Technology allows a very
relaxed riding position, and
both feet can be on the
ground at stops. The bot-
tom bracket is well forward
of the seat tube.
We never ran out of gears on
either end with the Shimano
Nexus internal eight-speed hub.
