BH Neo City Electrical Bike

I bought BH Neo City bike this October. The plan is to completely switch to bicycle commute. It is solidly built as a city commuter bike; the design is well thought through.  Here is some technical info:

1. There  are a couple of smart features in the way how the motor is powered, unique for BH bikes: 1) no power when the breaks are applied; 2)  no power unless the pedals are engaged. The bike has 3 gears in front and 8 in the back; the switching is smooth.

2. The coasting speed is 21 miles per hour, limited by my maximum comfortable cadence speed (Electrical coasting is disabled - the bike does not go unless one pedals). I can go as fast as 30 mile per hour downhill. The speed on up-the-hills is slower, about 15-17 miles per hour. It takes about 35 minutes from door to door for my 11-mile commute.

3. The single charge is good for about 20 miles, much less than the spec (50 miles), pretty much regardless of the level of assist (see below). However, my commute involves a relatively large climb; this may be a factor.

4. Charging time is about 3- 4 hours from a complete discharge.

5. The bike is ride-able without charge; the average speed that way ~ 10 miles per hour.

6. It is light for an electrical bike; I can fit it into the trunk of my Toyota 4R; probably too heavy to mount it on the roof (and the wheels are not on quick release).

The 17’’frame is too small for me; however I took this as a compromise to let  all the family members ride it. I am 6’2”; my wife is 5’5’’. The sit has a long adjustable post on a quick release.

7. The ride can be done in a normal civilian attire and does not require bike shoes. There is no need in shower after the ride.

As a comparison, I also commute to work on a regular bike once a week. I am an experienced biker; however because of the hills, my average commuting speed is only about 13 miles/hour.  I have to wear a bike attire and need a shower after the ride.

8. The bike has fenders and rides very well in rain. It has a front and back lights powered by a generator, which makes it ride-able at night. This feature turned out to be useful because occasionally one has to ride without the battery power.

The bike has a detachable control panel, which shows the battery level, the speed and allows to select the level of the electrical assist (5 levels of assist or so).

There is a bike rack as well; I do not use it much but ~ 5-10 kg load can be easily carried on it.

9. The charging device is light, ~1 kg, and I carry it to work every time.

Problems with this bike/downsides: 

1)   The control panel is too small and I cannot see what is on it when I ride.

2)   Although the levels of assist are variable, I can hardly feel the difference; the response is very non-linear. Neither does it affect the battery life much.

3)   It is very hard to take the wheels off; I still do not know how to take off the back wheel. When I was fixing the flat in the back wheel, I ended up using a patch because I could not take the wheel off.
A nice movie about the bike is at the link below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6DHFqh_Prw.