T he entire Nicolai team and I are on our way to Zurich to spend time together with our Swiss distributor “rasant bikes“. It will be an awesome weekend with bikes, BBQ, beer and riding on the premises of our textile sponsor ZIMTSTERN. I hadn’t had much time for riding recently, but was persuaded by “rasant”- Gery, the Swiss bundle of energy, to go for a ride with him. There is no question of me competing with him in terms of fitness. Straight away I’m put on the new ION 16 E-Boxx and off we go to the nearby Uetliberg. After a couple of meters I have to admit to myself that my fitness level is even worse than I had thought. I switch on the engine and woooooooooooosh – I’m neck-to-neck with Geri. Sure, it’s still exhausting and my pulse rate wouldn’t go below 200… After a couple of kilometers going uphill Geri, too, is getting slower. I turn on the controller for full support and hauled Geri in. Thanks to the torque of the Bosch engine we are speeding up the Uetliberg doing 18km/h and have probably set a new uphill record. At the top I can’t stop smiling. But I didn’t know that I would be beaming even more after the downhill. The position off the battery is central and low in the frame, so the additional weight is hardly noticeable and the bike is still super easy to maneuver. The suspension works superbly on all surfaces, in line with the ION style. In conclusion I can say: Although Nicolai e-bikes with the Bosch drive might not appeal to everyone, they allow even averagely skilled riders to ride long trails and alpine tracks without being too exhausted and giving up after an hour. Yours, Vinc watch! Video of NICOLAI 2012 Test Tour Stop at Zimtstern, Zurich, Switzerland