Nexzu Roadlark e-cycle Long Term Review

Is an e-cycle the answer to eco-friendly commuting in our congested cities?

Story: Sayantan De
Photography: Sanjay Raikar

We recently got our hands on the Nexzu Roadlark e-cycle, and I decided to try and commute with it. The distance to the office was roughly 11 km, which takes around 26 minutes on a motorcycle. I was expecting twice that on the bicycle, but it turned out to be on average 40 minutes, which was surprising. Obviously, this time difference would increase over longer distances, but for shorter (read around 10 km) riding distances it wasn’t too much of an issue.

There are some gnarly climbs and steep descents on my way to the office, and I have not been able to clear those on a gearless cycle before, requiring a cycle with a reasonable drivetrain. But thanks to the torque of the electric motor, the climbs were no more difficult than the mild inclines one encounters even on mostly flat terrain. I was able to do two up-and-down runs to the office and the battery still had a quarter charge left. I decided to charge it up though, as lugging the charger with me on the cycle was somehow not appealing. I didn’t even bother with my MTB shorts, as the seats were extremely comfortable and I was able to do the office run wearing denims without any issues.

I went on night rides as well, when the roads were blissfully empty and the weather was cooler, which was safe thanks to the properly bright LED headlamp that comes with the cycle. I am not a fan of 26-inch wheels, having ridden on them exclusively and extensively in my younger years. BUt I can’t deny that there are still a lot of options for wheels and tyres in the 26-inch size, which makes sense for most people who are likely to buy this bicycle.

Couple of minor irritants exist, such as the horn which only works when the motor is turned on, so you’re out of luck if the battery is depleted or you want to ride without electric assist. Of course, you can go and buy a bell, but including that or making the horn work without the motor engaged would have been simpler. Also, the pedal assist levels cycle through, so to get to Level 2 from Level 3, you have to pass Level 1 which is slightly irritating. Finally, there are two keys, one which turns on the battery, the other enables you to turn on the motor. While the differently-shaped key fobs make it easy to figure out which is which, I feel a single key would have been a better solution.

On the whole, I was able to commute to the office on the Nexzu Roadlark without changing my routine too much, except my luggage carrying capacity went down a notch and I started to pack smarter. I feel e-cycles are a completely viable, more eco-friendly alternative to both ICE and EV scooters, ICE scooters because it is a cycle, and EV scooters because recycling a much smaller battery as present on an e-cycle would be much easier. Overall it could be a viable solution in our congested cities, and I for one would love to see this version of the future become a reality.