Yeah I totally forgot about the shifting thing too its great to not even think about shifting and that’s what these bikes are about set it and forget it. I can’t see you feeling any different, you should have a huge smile on while riding I know I do.
I really enjoyed my 2nd test ride of the Speed. Took it (and other brands) up a 20%+ grade. It managed that hill a touch better than others. I'm not planning many 20% grades in my riding... but it served as a test. It was sort of interesting... because if I pedalled too hard on the hill (I was panicking as the grade got severe) the auto shifter tended to shift up to a harder gear. Odd. So, on the hill, I learned to slow my feet a touch so the tranny would lower the gear to keep my cadence correct. So, ironically, I had to slow my cadence just a touch to maintain a high enough cadence on the super steep grade.
I also noticed that the Automatiq shifted in what felt like (and sounded like if you listened closely in a quite area) distinct steps. So, even tho the hub's ratios are infinitely variable, the Automatiq actually changed the gear ratio in a number of discreet steps. From what I am guessing (and based on looking at the Enviolo app) 9 steps. So you get nice 9-"gear" automatic shifting. It's all you need, but, for the record, there are not an infinite number of increments. Which leads me to. . . . . . .
I was comparing the Speed to a Gazelle c380+ (which has the same Envilo hub but
without Automatiq... you use a twist grip to manually adjust the same infinitely variable gearbox). That bike was a touch less powerful on the 20% grade... I had to work harder to not bog down (and I am not yet comfortable standing on the pedals of a "dutch" style bike without clip-in pedals). But it wasn't
way less powerful. It was fine. But I could shift as much or as little as I wanted... manually using the twist grip. Now, one downside of the
manually shifted Enviolo is when shifting to a harder gear, it is best to back off the pedalling either totally or at least a touch... for a short moment. Not unlike a manual shift car, where you let off the gas, push down the cluth pedal, shift the gear, let up the clutch and press on the gas. It sounds like a lot to do, but shifting quickly in a car, that whole porcess takes like 1/2 sec. On the Gazelle it is similar (or, actually, slightly
better since letting off the force on the pedals
just a touch is usually enough to allow the shift... you don't really have to totally stop pedaling). AND what's key is, you only have to do that when shifting to a
harder gear. So, on a steep grade you can manually twist the shift grip to a lower (easier) gear while still applying pedal force. Also on the manual shift Enviolo, you can anticipate gearing needs... shifting up or down
before to get to a downhill or up hill... or any circumstance that would be better to be prepared for. The Automatiq doesn't (yet!) have the ability to look ahead and think, in selecting your gearing.
Sooooo... all that having been said... I started to see how the Automatiq may not be the tranny I want to live with for years. So I will be respectfully (and, really, sadly) stepping back from the Black Friday Sale brink. I will
not be pulling the trigger on the very cool Serial City/Rush Speed in white. Dang! But I will continue to read this forum to watch the progress of what I'm sure will be a full suite of bikes and products from Serial 1 over the years!
