Beth Mole
View from the driver’s seat.
Beth Mole
Beth Mole
Left-hand handle with brake, bell, and control pad.
Beth Mole
Beth Mole
Right-hand handle with gears, throttle, and brake.
Beth Mole
Left-hand handle with brake, bell, and control pad.
Beth Mole
Right-hand handle with gears, throttle, and brake.
Beth Mole
The controls are mounted on the handlebars in an intuitive and tidy order. On the left side is a handbrake, an aluminum bell—which makes a charming and sufficiently loud ding—and a system-control panel. In the very center is a color system display, which I’ll note is perfectly bright and readable in direct sunlight. But once you put sunglasses on for that sunny weather, the screen appears blank, which is a bummer. On the right side, there’s a handbrake, a thumb throttle, and the gear shifters, all well-placed and reachable with little movement.
Battery, lights, and comfort
The Mod Easy bike has a MOD Samsung 48 V 15 Ah (720 Wh) battery that promises a 50- to 100-mile range. This tracks with my experience. I first charged it after 25 miles, when it fell to about 50 percent. Most of that mileage was with the sidecar attached.
The Mod Easy has a vintage-looking headlight and a bright back brake light. It doesn’t have turn signals built in, but the bike’s system can be paired with a Lumos smart helmet, which has lights on the back that act as turn signals when you push the left or right buttons on the control panel.
The bike has front suspension and suspension in the seat post. There’s also a very comfortable Selle Royal gel saddle. I took the bike on a variety of terrain and found the ride was always well cushioned.
Assembly
The Mod Easy comes partially assembled, with the handlebars unmounted. As a reviewer, Mod gave me the option of assembling it myself or having a bike technician assemble it for me for free. Not wanting to back down from a challenge, I chose to do it myself. But boy, was that a mistake. As a cycling newb, I had no idea what I was signing up for, and assembly became a lengthy struggle. The biggest problem was that I’m just not familiar with bike assembly generally, let alone e-bike assembly. But I also struggled with the directions themselves. Mod provides written directions as well as YouTube videos of assembly. In my inexperienced hands, they both had points that weren’t clear, and the directions didn’t always match each other or what came out of the box. I’ll be honest: This assembly was not pretty, and it had me longing for Lego-style instructions.
