How Koga had it right, all those years ago
I've been riding a second-hand Koga E-xtension for a few years now (a model all the way back from 2014). In many ways its typical for its time. It looks like a normal bike, just with a rearwheel motor and a battery strapped to the luggage carier. Recently I upgraded to a modern bosch-powered e-bike from the German brand Victoria. Although it has many useful features like the maps built-into the display, the 80Nm mid-drive motor and the battery nicely tucked away in the frame. Still, I could not help but notice a few things that Koga got right, all those years ago.
Silent motor
One of the first things I noticed on the Bosch-powered e-bike, was the noise the thing makes. I was useed to a completely silent motor on my Koga, but the Bosch has a noticable 'engine-roar' whenever you move the pedals. That can't be progress, right?
Smoother on-and-off switching
Not only is the Koga motor silent, it also powers-down the motor much smoother when you reach 25 Km/h. On the Bosch you hit the infamous e-bike wall when you go just a little over 25 km/h, whereas the Koga has a much smoother curve (possibly up to 27 km/h) between motor-support and no motor-support. This makes it much more pleasant to ride.
Throttle
Ok, this one is probably down to stricter regulations compared to the early days of the e-bike, but my other Koga has a throttle handle. And even though this feature is no longer allowed in newer e-bikes, in my opinion, it does help with safety. For example if you need to get out of an unsafe situation quickly, the throttle saves your day. Other times you need to quickly overtake another cyclist. Throttle to the rescue. Or if you need to gain speed quickly after standing still on a hill. The throttle is there to help you.
Less bulky frame
I know, I know, we're in the age of muscle cars, and seemingly even bikes have to follow the trend of big frames with rectangular shapes. Where all electronics are hidden, and the battery is behind closed doors. But this has also made the frames heavier, harder to manouvre by hand, and easier to tip over. I know the connaiseurs will hate me for it, but I really don't mind the oldskool rear-rack battery. In fact, it makes it much easier to acces and faster to swap the battery.
Conclusion
Of course, technically the Bosch-powered e-bike is leaps and bounds ahead of that early Koga design, and I'm happy with many of those advances. But I can't help to think that some great ideas got lost along the way...