GoKawiilThe Velotric Discover M e-bike we reviewed earlier this year had a feature I found somewhat annoying: It would sporadically block much of the display with an alert telling me I should be in a different gear. While the implementation bugged me, the concept made a certain degree of sense; most e-bikes now know your cadence, how much torque you’re generating, and how that power is being translated into speed. That’s everything you need to know to determine an optimal gear.
Somewhere in the back of my mind, I thought, “If you’re so smart, why don’t you just shift for me?”
I was completely unaware that Shimano had already developed a system that did exactly that. And for the past few weeks, I’ve been using it on a $4,500 cargo bike from Xtracycle called the Swoop ASM that let me see what it’s like to hand control of my gears to an electronic brain.
The short answer is that the electronics on the Swoop really are smart enough to figure out when it should be shifting. But the system is less adept at the actual shifting process, making for rides that are less smooth than they could be when it’s active. But you can shut that feature off, and the Swoop will shine as a fantastic cargo bike.
Swooping in
Xtracycle got its start providing cargo trailers for mountain bikes and then branched into dedicated cargo bikes. The Swoop ASM is a long-tail cargo bike with what’s called a mullet setup: a larger tire up front and a smaller one in back. The small wheel is designed to help keep the weight held by the large rear rack a bit closer to the road. It also has a front suspension to help cushion the ride.