@ alan s, Surprisingly enough, I still finish my commute with a pretty good sweat... I'm just done 5-10 minutes earlier. I find that I'm riding just as hard, but my speed is significantly faster. With the e-bike, when you stop pedaling the motor stops working. With a direct drive hub motor, when it stops, you feel some pretty significant drag and you slow down much more quickly than you would coasting on a regular bike. It kind of motivates you to keep the pedals moving and apply enough torque that the sensor kicks in for some assist. I did not install the throttle option on the bike... so no pedal, no go. But it's a blast!