I have no changing room at work and I have to wear at minimum "business casual" clothes if not a tie. I wasn't that big of a fan until I tried a system for a while. It made a believer out of me.

As for the regen of the BionX, it sound great in theory but doesn't help that much in practice. The use of their hub kills it for me. With the external motor setup it is quite easy to remove it when you don't want it. I'll post some pics later of it on a DT VIIIFS.

The more your riding deviates from flats, the more useful it will be. I also like the extra kick when taking off from stops and getting back up to cruising speed more quickly. This has a huge effect on my average speed and reduces my sweating a lot.

If you use it as an assist rather than running totally on the motor, you could easily go about 30 miles or so with the batteries I have. On total batteries it depends on how fast you want to go but 15-20 miles is pretty easy if you help it and pedal from a stop a bit. One big advantage of the Cyclone kit is it takes advantage of your rear gears. I could go up hills on a Cyclone equipped bike totally on motor alone where the BionX would not move me up the hill at all.

I agree that with a heavy bike weight it is counter to multi-mode commuting but with the motor I don't need to rely on it as much. For me total weight in the 35-40 lb range is workable in a multi-mode commuting environment. Going to work on the electric bike is just about as fast as biking to the bus stop and taking the bus. It sometimes is quicker. Coming home it is always quicker as I have to wait 10-15 minutes extra for the bus to come to my stop.