RAC Magazine | July 2019
The power of two wheels | A streamline electric bike designed in WA shows form and function can mix.
When Julian Ilich arrives to meet me, he's got a light dusting of rain on his parka and a healthy glow to his cheeks.
But despite riding his bike at 25km/h for 10km to get here, he’s not puffing or sweaty. In fact, he seems to slide into the café seat opposite with a resting heart rate.
His treadly is a new breed of ebike, one the team at Tiller Rides has designed and called the Roadster. He still has to pedal to activate its power, but it’s far easier than the pushbike most of us grew up with.
“To me it’s kind of like the bionic man; the bike multiplies your effort by two or three times,” he says. “It detects how much force you put on the pedals. I’d say it’s about a quarter of the normal effort you’d put in to go the fastest it goes, which is 25km/h.”
