I Turned VANMOOF, the “Tesla of E-Bikes,” into a Dad Bike — and It’s Way More Convenient Than a Car
Hi, I’m Hide, tech journalist and part-time house-husband.
2022 was truly the first year of personal mobility, with trials of electric kick scooters getting underway. I tried all sorts of things, and my top pick is still this: the “e-bike.”
That’s because it’s easier to park anywhere than any other kind of mobility, and it goes up to 24 km/h. Getting around quickly on a familiar bicycle is just so convenient.
It’s now an even more upgraded dad bike than in the photos, and I can ride it in every season — I’ve almost stopped using the car!
The VANMOOF X2 is so stylish you’d never guess it’s an e-bike
## Switching to a bike when our first daughter was born
Our family gave up our car when we moved to Tokyo, and we’d been relying on Times Car Share. By luck, there are six cars in the lot right in front of our home, so it’s super convenient.
But when you just want to pop over somewhere in the neighborhood, taking a car felt like overkill… So when my daughter was born, I started looking for a bike.
I compared it with a scooter too. Just in terms of how easy it is to park, I think a bike is simplerIt arrives in a cardboard box with the front wheel offIt’s easy to put together, but it might be a bit tricky for people who don’t do DIYIt even comes with a party blower for when you finish the hardest part — very Western wit
What’s great about a bike is no traffic jams, no worrying about parking — and if you don’t have to pedal hard, it has way more advantages than a car. So I figured electric was the way to go.
VANMOOF lives up to being called the Tesla of bikes — it’s packed with high tech. The lock opens with the press of a button, and to lock it you just kick a button on the rear wheel. You can change gear shifting and fine-tune settings from the app.
You can even adjust the speed at which it shifts gears. Updates keep adding features
The right button gives you a boost, so even starting from a red light with my kid on board, it doesn’t wobble. VANMOOF is seriously the best...
Sometimes going by bike is faster than by car
I was planning to put my daughter in school from just over age one, so wanting to use it for drop-off and pickup was another reason I went with a bike.
My daughter at 18 months, excited the first time she sat in it
By the way, overseas it’s common to put a child seat on a road bike. People go out and do school runs that way.
There’s also the style where you tow a sidecar-like trailer behind the bike. I see them in Tokyo now and then
VANMOOF can assist up to about 30 km/h, but Japan’s own laws limit it to 24 km/h here. That’s a bit of a shame. But 30 km/h would be scary with a kid on board, so it may have been just right for how I use it.
Pedaling normally without trying hard, I average about 18–20 km/h. Even at that speed, on roads with lots of traffic, you easily get there faster than by car. I rode to a hair salon far away a few times, and what’s 30 minutes by car with no traffic took me about 35–40 minutes.
Here’s a video of me actually riding a VANMOOF X3
Once you arrive, you can park right in front of the salon, so when you factor in walking from a parking lot, I think it’s faster than a car.
I thought I wouldn’t ride in winter — but I totally do
Before buying, I worried “Even if I buy it, I won’t use it in winter,” and hit the order button without telling my wife. But honestly — no bravado — I do ride it in winter.
I guess convenience beats the cold… On the flip side, walking to the parking lot that’s right across the street but still a bit of a walk, getting the car out… that’s more of a hassle, so I stop doing it. Human psychology is so strange.
The one I use is from THULE, popular worldwide, and now I have a rear seat on it tooLots of accessories too — good. The windscreen especially helps with the cold, and it’s a must if your kid rides in front
If you bundle your kid up properly, you can take them to nearby supermarkets and such. In Japan lately I see bikes with covers like little greenhouses, but my daughter didn’t get cold even without one.
Being cutting-edge brings downsides, but the convenience outweighs them
I’ll write about the downsides properly too. First, it’s expensive. And it breaks a lot (lol). Mainly, the battery system is weak.
The price took the full hit of the weak yen, and right now the latest models, the S5 and A5, are both ¥487,000. That’s expensive… I bet a lot of people would just buy a motorcycle at that price.
You’d hesitate to spend this much on a bicycle... right...
And the battery system is weak. I’ve sent it in for repairs about once every four months — four or five times in total. I extended the warranty, so every repair has been free, but losing my way of getting around while it’s being repaired hurts.
At first it didn’t break that much, but maybe it’s just my unit — this is where things stand. In replies to YouTube comments I said something like “Parts other than the battery get sent to you, so you can fix them yourself,” but after that, the battery broke again and again... I think I need to make another video about this.
They come pick it up from your home and it’s back in about a week, but when they’re busy, you can end up waiting a long time. I have zero complaints about how it works, but this part was just inconvenient.
The functionality is 120 out of 100, which makes how easily it breaks all the more disappointing...
**But!**
Honestly, the convenience outweighs these downsides. Day to day it’s overwhelmingly convenient, and you can’t get this user experience from any other e-bike.
The proof is that I kept riding it even after experiencing how easily it breaks. From the first shrine visit of the year to New Year’s shopping, it’s been a star. Of course I bought it with my own money, and **I actually own two! (lol)** (I can hear you saying “You could’ve bought a cheap car”...)
Road bikes are great too, of course, but for anyone who wants to maximize the experience of “going far with ease, without worrying about parking or traffic!”, I think it’s perfect.
Even factoring in how easily it breaks, I’ve stopped using the car and go out with my daughter a lot more, so I’m very satisfied.
**VANMOOF official site: [https://www.vanmoof.com/ja-JP](https://www.vanmoof.com/ja-JP)
