The May issue of City Bike magazine hit the stands today and the 2013 11.4 kWh Zero S is featured on the front cover. The rider on the cover is shown performing a burn-out and holding the bike's charging cord with his left hand while doing so. Kind of cute, as is the yellow Zero S. The caption on the cover says "The electric bike gets real" and there is a three-page review of the model in the center of the magazine. The review was written by the magazine's editor, Gabe Ets-Hokin, and it is quite positive. Gabe describes how the Zero technology has advanced since 2009 and he goes on to describe the bike's features. Gabe says that the bike can carry around a 140-pound rider at a steady 70 miles per hour for a distance of 70 miles. He also says that the indicated top speed is 95 mph, which is an actual 91 mph, according to his iPhone's GPS.
Things that still need work are the rear brakes, which continue to be weak and the Fast Ace suspension remains under-damped and reacts harshly to small road imperfections. It was also mentioned that the footpegs are located too low and scrape during spirited cornering.
The article says that Scot Harden, Zero's "VP for PR", when asked about the lack of ABS, says that the cost for ABS tooling is in excess of $600,000 and that is why it is not on the current models. However, they will be required by government regulations in the future and Zero will have ABS on their bikes by 2016 - so the company is working on it. Mr. Harden says not to expect the type of improvements that you have seen to the Zero range in the past. The bike's basic platform will be pretty much stable and only relatively minor improvements will be made to the range during the next few model years.
