Another e-bike

 E-SHOPPING?

Nah, I know it's Black Friday (how long has it been black month, week, etc. anyway?) but this is Zio Lorenzo's new E-Shopping BIKE. These Bianchi E-Spillo Lady Classic bikes have been discontinued it seems so it was "get it now" even though the old man can still make it up the incline back home loaded-down with groceries. But for how long? He liked the simplicity of this bike, pretty much just like the one he's been riding for eight years, just with a motor/battery and maybe even more important - the step-thru frame.

WHAT you say? A LADY frame? Look how high the box in back is. Add a sack of groceries and you have a pretty high bar to swing your leg over unless you want to hoist your leg and risk scratching the top tube. Zio's never crashed himself doing the swing, but he's come close enough times the smarter half of our duo insisted he get the LADY model. It IS much easier to climb and get going when it's loaded down and it IS a shopping bike, so..

So he started looking for one and when a shop in Northern Italy had 'em at more than 20% off (Black Friday?) he ordered one. In this photo you can see the front rack/basket, ugly milk crate box on the back and the black plastic fenders he robbed from his previous bike to replace the cute, but likely to rust, rattle and get dented, painted metal fenders.

Here's the business end: motorized hub with battery pack under the rack. It comes out for charging and has built-in tail light, but otherwise looks just like Heather's Spillo Rubino, but for some crazy reason the classic Celeste paint on this one is not the same as hers. One would think Bianchi has been painting their bikes this color long enough to have a formula for their signature color, but what does Zio know?

The only other telltale sign of e-assist is the control unit on the handlebar, but it's pretty small so we don't worry much about this one getting swiped vs a non-electric. When they're parked and locked together I doubt anyone would notice.

So now Zio fears no shopping! If he can fit it on the bike, no matter how heavy it is, he'll get it...but no shopping on Black Friday!