The first impression: a tandem, but a very special one.
The manufacturer says: The children come with, beverage crates, the market purchase or Krims-Krams for the flea market - the manufacturer has designed the Pino as a multi-talent.
"Of course it's not a normal bike," says Kilian Wagner of Hase Bikes in Waltrop, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is a tandem, but also a cargo bike - and a Kita taxi, which threatens no parking problem.
An additional person drives in the front seat. Anyone who invests in accessories can transport a whole family: parents roll in the saddle and the front seat, a child on a child seat on the rear luggage rack. More offspring is lost in the trailer. The total load must not exceed 225 kg.
But for two people, the Pino is the better tandem, says Wagner: The saddle is higher, the seat mounted lower - a tandem tandem, on which everyone has good visibility. "In normal tandems the backman sees only the back of the front man," says Wagner.
Anyone who saddles alone can harness the Pino as a jackass. About the front seat can be a bag with 120 liters load capacity span (surcharge: 290 euros). Between bottom bracket and front wheel finds an additional luggage rack with folding side parts space ("Porter Rack", 490 euros extra). He also acts as a double stand.
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Bunny Bikes Pino Steps: Velvet child and boxesFor an additional charge of 295 euros can attach down there a bag with another 80 liters of volume. Thus, the load volume adds up almost to small-car level, the price with around 9000 euros in the e-bike version, however, too. Hase Bikes explains that the company sells only about 500 Pinos a year.
Outstanding is in the literal sense of the stem. "This has battleship character," says Wagner. A telescopic tube can be removed from the top tube. On it sits the second crank. Once the tube has been completely removed, people up to a height of two meters can comfortably ride. Once the tube has been inserted, passengers as small as 1.50 meters can comfortably reach the crank. If children are to ride in the front, which are between 1 and 1.50 meters tall, a children's crank (490 euros) is fixed on the extended top tube.
We noticed that on the Pino you sit in pairs like in a boat and enjoy all tandem benefits. No one has to wait for the other on the bike tour; you can talk anytime.
The big difference to a classic tandem: The passive passenger sits in front, which requires a certain confidence advance towards the driver. While the Hintermann leads, the other can only join. Brakes, steer, shift? None. In an accident, the front man must also serve as a human crumple zone. It takes a while in front, until the discomfort settles.
After all, the predecessor may pause. For this purpose, Hase Bikes has installed a freewheel: pedaling the rear, the front crank does not necessarily run along. This makes the Pino a good partner for longer bike rides with a child, who can hold a nap in the front seat and is held by a five-point harness.
It does not work the other way around. If the driver steps on the pedals, the rear drive also rotates. The best way to wait for a signal from the Hintermanns when it should start. But that is learned quickly.
The packed Pino pushes almost as hard as a motorcycle. But once the load rolls, the bike's smoothness is hard to beat. If a lot of cargo moves down the center of gravity, it stays more faithful in the lane.
However, there is a catch: with luggage rack below the ground clearance is not even ten inches. Some curbside becomes an obstacle. If the edge is too high, the bottom plate sets or the whole wheel tilted, so you have to get out of the saddle. Once bag and baggage are stored in the front of the seat pocket, the bike is top-heavy like a roadster with a heavy front engine.
Datasheet Bunny Bikes Pino Steps
Price: 7590 euros
Engine: Shimano Steps mid-engine, rated continuous power 250 watts, supported speed up to 25 km / h
Battery: 500 Wh, lithium-ion, charging time 4 hours
Range: about 50 kilometers
Circuit: Shimano SLX with 11 gears; Cassette 11 to 42 teeth, crank 44 teeth, front 38 teeth
Wheels and tires: 26 inches at the rear, 20 inches at the front; Schwalbe Marathon 50-559 rear, 47-406 front
Brake: hydraulic disc brakes from SRAM, front 200 mm, rear 180 mm
Payload: 225 kilos maximum (including driver)
Weight: 31 kilos
Length: 2.10 to 2.37 meters
You have to know that: The load tandem looks like an exotic one, even for special bike experts. "Megageil, I see for the first time," says an oncoming recumbent, who stopped for the comment and crossed his arms to let us pass attentively with child and boxes.
Ratgeber Rad
A compromise Hase has entered the frame: "We had to find the golden middle between stability and weight," says Wagner. The aluminum construction warps noticeably while driving with laterally acting forces. The driver only has to stretch out his arm to turn the car. A wobble is already visible in the front seat.
More stability would have brought even thicker tubes - but the Pino weighs in the version driven by us Steps with electric motor already 31 kilos. But basically it hardly bothers that the Pino winds at times, because it drives rather leisurely.
What is needed is comfort rather than optimal power output. Good that a fork bumps, especially from the seated front man stops. In principle, superfluous, however, are the two highest geared gears of the eleven-speed derailleur. You should drive slowly and carefully to stay responsive. And who still uses the high gears at lower tempo is on the downslope as in the car. This costs a lot of power and sucks the battery faster empty e-bike.
We'll keep that in mind: how often the car was left unused as long as we had the Pino. Bulk purchases were no problem with the last tandem and the offspring were rarely driven enthusiastically to the day care center.
