I was sold the Athens bike. It was not appropriate for recreation biking unless you plan to bike with very strong bikers. I took it out to ride with friends and found it to heavy to ride with motor off and when I put the motor on at its lowest speed, I had to pedal and then coast in order to go slow enough resulting in no fun or exercise. I returned it and got the Shimano Stops Izip which I love. I ride much more than I ever did for long periods. My Fitbit tells me I am getting lots of good cardio. I am dismayed that others may be getting steered to bikes that don't fit their needs and not have the pleasure that my electric bike is affording me.
While the Athens may be a great commuter bike for the price, it is a pretty inadequate recreational bike. When I went to return, I was told having a motor in the middle rather than the back (my web research was clear this makes the bike better weighted and easier to ride) had little effect, that the eco on my bike which gave me much less power so that I could ride slow enough to ride with friends and still be able to enjoy the ride didn't really make a difference either. When I tried to explaing to Lenny why I liked the bike, he basically told me the Athens was a great choice and shrugged his shoulders and walked away. A few months later while riding, an older woman approached me riding the Athens that she had been sold at Lenny's. She asked about my bike and how I liked it. She found, as I did, that she was having problems enjoying riding with friends on the Athens. I have another friend who got a Lenny bike at auction-not the Athens-but she too could not bike with friends without electric bikes and her son is using the bike now. I am hopeful that Lenny and his staff will look at who is coming in for the bike and if it is a recreational rider that they will get them on the right bike.