I have a friend that I ride with that has one of these bikes. I ride classic steel bikes and I would love to climb hills like that Specialized does. When we ride together he does not use the assist and it pedals just like a regular bike. It is not much heavier than my bike ( 1975 Colnago) . I think I will take him up on the offer to try it out. I'm afraid I will like it and have to figure out where I'm going to get 7K!