I thought setting up the D3 Pro Mini was going to be a task and a half, but it was super simple. The bike came in a box with the handlebar folded down, so to completely set it up, all I had to do was unfold the handlebars and attach the seat, pedals, and the brake light—which I think might have been a freebie sent with the bike. The brake light had a $29.99 price tag sticker on the box, but I can’t find this particular light on Fiido’s website.

The bike is highly adjustable. You can modify the handlebar height, angle of the handlebar, and seat height. Also, I’m not sure why you would want to, but you can offset the handlebar to the right or left. As far as I could tell, there were no settings to adjust anything with the built-in headlight or the horn.

For casual use and even casual commuter use—depending on how far from your job you live—you probably wouldn’t need to charge this e-bike more than once a week. The D3 Pro Mini has a max range of 37.2 miles and takes about five hours to fully charge.

How fast the battery runs down depends on how much you’re pedaling versus how much work the motor is doing. After roughly two hours worth of riding—half with pedal-assist and half using only the motor—the battery was at three out of five bars. Even if I take this bike out every single day for 15 to 30 minutes, I think I could get one to two weeks out of it before charging it.

People say you never forget how to ride a bike, and apparently, that’s true. It’s been at least seven years since I rode a regular bike, and I’ve never tried an e-bike out before. Needless to say, I was nervous about getting on this thing for the first time. Luckily, I had the hang of it instantly. If you’ve ever ridden a regular bike before, riding the D3 Pro Mini will be a breeze.

After powering on the display, there are two different ways you can get going on the bike. You can start pedaling, and after you reach a certain speed, the motor automatically kicks on. Or, you can use the throttle on the right handlebar for an easier start. I’m a weary rider, so I always started off my rides by pedaling because I felt like I had more control. However, my husband always used the throttle—but he rides a motorcycle, so riding this e-bike was a purely exciting experience for him.

I can’t imagine why anyone would ever manually pedal this e-bike, but I had to test it—you know, for science. It’s hard. Because of the way that pedal-assist motors are designed, e-bikes are often harder to pedal than traditional bikes with the power off. Plus, they’re typically heavier. However, it’s nice to know that the D3 Pro Mini can be pedaled just in case I’m out and the battery dies on me.

There are three different gears to switch between by pushing a button on the display. You can see which gear you’re in at any time by looking at the digital display. First gear delivers the least amount of power—and therefore speed—while third gear delivers the most. I felt comfortable riding at all speeds, though I preferred to work my way up to third gear instead of starting out there.

The D3 Pro Mini is a compact e-bike with small wheels . There’s a reason the word “Mini” is in its title. That said, I really wish the wheels were just a little bit bigger. There were times that it made me nervous to ride or take a turn at such a high speed because I was so low to the ground. You can raise the height of the seat and the handlebar, but obviously not the height of the brake pedals. As I became more comfortable riding the bike, this nervousness of being so close to the ground wore off a tad.

I was impressed by the brakes on this bad boy. It has front and rear brakes, both connected to mechanisms on the left and right sides of the handlebar. I got up to max speed—about 15 miles per hour—and tried stopping as fast as possible. The bike does a great job braking at high speeds, though it does skid slightly.

Still, it’s good to know that you can brake quickly in case of an emergency. Slowing down at a more reasonable pace feels smooth, and as long as you’re paying attention to your surroundings, this braking experience will be the norm.

Making tight turns or U-turns is definitely something you should practice in a parking lot to get comfortable with. Because the motor automatically kicks on after you start pedaling, trying to U-turn from a static position feels unsafe because halfway through your turn, you jolt forward. You either have to use the remainder of your bike’s speed as it slows down or walk the bike through the turn, which only makes sense if you’re not on a busy street.

If your town is bike-friendly—with either bike lanes or people who are friendly to bikes riding in the car lane—then it’s probably okay to use in the streets. Otherwise, I’d stick to residential areas and bike-specific areas. The area I’m currently in doesn’t have a lot of bikers, so motorists aren’t always the most courteous and there aren’t many bike lanes.

There are a few other small tidbits worth noting from my riding experience. The horn works and will definitely catch someone’s attention, but it’s a super annoying sound. If you’ve ever heard the difference between a car horn and a motorcycle horn, it sounded closer to a motorcycle horn but more high-pitched and squeaky.

The bike has an IP54 water-resistant rating, which means you can ride it in light rain but shouldn’t ride it in heavy rain. Then, I went over quite a few bumps and patches of rough road while riding through my neighborhood. Overall, the bike handled everything flawlessly.