I took my Lectric XP e-bike on its shakedown run today. I got it a few months ago but haven't had the chance to really take it for a spin until today.

I live in Montgomery County, PA and took the bike on the Cross County Trail over to the Schuykill River Trail. The parts I was on today are paved but in quite a few places the asphalt is buckled from tree roots. Other sections of the SRT are gravel.


I kept the trip relatively short because it's been a few years since I've been on a bike and I'm not exactly in great shape. I covered 11.8 miles, mostly withe the pedal assist level set to 1 or 2, although I did ride a little with it set on 3.


Overall I'm pleased with the bike but I'm going to replace the saddle with one from Cloud 9 that should be more comfortable. I'm also going to replace the factory pedals with mountain bike pedals. The OEM pedals are a bit slippery and small.


The Lectric XP isn't suitable for heavy duty off road use but it'll be good for riding the rails-to-trails paths in my area.


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Nice bike. I am looking as well. We do regular riding, but an electric would be nice for applications things or even when running errands around town that would be to much on my pedal bike.

I am having paralysis analysis right now. There are so many offerings and it seems like new companies pop up everyday. I want fast tire and am looking at a few different ones

What is "pedal assist"? The price tag isn't too horrendous over a decent mountain bike, so I'm curious. They claim a 45 mile range, how did your batteries hold up?

Pedal assist engages the electric motor in the rear hub at various levels when you are pedaling. Pedal assist 0 is no assist, on up to PA5 where the bike tops out at about 20 - 21 MPH. It also has a throttle. If you use that it's basically like riding an electric moped.

I made a few mods yesterday: added a water bottle holder, replaced the OEM pedals with some inexpensive mountain bike pedals which are larger and grippier, and replaced the saddle with a cushioned and vented one from Cloud 9. I also used duct tape to black out the loud logos on the down tube.

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IMO, a 45 mile range is going to optimistic unless you stick to PA1, are on flat terrain, and are a light rider. I'm riding on some mild hills, tend to run in PA2 or 3, and weigh a bit over 200 lbs. I did 18.8 miles today, starting with the battery fully charged at around 54 volts. At the end of the ride it was down to 47.3V.

Edit to add:

When these tires wear out I'll probably replace them with semi-slicks, which will have less rolling resistance and be quieter.

Also, AIUI, Lectric is running several months behind in orders now due to demand and supply chain issues.

Nice write up, sir.  

How well designed is the folding hinge?

Thanks. It's solid, not slop at all.

My bike has much more modest specs (250w, 36v 8Ah) but I've found that I am smarter than the computer when it comes to saving battery.

I did 20 miles pulling a trailer on mine and used the twist grip throttle to dial in power as needed. Ended up going 20 miles over a mix of hilly and flat ground and still had battery to spare (4 bars out of 5)

I did 10 miles pulling the same trailer with a similar load on almost flat ground using pedal assist and ended up burning through my whole battery on that trip. Problem is, PA on my bike kicks in at full throttle until you get up to 11 mph (on the lowest setting).

I find that using the twist grip, I can "feather" in partial throttle and save a bunch of power. YMMV, but worth a try.

I've been putting some miles on the bike. I put the original saddle back on it after trying the wider Cloud 9 saddle on a couple rides. I also replaced the factory panniers with an inexpensive 13L rack trunk off Amazon. I don't need the capacity of the panniers and the rack trunk is more streamlined.

Today I did around 22 miles, my longest ride to date. I did it mostly on PAS2 but kicked it up to PAS3 for about the last 5 miles because my butt was getting sore. The battery was at about 60% when I finished my ride.

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And when I got home...

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My RadRover has been indispensable in my backcountry scouting this spring and summer. Half the forest roads here in VA are closed to motorized traffic, but bike and foot traffic is still allowed and the forest service hasn't cracked down on ebikes yet. Getting back into areas that people haven't hunted in years most likely even here in VA.

Ebikes are great. We are currently camping and brought one along. I ride my mountain bike (with trailer for my old dog) and my woman rides the ebike. Yeah, but at this time she wouldn't be riding anywhere without an ebike. Hopefully later she will move up to a pedal bike but hey, ya gotta start somewhere.

I hit 100 miles on the Lectric yesterday. I would have done so sooner but I've mostly been riding my Nishiki Maricopa road bike recently. Yesterday it was hot and a week since I'd been on any of my bikes, so I took the Lectric so I'd have the power assist in case I bonked out on the ride. I did 12.6 miles, which got me to the century mark.

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Tagscribe for interest.  Burnt out on guns and have all of my grail items, and this e-bike caught my attention in another thread.  

65 pounds doesn't sound great, though, and I had another bike stolen out of my apartments bike rack, so storing it somewhere else is a necessity.  Folding seems like a possible solution.

ETA:  could you get some good pictures of the rear axle area?  My use case might involve pulling a kid in a trailer, and the pedal assist seems like it would be handy on those hills, but only if the attachment mechanism works with how it's all set up.

Tagging in also.

We have game lands across the road from our cabin, but there is no where to park that you will not get towed. I checked out the RadWagon 4. That might just be perfect to buzz over to turkey/ deer hunt. Mostly paved road for 1/4 mile then dirt fire trails

Edit: How hard is it to access battery- can you swap it in the field?

The battery is contained in the main frame tube. You can unfold the bike and pull it out. You can charge it in or out of the bike. It is secured inside the bike by a key that also serves as the "ignition." It's mounted on the underside of the bike. IMO it's a bit inconvenient so I just leave it on the "on" position all the time and have it dummy corded to the bike. I use the handlebar mounted control button to actually turn the bike on or off. You could remove the key if you need to leave the bike somewhere.

Here are some detail pics:

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Here's the hinge and latch that lets you fold the handlebars:

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Awesome pictures, thanks!

The latches that secure the hinges feel solid/like real metal, or do they feel like powdered or sintered chinesium?

NP.

They feel pretty solid as does the lockup.

Pardon my complete ignorance on ebikes but are you required to pedal them or can you just sit on one and let the electric motor do all the work? My wife and I are both retired and these would be fun to ride around our retirement community, instead of a golf cart. However, she has hip issues and can't ride a normal bicycle.

It depends on the bike. The Lectric has a throttle and can be ridden without pedaling.

Thanks, I really like the Electric 2.0 and am seriously thinking about ordering a pair of them, for the wife and I.

How different is riding this e-bike with such small wheels from riding your road bike (with what I assume are larger, more "normal" wheels)?  More/less stable, etc?

My road bike has 700c (70cm) diameter wheels, and my mountain bike has 26" wheels. They roll over bumps and obstacles more smoothly than the Lectric's 20" wheels. Handling on the Lectric is more skittish than the mountain bike because the handlebars are narrower on the e-bike. Some owners change out the bars for wider ones, and I've seen some Lectrics modded with a shorter stem and BMX-style bars to improve handling.

OP: is This is the new XP 2.0 or the previous generation?

I've had one of the 2.0's on back order for my wife for a while I bought a Yamee XL and got it in just a couple days, but most ebikes are back ordered.

(Yamee is a folding fat tire 20, I can put it in the back of my truck and go on adventures. It's pretty darn fast throttle only up to 30mph or so.)

There are three classes of ebikes. Some only give you an assist or boost while you're pedalling. Some will operate with throttle-only just like a little electric motorcycle AND/OR pedal assist AND/OR you can just ride it like a normal bike with no motor assist.

most like the Lectric, are "class 2" Which means they'll go at least 20 miles an hour on throttle alone/no pedalling needed, or if you want them to go faster you have to pedal and motor kicks in to assist at the same time.

Mine is a v1.0. I ordered in in late January and got it about 3 weeks later. There's a much longer lead time now.

IMO, Lectric made a good choice on the 2.0 to go to narrower, street-oriented tires but the front suspension will add weight and complexity, and I'm suspicious of the quality on a bike at this price point.

About what in particular?  That the suspension might be garbage, that the battery might be garbage..?

If I took the plunge on this, it would be the most expensive bike my family has purchased in a while.

I am suspicious of the quality of the suspension fork on a bike at this price point.

AIUI, the battery is the same on the 2.0 as the 1.0.

I guess I'll find out; just placed my order.

And now I wait

Cool, please post a review after you receive it.

Will do, if it gets here before winter what with how long it might take to ship

Honestly, your review and pictures were part of the deciding factor, since it looks like I'll be able to use it with my kiddo trailer.  Should be fun next year once my youngest can more reliably hold up his head.  

But I'm also looking forward to being really invested in getting off my ass and getting outdoors and getting some more exercise.  This is a decently large pull out of my available "gun fund", but I already own so much useful and grail gun stuff, I needed something different to do.  And this will allow me to push myself a bit more, knowing that it'll reserve some extra oomph to help me get back home after longer and longer bike rides.

ETA: Regular black XP 2.0, not one of those step through designs.  Claims to ship in 4 weeks, but many reviews indicate it's closer to 12.  Oh well, I'm hoping that on the cheap/fast/good scale, that I picked cheap/good.

If you want a little more zip.  Check out Segways c260https://store.segway.com/segway-dirt-ebike-x260

Received it today, just under a month from ordering.  Plugged in the battery, had to keep working & haven't gotten it out of the box yet.  

I'll update after I get a chance to unfold it after work & hopefully take it for a test ride before it gets dark.

ETA:  unfolded it, aired up the tires.  Seems bigger in person than it looked in pictures.  No chance to ride it yet, because the battery is still charging and the family needed me.  Fingers crossed for tomorrow.

Awesome. Looking forward to your impressions.

I got in 4.5 miles after work today. It's just what I need, I think.  

It seems pretty robust.  I think my front brakes rub slightly during the rotation and need a tweak, and I need to put a little more air in the tires; nothing major.  Over the weekend I'll try to Mount up the receiver for the kid trailer, to be able to take one of the kids along while I try to get some exercise (and to give mom a break).  

I didn't buy it to "cheat bike", but the pedal assist helped me go from "just how out of shape I really am" to "just how out of shape I thought I would be".    A bit eye opening after not riding for about a year (due to family health reasons, and then my bike got stolen, etc.).  

That little extra bit of help on PAS1 was great, and I used PAS2 going up a hump on the way back.  It was nice to be able to pedal my way up when I was otherwise worn out to the point that previously I might've been tempted to walk it up, or just plain not go for a ride; after work and then kids, sometimes finding the energy to go back out can be hard, and this will definitely help.

The folding thing will help for storage, as I'm an apartment dweller.  And I'll keep it in a bit more secure location than the apartment bike rack, where my last bike got stolen

Before taking it out on a "rails to trails" path, when I was getting used to it, I tried out the strongest pedal assist, and then the throttle.  It's definitely got some pep!

While going up some steeper grades, I had to come to a stop before merging onto the trail, and damn near fell backwards ass over teakettle; something about the ride height vs. wheel size is just different enough from what I'm used to that I'll have to make sure to not stop on a steep grade.  (I read elsewhere online of a guy who fell backwards on his and broke his arm).

The speedometer is nice to have, as now I know exactly how fast I'm comfortable going; I currently have no intention of swapping it from class 2 to class 3, as 20 MPH is plenty fast enough for where I ride.  (If I wanted to go faster I would've bought a scooter or a moped, but that's me).

It's got me excited to get out and ride again, and will allow me to push myself to go "just a little bit farther" at places where before I would've previously wanted to turn around to make sure my out of shape ass could still get home

ETA:  I would love to hear about your experience with the Cloud 9 seat; the factory unit was noticeably stiff, and the cloud 9s get good reviews.

Glad you're liking it so far.

From what I've observed and read, the speedometer and odometer are a bit off when set to miles. Supposedly they are more accurate when set to metric. I use Cyclemeter on my iPhone, which is GPS-based, and it differs from what the bike says by a few percent.

The Cloud 9 seat did not work for me. I couldn't get it to a comfortable angle so I felt like I wasn't able to sit far enough back on it. But a lot of Lectric owners like them. Everyone's butt is different. I put the original seat back on and just use padded bike shorts when I ride. I might try a Serfas gel saddle like I have on my old Trek 820. I think the narrower shape (compared to the Cloud 9) will work better for me.

I got in another 7.5 miles this morning before breakfast.  Still a fun bike, still good at helping me overcome some issues and get out/get some exercise.  Granted, dropping $1k on a bike is also a solid motivator to use the thing .

Did the first 1/3 without any pedal assist, used the first pedal assist setting on the second 1/3 due to a long graded hill, and used PAS2 on the last 1/3 because my butt was getting sore.  Only used the throttle for a few seconds right near home just for giggles, and again to un-ass myself from an area with some vehicular traffic.  Between the other day and today, the battery still shows full bars on the display, even after 11 miles.

Here's a pic of my bike, where you can see it's more of a super dark navy blue than a true black like yours, OP:


I shamelessly bought the same rear bike rack bag and water bottle holder, but the bottle holder doesn't work as well with the slightly redesigned handlebars.  The suspension is good enough for some light "relatively level ground"/non-track riding, but I wouldn't try to take it on any mountain biking trails.

Definitely a fun purchase that I'll get more use out of than many of my guns, much more often, and will help get me in some degree of shape.  Or at least less round, because round is still a shape

This adapter:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BVDYB74?tag=arfcom00-20

might be a better option for holding the water bottle.

You'd clamp it to the handlebar, stem, or seatpost, then attach a standard bike water bottle holder to it.

Edit: Stupid hotlink feature not working. WTF.

I hit 100 miles today, in a 10 mile ride before work.  Not bad in less than a month of getting back into it.  Still trying to minimize use of the PAS features, but I will admit to using PAS3 on the way back home sometimes to make sure I arrive in time, and occasionally PAS1 or 2 on the way out to help get over some steeper hills on the way out.

I also bought a portable tire refiller thing that fills to PSI.  Turns out that I had grossly underinflated the tires (due to filling them to about where felt right on a regular, non-fat tire bike), and it rides much, much better when they're actually at the right PSI .

The front suspension is OK enough for rough/cracked gravel, and the occasional off path jaunt to pass people on the bike trail who don't know how to shift gears and/or not occupy the entire trail at once.  So it does what I need it to do.

I also bought a 3d printed cover for the display to help protect it from the rain/from my own stupidity.  So far so good.

Thanks for this thread, OP.

Glad you're enjoying it!