The same bike can be used for fun recreational riding, city commuting, trail riding, or grocery shopping. Lectric Ebikes recently expanded into larger territory with the launch of the new Lectric XPeak. It’s the company’s first e-bike with a larger than 20″ wheel size, bringing some chunky 26×4.0″ tires into the company’s inventory. Once you bump up above the $1,000 limit, you start to see many more great options for e-bikes in a wide range of categories. The $849 Propella Mini almost looks a bit odd at first glance, but the quirky proportions result in a super nimble and lightweight e-bike.
And don’t forget the slim fenders, front basket, and cruiser bars that all look super elegant, complimenting the nice lines of the Turbo Como SL. Check out my full in-depth review of the RadWagon 4 e-cargo bike here. The battery is a bit smaller at 36V and 10Ah, but the bike makes up for a smaller battery by being able to integrate it into the frame in a sleek and attractive package. While it’s not the nicest cargo e-bike on the market, it’s definitely the best bang for your buck thanks to a combination of high value parts and reasonable pricing. It’s hard to find a better combination of low cost and high performance anywhere in the e-bike market right now.
It uses the same motor as the CSC FT1000MD we featured above (the Bafang M620 mid-drive), but cranks up the current to provide closer to 1,500W of power. When it comes to all-wheel-drive electric bikes, the $3,299 Ariel Rider Grizzly is one of my favorites. The Tern Quick Haul features a mid-drive Bosch motor, hydraulic disc brakes, Tern’s vertical parking rack, and a relatively lightweight but high utility design that is meant to carry just about anything in your life.
The real stars of the show were the grips, which were super comfortable, amazingly durable, had integrated bar ends, and were designed to be rotated with wear, which is unusual for lock-on grips. As for the dropper, I fiddled with it a few times at the start but otherwise just got it out of the way so I could ride. The dropper is designed for super quick and easy bleeding, which refreshingly takes significantly less time to do in reality than it takes to watch the 18-second video on their website about it. I’ve always been a fan of Dresden-based Acto5 and their absurd CNC-machined frames.
Plus you can capture all of your ride footage on the bike instead of bringing along a Go-Pro camera. The bike rolls on 20″ moto-style wheels and comes with nice parts including hydraulic disc brakes, a bench seat, dual suspension, and a big moto-style headlight. The lighting is ultra bright and it features other nice parts like powerful hydraulic disc brakes and an included rack/fender setup.
After a few trips out to various trail-heavy bits of woods, I just started riding it as much as possible on anything to get a feel for it and the way it moves, and in a way, it became exciting for all the right reasons. On the SRD, I could pretty much ride anything that exists locally, which I hadn’t experienced hyper mountain bike before. A set of steps or a broken slipway, the bit of woods between one path and another or any section of landscaping in a public park. I’d expected to have to make huge efforts to get the best out of the SRD, but what surprised me in the long run the most was how useful the bike became.