OK...here is info needed for the suspension fork upgrade. I'll give a quick shopping list followed by more details on everything below.
Quick list:
1. Pasak P35 20 inch suspension fork (
Pasak P35 20 inch air suspension fork on AliExpress)
2. Neco H185 Headset (
Neco H185 Headset on Ebay)
3. Spacer [OPTIONAL] (
Steerer tube threadless spacers)
4. Adjustable folding steam (
Adjustable folding bike stem)
More details:
1. Suspension fork: I used the Pasak P35 20 inch air suspension fork. This is an air shock and so far I think it's been working great. I'm not a bike guru...so I can't comment on the quality vs a high end name brand shock like RockShox, RST, etc...but I'm very pleased and works great for the purposes of this style of bike. You can buy these on ebay and aliexpress. I got mine from AliExpress.
I one one from here:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000589965001.html?spm=2114.12010612.8148356.18.7b011236ehqcSY
I wasn't super impressed with JKlapin Biking. Their communication was usually pretty delayed and they didn't ship the second shock. After finally shipping it, the shock was returned to sender for some reason...all in all, I wouldn't say that they should be avoided...but there was definitely room for improvement.
I got my second shock from here:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000138191431.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.527a4c4dujZwCD
Rubin bike doesn't have as much feedback...but my service was awesome from them! So maybe they are hungry being a newer merchant...but with my single purchase I was beyond happy.
It should be also noted, that the Pasak shock comes in an air and an oil variant. The oil variant is slightly cheaper...but should still work if you want a little less performance... For what it's worth, I'm almost certain the Rattan Fat Bear Plus ebike comes with the Pasak oil based suspension fork....downgrade from my air variant.
At the time, this appeared to be the only shock that worked which I could find reliably (20 inch, fat tire, etc). Now it appears there is one more shock, the RST Guide:
https://www.biktrix.com/products/rst-guide-fork
I can't comment on the RST shock as I just barely saw it a couple days ago. It's the shock found on Aventon Sinch bike.
2. Neco H185 Headset. This was my happiest discovery. After a bunch of searching, I finally figured out the exact headset used on the production Lectric XP...it's a Neco H184 headset (this should be true for production XP's...it may not be true for early prototypes as pictures I saw of those looked different than my headset). The nice thing is that the H184 and H185 are almost identical to each other. The H184 is a threaded headset and the H185 is the threadless version. So this works out great because I didn't have to change the cups in the steerer tube! Basically I just bought the H185 headset...but really only needed the crown race (simply because I didn't wanna take the old one off the original XP rigid fork), and the couple of parts at the top of the headset that are specific to threadless variant. You can get it here:
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fr...&_sacat=0&LH_TitleDesc=0&_osacat=0&_odkw=h185. I also found it on Amazon...but it comes and goes there.
3. Steerer tube threadless spacers. This part is COMPLETELY OPTIONAL and not needed at all. The only reason I got this was because I have commitment issues
Using a spacer allowed me the piece of mind that if I happened to cut my fork's steerer tube too short...I could remove the spacer and have a second/third chance, haha. This also could be a good option if anyone wants to raise their handlebars further...
4. Adjustable folding stem. The folding stem that comes on the Lectric XP is for a threaded fork and won't work with the threadless fork. So you need to swap that folding stem as well. There are potentially a bunch of different varieties that would work that can be found on ebay/amazon/aliexpress. I was trying to find one that folds to the right (same as original). I ultimately went with this one:
https://www.amazon.com/SENQI-Handlebar-Adjustable-Accessories-28-6×25-4×410mm/dp/B07D5S3HJ3/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=senqi+adjustable+stem&qid=1585596154&sr=8-3
It was available in black from Amazon when I bought mine, but I'm only seeing silver on Amazon now... You can also find the same stem on AliExpress:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32909662921.html?spm=a2g0s.8937460.0.0.2cf92e0e3cY1SK
There are other merchants on AliExpress that sale the same stem.
I don't like this stem quite as much as the original. The original utilized more welds and feels a bit more sturdy. This stem is not bad...I'd give it an 8/10 whereas the original would have been a 10/10. I did find what I think is our original stem but in a threadless version...but still digging into that. I'll update if I find more info on it.
And that's basically it. You really only need the 3 parts (4 if you want the spacer).
I'm finishing up a how-to video that I'll post on youtube to give step by step instructions. But it was all rather easy. You basically remove the old folding stem, take off brake/fender/light, remove the old fork, put on the new fork, put on brake/light, and put on the new folding stem.
Let me know what questions you have...
