S
Shenandoah Hank
Guest
I just hit 50 miles on the odometer and thought I'd share some feedback. I agree with most of the reviews on here that the XP has a few warts, such as the squeaky disk brakes. But it's everything all of the early YouTube reviews had said it would be -- great! I don't worry much about the odometer issues. I've had to adjust the brakes but other than that, it's been "plug and play" for me. I live in a rural, mountainous area. The roads I ride on are gravel roads, often with washboards and a lot of short, very steep grades, as well as some longer hills. I'd estimate that only about 20-25% of the roads are level stretches. The rest is varying degrees of hills. I don't go much over 12-16 mph on the unpaved roads. I did get the bike up to just over 28 mph on one paved downgrade, just to prove I could do it. I've also found that sticking to the slower PAS 1 & 2 allow me to "contribute" human power to the "cause," rather than just free-pedal while the motor does all the work. Plus the slower speeds allow me to enjoy the peaceful, backroads environment, rather than go blasting along, gripping the handlebars to maintain control. A couple of things I've gotten into: When I come to a stop at the end of the ride, I flip into PAS 0 as I approach where I plan to stop. I've found that the bike tends to want to "keep going" a few extra feet while the pedal sensor gets its lagging "stop" message. I've also been flipping into PAS 0 on long downgrades, because it just seems like a waste of battery power for power pedaling that always automatically kicks in if I pedal. But if I just try to coast, the power assist shuts down altogether and my cruising speed starts to really drop. So the back-and-forth between pedaling and coasting results in uneven cruising speed on the longer, level stretches. The XP does not seem to want to coast very easily, obviously due to the BFT road contact. But the occasional PAS 0 pedaling allows me to interact more with the bike, rather than just passively ride it like a moped. Obviously, it saves battery power too. And, I'm getting some exercise! I don't wear myself out on these bike trips, but always feel refreshed and energized after 5-9 miles on average. Finally, thanks to advice on here, I pay attention to the voltage level to monitor battery reserves, rather than to solely rely on the energy bar. While energy bar readings always seem to fluctuate in odd ways, I feel I get a better idea of the true state of the battery power reserve by monitoring the voltage level. All in all, I am happy with my bike. I'm sure better ones will come along in the same price range, but that's generally the nature of progress isn't it?
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. Would have cost me $300 more. Like you said earlier also it depends on what your usage is, I like having the rack, and the fenders especially, didn't think the fenders would be a big deal but my white bike is wiped out with dirt and mud, and that's just city riding and on some paved paths, after a rain your still going to find puddles that are impossible to avoid at times.
