I’ve had my Lectric XP for about 5 weeks and have ridden a good bit, about 430 miles. I wanted to offer up a few thoughts.
I’m riding 15 to 23 miles a ride, almost everyday that isn’t raining. I’ve had it out on the nice 50 degree days and out on the 20 degree days. Some wet roads, a little mud, a little snow.
Overall it’s a joy to ride. I expect I’ll continue with everyday rides for months to come. I work from home so these rides are for fun and exercise or to attend a meeting in town 8 miles away. At some point I’ll be doing all my grocery shopping with the XP too. I’ve outfitted it with collapsible WALD rear baskets which have already come in handy for lugging things around.
In terms of range, it’s been consistent at about 21 miles per charging cycle with 3 to 4 bars left over. But as we know, the top 50% of battery capacity is not equal to the bottom 50%. The battery lasts longer and has more power at the top 50%. The bars deplete more quickly and there’s less available power once I dip below the half-way mark. I think I could get 25 miles out of it, possibly 30.
Ride conditions... I pedal fairly hard, 99% of the time. So this is not throttle. My initial 2 weeks were PAS 2, the last 3 weeks have been more PAS 3. I weigh in at 175 but have added 10 - 12 lbs of stuff to the bike: baskets, back rack pack, a heavy-duty chain lock, Thudbuster seatpost, tool kit, full water bottle. 85% paved road, 15% gravel, tires generally at 23 to 30psi. Some hilly terrain, about 930ft elevation gain, same elevation loss for my usual route. A good bit of wind for some of my rides.
The fenders take care of about 95% of the water and slop but I do get a bit of spray from both tires. My back rack bag has gotten a bit yucked up but nothing too terrible. No way I’d go without fenders. The bike has done great on the few patches of snow I’ve encountered. Nothing to deep or extensive, I’m looking forward to the time I can take it out on a few inches to see how it handles. It handles fairly well on our gravel road which ranges from very thin gravel to dirt to patches with too much gravel.
No flats yet but I’ve slimed both tires and upon inspection did find a small thorn that had poked through the tire. Luckily it had not poked through the tube. We have lots of wild blackberries in this are so I’m being careful anytime I go off road which I’m generally not doing anyway.
Riding on pavement feels pretty fast and stable at 18 to 20 which is where I seem to average when I’m at PAS 3 on flat-ish ground. I’ve got one fairly steep uphill/downhill which the bike handles very well in both directions. I feel safe coming down that at about 28 to 29mph.
When I cycled in Memphis 20 years ago I rode 100+ miles a week on a mountain bike and a road bike, both with lower handlebars in a more aggressive position. It’s nice having the adjustable handlebar height. I can move it up easily if I just want a casual, comfortable cruising position but I can easily move it down to the bottom for the more aggressive position.
Longer rides? Back to the topic of range, I feel very confident taking this to town and back which is about 16 miles round trip. I’ve always got plenty of battery for that. That said, I’ve got access to lots of quiet county roads for recreational riding. I could easily see myself going out to ride for 2 to 4 hours, taking a break in the middle and covering more like 45 to 50 miles. That’s not going to happen on the XP though. Well, not with one battery.
So, I find myself considering the purchase of a second battery or perhaps adding a second, longer range bike for those longer rides. I suspect with the the nicer weather of spring and fall I’ll likely want the option to go out for those longer rides. Anyone else bumping up to that constraint and wanting to reliably get 45+ miles? Looking around it mostly seems that bikes in the $1,000 to $2,000 range are in the same range expectation which makes sense give they all generally use the same tech and weigh the same 55 to 75lbs.... but that’s really another topic so I’ll stop!