Trek XM700+ vs Super Commuter+ 7 (2018)

[ebikecali]

Hi everyone,
I decided to buy an electric bike and did a couple of test rides and research. I live in Southern California and I am looking for a commuting bike - my commute is around 14 miles one way - and I am currently choosing between the following 2 bikes:
Trek Super Commuter+7 (2018) & XM700+ (2018)
The XM700+ is a Class 3 e-bike and has a speed of 28mph. The Super Commuter+7 is a great Class 1 electric bike, has a speed of 20mph and larger tires. The price of both bikes is almost the same.

My main worries about the XM700+ are:
- Battery Range
- Class 3 might not be allowed on some or all bike trails
- I read in some reviews that the XM700+ did not have many or any changes since its launch in 2016.

I would really love to hear the inputs from you and your experience in regards to these 2 bikes (+ if you have any recommendations for other bikes). Does the 28mph vs 20mph make a big difference when commuting? I am planning to make my purchase during this week (Happy 4th of July )

 

[Saratoga Dave]

I’m sitting in the ER with my mother waiting to be seen in the middle of the night, so what better opportunity to weigh in on this:

I have 4200 miles on my XM700 now and absolutely love it, but between these two I would have to go with the SC7. You do lose the higher speed, but you trade that for an extra cog on the cassette, a 42 as opposed to the 36 on the XM700. Between that and the cx motor, it will climb damn near anything.

Add those nice big tires and the extra battery size and it’s a pretty easy decision. That 400 power pack battery is the source of constant range anxiety to me. I’d love to have the 500.

Trek and Bosch are a damn good combination whichever way you go, though.

 

[John from Connecticut]

I’m sitting in the ER with my mother waiting to be seen in the middle of the night, so what better opportunity to weigh in on this:

I have 4200 miles on my XM700 now and absolutely love it, but between these two I would have to go with the SC7. You do lose the higher speed, but you trade that for an extra cog on the cassette, a 42 as opposed to the 36 on the XM700. Between that and the cx motor, it will climb damn near anything.

Add those nice big tires and the extra battery size and it’s a pretty easy decision. That 400 power pack battery is the source of constant range anxiety to me. I’d love to have the 500.

Trek and Bosch are a damn good combination whichever way you go, though.

Hello, Like Dave I have an XM700 and absolutely love my bike as well. I also have a Trek Powerfly7 hardtail which is similar to the SC7. The
Powerfly 7 is such a joy too ride. I wouldn't trade it for anything. As Dave mentioned the CX motor will climb anything. The torque range is quite wide. I do wish it didn't have the Class 2 limitation. I'd like a couple of extra mph, but other then that the bike is fantastic and Treks' service and support after the sale great...very prompt.

 

[Nova Haibike]

I would instead suggest the Trek Police bike.

 

[ebikecali]

I would instead suggest the Trek Police bike.

That's very interesting. This bike is not listed under the electric bikes section on the Trek website and it is my first time seeing it. Also it says "Product is only available in-store" so I will check with the local retailers.

 

[ebikecali]

I’m sitting in the ER with my mother waiting to be seen in the middle of the night, so what better opportunity to weigh in on this:

I have 4200 miles on my XM700 now and absolutely love it, but between these two I would have to go with the SC7. You do lose the higher speed, but you trade that for an extra cog on the cassette, a 42 as opposed to the 36 on the XM700. Between that and the cx motor, it will climb damn near anything.

Add those nice big tires and the extra battery size and it’s a pretty easy decision. That 400 power pack battery is the source of constant range anxiety to me. I’d love to have the 500.

Trek and Bosch are a damn good combination whichever way you go, though.

Thank you @Saratoga Dave for your valuable inputs. I totally agree with the extra cog on the cassette + CX Motor and the 500 Battery will make a big difference.

I hope your mother gets well soon

 

[ebikecali]

Hello, Like Dave I have an XM700 and absolutely love my bike as well. I also have a Trek Powerfly7 hardtail which is similar to the SC7. The
Powerfly 7 is such a joy too ride. I wouldn't trade it for anything. As Dave mentioned the CX motor will climb anything. The torque range is quite wide. I do wish it didn't have the Class 2 limitation. I'd like a couple of extra mph, but other then that the bike is fantastic and Treks' service and support after the sale great...very prompt.

Awesome! Thank you @John from Connecticut for your confirmation. I really like the SC7 and might trade the extra speed for all the other specs.

 

[WilliamT]

My vote would be for the SC7. One of the people at work has an SC8 and it looks stunning in person.

 

[ebikecali]

My vote would be for the SC7. One of the people at work has an SC8 and it looks stunning in person.

Thank you @WilliamT
I was only considering the XM700+ because of the 28mph motor but it seems that I might gain only a couple of extra mph and lose all the other advantages if the SC7

 

[Saratoga Dave]

I think the police bike is terrific - what the hell, I’m a retired cop - but you’re expressly looking for a commuter and the aptly named SC is the full package right out of the box, with lights, fenders, appropriate tires and some sort of rack. Right tool for the job.

 

[Ravi Kempaiah]

That's very interesting. This bike is not listed under the electric bikes section on the Trek website and it is my first time seeing it. Also it says "Product is only available in-store" so I will check with the local retailers.

The Police bike comes with a very nice set of features. Just add fenders and lights and you're still within $4K mark but have a very capable commuter that has the 95% of the specifications of SC 8+.

 

[John from Connecticut]

I would instead suggest the Trek Police bike.

I was curious about the Trek Police eBike and asked my LBS to check. Trek uses the XM700+ Bosch Performance Line
motor in the Police bike thus Class 3. My LBS actually checked part numbers of both motors and they match. I guess Trek
feels law enforcement needs more speed and less torque as supplied by the CX motor, which makes sense.

 

[yogaheathen]

I thought the police bike looked perfect, so I rode a Powerfly to figure out what size to order. Its mountain bike geometry is very different from the that of the SC or XM700. It’s noticeably longer, with a more stretched out, aggressive riding position. I’m long-legged and short-waisted, so the only way I could imagine getting a good fit would’ve been to go down a frame size and swap the handlebars for narrower ones with considerable rise and some sweep. That would’ve required a fair bit of trial and error, so sadly, I had to rule it out.

 

[Trail Cruiser]

I thought the police bike looked perfect, so I rode a Powerfly to figure out what size to order. Its mountain bike geometry is very different from the that of the SC or XM700. It’s noticeably longer, with a more stretched out, aggressive riding position. I’m long-legged and short-waisted, so the only way I could imagine getting a good fit would’ve been to go down a frame size and swap the handlebars for narrower ones with considerable rise and some sweep. That would’ve required a fair bit of trial and error, so sadly, I had to rule it out.

You don't have to do a trial and error. Just copy the geometry of your XM in relation to seat height, handle bar height, and the distance between seat and handlebar grip (+ the grip angle, if that's also important for you).

 

[John from Connecticut]

I thought the police bike looked perfect, so I rode a Powerfly to figure out what size to order. Its mountain bike geometry is very different from the that of the SC or XM700. It’s noticeably longer, with a more stretched out, aggressive riding position. I’m long-legged and short-waisted, so the only way I could imagine getting a good fit would’ve been to go down a frame size and swap the handlebars for narrower ones with considerable rise and some sweep. That would’ve required a fair bit of trial and error, so sadly, I had to rule it out.

Hello, I have a TrekXM 700+ and a Trek Powerfly 7 Hardtail. I switch back and fourth. The PF 7 on Rails to Trails gravel and some pavement. The XM 700, the opposite mix. I worked with my LBS setting up the XM 700 to my liking, we set up the PF7 to be as close as practical to the XM 700. I changed both stems to suite my back. I liked the stock XM700 handle bars so I found replacements with a similar sweep for my Powerfly 7.

(Link Removed - No Longer Exists)

Bottom line, my bikes are similar enough in fit for me that the unique riding joy each offers more then compensates for any minor adjustments I experience going from one bike to another. I love both bikes and ride each of them all the time. I hope this was helpful.

 

[ebikecali]

*Update*
Hello everyone, I went on the weekend to test ride both bikes and do a final comparison. I chose the speed and bought the Trek XM700+
Thank you all for your feedback and inputs. SC7 is an awesome bike but I think the extra mph will save me some time on my commute.

 

[John from Connecticut]

*Update*
Hello everyone, I went on the weekend to test ride both bikes and do a final comparison. I chose the speed and bought the Trek XM700+
Thank you all for your feedback and inputs. SC7 is an awesome bike but I think the extra mph will save me some time on my commute.

Hello ebikecali, Congratulations on your Trek XM700+ eBike. Excellent choice ! I have and ride an XM700+ near daily and love it. I'm approaching 2000 miles.

If I may , a couple of thoughts. The Schwalbe stock tires are fine , but not well suited to tight gravel rail to trails type riding ( per the Schwalbe website ) . I do ride some rail to trail plus I wanted tires that were at 'flatproof' as possible, so I swapped out the original tires for a set of
Schwalabes' Marathon Plus and I've been very pleased......

https://www.schwalbetires.com/bike_tires/road_tires/Marathon_Plus_HS440

I thought the XM 700+ was (is) very stiff and felt like I was sitting on a stump. I have back pain so I installed a Cirrus Body Float Seat Post.
The Cirrus Body Float made all the difference in the world ! It's not cheap, but a lot cheaper then back surgery

https://cirruscycles.com/

If I can help further you may contact me at [email protected]. All the best with your new eBike.

John from CT

 

[ebikecali]

Hello ebikecali, Congratulations on your Trek XM700+ eBike. Excellent choice ! I have and ride an XM700+ near daily and love it. I'm approaching 2000 miles.

If I may , a couple of thoughts. The Schwalbe stock tires are fine , but not well suited to tight gravel rail to trails type riding ( per the Schwalbe website ) . I do ride some rail to trail plus I wanted tires that were at 'flatproof' as possible, so I swapped out the original tires for a set of
Schwalabes' Marathon Plus and I've been very pleased......

https://www.schwalbetires.com/bike_tires/road_tires/Marathon_Plus_HS440

I thought the XM 700+ was (is) very stiff and felt like I was sitting on a stump. I have back pain so I installed a Cirrus Body Float Seat Post.
The Cirrus Body Float made all the difference in the world ! It's not cheap, but a lot cheaper then back surgery

https://cirruscycles.com/

If I can help further you may contact me at [email protected]. All the best with your new eBike.

John from CT

Thank you so much John for the recommendations. I am very excited to start riding my bike to work. Yesterday, I did around 13 miles and yes, I can see that the seat upgrade will help a lot. Also, I was planning to change the tires to a flatproof tire once they wear out.

I was also looking to change the handlebars and received a couple of interesting recommendations on this thread: Handlebars for e-Bikes

 

[John from Connecticut]

Thank you so much John for the recommendations. I am very excited to start riding my bike to work. Yesterday, I did around 13 miles and yes, I can see that the seat upgrade will help a lot. Also, I was planning to change the tires to a flatproof tire once they wear out.

I was also looking to change the handlebars and received a couple of interesting recommendations on this thread: Handlebars for e-Bikes

You're welcome. Of course nearly all of the posted suggestions are based on personal preference. Regarding the seat post change , my 'need' to change was out of necessity, I was seriously considering returning my XM700 because of it's stiffness. The Cirrus Body Float saved the day aka bike.... : )

A thought on the stock handle bars. Unless they are painfully uncomfortable I'd ride the bike as is for brief period just to get a good 'feel' for it before changing the bars. For me the stock bars are perfect, but that's me. I did change the stem for a greater rise and shorter reach for a more upright riding position to aid the pain in my lower back. If you haven't done so I'd give serious consideration to a professional bike fit by a skilled/trained fitter at your LBS. I rode my XM700 for brief period and then went in for a fitting. When we were finished it felt like a completely different bike ( for the good) Good luck, enjoy and again congratulations on a fine bike.