FLX Trail 17.3Ah 27.5 hardtail...any thoughts?

[richj8990]

I originally wanted to get a hub drive conversion for my first e-bike. But never pulled the trigger due to many reasons. A lot of adapter problems on a bike never designed for the slightly wider hub, freewheel-based rear hubs (yuck), broken fork dropout problems with front hub motors, etc.

So I started looking at complete mid-drive hardtails. Over and over again online, the FLX Trail 27.5 bike just looks so nice to buy. It's between $1900-2200, depending on the battery size. 'Only' 350 watts, but 750 peak watt power and I think 350 watts is plenty, especially if the range is roughly 35 miles. Weight is around 50 lbs, 1-year warranty. Three drive modes: pedal only, pedal assist, full throttle. That's really important to me because I want to do pedal assist up inclines, throttle on fire roads, pedal only downhill. I don't want a half-assed one that's pedal assist all the time, that would be horrible. 1x9 drivetrain, 40t up front. Obviously you need e-power to go up inclines with that many teeth in the front chainring. I may modify that down to 28-30t later, and maybe add 2x.

Has anyone else rode/owned this bike, and what is your opinion of it? Is this 100% legal in California?

 

[WoodlandHills]

You will need to gear it so that the top speed on the flats on motor alone is 20mph. If the throttle is removed it will then be Class 1 legal, leave the throttle connected and it will be a Class 2. BTW, I have never heard of anywhere a Class 2 is legal to trail ride in CA, it's a Class 1 world out there if you want to be legal and you want to ride with bicycles and not dirt bikes.
I always unplugged my throttle when I entered the park and plugged it back in when I left, that way I could demonstrate it was inoperable if asked.

 

[richj8990]

It 'says' in the description that the throttle is limited to 20 mph to keep it class 1 in California. Maybe that's wrong...

 

[Zinfan]

That is wrong, a throttle assist bike limited to 20 mph is a Class 2 bike, only pedal assist bikes limited to 20 mph are Class 1.