Lectric One

[Smaug]

On the subject of gears, I've recently noticed a new drive unit fitted to the ADO Air Pro 28 and Pro 20 ebikes. It's a new Bafang hub motor with two gears and it changes between high and low ratios automatically. I haven't been able to find much about it yet, and while it doesn't look too exciting in this ADO implementation, in theory the potential of a good hub drive with variable gears, even if it only has two ratios, would really put the cat among the mid-motor pigeons. https://www.adoebike.com/en-gb/pages/air-pro

That has nothing to do with this thread.

 

[HoppyUK]

That has nothing to do with this thread.

That's debatable, but if you want to be picky it's no less relevant than half the other posts here about this other bike and that, including your own contributions. On the other hand, this rather quiet forum needs all the new posts it can get.

 

[Smaug]

That's debatable, but if you want to be picky it's no less relevant than half the other posts here about this other bike and that, including your own contributions.

I try to stay on topic, but point taken.

On the other hand, this rather quiet forum needs all the new posts it can get.

I used to think the same thing, and I joined another forum. (bikeforums.net) that has a lot more traffic. But there are so many people there, one doesn't get to know a fellow as readily. The General forum is full of very rude people who are just waiting to bully and berate a guy publicly to get Likes from the other insecure people with the mob mentality.

The moderators and admin have time to keep things in line here. and Human Person at least seems to read every post!

Going by the New Member Introductions subfora, this forum is growing more slowly, but still growing.

Stick around awhile and see if you change your opinion.

There is a rather active subreddit on eBikes, but it seems like every other post is "I'm a newby, what bike should I buy?" For some reason, the newbies there put just about zero effort into learning things themselves. There are a couple of good Facebook Groups too.

 

[Hoggdoc]

Has anyone purchased the new Lectric One?

It looks similar to the XP3, but with many different features.

It has a belt drive opposed to a chain!

It has a gear box in the pedal area which can be configured to ‘automatic’!

When you stop pedaling it changes gears according to your speed and PAS!!

It also has a configuration that makes it go crazy fast!

I own an EXP3 which meets all my needs, and this Lectric One is really a commuter IMHO!

I am retired and have no commuting agenda and when I do go to stores I ride my Denago City 1 bike!

Would love to hear some feedback and opinions!

I'm sure we all will like to hear your likes and dislikes once you have the bike and put some miles on it. It sure does look like a bargain with that pinion gear set at the crank level. I would kinda like to see them come out with an actual mid drive with the gear set which pinion makes but that's pretty pricey.

 

[Hoggdoc]

Leehop, I don’t think you should worry about getting a bigger chainring. Lots of people want this to be able to “keep up” with the motor at higher speeds. However, when you see that your paltry amount of pedaling power is maybe 2% of the total, you’ll realize that being able to pedal the bike 100% in case of battery exhaustion is more important than “keeping up with the motor” at over 25 mph.

If you want to go faster than you can meaningfully pedal, just ghost pedal or use throttle, secure in the knowledge that you wouldn’t be contributing much anyway. Otherwise, just slow down a bit.

True, but with some of the bikes you have to pedal to get max performance out of the motor. So many mfg's are limiting the speed to 20 Mph on throttle. My Himiway has full power on throttle which I like, but newer bikes even of the same make a model have throttle speed limited, don't know why they do that.....

 

[HumanPerson]

I try to stay on topic, but point taken.


I used to think the same thing, and I joined another forum. (bikeforums.net) that has a lot more traffic. But there are so many people there, one doesn't get to know a fellow as readily. The General forum is full of very rude people who are just waiting to bully and berate a guy publicly to get Likes from the other insecure people with the mob mentality.

The moderators and admin have time to keep things in line here. and Human Person at least seems to read every post!

Going by the New Member Introductions subfora, this forum is growing more slowly, but still growing.

Stick around awhile and see if you change your opinion.

There is a rather active subreddit on eBikes, but it seems like every other post is "I'm a newby, what bike should I buy?" For some reason, the newbies there put just about zero effort into learning things themselves. There are a couple of good Facebook Groups too.

Thank you for the kind words

 

[Smaug]

True, but with some of the bikes you have to pedal to get max performance out of the motor. So many mfg's are limiting the speed to 20 Mph on throttle. My Himiway has full power on throttle which I like, but newer bikes even of the same make a model have throttle speed limited, don't know why they do that.....

It's to stay within US eBike class limits. None of the three eBike classes allows motor assist above 20 mph. Above that, we are in Moped or Motor-driven Cycle territory.

The Memorandum defines an e-bike as “a two- or three-wheeled cycle with fully operable pedals and an electric motor of less than 750 watts that provides propulsion assistance.” This definition is consistent with the definition of “low speed electric bicycle” in the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2085) and the definition of “electric bicycle” in the laws governing the Federal Aid Highway Program (23 U.S.C. 217(j)(2), except that the definition in the Memorandum does not include requirements from those statutes that an e-bike may not exceed 100 pounds or reach 20 mph when powered solely by the motor. Instead, the Memorandum, consistent with the Secretary's Order and many states that have promulgated regulations for e-bikes, refers to a three-class system that limits the maximum assisted speed of an e-bike:


• Class 1 electric bicycle means an electric bicycle equipped with a motor that provides assistance only when the rider is pedaling, and that ceases to provide assistance when the bicycle reaches the speed of 20 miles per hour.

• Class 2 electric bicycle means an electric bicycle equipped with a motor that may be used exclusively to propel the bicycle, and that is not capable of providing assistance when the bicycle reaches the speed of 20 miles per hour.

• Class 3 electric bicycle means an electric bicycle equipped with a motor that provides assistance only when the rider is pedaling, and that ceases to provide assistance when the bicycle reaches the speed of 28 miles per hour.

Source: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/11/02/2020-22129/general-provisions-electric-bicycles

...and yes, I think it's stupid to cap throttle speed to 20 mph but allow ghost pedaling up to 28 mph.

 

[leehop71]

True, but with some of the bikes you have to pedal to get max performance out of the motor. So many mfg's are limiting the speed to 20 Mph on throttle. My Himiway has full power on throttle which I like, but newer bikes even of the same make a model have throttle speed limited, don't know why they do that.....

I got the best explanation I’ve heard from a local bike shop.

The PAS 4 and 5 are there for hills!!

That makes perfect sense but down here in SW Florida there are no hills!

 

[Smaug]

I got the best explanation I’ve heard from a local bike shop.

The PAS 4 and 5 are there for hills!!

That makes perfect sense but down here in SW Florida there are no hills!

Well, they're also to achieve top speed. You could ghost pedal on PAS5 and the bike will go 28 mph. (whereas throttle stops assisting at 20 mph)

 

[seanconnery]

Lectric One will sell me a bike and ship it to Canada. Canadian e-bike service guys will do mechanical servicing but not electrical. I wonder why?

 

[HoppyUK]

Lectric One will sell me a bike and ship it to Canada. Canadian e-bike service guys will do mechanical servicing but not electrical. I wonder why?

I don't think this is anything to do with Lectric's reliability, and Lectric is certainly an established and respected brand, but it's quite a telling comment on the bicycle industry and how it embraces ebikes going forward.

On the mechanical side, a bike is a bike is a bike. Any repair shop can service and fix pretty much anything and will likely have spare parts already on their shelves. But ebikes are very different with a multitude of electrical components that can occasionally fail. It's often just a simple connector issue but not always and tracking the problem down is only the first hurdle. You've then got to identify and locate replacement parts, actually get hold of them, and finish the job. It's not an easy or fast process, and every day you get an increasingly angry customer on the phone.

Ebikes are selling well and growing (unlike acoustic bikes) but they're still a small part of the overall bike pool so local bike shops can maybe afford to simply turn away this business for now, but that will obviously change. Manufacturers* need to factor all these things into their business model (and there will be a cost for that).

* 'Manufacturers' - I use the term loosely. Any one of us could become one today. Just get a parts catalogue from China/Taiwan, throw a few bikes together and sell them on-line. You don't even have to leave your desk. Warranty? Back-up and support? Servicing? What's that?!

 

[Smaug]

Lectric One will sell me a bike and ship it to Canada. Canadian e-bike service guys will do mechanical servicing but not electrical. I wonder why?

The technicians/mechanics may not have the electronics knowledge, having come up on mechanical bikes. Electrical work is a bit different. One has to know some electrical theory, one cannot just look at something with an inquisitive, mechanical mind and figure out how it works.

The other thing is getting parts. The bike shop does not want to get into trying to source parts for the hundreds of direct-from-China eBikes out there, and they (sadly) lump all mfrs. together except for what they stock. For example, my local shop stocks Trek/Electra and Reid eBikes. They would support these because they know those mfrs. can support them with parts.

If I brought in a Lectric that I didn't buy from them, they MIGHT do some work on it for me if I had the parts. Sometimes the better eBike mfrs. will supply the parts and pay for some amount of local labor to fit them. (knowing that it's better to do that than to have an incompetent shade-tree mechanic screw it up and burn their house down) An knowledgeable, open-minded shop owner will accommodate this. A risk-averse or old school bike shop owner will not. They just disavow and keep their risk down; focus on their old core business: mBikes.

I think if ma 'n pa bike shops want to stay in business into the future, they're going to have to embrace eBikes, just like camera stores had to embrace digital cameras and their accessories. Just like draftsmen had to embrace CAD. Update the skills to remain relevant!

 

[seanconnery]

Very helpful. Thank you.

 

[seanconnery]

I don't think this is anything to do with Lectric's reliability, and Lectric is certainly an established and respected brand, but it's quite a telling comment on the bicycle industry and how it embraces ebikes going forward.

On the mechanical side, a bike is a bike is a bike. Any repair shop can service and fix pretty much anything and will likely have spare parts already on their shelves. But ebikes are very different with a multitude of electrical components that can occasionally fail. It's often just a simple connector issue but not always and tracking the problem down is only the first hurdle. You've then got to identify and locate replacement parts, actually get hold of them, and finish the job. It's not an easy or fast process, and every day you get an increasingly angry customer on the phone.

Ebikes are selling well and growing (unlike acoustic bikes) but they're still a small part of the overall bike pool so local bike shops can maybe afford to simply turn away this business for now, but that will obviously change. Manufacturers* need to factor all these things into their business model (and there will be a cost for that).

* 'Manufacturers' - I use the term loosely. Any one of us could become one today. Just get a parts catalogue from China/Taiwan, throw a few bikes together and sell them on-line. You don't even have to leave your desk. Warranty? Back-up and support? Servicing? What's that?!

Good to know. Thanks.

 

[HoppyUK]

The technicians/mechanics may not have the electronics knowledge, having come up on mechanical bikes. Electrical work is a bit different. One has to know some electrical theory, one cannot just look at something with an inquisitive, mechanical mind and figure out how it works.

The other thing is getting parts. The bike shop does not want to get into trying to source parts for the hundreds of direct-from-China eBikes out there, and they (sadly) lump all mfrs. together except for what they stock. For example, my local shop stocks Trek/Electra and Reid eBikes. They would support these because they know those mfrs. can support them with parts.

If I brought in a Lectric that I didn't buy from them, they MIGHT do some work on it for me if I had the parts. Sometimes the better eBike mfrs. will supply the parts and pay for some amount of local labor to fit them. (knowing that it's better to do that than to have an incompetent shade-tree mechanic screw it up and burn their house down) An knowledgeable, open-minded shop owner will accommodate this. A risk-averse or old school bike shop owner will not. They just disavow and keep their risk down; focus on their old core business: mBikes.

I think if ma 'n pa bike shops want to stay in business into the future, they're going to have to embrace eBikes, just like camera stores had to embrace digital cameras and their accessories. Just like draftsmen had to embrace CAD. Update the skills to remain relevant!

Yes! Ebikes are an alien species to many old-school bike shops. And to be honest, they often positively disapprove of them, too. They're run by cycling 'enthusiasts' who are very much sport and performance-oriented. I think this is an attitude that runs right through much of the industry TBH, just a old bias, and it's not helpful to anyone. My RadRunner-Plus probably ticks all of their 'don't touch with a barge pole' boxes. Electric - tick. Bought mailorder, a step-thu utility bike with fat tyres, a hub motor and throttle. Tick, tick, tick.

No, what they wanted to sell me was a totally unsuitable e-mountain bike from one of the big brands costing thousands - and without a throttle. "Throttles are illegal in UK" I was told. No, they're not and never have been - limited yes, but not illegal and that limitation is about to be lifted - one of the benefits of not being in EU now. It'll be interesting to see how Bosch etc react to that, which is being driven by consumers. Change is ahead.

And consumers need to change too. Ebikes are not like regular pushbikes and sometimes need specialist attention. That costs money. I've been lucky and my Rad has been fault-free for three years and more than a couple of thousand miles, same as most Rads I'm sure, but not all. And I'm pretty sure I could fix any problem myself if it came to it, but from reading a few other ebike forums that seems to make me/us an exception.