jinSF
New member
we live in San Francisco and we owned the Swagtron EB7 Elite with 16" wheel, single gear. we take it everywhere and the bike works fine with hills in Mode 3. we take the bike from the ferry building through GG Park to SF Zoo for about 19+ miles round trip and the battery still have 2 out of 5 bar. we had about 2000 miles on the Swagtron before we sold it and upgraded to GoTrax F1 20" wheel for better ride and less paddling.
i will say eBike with single gear works fine in san Francisco. from what I can see the Lectric and Gotrax are identical bikes from what i can see. they just slap a different label and price tag on them.
jinSF
New member
from what I can see the Lectric and Gotrax are identical bikes from what i can see. they just slap a different label and price tag on them.
Smaug
Well-known member
Lectric is now running a $50 off sale for Black Friday on the XP Lite and they're throwing in free rack, fenders and panniers!
lectricebikes.com
I paid $800 for mine as of the original post and got a free lock. $750 is a screaming deal, IMO.
Other items in that sale seem to be normal price, but with a lot of free accessories thrown in. The XP 3.0 for $1k with accessories seems like a good deal too. To me, that bike is too heavy to be considered a bike to regularly load in a vehicle, but for winter storage, being able to fold down is great.
eBikes on Sale | Lectric eBikes on sale
Shop Lectric eBikes on sale for a limited time only. Save big on Lectric eBikes now and check out current discounts and promo code details today.
lectricebikes.com
I paid $800 for mine as of the original post and got a free lock. $750 is a screaming deal, IMO.
Other items in that sale seem to be normal price, but with a lot of free accessories thrown in. The XP 3.0 for $1k with accessories seems like a good deal too. To me, that bike is too heavy to be considered a bike to regularly load in a vehicle, but for winter storage, being able to fold down is great.
How easy is it to pedal this bike without PAS or when the battery is dead ?Lectric is now running a $50 off sale for Black Friday on the XP Lite and they're throwing in free rack, fenders and panniers!
eBikes on Sale | Lectric eBikes on sale
Shop Lectric eBikes on sale for a limited time only. Save big on Lectric eBikes now and check out current discounts and promo code details today.
I paid $800 for mine as of the original post and got a free lock. $750 is a screaming deal, IMO.
Other items in that sale seem to be normal price, but with a lot of free accessories thrown in. The XP 3.0 for $1k with accessories seems like a good deal too. To me, that bike is too heavy to be considered a bike to regularly load in a vehicle, but for winter storage, being able to fold down is great.
Smaug
Well-known member
On level ground, it’s fine. Just takes a bit of room to get it moving.
If you have to start uphill, it’s impossible. Climbing anything but a very mild hill is tough, as it’s geared for 15 mph. It will involve standing on the pedals.
If you’re worried about range, just save the battery for starts and climbing.
This is the price for having a lightweight folder.
Earle
New member
IDK if you're still monitoring this thread, Smaug. I just purchased an XP Lite, haven't even ridden it yet. I'm an experienced biker, with tens of thousands of miles behind me. I purchased the Lectric as a bridge back to regular bikes, after major, complex surgery to both legs. Here's my dilemma after reading the remarks about hill climbing. I live on a plateau in Huntsville, Alabama, which is 1000' above the valley floor. I never really expected to be able to commute up and down the mountain as I used to on my Cinelli. I intend mostly to ride around the mountaintop and some gentle trails in the state park I'm adjacent to. However, there is one truncated route I can take which doesn't take me all the way down the mountain. On the north mountain road, there is about a 300' drop, fairly steep, to a "T" intersection where left leads on down the mountain but right leads back up a closed road back to the mountaintop in the park. The rise is much more gentle than the drop to the intersection. My question is twofold. First, is the steep drop of 300' going to be hard for the brakes to handle; second, is the XP Lite, with its single gear going to have trouble handling the 300' gentler rise to the top? Any help is appreciated...
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Papa K
Member
Earle
New member
I'll take any answer from anyone familiar with the XP Lite...
Smaug
Well-known member
Yep, but mostly during the week; I'm very busy in weekends.
I bought my first eBike, thinking I would do that INSTEAD of cycling, but I wound up getting back into cycling too.
I think it'll be OK, but don't touch the discs afterwards for awhile.
You definitely won't be helping it much on the climb.
A running start for the climb will help greatly.On the other hand, since this is a Class 2 bike (no way to unlock higher speeds) the hub motor is geared for only 20 mph, so it has plenty of torque. (If it were geared for 28 mph, it wouldn't have as much climbing torque, all else being equal) It also has only 20" wheels, which helps the torque as well.
I think I would just GO FOR IT. You'll be surprised what that little motor can do. If you watch some of the YouTube reviews on the bike, they have a climbing segment and those guys run it up hills without even pedaling. It's slow, but they make it. So if you're doing any work at all, you'll make it too. Worst that can happen is you don't make it and do The Walk of Shame. It won't damage the bike.
Earle
New member
Thanks, Smaug. That long walk of shame would probably total two miles, half of it uphill. At least, since it's a closed road, there would be few witnesses.Yep, but mostly during the week; I'm very busy in weekends.
I bought my first eBike, thinking I would do that INSTEAD of cycling, but I wound up getting back into cycling too.
I think it'll be OK, but don't touch the discs afterwards for awhile.
You definitely won't be helping it much on the climb.
On the other hand, since this is a Class 2 bike (no way to unlock higher speeds) the hub motor is geared for only 20 mph, so it has plenty of torque. (If it were geared for 28 mph, it wouldn't have as much climbing torque, all else being equal) It also has only 20" wheels, which helps the torque as well.
I think I would just GO FOR IT. You'll be surprised what that little motor can do. If you watch some of the YouTube reviews on the bike, they have a climbing segment and those guys run it up hills without even pedaling. It's slow, but they make it. So if you're doing any work at all, you'll make it too. Worst that can happen is you don't make it and do The Walk of Shame. It won't damage the bike.
. A minor question about disk brakes - this are my first and they are mechanical, of course. Do they have the same brake fade one gets with rim/caliper brakes on long descents?
Smaug
Well-known member
I don't know. We don't have any 2 mile long hills in my area.Thanks, Smaug. That long walk of shame would probably total two miles, half of it uphill. At least, since it's a closed road, there would be few witnesses.
When I do ride hills, I try not to touch the brakes at all. (there are no hills in town; they're all outside of town)
Earle
New member
My neighborhood is totally perched on a mountain. Every way out of the neighborhood, north and south is down...
Earle
New member
If you look at the "2" on the map, just to the SW, there's a little dead-end street. My 3 acres lie at the end of it...
Smaug
Well-known member
Man, I hate to say it, but I wonder why you didn't get the XP 3.0 and have the gears.
Weight concern or cost?
Weight concern or cost?
Earle
New member
I hate to say it but it was impulse. They put it on sale and I fell for it. It's not as if I didn't commute the first 20 years I lived up here on a 15 spd Cinelli. I don't think they have a very robust trade-in program. As a backup, I'm thinking about adding a battery and controller. I'm also considering suspension for the front end...Man, I hate to say it, but I wonder why you didn't get the XP 3.0 and have the gears.
Weight concern or cost?
Smaug
Well-known member
One member replaced the chainring with a smaller one and took a link or two out of the chain to compensate. Maybe you could go to a MUCH smaller chainring (for climbing) and just take out links as needed.
Earle
New member
I've considered that. I'm having hip and knee problems with fit because of arthritis. At this point, I'm wondering if I should have purchased the step-through, although many of those seem to have wobble problems. I had a chuckle at your comment about there being no two-mile hills where you live. I remembered stopping at Timm's Hill, once on the way to Canada, so I could say I'd visited the highest point in WI. It's close to the altitude I live at 24/7...
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