Lectric XP4 has dropped

[Smaug]

Stock photo ↑

https://lectricebikes.com/collections/xp4-ebikes

I think they're a little premature in calling it the "best-selling bike in the US, but this is exciting news.

Some things I notice right off the bat:

• + Integrated rear subframe appears to be more sturdy, but not usable on its own as a rack. It has a bolt-on standard rack that is always included. I assume they did this so the rack can be removed and other accessories can be bolted directly on in its place.
• + 7 lb. weight loss, compared to XP 3.0
• + Fully safety certified
• + Amber side lights added
• + Multi-use tread tires are now standard; thank you! (At 3", they're still wide enough for gravel and hard-packed dirt; just deflate them a bit for more traction)
• + Elite headlight is now standard
• + The outgoing XP 3.0 with the long range battery option is now on close-out for $1k. (was $1200 or $1300 before)
• + Two motor options: both nominally rated 750 W, but 1092 W or 1310 W peak. Battery is 10.4 Ah or 17.4 Ah. 55 or 85 Nm of torque. Lectrics are known for being torquey, so I bet either one will run at its peak power for quite awhile and have beefy controllers to go with.
• + Derailleur is upgraded to Shimano Altus. This is a big upgrade, IMO.
• + It now has turn signals
• + Quick release pedals instead of folding
• + Lock-on grips are now standard
• = The step-over model looks a bit less feminine to my eye; a bit more angular.
• = The rear fender has less coverage out back than before; will roost riders behind you, but still protect you. The new rear fender seems to be directly mounted to the frame; no fender stays needed.
• = TFT color display is now standard. (I thought the original one was fine. I'm not watching TV here...)
• = It has a torque sensor now, replacing their smart cadence sensor
• = Shorter reach stem
• - They're now keyless. I find this to be a shame, as needing the hard key for ignition made them better against theft without electronic complications like an app required to unlock them. A really good grinder-resistant lock is now DOUBLY important

Launch price is $1k for the base version (including only the rear rack) or $1300 for the higher power, higher range version with some nice accessories.

If the One is any indication, it may increase in price shortly. (The One went from $2100 to $2400 after the promotional launch period)

 

[Smaug]

Micah's Electrek review. I find his reviews to be brief and spot-on.

 

[Unit59]

I love the green color and the 0 degree stem, it's what that bike needed all along.

 

[Colin1230]

I find it incredible that Lectric can offer this bike (500 watt version) for the same price that I paid for my XP3. It certainly checks a lot of the 'really nice to have' boxes.
I was wondering how long it would take before someone mentioned the release of the Lectric XP4. Thanks Smaug.

 

[Hakaman99]

Impressive, I want one! A couple local bike shops around town don't seem to carry this brand? They say 500 bike shops around the country to assist, but I wonder how to find them? I have a Velotric Discover 2, full size, and would love to have a small tired bike.

 

[Colin1230]

@Hakaman99 Lectric sells direct to consumer only. The 500 dealers have agreed to provide service for repairs and warranty when needed. In other words, they will work on Lectric bikes.

Oops, wait a minute. I forgot that a few Best Buy stores are offering Lectric bikes but not everything in their lineup.

 

[Smaug]

Impressive, I want one! A couple local bike shops around town don't seem to carry this brand? They say 500 bike shops around the country to assist, but I wonder how to find them? I have a Velotric Discover 2, full size, and would love to have a small tired bike.

This is a "small-tired bike", but remember that 20" wheels with 3" tires = 26" outer diameter. It will transport more easily than a fixed frame bike, if you can lift it. But I don't think it's going to change your world or anything. I'm a pretty fit 48 year-old and I about broke my back lifting my 65 lb. Portola into the back of my CR-V.

In my opinion, consider these types of heavy folding bikes to be a "two man lift" or to be used with a ramp up into a pick-up's bed. Having to get it in a hatchback or SUV is tricky, because not only does one have to lift the weight, but also maneuver it around while supporting it, trying not to bang up your interior too much.

 

[bradybunch84]

I have the foldable XPremium right now and love it but with all these new changes on the XP4 I just couldn't resist. My XP4-750 rainbow blue should arrive at my house tomorrow. My XPremium is a beast to put into my car and feels pretty big when I'm out on the trails. I get looks from people and I don't know why. Not sure if it is because the XPremium is such a large bike or what. It sure is quiet, that's for sure. I do love the torque sensor. But this XP4 is lighter and I do think it will make a difference on my back as I load it into my car. I do take out the batteries and locks first before I pick it up. I also strap the tires together so they can't move. That's a big help. I can do it but my back complains the next day all day long. I am 68 and I really didn't have any back problems before this. I am so glad Lectric went with thinner smoother road tires. The noise from my knobby tires on the XPremium were way noisier than the noise from the motor. Couldn't hear the motor, just that roar of those tires! I changed the tires to an aftermarket tire and that helped things a whole bunch. I am so excited. I had me eye on the XPress but I wanted all those new upgrades so I didn't wait and took a preorder out on the XP4. I am going to take my pedals off the bike every time I park and lock the bike up.

 

[BiggKidd]

This is a "small-tired bike", but remember that 20" wheels with 3" tires = 26" outer diameter. It will transport more easily than a fixed frame bike, if you can lift it. But I don't think it's going to change your world or anything. I'm a pretty fit 48 year-old and I about broke my back lifting my 65 lb. Portola into the back of my CR-V.

In my opinion, consider these types of heavy folding bikes to be a "two man lift" or to be used with a ramp up into a pick-up's bed. Having to get it in a hatchback or SUV is tricky, because not only does one have to lift the weight, but also maneuver it around while supporting it, trying not to bang up your interior too much.

Are you sure about your math on the wheel size? I am not sure here but aren't most "20" tires actually on 16" rims ? Making the actual tire size somewhat less than 26"? Maybe more around 22"

 

[Hakaman99]

Are you sure about your math on the wheel size? I am not sure here but aren't most "20" tires actually on 16" rims ? Making the actual tire size somewhat less than 26"? Maybe more around 22"

I don't know about the math issue you're asking about, but I think 65 or 70 lb is still difficult to lift regardless of the wheel size. I think what was alluded to was that even though it is a smaller diameter Wheel and tire, it's still going to be a "you know what buster". I have a 65 to 70 lb full size ebike, and it is still difficult to get it on my bike rack. There aren't any grips made specifically for lifting the bike, you just have to pick your points and heft away. With the front wheel wobbling back and forth It's hard to lift one foot off the ground into the slots to get it tied down to my rack. I got to imagine that a smaller wheeled bike is going to be pretty close in difficulty. Even when you fold it to put it in the back of an SUV say, a 60-70lb ebike is a lot of weight to lift up for one individual. It would be interesting to get different people's input on which is the most portable folding ebike, easiest to lift, and gets the most miles from a charge. Somebody please tell me what ebike is the winner in this sort of category?

 

[BiggKidd]

Sorry I can't help with a folding bike.

 

[Smaug]

I don't know about the math issue you're asking about, but I think 65 or 70 lb is still difficult to lift regardless of the wheel size. I think what was alluded to was that even though it is a smaller diameter Wheel and tire, it's still going to be a "you know what buster". I have a 65 to 70 lb full size ebike, and it is still difficult to get it on my bike rack. There aren't any grips made specifically for lifting the bike, you just have to pick your points and heft away. With the front wheel wobbling back and forth It's hard to lift one foot off the ground into the slots to get it tied down to my rack. I got to imagine that a smaller wheeled bike is going to be pretty close in difficulty. Even when you fold it to put it in the back of an SUV say, a 60-70lb ebike is a lot of weight to lift up for one individual. It would be interesting to get different people's input on which is the most portable folding ebike, easiest to lift, and gets the most miles from a charge. Somebody please tell me what ebike is the winner in this sort of category?

Ride1UP Roadster v3 and Aventon Soltera are probably the lightest eBikes that are affordable at 40 lbs. They don't fold though.

Then, we have Lectric XP Lite 2.0, which folds, but is more like 50 lbs. You can get it with either a normal or long range battery. It doesn't roll as efficiently ad the above two fixed frame bikes because it has smaller, fatter tires, but it has more battery. Single speed too. If you won't be doing a LOT of hills, this would fit the bill, loaded in a big Rubbermaid tote, so parts aren't flopping around as you try to load/unload it.

You can get more range, but they either get heavier (as discussed earlier in the thread) or more expensive and exotic. (road bikes starting around $4k and going up from there, like Trek Domane+)

 

[farcaspian]

I had my XP delivered to me about a week ago and I managed to put about 115 miles as of today. It is still new but here some observations that I have regarding the XP 4.0. Mine is the 750w version and I got some freebies because I ordered it on 4th of July.

General/frame/geometry:
1. HEAVY. I think they have to compensate for inherent noodle-y feeling of folding mechanism. If you have ridden a Brompton or Tern, this is similar but with 3x the weight.

2. Folding mechanism and battery take-out is iffy at best. You have to unlock the battery first and then fold. And when you fold, the battery slides down. If you don't unlock before folding, you can't unlock it. Catch 22.

3. The upgraded Elite headlight is a joke. A smaller MagicShine USB light is much better at illumination. Besides unless you fiddle with the mount, that thing keeps tilting downwards as you ride. But there is an easy fix for that.

4. The handlebar to saddle geometry is *extremely* upright. My back is at 90 degree when I ride. For reference I am 6'1. If you are coming from analog road/gravel bike world this position is super duper relaxed. I am now on the search for stem that will add at least 100mm of reach and I am also getting rid of the suspension seatpost. The ideal seatpost for me would be the one with 25mm setback.

5. 3 inch wide tires, low PSI, suspension fork, ridiculously soft cushion on the saddle + springs + sofa like width, suspension seatpost = very, very comfortable ride to the point that I swapped that saddle with a regular road bike saddle. But this is a personal thing as I prefer narrow saddles.

Motor/battery/throttle and PAS:
1. Rather powerful kick even in Sport mode and gets better as you go higher up. Eco and Tour mode are ineffective but truthfully I have not ridden throttle-only on those modes. If you pedal like me, Eco feels downright useless.

2. Throttle is not the smoothest. I can sense wave like power burst. Gets severe as you close in on 28mph limit. You can attain much higher speeds if you stop pedaling on the downhill but if you pedal. motor aggressively stops you from going above 28 mph.

3. There are numerous reports of motors making grinding noise. My motor isn't making loud sound yet but yesterday I noticed some noise from the hub that was similar to what I saw on Reddit. I am keeping an eye out on it.

4. The range is reasonable according to me though nowhere close to what Lectric claims. Below are some readings. Note that I never use throttle-only. I pedal 100% of the time, even on steep uphills.

• 27.4 miles - Sport/Tour mode - 40% battery remaining.
• 18.3 miles - Sport - 50% 48v remaining
• 18.2 miles - Sport - 60% 48.8v remaining
• 18.3 miles - Sport - 50% 48v remaining
• 16.5 miles - Sport - 70% 49.4v remaining.

Those are all commute rides of one way. I take out the battery at work and charge because I don't think the battery will last the return trip home which can be anything from 16~ miles to 20 miles depending on the route I take. For reference, my commute has couple of steep, short climbs, a couple of long but not very steep climbs.
Obviously If you remain in Tour/Eco and remain in class 2 speeds you should get better mileage than what I get but since I commute I am short on time and class 3 speeds are a necessity. Besides its just SO MUCH fun to be in higher PAS levels.

 

[farcaspian]

I took inspiration from the other XP 4 thread and thought of moving my lock from under the top tube to the place between rear wheel and seat tube.

It's the second week of my ownership and I'll be honest that it was the first time I saw there were mounting points there .

Anyway this was a bad idea. For one the screws are in such a position that it took nearly 15 minutes to tighten the lock holder in place.
And second, which is a biggie, the provided lock is way too big to slide in the opening between two seat stays! I wondered how Chumley got his lock to slide into the holder and realized that his XP is step-over model and mine is step-thru which have different tubing but mounting points remain in same position for both .

This is an oversight from Lectric as those mounting points are nearly useless on step-thru unless you find a similar shaped but smaller lock, really narrow water bottle or a toolkit. And yes, I tried inserting the lock from below the frame too, no dice.

I feel Lectric should fix this somehow or remove those mounts from step-thru altogether.

 

[Chumley]

I took inspiration from the other XP 4 thread and thought of moving my lock from under the top tube to the place between rear wheel and seat tube.

It's the second week of my ownership and I'll be honest that it was the first time I saw there were mounting points there .

Anyway this was a bad idea. For one the screws are in such a position that it took nearly 15 minutes to tighten the lock holder in place.
And second, which is a biggie, the provided lock is way too big to slide in the opening between two seat stays! I wondered how Chumley got his lock to slide into the holder and realized that his XP is step-over model and mine is step-thru which have different tubing but mounting points remain in same position for both .

This is an oversight from Lectric as those mounting points are nearly useless on step-thru unless you find a similar shaped but smaller lock, really narrow water bottle or a toolkit. And yes, I tried inserting the lock from below the frame too, no dice.

I feel Lectric should fix this somehow or remove those mounts from step-thru altogether.

I had a heck of time getting the screws in. Had to turn the bike over, use all my leftover wiles from my mechanic days. For the step-over bike, I think that is the best place for lock.

 

[Smaug]

...

2. Folding mechanism and battery take-out is iffy at best. You have to unlock the battery first and then fold. And when you fold, the battery slides down. If you don't unlock before folding, you can't unlock it. Catch 22.

Yes, this is nice because the battery is secure and vandalism-proof, but bad for everything else.

3. The upgraded Elite headlight is a joke. A smaller MagicShine USB light is much better at illumination. Besides unless you fiddle with the mount, that thing keeps tilting downwards as you ride. But there is an easy fix for that.

Lots of people say the Elite headlight is a joke, but very few people qualify it. WHY is it a joke? Is it a flood pattern with not enough throw? Is it chintzy and cheaply-made? What?

4. The handlebar to saddle geometry is *extremely* upright. My back is at 90 degree when I ride. For reference I am 6'1. If you are coming from analog road/gravel bike world this position is super duper relaxed. I am now on the search for stem that will add at least 100mm of reach and I am also getting rid of the suspension seatpost. The ideal seatpost for me would be the one with 25mm setback.

Is this at all handle post settings, even with the saddle set for near-full leg extension and the bar telescoped all the way down?

5. 3 inch wide tires, low PSI, suspension fork, ridiculously soft cushion on the saddle + springs + sofa like width, suspension seatpost = very, very comfortable ride to the point that I swapped that saddle with a regular road bike saddle. But this is a personal thing as I prefer narrow saddles.

I'm a road cyclist, so I hear you, but with an upright posture, it puts more weight on our butts, so the wider saddle usually feels better.

Motor/battery/throttle and PAS:
1. Rather powerful kick even in Sport mode and gets better as you go higher up. Eco and Tour mode are ineffective but truthfully I have not ridden throttle-only on those modes. If you pedal like me, Eco feels downright useless.

Really? Ineffective how? On a similar bike I owned, I found the lower setting were good at least to offset the weight of the bike from take-offs and helped at lower speeds.

2. Throttle is not the smoothest. I can sense wave like power burst. Gets severe as you close in on 28mph limit. You can attain much higher speeds if you stop pedaling on the downhill but if you pedal. motor aggressively stops you from going above 28 mph.

I think this is adjustable, no?

3. There are numerous reports of motors making grinding noise. My motor isn't making loud sound yet but yesterday I noticed some noise from the hub that was similar to what I saw on Reddit. I am keeping an eye out on it.

4. The range is reasonable according to me though nowhere close to what Lectric claims. Below are some readings. Note that I never use throttle-only. I pedal 100% of the time, even on steep uphills.

• 27.4 miles - Sport/Tour mode - 40% battery remaining.
• 18.3 miles - Sport - 50% 48v remaining
• 18.2 miles - Sport - 60% 48.8v remaining
• 18.3 miles - Sport - 50% 48v remaining
• 16.5 miles - Sport - 70% 49.4v remaining.

Lectric's claims are at the lower assist settings with decent effort from the light-ish rider, on flat ground, etc. Lectric didn't start this trend, but they had to start doing it to stay competitive.

Those are all commute rides of one way. I take out the battery at work and charge because I don't think the battery will last the return trip home which can be anything from 16~ miles to 20 miles depending on the route I take. For reference, my commute has couple of steep, short climbs, a couple of long but not very steep climbs.
Obviously If you remain in Tour/Eco and remain in class 2 speeds you should get better mileage than what I get but since I commute I am short on time and class 3 speeds are a necessity. Besides its just SO MUCH fun to be in higher PAS levels.

Yeah, riding on Sport mode, one can imagine. I bet you could make it if you kept it on Tour mode and accepted a lower average speed.

I like what Lectric used to do, where they stated their assumptions as a footnote to the range claims. Now, they're just as shady with the claims as everyone else. :-(

 

[Smaug]

I took inspiration from the other XP 4 thread and thought of moving my lock from under the top tube to the place between rear wheel and seat tube.

It's the second week of my ownership and I'll be honest that it was the first time I saw there were mounting points there .

Anyway this was a bad idea. For one the screws are in such a position that it took nearly 15 minutes to tighten the lock holder in place.
And second, which is a biggie, the provided lock is way too big to slide in the opening between two seat stays! I wondered how Chumley got his lock to slide into the holder and realized that his XP is step-over model and mine is step-thru which have different tubing but mounting points remain in same position for both .

This is an oversight from Lectric as those mounting points are nearly useless on step-thru unless you find a similar shaped but smaller lock, really narrow water bottle or a toolkit. And yes, I tried inserting the lock from below the frame too, no dice.

I feel Lectric should fix this somehow or remove those mounts from step-thru altogether.

Yep, looks like they forgot to test that. Would a spare bottle fit there? Then keep the lock where you showed it before. There are all kinds of accessories that are designed to fit that mount spacing.

I keep the Lectric folding lock there on my smaller XP Lite and it's a great use of the space.

 

[Smaug]

I had a heck of time getting the screws in. Had to turn the bike over, use all my leftover wiles from my mechanic days. For the step-over bike, I think that is the best place for lock.

I had a heck of a time too, on my XP Lite. The thing is, I was trying to avoid removing the rear wheel, as that's a major pain in the butt. On this one, you'd have to remove the fender too.

I don't remember, but would a motorized ratchet's head fit in there? or a simpler right angle driver?

 

[farcaspian]

Lots of people say the Elite headlight is a joke, but very few people qualify it. WHY is it a joke? Is it a flood pattern with not enough throw? Is it chintzy and cheaply-made? What?

Its just not that bright. Build wise, its not the greatest but its not worse than many other AliExpress no-name lights but I keep seeing reports of the bracket breaking after a few hundred miles. Mine seems sturdy enough for now. 130 miles as of today. I will post a side by side comparison of a MagicShine light v/s this one. I think its good as a light so that others see you but if you want to see others, then it falls short.

Is this at all handle post settings, even with the saddle set for near-full leg extension and the bar telescoped all the way down?

Yep. stem telescoped all the way down and saddle at a height so that my legs are at 6 o clock position. If I raise the stem, its even more relaxed. If I could, I would push the handlebar further down but not possible anymore.

Really? Ineffective how? On a similar bike I owned, I found the lower setting were good at least to offset the weight of the bike from take-offs and helped at lower speeds.

The weight of the bike itself + rider and panniers seem to overpower it. When I pedal in Eco mode, even in the lower 2-3 gears there is a lot of effort needed. Tour is better, Sport is stunning.

I think this is adjustable, no?

The throttle setting on how it delivers the power? Not sure. I haven't explored much in the settings except to turn on Class 3.

Would a spare bottle fit there? Then keep the lock where you showed it before. There are all kinds of accessories that are designed to fit that mount spacing.

I keep the Lectric folding lock there on my smaller XP Lite and it's a great use of the space.

Bottle holder with side-release (on the left) might fit. I have a side release holder but getting it into that gap is too much hassle. I will try it someday. I just wish the lock went in there, that seemed like the best place for the lock.

 

[Smaug]

Its just not that bright. Build wise, its not the greatest but its not worse than many other AliExpress no-name lights but I keep seeing reports of the bracket breaking after a few hundred miles. Mine seems sturdy enough for now. 130 miles as of today. I will post a side by side comparison of a MagicShine light v/s this one. I think its good as a light so that others see you but if you want to see others, then it falls short.

Got it. The photos of how effective the light is can be deceiving, as you may have noticed by Amazon headlight ads. The exposure setting on the camera tends to over-expose night scenes with a black background, making the lights look brighter than they appear to our eyes.

Yep. stem telescoped all the way down and saddle at a height so that my legs are at 6 o clock position. If I raise the stem, its even more relaxed. If I could, I would push the handlebar further down but not possible anymore.

Ah yes. This bike was not designed with roadies in mind. ;-) An electric road bike or gravel bike may have been a better purchase for your expectations, but then you will need to triple your price limit, compared to the XP4.

I believe though, that the stem can be removed from the steerer tube exiting the steering head and you can fit a shorter stem from another folding bike. (A Tern handle post with Andros stem might be nice...)

The weight of the bike itself + rider and panniers seem to overpower it. When I pedal in Eco mode, even in the lower 2-3 gears there is a lot of effort needed. Tour is better, Sport is stunning.

I think it is a speed expectation. A lot of effort is needed just to get a bike of this mass moving. Then add luggage and a heavy rider and it is a lot of weight. Are you finding that it is inadequate even to go 13-15 mph, or only the higher speeds. I find that on a heavy eBike like this, I can go 15-18 mph with just a little input from the motor. More than that, and the aerodynamic drag and rolling resistance of tires like these becomes significant and the current draw from the battery goes way up.

The assistance systems now are more advanced. They will look for your pedaling torque and amplify it by a certain amount, usually some percentage of the torque you're inputting. But then, they can also have a power limit. For for example, maybe you put in 30 Nm of torque, the bike wants to give another 30% (let's call it 9 Nm). However, if you're going 10 mph, that extra 30% torque is easy to supply; only takes a few Watts. But if you're going 20 mph, that extra 9 Nm takes a lot more power.

I think you will find that if you can tinker with the settings, you can make it behave they way you want, at the expense of some range.

The throttle setting on how it delivers the power? Not sure. I haven't explored much in the settings except to turn on Class 3.

Bottle holder with side-release (on the left) might fit. I have a side release holder but getting it into that gap is too much hassle. I will try it someday. I just wish the lock went in there, that seemed like the best place for the lock.

It will be worth it to look into this. Maybe it's not user-changeable on this bike, but maybe it is. If not, just use Sport, Sport+ or Turbo settings to meet your expectations.