Two New E-Bikes—What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
Well, Dawn and I added a new mode of transportation to our camping arsenal this week: two new e-bikes. Apparently, the truck and camper weren’t enough things for me to research, buy accessories for, and figure out how to haul around.
After a ton of research and talking with several people who already own e-bikes, we decided on the Lectric XP Lite 2. Dawn went with blue, and I went with white. We upgraded both bikes to the extended-range batteries, which are supposed to provide up to around 80 miles of range, depending on how they are ridden.
The bikes top out at 20 mph, which is plenty fast enough for what we plan to do with them. At this stage of my life, I have no desire to find out what hitting the pavement at 20 mph feels like.
Dawn’s bike arrived Tuesday, and Lectric claims they are easy to assemble. For once, a company wasn’t lying when it said that.
It took longer to get the bike out of the box and remove all the packing material than it did to put it together. About 20 minutes after unpacking it, the bike was ready to ride. The handlebars and seat are both very easy to adjust, so getting everything set up correctly was simple.
Naturally, I had to be the first one to ride it—strictly for safety and quality-control purposes, of course. I wanted to make sure nothing would fall off before Dawn got on it.
I started in Mode 0, which means the motor provides no assistance and you do all the pedaling yourself. After getting moving, I switched it to Mode 3, which tops out at around 14 mph.
I was honestly surprised by how smoothly the motor kicked in and how easy the bike was to handle. It responded quickly without feeling like it was trying to launch me into the neighbor’s yard.
The bike has a very nice color display that shows your speed, battery level, pedal-assist setting, mileage, and several other pieces of information. It is easy to see while riding and doesn’t require a computer science degree to understand—which I appreciate.
The brakes are also very responsive. You don’t have to squeeze them hard to slow down, and they bring the bike to a stop quickly and smoothly. That will be especially important when one of us is too busy looking at the scenery instead of watching where we’re going. I won’t mention which one of us is more likely to do that.
Once I decided the bike was probably not going to fall apart, Dawn took it out. She handled it without any trouble and quickly became comfortable with the pedal assist. We have taken it out for a few short rides in the evenings, and so far, we are both impressed.
We plan to take our first longer ride together Sunday after my bike is ready. That should give us a much better idea of how comfortable they are and how the batteries perform.
There are a couple of things I’m not completely thrilled about. The key must remain in the bike while it is turned on, and its location underneath the frame isn’t the most convenient place in the world. We also bought a lock and carrier, and finding a good place to mount everything without cluttering up the bike has taken a little trial and error.
Of course, we have already started buying accessories because apparently purchasing the bikes was only the admission price. Helmets, locks, mirrors, bags, phone holders, and whatever else we suddenly decide we cannot live without will probably cost almost as much as another bicycle.
One of the main reasons we chose the XP Lite 2 is because it folds. We wanted something we could take camping without needing a huge bike rack hanging off the camper. They are relatively light for e-bikes and should give us a good way to explore campgrounds, bike trails, and nearby towns.
Now we just need to figure out whether Odie needs his own little trailer. Knowing him, he would expect padded seating, air conditioning, snack service, and a driver who understands that lunchtime is exactly noon—not 12:01.
We should have a much better idea of what we think about the bikes after we take them camping and put some real miles on them over Labor Day weekend. So far, however, we are very happy with our decision.
Two new e-bikes, a campground full of trails, and two people who haven’t ridden bicycles regularly in years.
What could possibly go wrong?
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