u/Abortedwafflez

So this is my first lure. Decided to utilize wine corks because it seemed easy to work with. Think it wasn't a bad choice, but everything else was seemingly a disaster. Sanded it into form, cut it in half successfully, but completely failed on the throughwire. Couldn't really figure out a proper bending method. Think I actually ended up making a proper wire for the body, though it was a bit scuffed. Tried to carve out a channel for it to sit in, but that ended up being way more complicated than I thought. Didn't think I could carve any further without potentially breaking the whole lure, so I opted to gluing the whole thing together after placing a small split shot inside (probably needs more weight most likely.)

So, now I'm left with what can basically be described as a super glue cork nugget. Pencil and bottlecap for scale. Now I guess I just need eye screws, but not sure what size. The lure is about the size of a Strike King Bitsy Minnow, so need something about that size. Any other advice beyond that would be lovely.

I've had my Lectric XP4 for a about a month and a half to about 2 months at this point and figure it's time for a review to help out anyone who is on the fence about it. Haven't done a crazy amount of riding, but enough to get a good feel of it.

Current Miles: 80

Model Version: 750 White Step Thru

Overview

The Lectric XP4 750 is a great first ebike. I honestly don't have much wrong to say about it. It's a looker of a bike, has great folding features, is ready out of the box after minor setup anyone can do, and is probably ticks the boxes of what most people are looking for in an ebike. It can hit a top throttle speed of around 20MPH for speedheads, can take some abuse on outdoor terrain, and is perfect as a cycling bike where there is sidewalks or bike lanes. I'll go into the individual components just to speed things along.

Assembly

When you first order the bike, it will arrive to you in a giant box. But, beyond the giant box is a pretty intuitive setup. After cutting it open it's largely smooth sailing from there. Everything you need is right there and ready. All you'll need to do is unfold the bike, lock it into place, and put on your accessories like your handlebar, your dash monitor, and plug in some color coded plugs. After that everything is pretty much optional like your lock, phone mount, or whatever else you might have ordered. Do note, your tires will likely not come fully inflated. I didn't know this because I just didn't bother checking. I gave it a test run, and even rode it around quite a bit before one day I decided to check the tire pressure. There was hardly any pressure at all. The slime filled tires are quite deceptive. So, do yourself a favor and check that tire pressure and air it to it's recommended pressure located on the tire itself.

Speed

You can expect to hit a top speed of around 20MPH with throttle only. This is a perfect speed in my opinion for most city conditions. You have different throttle modes which will get you going faster or slower: Eco, Tour, Sport, Sport +, and Turbo. I find myself in Turbo most of the time because I utilize the throttle a lot on roadways. For pedal assist, I actually like Eco mode as it provides some resistance like a normal bike. When you hit a hill, that pedal assist becomes your best friend. All the fun of a normal bike without the total pain of being jacked out of your mind getting somewhere.

Now, here is a potential negative for some of you. If you are going to primarily be riding these on the road where there isn't dedicated bike lanes or sidewalks and you believe you will utilize the Throttle most of the time, you may want something that has a higher top-speed. I live in an area with mostly roads and sidewalks that just abruptly start and end. And when that 5 o'clock traffic hits you better believe people WILL NOT see you going 20 in a 25/35 on your bike. The roads are definitely not friendly to bikes where i'm at. And when i'm on them, sometimes I wish I can just go a bit faster. I've only ridden 80 miles and have already had like 3-4 run-ins with distracted drivers not watching their surroundings at intersections.

As this is my first e-bike, I don't know what sort of options are out there. I know there is Moped style e-bikes, but that kind of defeats the purpose of having a bicycle. I believe the XP4 is that perfect balance, but it definitely isn't a replacement for on-the-road travel. If you believe the top speed matters a little more to you, maybe look elsewhere.

Riding:

Feels wise, the XP4 is amazing on pavement. It's not as maneuverable as say a Mountain Bike, but it definitely holds its own. The fat tires keeps everything nice and smooth, the suspension seat post keeps your butt from getting tired which was a serious problem for me on just about every single bike I've ever used, the fenders keep mud and gunk from flinging its way towards you, changing gears is simple and intuitive, and it feels just like any other bike but with the added benefit of pedal assist. If I could summarize it in one word, it would be "Nice."

I pretty much have only one complaint. The folding stand. My whole life riding bikes (which isn't a lot mind you) I vividly remember hopping lifting up my front wheel to get up over curbs, dropping off of those same curbs, and doing some minor hopping around on just about every single bike I ever had. The XP4 is not great at this and it's all because of that folding stand. I have scraped that thing several times at this point. When you raise or lower your front wheel, you effectively lower your clearance by several inches. This is dramatic on the XP4's folding stand due to its low positioning. One hop, curb, poorly misplaced rock, and you're gonna quickly feel that grinding "thud" that makes you stop for a second.

This is pretty much the only thing I actually don't like about the bike. I feel like I can't be as aggressive as I want with it. Maybe that's a mistake on my part, as it's definitely meant to be taken on flat ground. But that's just how I've always ridden bikes. So you if you plan on doing some minor Mountain Biking style riding on it, ease those expectations now. It can do some, just not a lot.

Battery Life

The battery life on the 750 version seems to be pretty darn good. I can ride around my whole town and still have about 70-80% left, meaning I don't have to recharge after every single ride. It seems like it's capable of some long distance excursions. Even more so if you get an extra battery, I can't even imagine how far someone would go on two charges.

There is one thing that's kind of annoying about the XP4, is that it shows your battery life in increments of 10%. This could be crucial for some making that last leg of the ride home. You can supposedly monitor the voltage output on the display to better accurately guess how much you have left, but I haven't looked into that just yet. I've also encountered a strange bug where on one of my rides I had about 30% left on my way home, but the bike was beginning to throttle me from 20mph to 15mph and dropping steadily. I turned off the bike and back on again, and suddenly the bike listed itself as 10%. That's a huge discrepancy and I haven't ridden it enough to know if this will be a consistent problem.

Should you buy?

I love the bike personally. Maybe that's the first e-bike honeymoon phase of just not knowing what's actually out there. I think for most people, this bike has something for them. The only people I wouldn't recommend this to are speedheads that need to hit those roadway speeds in non-bike friendly towns and people wanting to do aggressive riding. As a proper cycling bike, it definitely feels top of its class. I think if you got the money and you catch one of those accessory sales, it's worth the purchase. Do your research before you buy and see what else there is on the market obviously, but the Lectric XP4 definitely gets a recommendation from me.