I recently watch this YouTube video:
I Tested America’s Best Selling Ebike – Lectric XP4 750 Review
Matt‘s reviews are always great to watch, but in this particular video he made one comment about this e-bike that made me think more about a feature every ebike on the market today should include – but I’ll digress for a moment…
The thing is, when I ride I’m always in one of 3 (e-bike) modes.
Mode 1 – get to the trail, which usually includes some riding on busy streets. There I want power and speed (Class 3)
Mode 2 – I’m on the trail, and if allowed I’ll use throttle when necessary. I find throttles to be not only very useful, but also an essential safety feature. Municipalities that ban throttles most likely don’t include e-bike riders on the committees that make such decisions. Anyway, this mode drops the max speed from 28 to 20mph and is a Class 2 e-bike (considered under Federal and PA state law as a regular bicycle).
Mode 3 – Some trails that allow e-bikes don’t permit the use of throttles (PAS only). This is considered a Class 1 e-bike, also with a 20mph cap for power-assist delivered while pedaling.
So here’s that Lectric decided to do – keeping it simple AND legal. What a great idea! So on their display they have this setting (Bike Classification):
And within Bike Classification, you can dial in the class you want/need to ride for each of the modes listed above – genius (and simple)! Note: In California, “Class 3” refers to a specific type of electric bike (e-bike) that is pedal-assist only, with a maximum assisted speed of 28 mph.
But here’s another issue our Lectric e-bike rider might experience. Having set the Bike Classification appropriate for a given trail, the trial ‘police’ might still stop you and check out the Class-ification badge each e-bike is supposed to display – yeah, these things:
This is a conumdrum, but my solution (and recommendation) is to display the lowest class rating – in this case Class 1 750w 20mph which will be a get out of jail sticker for every occassion. You can tell the arresting officer I told you so… see how far that gets ya.
Keeping it simple (and legal) is a good thing for most e-bike riders, and I think Lectric has figured this out and provides a solution that works. Good on ya, Lectric!