Lectric Ebikes Blasts Into Fat Tire E-Bikes With The XPeak – CleanTechnica Tested – CleanTechnica

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Lectric Ebikes has been designing and shipping some of the most exciting, affordable electric bikes on the market since its inception in 2019. The company recently launched the Lectric XPeak, an e-bike that aspires to carry all of their budget-mindedness forward into a fat bike platform geared towards people looking to get out into the dirt to XPlore the world around them.

The Lectric XPeak retails for $1,399, and buying it currently includes a free starter accessory kit that includes the rear rack and a set of fenders, as well as a spare battery. With its specs, the Lectric XPeak compares favorably with budget fat tire bikes in the $1,800 to $2,000 range. Tossing in $700 worth of accessories for free is just the icing on top and makes the deal that much sweeter.

So when Lectric Ebikes reached out about us reviewing the XPeak, we were eager to see if it was more than just specs on a page and to smash it around in real life to see if it was up to the challenge.

Assembly

Like most full-size electric bikes, the Lectric Ebikes XPeak comes about 85% assembled. It takes about an hour, and with its 67-pound weight, it can be a bit of a challenge to maneuver around while assembling it. What’s awesome about the XPeak is how Lectric Ebikes worked their tail off to essentially eliminate all the plastic and foam packaging e-bikes typically ships with. Most of the packaging and insulation was paper, cardboard, and recyclable at that.

Instead of hoisting the bike frame out of the box vertically, we cut the sides of the box and opened it up like a clamshell. This makes it much easier to get access to the bike frame, and you can even assemble it directly in the box like this.

Pro tip: If you aren’t comfortable taking on the task of assembling the bike, yourself, coordinate with a local bicycle shop and have the bike shipped directly to them for assembly. This saves you the effort of transporting it from your house to a bike shop after the fact.

We bolted the front wheel on and connected up all the odds and ends and the bike was looking good. Before heading out the door on the first tuning ride, we aired up the tires to the recommended 20 psi and we were ready to go.

Riding the XPeak

As with the first ride of any newly assembled bike, our first ride is what we call it tuning ride. We head out with a few tools in our pocket just to make sure there are no gears that need to be adjusted, tires that need to be aligned, or bolts that need tightening before really getting into it with a longer ride. The Lectric XPeak was ready to go, and after a quick adjustment of the seat, we hit the streets for a proper ride.

The seat of the XPeak is comfortable and has plenty of room for vertical adjustment thanks to its long travel post. Up front, instead of a traditional stem that pulls the handlebars forward of the headset, the XPeak uses a stubby downhill style stem that pulls the riding posture down over the handlebars.

It’s a more aggressive posture and frame geometry than we typically see on budget fat tire bikes that are more typically relegated to urban cruiser duty. The stubby stem also means that you don’t have as much leverage over the front tires, meaning it is does require a little more effort to steer than fat tire bikes with more traditional length stems.

The grips up front provide a solid place to grab onto the handlebars, providing confidence and control over the direction of the bike. The hydraulic brakes similarly provide a reassuring brake response and are extremely reactive — which is what you want in a 67-pound bike with a 750W motor that peaks at a staggering 1,300W of output.

On the downside, the right-hand side of the handlebars feels a little cluttered with both a thumb shifter up top and a thumb throttle on the bottom. Those are in addition to the standard rear brake lever, which takes some getting used to.

Similarly, the front headlight looks to have been through several revisions, and cable management was lacking in the latest update. There are cables everywhere up front with seemingly little thought to cable management. It’s not ideal aesthetically or functionally, although thankfully, the clutter can be managed with the tactful application of a few zip ties.

The Lectric XPeak is a solid value in the budget fat tire e-bike category with tires that curiously only allow a maximum pressure of 20psi. That makes for a more comfortable ride, but fits you at higher risk for punctures. This risk is somewhat mitigated by Lectric’s decision to include tire sealant in the tubes of all of its bikes, including the XPeak, but I would still add a robust tire liner to prevent punctures if this were my daily.

Out back, the rear rack on the XPeak is solid, with beefy construction and four frame mounting points that makes it extremely sturdy, and while I was able to sit on it myself (at just over 200 lb) it comes with an official maximum load rating of 60 pounds. That’s perfect for hauling groceries around, book bags, and it even features a range of standard connections that lets you add all sorts of connections, like Lectric’s rear panniers.

Overall, the Lectric Ebikes XPeak is a great value in the budget fat tire e-bike space, and with the accessories currently included with the purchase, it is hands-down the best value around. Even though it’s not going to set any records on your local trails, its fat tires and upgraded front shocks are well suited for occasional use on trails. As a daily driver, it is extremely capable.

For more information about the Lectric Ebikes XPeak, check out the specs below or head to their website.

• Motor: Stealth M24 750 watt continuous / 1,310 watts peak rear hub motor
• Battery: Frame-integrated 48v, 14Ah lithium-ion battery
• Pedal assist: 5 levels of assist + right thumb throttle
• Tires: 26″X4″ Chao Yang tires
• Front fork: Adjustable RST Renegade suspension fork with up to 80mm of travel
• Brakes: Front and rear hydraulic brakes with 180 mm discs
• Included accessories: Front and rear fenders, integrated front and rear lights, and a rear rack
• Weight: 67 pounds / 30.4 kilograms