Lectric XPeak Review

Peddling bikes since 2019, Lectric has made a name for itself with value-oriented convenience bikes, many of them folding. Lectric sells directly to the consumer and won't be found in your typical bicycle shop. Specializing in affordability and innovation, we're not too surprised to see the XPeak arrive with a host of features normally found on bikes at a higher price. We loved the XP 3.0 and XPedition from Lectric, so we were excited to test out their first “Mountain & Offroad Electric Bike.” The XPeak's frame, handlebar, stem assembly, and suspension fork are all tested to the ISO 4210-10 safety standard, which means those components have been tested by the International Organization for Standardization to meet the minimum safety requirements for Electrically Powered Assisted Cycles.

Performance Comparison

Ride

Just looking at the XPeak, you can tell it's built for off-road adventure with its oversized aluminum frame, girthy tires, and giant headlight. The XPeak's 750W hub motor can exert an advertised 1310W of peak power, giving the bike plenty of muscle for sustained inclines. A UL-compliant 14Ah, 672Wh battery slides into the downtube for a sleek look and low center of gravity. The 80mm suspension fork and 4" tires come together to provide comfort and additional traction. As you might expect, the ride is very smooth, and the bike feels quite capable, even when navigating off-road. Lectirc doesn't publish a geometry chart for this bike, but we've measured the wheelbase at 1144mm, which feels a bit short at times. The headtube angle measures 68 degrees, and the seat tube sits at 73 degrees. On paper, this bike's geometry looks almost identical to the Aventon Aventure.2, which we loved, but on the road, the bike feels less confident than the Aventon. Peering over the handlebar the front tire and headlight both look comically large. The volume in the fat tires isolates the rider from much of the road or trail chatter you might experience with smaller wheels or narrower tires.

While those big wheels and RST Renegade suspension fork give this bike some serious cush, they don't give it as much trail prowess as you might imagine. Some certifications and 80mm of suspension are nice additions to its resume but our experience testing the bike found that it faired better in less extreme environments. The 4" Chao Yang Hippo Skin tires convey less confidence as their soft sidewalls contribute to a vague sense of handling, even at maximum pressure. They pushed through gravel, mud, and even light snow and offered better-than-average traction.

As with many other fat tire bikes we've tested, the XPeak prioritizes comfort. The Lectric cockpit consists of a 670mm aluminum handlebar mounted to a 45mm stem with soft rubber grips and Lectric's own comfort saddle. For bike path cruising, the handlebar feels just fine, but when the terrain gets bumpy, we would have appreciated a bit wider grip; this is a lot of bike to muscle around, and more leverage would be helpful. We found the saddle plenty comfortable, but despite how tight we secured the quick-release seatpost clamp, the post was prone to slipping down in rough terrain.

We purchased the step-through version of this bike as it offers easy ingress and a low 19.5" standover height. Users can also opt for a step-over version with a high top tube that has a standover height of 30.5". Lectric recommends the step-through model for users between 5'2" and 6'3", and our 5'2" tester can confirm that it fits, but barely. The top of the seat post tapers inward, which means the final 3.5cm of the post can't be securely clamped, thus the saddle's lowest position is 33" from the ground. Using a non-tapered seatpost would give the bike a lower saddle height, a possible hack for anyone considering this bike with short legs. On the other end of the measuring tape, our 5'10" tester wouldn't recommend this model for anyone taller than him; the cockpit reach just isn't roomy enough. The step-over model of this bike is recommended for users between 5'7" and 6'5", we can't speak to the accuracy of this estimate, but the bike only has 1 additional inch of possible reach and 1 additional inch of seatpost height.

The highlight of the build kit is undoubtedly the RST Renegade fork. While it only offers 80mm of travel, it has a lockout and a 15mm thru-axle that lessen the unwanted flex in the front end. Mineral oil filled 2-piston disc brakes take care of stopping duties, and while they felt fine for us, users approaching the bike's max weight of 330 pounds would likely want to upgrade rotor size or the brake calipers themselves. A Shimano Tourney 7-Speed drivetrain using an 11-28 cassette and 46 tooth chainring provides an acceptable gear ratio for assisted cruising but feels inadequate when the motor isn't on. We have a few gripes about the drivetrain; the shifter is the least ergonomic of all bike shifters on the market, requiring you to push your thumb way out over the bar to downshift. While this frees up space under the bar for numerous other controls, it makes shifting a pain. The derailleur uses a guard that bolts to the axle to prevent damage to the derailleur or its hanger. This is great in theory but the thin gauge metal bent very easily into the derailleur itself and prevented it from shifting. It may have prevented the derailleur hanger from being bent, but it caused the derailleur to seize, which in turn caused a broken shifter. Our final drivetrain gripe lies with the quick-release pedals; while this saves a moment in this installation process, it results in a less-than-secure connection with the crank arm. We'd advise most users to replace the quick-release pedals with a sturdy set of platforms.

The XPeak includes some useful accessories that give the bike some added versatility. A large headlight and discreet taillight are included, and the bike's onboard battery is used for power, eliminating the need to recharge lights or witch batteries. The bike also includes fenders and a rear rack with a carrying capacity of up to 60 pounds. The fenders are ABS plastic and provide full coverage for riding in wet conditions, however, the bike's short wheelbase means there is some interference with your feet and the front fender at slower speeds. Even with that complication, we appreciated having the fenders.

Range

These fat-tire bikes have more drag and resistance than bikes with narrower tires and more air pressure, which means they consume more watts per mile. The XPeak's 672Wh battery is smaller than those found on other fat tire bikes like the Aventon Aventure.2, which results in less range. The XPeak eeked out 24.6 miles and almost 1600 feet of elevation gain on our range test course, and while it bested the Blix Ultra. Of course, our range test involves no pedaling at all, which means anyone contributing some pedal strokes could get a bit further. Only you will know if this is enough range for the adventures you want, but pedaling the bike with a dead battery should be avoided, especially in hilly terrain.

We conduct range testing on the same course and a rider of the exact same weight. When our rider is less than our testing weight, pounds are added to a backpack to even the playing field. We ride a course with gently rolling hills over a range of surfaces, most of it paved. We always start with a battery at full charge and tires pumped to the maximum recommended pressure. We ride the bikes in the highest PAS setting, which affects the throttle on Lectric bikes, and Lectic claims this bike would have a range of only 12 miles in this setting, so while the XPeak may have fallen short of our other fat tire bikes, it exceeds the stated range.

Power

The XPeak is equipped with a 750W Stealth M24 motor that is claimed to be 400% quieter than previous Lectric motors. We haven't measured the sound output from their hub motors previously but the M24 motor does seem like it produces slightly less noise than others we've tested. The bike accelerates from a stop with ease using the throttle and quickly reaches 20mph, its maximum throttle speed. The thumb throttle is easy to manage; it pushes forward underneath the handlebar instead of around the handlebar as others do, and we found it to be ergonomic and comfortable. A unique feature of this bike (and other Lectric bikes) is Cruise Control. When cruising under throttle power, you can hold the (-) button for two seconds, and the bike will stay at the chosen speed. It's less scary than it sounds, as a touch of the brake lever cancels the cruise control. We found the feature handy during range testing but we're not sure how useful this would be for most users.

Using a modified motorcycle dynamometer, we were able to test the power output of the XPeak and found the bike to generate 1162.5 watts of power. This equals 1.55hp at the wheel, and while it's less than the advertised peak wattage of 1310 watts, it doesn't mean that Lectric was disingenuous. The motor itself may generate that much power but feeding it to the wheel involves some loss in the drivetrain. This much power is sufficient to handle most terrain for our 170 lb lead tester. Heavier users up to the bike's maximum weight of 330 lbs may need to contribute a bit of muscle to conquer the steeper hills.

Putting the bike in motion requires only a push of the thumb or a bit of pressure on the pedals. In our acceleration test, the XPeak made it to 20 mph in just 11.1 seconds on flat ground. The uphill acceleration test tests the bike's ability to accelerate on an incline. We reached 17.8 mph, slowing to 14.7 mph on the steepest part of the grade.

There are five levels of pedal assist that are easy to toggle through using the plus/minus buttons on the left side of the handlebar. The higher the number, the more assistance the bike provides. Notably, Lectric bikes have a throttle response that matches the PAS setting, while most other bikes we've tested simply have full power available to the throttle regardless of the pedal assist setting. The XPeak uses a cadence sensor, which means that when the cranks turn around, the bike adds power according to the PAS level you're in. In theory, this works fine, but in practice, the cadence sensor doesn't know how hard you're pedaling, so its assistance isn't proportional. Some bikes use torque sensors which measure how hard you're pedaling and add power accordingly. The resulting ride quality of this bike can feel a bit jumpy, and especially in higher PAS modes, it accelerates for a longer period than we would have preferred. You get used to the way the power comes on but it's far less refined feeling than a bike with a torque sensor.

Interface

Lectric does a fantastic job with its large, centralized displays that are easy to ride and have an abundance of data. The display features numbers and graphics that make gleaning ride information quick and intuitive. The display measures 9cm from corner to corner and sits flush with the bike's headlight. At the top of the display is an energy bar with 10 ascending blocks that represent the battery's current state of charge. Current speed dominates the screen with large numbers and speed represented in mph or kph. Below your speed is the pedal assist setting (PAS), represented by numbers 1 through 5, and a space for the cruise control or walk function indicator. At the bottom of the display, a field shows an odometer, trip distance, voltage, current, or elapsed time.

Activating the headlight is done by holding down the + button while holding down the - button engages the bike's walk mode. Walk mode can be useful should you choose to walk up a steep hill and not want to push the bike, walk mode engages the motor just enough for the bike to propel itself at a speed of about 3 mph. The bike's battery slides inside the downtube and can be removed for charging away from the bike. Removing the 8lb battery is also a simple way to reduce the bike's weight before loading it onto a bike rack or into a car. If you plan to lock the bike to a bike rack, removing the battery provides additional security. All of the electrical components carry IP-65 water resistance, which means they'll be just fine in the rain or most inclement weather.

Assembly

Lectric doesn't sell their bikes through bike shops, so the assembly component is fairly important. Many of Lectric's bikes arrive assembled (or mostly assembled), but the XPeak requires a bit of wrench turning before it's ready to ride. The massive box ships with a picture of a flat-screen TV on the outside, which may earn it favorable treatment in the shipping process, but we can't be sure. The XPeak arrives with clear instructions and all of the necessary tools; there are many steps involved, but none of them are incredibly difficult. If you're not mechanically inclined, we recommend using your local bicycle shop. The bicycle has many interfaces and moving parts, and you will benefit from a skilled technician.

Should You Buy the Lectric XPeak?

The XPeak is a fantastic value and if that is your main criterion in selecting a bike, it's a good choice. This bike is enjoyable to ride and can undoubtedly get you off of the beaten path. The fat tires and suspension fork keep you relatively comfortable, and the accessories included are useful. That said, this bike doesn't convey the quality that we found in its competitors, and for just a bit more money, you can get one of the bikes below.

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