With the average trip around town likely to be in the 5–10 mile range, it is well-suited to gobble up most trips around town and a few longer trips where charging at the destination is an option or careful planning can be leveraged to eke out maximum range per charge. That’s fine, as the X-Class boasts a massive 18Ah battery to ensure it can power through tons of miles. It’s fine for short distances and to augment the motor for steep uphill sections, but the gearing of the bike and fixed seat relegate the bike to mostly throttle duty. For my larger than average frame, the seat is a bit too low, making pedaling awkward. It sports a nice medium height that’s inevitably going to be too high for some and too low for others to make effective pedaling an option. When it comes to pedaling, the fixed seat is naturally going to be a mixed bag. In all of our outings on the bike, it performed flawlessly at any speed, zipping us from place to place in electrified, zero emission style.Ĭarrying forward the design of petrol-powered mopeds from days gone past, the X-Class makes for a nice comfortable ride when cruising on throttle power. At those speeds, it’s critical to have a sturdy frame, tires, suspension, and brakes and the X-Class 52V is more than up to the task. Together, these give the X-Class a solid, sturdy feel that’s critical on a bike capable of hitting speeds of 35 miles per hour. Mounting the bike, it has a solid feel to it, with a robust seat, sturdy handlebars, a motorcycle-grade fork, and the fat tires. Using an electric hub motor in the back is a significant improvement over the bulky combustion engines that are typically found on motorcycles. The bike itself looks like a small motorcycle, with its squat 20″ x 4″ tires and efficient tubular frame. That may sound like a contradiction, so let me explain. It has the unique ability to simultaneously look small, but feel big. I found myself making any excuse to get on the X-Class, as it’s just a fun bike to run around town on. It also makes a great starter vehicle for riders just getting started on their mobility journeys. At the current sale price of just $2,099, the X-Class 52V packs an impressive amount of functionality that makes it easy for anyone to replace a vehicle. We used it to drop off some packages, meet up with friends for a socially distanced dinner, and run quick errands around town. Alternately, a single driver can comfortably haul an impressive amount of cargo around town. The X-Class boasts a capacity of 300 pounds, enabling two average sized adults to comfortably ride together on the optional extended seat ($89). I strapped a spare basket I had laying around the garage onto the rack, making it supremely easy to blast down to the store to pick up groceries, take packages to the post office, or to carry my backpack on the bike for a more comfortable ride. I personally fell in love with the single seat that’s included with the bike, as you can add an optional rear rack ($69) behind it. Ariel Rider was way ahead of me, with an optional long saddle that can be bolted onto the bike that, along with a set of included folding foot pegs, make it easy to carry a passenger. The resulting electric moped is so capable that I found myself wishing I could throw someone on the back of the bike for quick errands around town. The battery on the 52V build was also given a boost up to 18Ah compared to the 16Ah on its less-endowed sibling. This is a noticeable step up from the 750 watt motor found on the slightly more affordable 48 volt X-Class. The X-Class 52V boasts a 1,000 watt motor with a peak power output of a staggering 2,000 watts that blurs the line between motorcycle and bicycle. Ariel Rider X-Class 52V, image by Kyle Fieldĭisclaimer: Ariel Rider sent the X-Class 52V free of charge for the purposes of this review.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |