Hi everyone.  I wrote this post 8 months ago: 

https://www.reddit.com/r/ebikes/comments/1np9wte/my_lectric_xpedition2_at_100_miles/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

I just hit 500 miles (it was a long cold winter)  and I thought I’d write an update.  As with that post, this is not a sponsored review, I am getting nothing for this, I just know how hard it was to figure out what bike to buy with all the options out there and wanted to share my experience.  While I know a little more about electric bikes now than I did then, I’m still limited to experience with this bike.

Bike:  Lectric Xpedition 2.0 Dual Battery Extended Range.  Purchase price — $2,000.  

This bike is still at the same price point and comes with the same upgrades that it did when I bought it on sale 8 months ago.  I didn’t price out the extra accessories so I am not sure how much more or less they are selling for now.

Settings:

Same as before.  Bike is unlocked to class 3 with Pedal Assist (PAS) speed limited on the first two levels (9 and 15 mph).

Range:

I moved this up in the review because it's probably the most important thing to consider.  Lectric quotes this model at 170 miles of range.  It’s nowhere near that in real world conditions. 

PUT SIMPLY, I CAN’T RECOMMEND THIS BIKE WITH ANYTHING LESS THAN THE DUAL EXTENDED BATTERIES. Anything less and you are going to be charging constantly. It’s just too heavy, and the most common case has too much stop and go to run on less. 

My common use case is a daily commute to work on paved bike trails with some suburban and city streets mixed in (80 percent cruising, 20 percent stop and go). I also mix in errands in a suburban setting 3-4 times a week, usually within a couple miles of my house.   I use throttle sparingly and cruise at 22 mph using level 4 PAS on the flats.  I weigh about 230, and my gear is another 30. 

I find I get about 60-70 miles per charge in those conditions. Less if it's really cold or really hot.  But that's the best case.  If I have more stop and go, or more cargo, or need to toss my 95 lb daughter on the back it eats battery really quickly.  Just be aware.

This is not to say that I have a problem with this range.  It’s plenty for my use case, and the high speed charger lets me charge both batteries in an evening, so I never notice if I have to pop them off the bike on Friday so it's ready for weekend errands.  But, if you have a 30 mile round trip to work (mine is only 10), this bike probably isn’t for you unless you are ok charging it a couple times each week.

Size:

This bike is still a beast.  I have dropped it a few times while trying to one hand it while fiddling with my garage controls.  My wife and 17 year old daughter both use it but say it's too heavy for them. You are buying this because it's a cargo bike that can carry a combined 450 lbs.  It’s sturdy.  But the trade off is and always will be weight.

Technical issues:

I had one time about 200 miles in when I noticed whatever battery was in the front was draining after a 10-15 mile ride.  It turns out that one of the plugs near the handlebars had come loose because there was very little tolerance in the cord wrapping.  Once I found it and re-wrapped it to give it a little play, I had no further issues.  Unfortunately, the bike doesn’t have a way to tell you there is an issue like that, and so I was basically running one battery without knowing it.  

Seat and Fit:

The comfort seat remains fine for my use, which is usually limited to no more than 40 minutes worth of riding when I am doing errands.  Seat post suspension is noticeable and cushions the bumps.  There may be better options out there, but I haven’t felt the need to look for them.  

The step through is a little too high for my comfort.  This is particularly true when you consider the weight of the bike, and the fact that the mounting points for the water bottle holder (or item box) and bike lock is in the step through.  I find myself kicking one or the other every time I swing my leg across, and it’s really too high for my wife, who is 5 foot 4.

I find the handlebars start to hurt my wrists during long rides, and I have yet to find the sweet spot that lets me manipulate controls, gears and the like in complete comfort.  This is probably a “me issue” as I have very long arms.  Still, I still wish I had a way to lower the handlebars further, as windy cold days make me want to be able to lower my profile. 

Screen:

I still wish we had an odometer that reset when we wanted it to so I could more easily track how much I was getting out of my batteries each charge cycle.  

There is also no “range left” gauge on the bike.  Instead, the gauge is a bar at the top that is a green, yellow and red set of bars.  It’s incredibly inaccurate, and tends to deplete in a non-linear manner.  I find that the first quarter of that gauge depletes as fast as the bottom 3/4ths.  It also doesn’t handle voltage sag very well, so it bounces up and down depending on how hard you are pushing the battery.   

Because of this, I usually ride showing my voltage indicator instead of the odometer.  That at least gives me a pretty close approximation of the current voltage output of the batteries. Combine it with a chart like this one, and you have a pretty good sense of what’s left in the batteries. 

https://www.reddit.com/r/ebikes/comments/g5ikpp/battery_pack_voltage_comparison_chart_36v_vs_48v/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

I use the voltage setting so much that I wish that it showed by default at all times on the screen (which already shows wattage output from the motor).

Gears:

Once I learned how to use them I am ok with them.  I still wished I had at least one more gear on the top end, but I appreciate that the low end needs to be there in case you have to limp home without pedal assist. I downshift more liberally on hills and stops than I did in the past.  It’s had a noticeable effect on battery usage and limits how often I have to use the throttle.  I like that you can downshift twice with one long click of the thumb trigger. Took me a while to realize that.

Pedal Assist:

Everything I said before stands.  However, I also admit I didn’t really know the best way to use it at the time.  I do appreciate that each feels different, has a use case, and basically lets me decide how fast I want to go and how hard I want to work.  As of now I use it as follows:

PAS 5 – Climbing hills with a lot of gear on the bike, and when I really want to get somewhere fast without having to work hard.  It eats hills, cruises at 25 mph on flat ground without ever and chugs electricity. 

PAS 4 – Default when I don’t want to work hard.   Cruises at 22 MPH, does fine on hills with an occasional downshift, and uses maybe 60 percent of the battery that level 5 does, while delivering most of the perks. 

PAS 3 – Default for in-city and "heads up" bicycling or when I want to work a little on my commute.  Less power demand than 4, still lets me cruise at 18-20 mph without too much effort, but not always enough on hills if I don’t want to work.  If I want to extend the range, this is the setting I use.

PAS 2 –  I never use it, but my wife likes this one.  On the settings I am running, limits PAS to 15 mph which is just enough speed for her. 

PAS 1 – For careful riding and nursing the bike home on low batteries.   I break this one out in parking lots and other places where I am allowed to ride but I want (or need) to go really slowly and carefully.

Brakes:

No issues after I adjusted my stopping time expectations and started using them earlier and more frequently.  Still plenty of life in the pads at 500 miles.

Lights

Buy yourself a better light. Lots out there that are brighter, mount more securely, and will plug and play.  At a minimum, move the light off the fender.  It moves too much and the mount will not hold the light in position.   It did (mostly) stay put after I put it on the front basket upgrade, but it’s way out in front and easy to bump on things. It’s also not bright enough for my tastes.  I can’t imagine how bad the stock light must be.

Tail light works fine.   The blinkers are really finicky.  Sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t.  The button press is small and hard to manage while also getting ready for a turn.  They are also not visible in front or from the side.  I stick to hand signals. 

Accessories

I took the bottle holder off.  I keep a bottle in the apple crate behind me.  It makes the step through easier with it out of the way. 

I upgraded the lock to a longer chain lock.  I keep both on the bike and use both.  The Lectric lock attaches wherever it will reach.  The longer one goes through the frame.  The bike needs the longer lock, because it's really hard to maneuver close to bike racks because of its weight.

I still like the orbital bars.  The snug fit for the apple crates makes a convenient and useful luggage platform, and the bars help passengers ride securely.  Mounting the bike as a passenger is hard and I usually have them do it at a curb or elevated platform.    Mounting is made harder by the running boards, which are hard to remove, but aren’t weight bearing enough to let people step on them.   I said in my initial review that I wasn’t sold on the bars, but until I no longer have a need to carry a passenger, I wouldn’t trade them for the traditional cargo rack because the bars combined with apple crates allows for a quick change from passenger bike to cargo bike and back.  Or, you can put a crate in the back with the passenger in front and do both. 

The front basket has room for one bag of groceries, but it's mounted close enough to both the handlebars and the front tire to require you to think through what you are putting up there. It also sticks out with the light mounting in front, so the turn radius gets longer.  I’ll probably rethink it for panniers at some point. 

I have soured on the phone mount. As the rubber gaskets aged, it has become more prone to slipping.  I haven’t upgraded it yet, but I have my eye out. 

Whoever designed the kick stand is a masochist.  It’s sturdy, and once the bike is on it isn’t going anywhere, but it takes strength to get it on and off, and I’ve scraped my ankle on multiple occasions as the bike sort of "drops" off the stand.   I also just noticed that the stand is no longer deploying evenly from one side of the bike (for reasons I have not looked in to yet).  Put simply, the stand does its job, but between the weight of the bike and the stiffness of the stand springs, it takes a lot of strength to park the bike.  Once it's on the stand, you basically have to lift the entire 70+ lbs of bike to maneuver it if you need it closer to a bike rack.  I don't know that there is a better solution, but trying to park the bike is currently my least favorite part of every ride.

TLDR:

I am happy with the bike, but it comes with some quirks. For the price point it serves well as a local cargo bike that can double as a commuter bike for commutes that aren’t overly long.  Don’t trust the range they advertise, and definitely go for the extended range dual battery model.  Buy a better light immediately, and skip the Lectric bike lock, phone holder, water bottle holder, and the front rack accessories.  The pedal assist sweet spot is 3 or 4 depending on how much you want to stretch the range.  Orbital bars and apple crates let you quickly switch between passengers and cargo, an option not available with the rear cargo rack.