The Tariff Proposal That Could Change E-Bikes Forever + Super73’s Big Comeback + THANK YOU Giveaway!

The Tariff Proposal That Could Change E-Bikes Forever + Super73’s Big Comeback + THANK YOU Giveaway!

Welcome to our oneyear anniversary of the Weekly Recharge Show. I’m John. And I’m Griffin. And we have, as always, a ton to cover. So, we had a one-on-one interview with Michael Canavo, who is in charge of Super 73. So, we got a bunch of details on the up andcoming model that we’re going to share with you. Some really cool um like exclusive insights. So, stick around for that. Looking forward to that. And uh there’s also in some news this week, a bike maker who has made a proposal for more tariffs. and we need your help opposing those. One of the wildest headlines I’ve seen in a while. We got a lot of reactions. And we’re also going to give away some stuff. So, be sure to stick around for uh details on that later in the episode. Who doesn’t like free stuff, am I right? But all that and more on this episode of the Weekly Recharge. [Music] Okay, there was a whole bunch of news headlines this week. So, let’s just dive right in with arguably like one of the bigger things I think I’ve come across lately. A bike company asking for more tariffs. Kind of strange, right? I’m going to face palm. I’m going to face pal on that one. Thank you. He’s doing that for both of us. So, Guardian Bikes calls for steel and aluminum tariffs on imported bikes. Uh, people for bikes adamantly opposes. So, here’s a little Why? I don’t know. So, a little bit more information here. So, Guardian is a DTC company that makes kids bikes in Indiana. You may have actually caught them on Shark Tank a few years back. The company filed a comment with the Bureau of Industry and Security at the Department of Commerce. The company wants 50% tariffs to be applied to all imported steel and aluminum components in bicycles and ebikes to encourage domestic manufacturing. Their statement said, “A scaled domestic supply chain for bicycles will spur demand for domestic steel and aluminum as well as metal fabrication, welding uh or sorry, welding tool and die making skills necessary for re-industrializing the nation. Many existing machine shops and component suppliers currently serving the US automotive industry as well or are well positioned to transition into manufacturing. precise high volume metal fabrication, welding, and component production could be leveraged to rapidly scale domestic bicycle component manufacturing. So, there’s a lot there was a lot in there, but it’s basically so depending on how tariffs are interpreted and applied, this could add small amounts of cost based on the value of only the steel and aluminum material included in the bike components calculated by weight. Or it could add hundreds of dollars to the cost of components themselves uh is taxed instead. So this would be in addition to all of the other tariffs that have happened that we have discussed at length here on the show, all of the Trump administration reciprocal tariffs which affect nearly all countries to varying degrees and the section 301 tariffs which affect Chinese imports at the rate of currently 25%. So the proposal is currently in a twoe comment period. Now People for Bikes is currently urging its members and anyone in the industry to respond and oppose the proposal by October 21st. They have assembled a template letter that brands can help uh use or to help brands explain how the tariffs could impact their business. Um, spoiler alert, it would be a very devastating thing if it went through. So, the organization sent out an email saying People for Bikes will submit comments in opposition of these two requests and work with allies to do the same. But, we need your help if we are to have a reasonable chance of stopping these new and crushing tariffs. And you can help. We will actually leave a link in the description down below where you can go and weigh in as well. Um, John, this was absolutely bonkers when I when I read it. So, just a little bit of context here. This is kind of to me the equivalent of building a bomb shelter in your backyard and then just saying, “Yeah, let’s let the missiles fly.” It’s like all of your neighbor neighbors are going to be devastated if they don’t have it. So, as we’ve talked about tariffs in the past, it’s always kind of been like a look, we don’t like them going into effect immediately because there just wasn’t enough domestic manufacturing to suddenly have all that stuff happen here state side. If there’s a five, 10 year, however long of a plan to get that up and running, that’s a different conversation. But again, brands have been hurting as these tariffs have gone into effect. And even though Guardian bikes set up manufacturing here, which great by the way, like that’s awesome. Um, but they can’t really like meet the demand for all bikes in the US, People for Bikes actually did a good job explaining between 9 and I think 18 million bikes are sold per year here in the US and Guardian can’t fulfill all those demands. So, this is just kind of imposing tariffs on everybody but Guardian pretty much. It doesn’t make a lot of sense. Kind of crazy. So, I mean, I not only does this hurt brands, but it makes ebikes far less accessible to consumers. And we saw prices go up by generally one or $200 last June because of the section 301 tariffs. We’ve seen prices rise again by sometimes hundreds of dollars this year. With all of the reciprocal tariffs, brands have been scrambling to try to, you know, find new man manufacturing sources. this has that potential to jack things up even more, which is just not it’s not good for anyone. Not great at all. And I actually really like how Bicycle Retailer in one of their articles actually outline this. They kind of put together a couple of examples of different ways that tariff could impact. Um so the drew up like scenario if if a bike was coming from China or coming from Taiwan. Basically, with all the stacking different tariffs, a $1,000 ebike, for example, the brand could be on the hook to pay a tariff between $570 or $1,120 to bring that $1,000 ebike in. So, that is more than the potentially doubling the cost, doubling the cost of the ebike. So, again, that to us was just kind of like, wo, kind of crazy. And if you agree with check out that uh form filled down below and weigh in and let people know about it. Yes, please. Uh but moving on, shifting gears to something a little less dramatic, a little bit more cool. Well, John actually got to sit down with the uh owner of Super 73 this week. Yeah. So, he’s one of two founders. His name is Michael Canavo. He is currently the uh chief marketing officer there. And so, he had actually reached out after we mentioned Super 73 on the show last week. We touched on a teaser that they put out on um Instagram where they showed basically like the silhouette of a new ebike. And there was some speculation around that. Not a whole lot of detail. So, I got all the details which is very cool. We’re going to run through all that stuff here. So, the new ebike is called the MZFT, possibly the Misfit, depending on how you interpret that. Uh, it’s kind of a minibike style ebike. Uh, still follows the brand’s typical moto styling. Um, this one, you know, some signs point that it’s kind of being marketed towards youth, but, uh, you know, in talking with Michael yesterday, he said they’re actually kind of targeting pretty much everybody out there. Uh this, you know, bike is designed for kids and adults alike, motorcycle enthusiasts, tech nerds, you know, the the gamut. Uh not putting a limit on it. Basically, anyone can enjoy if they are digging the ride. Exactly. And that was um kind of an interesting thing that we touched on was the sort of reinvention of Super 73. So he kind of explained that uh you know within the past couple of years the company was actually in pretty dire straits um between Michael and the other founder uh the company had kind of gone in a direction where they were just blowing through a ton of money and not really making that up in sales. So he really helped to reorganize the company uh sort of streamline the production. He said that they actually cut operational costs by 60%. In my notes I actually put $60. That is not true. 60% more than $60. Not brag on that one. Yeah. Yeah. Um but you know he wanted the sort of reinvention reinvigoration of the brand to really get back to their roots to really innovate things. Um they also wanted to target uh reducing the cost of their ebikes. So that was partially in the manufacturing side of things like reducing the number of parts or sharing multiple parts between things making it easier for things to be replaced more often. Um but also just making their bikes more accessible. uh they still do want to have like a premium tier of ebikes, but uh they want to bring things down, and that’s kind of where the MZFT comes in. So, this bike is going to be priced right around $2,000 from what he was telling us yesterday. Um now, one interesting feature here that kind of relates to that reinvention of the brand. Uh you know, for a while, Super 73 really had the reputation of being, you know, super fast, super powerful. Um and and they’re trying to really shift that. So, this bike is a class one and two ebike. Uh, so it’s limited to 20 m per hour. It doesn’t connect to an app. You cannot increase that speed. And so they’re really targeting in buying into the class system. Exactly. Yeah. And they’re actually working with schools and law enforcement to teach like safety classes and uh any any locations where people need to get permits for their bikes. They’re kind of helping them out with that. Um, but again, details of this bike specifically, it is, like I said, sort of a mini style ebike. It only has a 36-in wheelbase. Uh, it’s got a rigid frame and fork. It has mag wheels that also have like a through axle design. The rear wheel hub motor uh is designed to be removed easily. There is a 52volt 500 W motor and we didn’t get specifics on the torque, but Michael was saying that it’s incredibly torquy that you’re actually able to maintain and sometimes increase your speed going uphill. Um and then it comes with a single 520watth battery, but there’s like sort of a modular system here. There’s a storage compartment that is lockable uh where the battery slots in and you can actually fit a second battery in there. So, if you want to double your range, you can get a second one. Uh and then the batteries batteries are also potted as well, so they’re encased in resin for fire safety. We’ve been hoping to see more of that. So, that’s awesome. Definitely. Uh and then we’ve got two piston hydraulic disc brakes. We have uh let’s see, the fit range is 4’6 to 5’11. And then we’ve got a 250lb payload capacity. Uh there’s kind of two two colors to start, but uh there’s some sort of premium tier stuff on the way. He actually mentioned like Porsche inspired color schemes, so those will be coming next year. And then the bikes are going to be a available online by November 10th and then available for instore purchase on November 8th. So pretty exciting. I mean, this there’s a really awesome opportunity to actually speak with someone in that position and uh especially someone who is a fan of the show. Um you know, we we get that a lot. So, uh, Michael, if you’re out there watching, appreciate you. Thanks. Thanks for chatting with us. Yeah, absolutely. I’m really kind of intrigued by the concept of this bike because, uh, there is someone who rides around my neighborhood on a seron and is almost always on the sidewalk and stuff like that. So, if teens kind of have like a still fun, cool, awesome alternative, a little bit more class compliant, a little bit more like safe and stuff like that, I am all for we could use more of that. And if they found ways to make their products even more affordable, that could potentially get it in the hands of more of those teenagers. So, seems really promising. And the purple color on that model that we saw is pretty sweet. It does look very cool. Yeah, kind of a plum color. Whatever it is, I’m I’m digging it. Um, but we got news on another new bike as well. This one comes from Hey Bike. It’s their new Helio F, which has a pretty like cool retro look to it on a folder. Don’t do that very often, but um, so some facts about this bike. It is designed to be lightweight. It’s 18 kg or about 40 lb. So again, has that retro style frame in red or green, but there are also three colorful and unique uh limited artist editions from artists in the Netherlands, the UK, and Italy. Yep. Uh the bike has a fast folding and lock locking patented design. Some of the other specs include a 250 W rear hub motor which has 40 new meters of torque. 360Wh seat post battery. Uh 80 to 120 km or 5075 mile range. Um 25 km or 15.5 mph top speed. This is intended for the Euro crowd if we haven’t uh picked up on that one quite yet. Um 8-speed Shimano Altus drivetrain Tekro hydraulic disc brakes. Schwabby Billy Bonkers tires. I love how names their tires. It’s so good. Yeah. a payload capacity of 275 lbs or 125 kilos. Uh, includes a smart tag for location tracking. Little extra security is always good. So, again, seems prime for the EU market right now, but seems to be available in the US as well for $12.99 standard or $13.99 for those limited edition artist um, colors. So, again, this is just really fun looking bike. I’m a fan of retro styling, which doesn’t really apply to folders totally usually. Yeah, I feel like some of the older Blicks models were Blicks kind of had that down in like Brmpton’s again like its own style classic thing, but like I think most people conceptualize folders at least here in the States as something a little bit more like modern times. So like this super retro look to it. I really like a lot. Be very interested to uh test this bike out when it’s available. Yeah, this is definitely a different visual style for Hey Bike, too. I mean, you know, we’ve seen them kind of grow by leaps and bounds this year and this seems to be another notch in the belt. So, absolutely. But not the only folder we’re going to be talking about today, John. That is true. We have a super lightweight new model from Brmpton. Um, so this is what they’re calling their lightest ever eBike and it’s the biggest launch in 50 years. So this is the electric T line and in that case the T stands for titanium. Uh, so they had a non-electric T line previously, but now they’ve added a motor and in fact that’s actually a new drive system that we’ll talk about here. But this bike is at least advertised to weigh 14.1 kg which works out to about 31 pounds with the battery or 11.2 kg which is under 25 pounds without the battery. Um and then it has a that new drive system is torque sensing and it’s called the E Motique and uh that motor first appeared on the electric G line earlier this year. That’s their gravel folding bike. Uh but now that same motor is going to appear on the T line and the electric C and P line models. Um, so the CP and T line will have 24 new meters of torque, but the Gline is a little bit more just because it’s sort of off-road friendly. Gets uh 30 N meters there. And then it also has a start assist mode uh just to help get you going if you’re at a stoplight and give you a little extra power on hills. So, it shares the same battery size as other Brmpton models. It’s got a 345watth battery. And on this bike, they claim a range of 90 km, which works out to about 56 mi. Uh, and then it also pairs with the Brmpton electric app, so that can give you overtheair updates. And, uh, they they have this sort of like smart range system. That sounds pretty interesting. So, it says that it learns your f your riding style over the first 100 km uh, and then basically adapts its output of range estimates every 6 miles or sorry, 6 km after that. Um, yeah. And it kind of like dialing in, syncing to your cadence a little bit, something like that. how you know how much power you typically use, how you pedal, that sort of thing. Um, but the electric key line both has uh US and EU safety certifications. So, it meets the UL2849 standard here and the EN5194 standard in Europe. Uh, comes with the brand’s 3-year warranty. And uh price in US dollars is yet to be announced. But over in the uh across the pond here, we’ve got £5,799 uh or €6,799. And that’s going to be available for pre-order on October 21st and in store purchase on October 28th. So, some cool stuff coming up. Yeah. I was like, we always love to see more Brmpton gear. Very fun, very interesting bikes, very unique. So, hey, the more the marrier. I’d happily try out the titanium one. Absolutely. Yeah. really liked the electric sea line that we got a hold of last year. I mean, it’s just also super cool to have a brand that actually builds their bikes by hand in Britain. That’s incredible. Yeah, very rare. We talked about them getting a new manufacturing plant earlier this year, I believe. So, like kind of cool to see that, you know, setting up a new shop and working on some new stuff, bringing uh electric motors to the Tline. So, and that new motor sounds pretty interesting, too. Absolutely. All right, so our last headline is Buffang’s 2026 motors to include anti- theft features. So, Buffong has collaborated with an IoT company called Komodo to develop new security features. New motors will pair with an app and have an electronic motor lock feature. When the connected phone goes out of range, the lock will automatically engage. So, it has both for mid drives and hub motors. On the mid drive, the system prevents the drivetrain from moving. On hub motors, the system stops the wheel from turning period. The locks will remain engaged if the electronic IoT module is removed. And new systems will also have motion detection and alarm systems. and will notify the paired phone if unusual activity is detected. So, OTAA updates are now available and the new systems can also provide a wide range of ride data and diagnostics. So, uh whether these features are baked in or optional is uncertain, but a quote from Kodu’s chief product officer Stenum Malier, I hope I’m saying that right, suggest the latter. Uh upon ecosystems or sorry, open ecosystems are the key to transforming ebikes into smart bikes. They unlock digital rider experiences, new business models, and give OEMs true freedom of choice over their uh products and services that they offer. So, Buffang obviously is one of the, if not the largest maker of ebike motors on the whole planet. So, more features, whether optional or like baked in, hey, we’re all for it. Bring it on. Um, kind of happy to see this. We’ve been very impressed with a whole wave of bikes this year that we’ve tested out that have included some things like this. Aventons ACU of course had that. We’ve seen some similar things like with Artopia and Velri. We’re getting more and more security features, locking features, and which makes sense. I mean, ebikes, they’re not cheap commodities, you know, so more security, we’re all for it, especially if it’s built in. I mean, there’s some very good locks out there. Uh, but, you know, if you buy an ebike, it’s nice that it just includes something right right out of the box. I kind of say that in any bike I review with this stuff. It’s like, yeah, hey, I’m not saying like ditch the chain lock you lock or whatever, but at the same time, like if you want to make something really inconvenient to steal, like try disabling a 70 lb bike from being able to like have the motor on, it’s going to make it very unappealing. Totally. Yeah. And what you mentioned about the Aventon ACU equipped ebikes, like that’s exactly where my mind went with this. Um, those things are, you know, some incredible features on 2,000 or sub2,000 bikes. Uh, so, you know, if this is if this makes those things more uh widespread and accessible, I think that’s going to be awesome. Yeah. All for it. So, that’s going to do it for this week’s headlines, and we’re going to jump next into our oneyear anniversary celebrations. That’s right. Stick around. All right. So, now we’re going to do something a little bit different. We are going to do a trivia game here between Griffin and I putting our ebike knowledge headto head. Again, this is something new. We’re going to try it out. So feel free to let us know what you think of it. If we should keep this section or ditch it. Uh it’s like it’s the one-year episode. We’re going to change things up, try some new stuff. And as always, we’re open to audience feedback. If you like it, cool. Let us know. If you could do without, let us know that, too. I just said that. Well, I wanted to say it, too. Okay. I feel left out. On with the trivia, though. Christina’s got it queued up, ready to go. Christina, what is question number one? All right. Question number one. Secret over here. What year was the direct drive rear hub motor invented? A 1993, B 1987, C 1895, or D 2001. Squeaky marker. Still squeaky. Okay, reveal your answers in three, two, one. Oh, you wrote yours upside down. I wrote mine upside down. flipping it up. Um, you’re both wrong. It is C1 1895. I had a sneaking suspicion. That’s insane. I knew like ebikes were like first a thing in like the 1800s, but I didn’t know the direct drive. That was what was throwing me away. See, he told me the answer was 1985, which is 1895 just transposed. I see. So, I was like, that’s okay. Okay, let’s keep that here. Okay, you’re both losers so far. Let’s go. We’re both losers so far. Nothing’s changed from my normal life. Anyway, sounds good. Okay. Which ebike has a faster throttle time on our Devil’s Backbone Hill test? A, Velcri Nomad 2 or B, the Aventon Adventure 3. That’s a good question. It is a good question. I think they’re actually going to be close, but Okay, I’m ready. All right, answers in three, two, one. Okay, you guys are both right. Yeah, the Adventure 3 has is 109 seconds. The Nomad 2 is 111 seconds. Oh, wow. That’s closer than I expected. That is a lot closer. Um, okay. Yeah, I I am doing this right. I’m trying to figure out the writing backwards thing. My brain doesn’t work that way naturally, but this one might be trickier for that cuz it’s um an open-ended question. So, okay. So, number three is, how many Newton meters of torque does the Ride OneUp Roadster V3 have? Griffin gets an advantage here because it was his review. Oh, nope. That is not how you write that number upside down. I’m going to say I hope that’s looks correct when I flip it. Okay. Yes. See, you’re having trouble, too. On your mark, get set, go. Go. Go. It’s not right. Does that look like a 50? It’s a backwards five. Give it a shot. That’s 50 for the record. Griffin is right. It’s 50 Newton meters. Even if it’s not. That was great. All right. That was great. I hope I get extra points for trying to ride upside down flip dramatic fashion. Um, okay. Question number four. Which electric bike has our current longest max power range test? Uh, sorry. Say that one more time. Ooh. Which electric bike has our current longest max power range test? So, which one has gone the farthest the fastest on max power? Ooh, that is hard cuz it’s max power. Um, I know this answer for men. Yeah, same. Yeah. Or at least I know like the top three uh like candidates. Um, okay. I’m gonna I’m gonna guess this one. I’m not riding upside down. I ain’t that good. I wasn’t that good last time. I mean, the the zero was right. The zero was right. I can do that one upside down. Okay, this is a long one, but All right. Ready? Go. Go. Ramblas. What is What is the Ramblas? And what is the Turbo V? Specialized Turbo. No, you guys are both wrong. It is the IGO Discovery Rosemont LS. I darn it. Okay. Yep. Would not have He doesn’t say how many. He didn’t say how many, but just that that was the right one. Okay. The Ramblas sent out like the minest is one of like the longest we’ve ever had, so I was like, Max was probably good, too. I knew it had to be a mid drive, though. All right. So, this is a follow. This is a follow-up question to that one. So, okay. I have a I have a question. Are you keeping track of who has what score? I’m winning two to one. Yeah. Okay. I’m competitive. I know it’s in there. Good. Good. Okay. So, this is a followup to the one. The Rosemont LS. The Discovery Rosemont LS. Okay. What was the mileage of that max range test? We’ll give a point to whoever has it the closest this time. Okay. Price’s right scenarios here. Yeah, we can’t go over. I’m just kidding. Okay. Oh, whoops. I wrote this the normal way. Oh well, that’s fine. And reveal. I don’t know how to split the difference here. I think it’s going to be Griffin. Oh, no. It’s 55.83. I think that is also Yeah, that’s Griffin. Yeah. Yeah, I was like 55.6. I don’t know. On a max test. I know, but I was like, that’s pretty good. It wasn’t a triple B, but it didn’t exceed the 100 mark on. All right, so I’m going to keep the scoreboard right here. That is Griffin. One, two, three. John, how many? Okay. All right, guys. Leave some comments. I need I need some help. Two more. You can tie them. Okay. All right. Although I think you’ll both get this one. Uh, who is the founder of Rad Power Bikes? Spelling cannot be held against me. Yes, it Yes, it is. Yes, I will get it right. To be fair, I have misspelled my own name before. So, if I can’t get someone else’s name, that cannot be held against me. Sounds like a personal trouble. Mark gets set. Mike Renbomb. Mike Renb. Yep. Upside down. Oh, you Oh, you cheated. You didn’t cheat. You cheated it. That is not the same thing. Okay, two to four. Uh, Griffin Griffin technically wins unavoidably, but that it we’re there’s one more. Okay. How many people in the United States rode an ebike at least one time in 2024? Oh, sorry. There’s there’s multiple choice. Oh, thank you. That’s a shot in the dark. This is very open-ended. Yeah. A 37 million, B 112 million, C 21 million, or D 82 million. Oo. So 37, 112, 21, or 82. Okay, I think we’re going to Mark gets it. Flip it. D. Also D. Oh no, you’re both wrong. It’s B. 112 million. I almost guessed that. So I wanted to guess that and I was like, that’s the number I want it to be. It’s the biggest, but I don’t know. All right. Okay. Well, cool. Not bad. Four to two. Griffin gets to wear the electric biker for helmet in next week’s trivia game. Victory helmet. That’s what I’m talking about. How did you guys do? Let us know in the comments down below how many you guys got correct. And again, let us know if you want to keep the trivia coming. We can add this section. Do it every week. Again, this is episode 53 of the Weekly Recharge. So, thanks for joining us for our oneyear celebration. We’ve got a lot of things to talk about here. some stats, some favorite moments. I was going to say one year always good to like reflect a little bit. So, we pulled up some interesting data from the uh like everything that’s gone down on YouTube and on the website in the last year. So, we have published 201 different things of content on YouTube since we launched the first episode of the weekly recharge. That’s insane. Uh 159 of those are long form videos, which are hard and timeconuming to make. So, hopefully you’ve enjoyed getting to uh see those. And then as a channel, we’re actually nearing 1,000 bits of content published on YouTube as a collective. So that’s wild. Quite the milestone we’re rolling up on there. Um, now in that time over the past year, we have had 20,000 new subscribers. So thank you so much for following along. That is incredible growth. As a matter of fact, we actually just hit our uh 15-year anniversary as a channel. The first video went live on October 12th of 2010. Uh so getting 20,000 new subscribers in the last year. That is like a huge explosion of growth. So again, thank you so much for uh subscribing, following along. In that time, we’ve gotten 4 million views over the last year, which is 17.5% of the total views of the channel. Um we’ve also had millions and millions of viewers and uh people over on the website as well. So again, just couldn’t be like happier with just some of that um engagement we’re getting from you guys. So thank you so much. Um, we also got a play button. We also got the play button. Like we hit the 100,000 uh subscriber mark, which was awesome. Our most watched episode of the weekly recharge. John, care to guess some bonus trivia. Uh, I it’s got to be something with like tariffs or something. No sir. It was episode 24 titled, “What’s going on with Ride OneUp?” And the answer to that was nothing. They’re great. We talked about some people who were a little bit worried about it’s been quiet on the ride when up front and they were just working on some new stuff. They were consolidating models. They had like new stuff we talked about like right after that. So, um most watch episode we’ve had so far. Now, the number of miles we have ridden um on bikes in the last year roughly one cajillion. Okay. So, I tried to go add those up. That was really hard. But that’s just a like thousands and thousands of miles. I guarantee you that between official range testing and all the other uh like testing that we do on these. And that’s not just Griffin and I that is not just us. That is a group collective effort. We’ll give shout outs to everyone here in a little bit as well. Um, so looking back on episode one specifically, I looked at some of the things we talked about there. We uh talked about the debut of the Turbo Vado SL2, which we also reviewed. Um, we talked about the national parks uh uh found ebike inclusion doesn’t significantly impact trails. Um, and Moab just this week opened up 200 miles of trails. So again, more places becoming accessible. Ebikes don’t destroy them. That is awesome. We also talked about Juice going bankrupt and selling to a private auction to a mystery bidder which we now know uh was Levi and Robbie the owners of electric. They actually bought up Juice and are currently in the process of reviving that brand. Um my favorite question from that episode was so why haven’t we reviewed fill-in-theblank bike yet? And just kind of like we answered in that episode, we’re trying we’re going to try and review every bike we can get our hands on and we always appreciate you telling us what bikes you’re interested in, which ones you want to see us get in and helping us, you know, kind of nudge the brands a little bit. make sure we do get those in. Um, again, we’re going to test them all Pokémon style. Got to catch them all. We actually just got two in the door this morning. We’ll talk more about that later, so stick around uh to find out more information. But I wanted to share one of my favorite questions, and this is, you know, we we get that a lot as you probably one or two a week. Why haven’t you reviewed whatever bike? Um, one of the things that I really appreciate from you guys is when you challenge us. I, you know, we have this platform where we get to chat with you and interact and respond to things that we don’t normally cover in our reviews. So, you know, we try to take a pretty balanced approach to how we handle reviews and just talk about ebikes in general. And it’s nice to be able to like, you know, give you our side of things, explain a little bit more about how we work and why we work that way. So, yeah, pretty cool. I agree with that. And so, what are some of your other favorite moments, John, besides like the challenging questions? Favorite moments here. I I I did a little research and wrote a couple things down. So, back in episode 32 of the show, Griffin and I were referred to as peanut butter and jelly, which bring it in. They go together so well. That’s right. Uh, also on episode 39, I think one of my personal favorite, funniest, most embarrassing moments. Um, I was talking about uh a story about Orba and coming off of uh a person related to that story in uh France who had a fairly complicated name. I then went to talk about Orbea’s CEO whose name is Daniel and I said, “Oh, this name is much easier to pronounce and I said Danielle unfortunately.” So, I apologize. D Orbeea CEO whose name is much easier to pronounce. Danielle Daniel Martinez. Wow. Is it though? Is it Daniel Martinez? I apologize. It’s like the French form of Daniel, right? Daniel. Daniel. You’re just stuck on the French thing. That’s fine. Something like that. Uh, but then, you know, just I guess on a more serious note, seriously, again, thank you for helping us get to 100K and that play button just really makes a big deal to me and and Griffin here I know personally. So, thank you again. Yeah, those are some of my favorite moments. What about you? Um, so a couple of ones I don’t have specific like episodes to shout out per se, but I do have like the memories of them. Um, one of them is just well actually it’s kind of a one we’ve had several times. I genuinely love, we’ve shared this in rider of the week several times, the stories of people who have just kind of found more freedom or like a second cycling life because of ebikes. Um, they are fun, they are good times, they are recreation, they’re all that thing. But I do kind of just have like that soft spot for people who are just like, “Hey, I got a part of my life back because of ebikes.” There really is some like magic to them. Just helping people move around who would otherwise not be able to go out and ride. Um, if you’re down, bummed, depressed, like go take a bike ride. Being outside and riding around is always good for the soul. Can’t attest that. So love all of those stories that we’ve been able to share. And then actually one of my favorite moments was celebrating him. We actually had a special celebration for John when he crossed the 100 video mark. Um that was really cool. I don’t like we don’t pull off surprises nearly often enough in life and that was a genuine like surprise that John did not see coming and those are always just really fun to be a part of. So that was actually one of my favorite moments. Thanks Griffin. For sure. But that is not all we have for you to uh celebrate our one-y year anniversary. So, uh, we way back, I think in episode 1 threw out the idea of merch and you guys responded and said that you were interested. So, it’s been a long road getting here, but we are finally approaching the point at which we will be offering merch. So, um, number one, we have we’ve been working with a designer. We have a whole bunch of options. There’s actually 21 currently in the works. Some of them are like the same design in both black and white shirts, but uh you can actually vote on which ones we you like so that you know we know which ones you want to have offered. Uh you can check out the link in the description. There’s a form there, a Google form that you can use to vote on your favorite designs and then some of those will make it to production. Uh we are actually going to have a giveaway later in this episode, so stick around for that. Make sure you stay tuned for that. Uh but then you know we talked way back when about uh merch being a way to kind of give back to you guys for all that you do for us. Uh so every week in the show we highlight a rider of the week. And uh we want to actually go back through all of the riders that we’ve highlighted and give you guys a t-shirt once we get those designs finalized. Uh but you know we are going to need your contact information. So uh if you have been announced you know there’s uh you message us. There’s another form that we’ll link to in the description below and you know you can give us your information uh your shirt size, your mailing address, what episode you were featured on so we can kind of verify things. Otherwise, we’re going to end up with uh you know a long list of of people wanting t-shirts. Uh but yeah, so we would love to be able to send you a shirt and again just say thank you for helping us out. But uh Griffin, here’s to another year. Here’s to another year. All right. All right. [Music] All right, so we’ve got some gear and accessories to talk about today. Actually, two bits of it. We’re going to be talking about the brand Revay. John, tell us a little bit more about these glasses we got up here. Reay, Revo Ray, something like that. I don’t know. Uh, so we have two models here to talk about that they sent us. We have the Brisk Y1 and the Lumo over here. So, these are two new models from the brand. We’ll talk about the Brisk first. So, this is a nice wraparound style. It comes in a whopping 16 color options with uh different lens options as well as as well as pricing. Uh so depending on what lens you get, what color combination uh you’re looking at a list price of between 41 and $75 you’ve got uh so polarized is sort of the base level that just reduces glare. You have high contrast that is uh just exactly what it says, high contrast, best for high speeds and harsh weather conditions. And then we have photochromic. So that is kind of like the transition lenses where depending on the light it’s gonna, you know, get clear or darker. Um, so the high contrast lenses, which is what we have here, that includes a bonus clear lens that you can swap out. And this one weighs 33 g. But then over on the Lumo side, so these are just photochromic, so they’re a little bit more premium. Uh, there’s some metallic accents there. There are three color options. The list price for those is 100 bucks and they weigh 34 and a half grams, excuse me. Uh, and ours came with a really cool like frame bag storage pouch thing that you can strap on and either use for other some Velcro loops there and little tidy place to keep them. So, a little clip. If you’re wearing your helmet, you can’t put them on your head. So, you got to put them somewhere. That’s right. Do Do you want to Do you want to be a model, Griffin? Do you want to show these off? I’m always a model, John. Have you not seen me in the photos on the website? I have. Yes, we on my resume. I muddle. Look at that. Look at that handsome fellow. Look at that. Look at it. Uh, but there is also a deal going. Oh, you know, I’m sorry. There’s a couple other things. So, both of these uh they meet UV400 standards which block UVA and UVB rays. They both come with uh silicone anti-slip nose pads and they are scratch resistant. Um, but then yeah, there’s a deal going on right now that if you buy two, you get 20% off. So, if you want to look this like this guy, check those out. That is a bad way to set these things up, but if you do want need some glasses, these are worth looking into. U seem pretty like nice to me. We’re going to be trying them out uh more moving forward. Um one thing I do like to remind people about when it comes to the polarized lenses sometimes for ebikers where you’ve got the fancy fun displays and screens and stuff like that. Sometimes they become a little bit harder to see, but other than that, do usually love the wraparound style. Really good for just kind of keeping stuff out of your face out on the ride. So check these out. We’ll leave a link down in the description down below. That’s right. [Music] All right, it’s time for our weekly peak behind the curtain at what we have in the works here at Electric Bike Report. So, as far as things that we have received for testing, we have a really cool touring ebike uh from a brand called Cicada. It was made in partnership with Soul Fitness. Uh so, we’re looking forward to that. Owned by like the same brand or something like that. Yeah, I got a first look at that the other day and it’s got a super crazy long cargo rack. I’m pretty intrigued by by what’s going on there. So, that’s all I know about it right now. Good to know. Load up for touring adventures. Um, other than that, we do have one bike that we got in which I’m pretty sure is under embargo. So, I’m just going to be mums the word on that one for now. Uh, but as always, make sure you’re subscribed, stay tuned as we are trying to bring you the most like, you know, first to look reviews and all that stuff that we possibly can. So, uh, looks exciting. We’ll see. It’s kind of how that unfolds. But John had a trike to talk about. That’s right. Yeah, we’ve been doing quite a few trikes this year. A lot of lot of releases. 25. Here’s the trike. This is not a brand new model. It’s one that we’ve actually taken a look at years ago. But since we’ve changed up our review process, we’ve been running through a lot of new things or sorry, existing things from Evell in a new fashion. So, this is the Avel Compass trike. This is the one and only mid drive errike that we have tested and reviewed. Um, you know, Evel is known as a premium brand making very high quality products and this one is right right up there with everything else. We’ll talk a little bit more about this later, but uh has one of the best warranties in the industry, 4 years and 20,000 m. So, uh you know, if you’re looking for a highquality, high-end, very long-lasting and reliable trike, definitely check that one out. Uh and be sure you’re subscribed, excuse me, as I fumble my words, so that you can uh check out all of our new content. All right. Each week, we like to take a look at a trail system or just like a cycling infrastructure kind of town or something like that. But John, which which of those are we getting this week? Well, partner, we’re going here to Nebraska. You’re just embracing it. I love this is called the Cowboy Recreation and Nature Trail. I’m not going to do this the whole time. Not a meike. Ride a bike. I I appreciate that. Thank you. That’s what I’m here for. Uh so anyway, this is a uh in the works trail. It will hopefully eventually be 317 miles in total. Uh right now there are a couple sections that are a bit shorter that are unconnected. Uh but it runs across most of northeastern Nebraska. Um so the first the longest section connects Norfolk to Valentine and runs through about 18 cities and that is 190 miles. But then there’s another short uh section that’s further west of that between Rushville and Gordon and that’s only about 15 miles. So, uh, if they meet and get completed for that whole 317 milei section, they would continue to Shadrin or Chadrin. I’m not sure how that’s pronounced. Uh, but basically the whole route will follow the former corridor of the Chicago and Northwestern Railway, which was called the Cowboy Line. So, that was where that came from. Um, so use of that rail line stopped back in the ’90s. And then a group called the Rails Do Trails Conservancy that we’ve talked about quite a bit on this show, they actually bought it and then donated it to the state of Nebraska to be turned into this trail. Uh and then it was actually listed uh as a national recreation trail and part of the National Trails System back in 2001. Uh so looking at what’s actually going on here, you’ve got most of the route uh being crushed gravel and there are a couple of concrete sections that are primarily in the towns that it runs through along the way. And uh most of those towns are about 10 to 15 mi apart, but uh you know there are accommodations along the way within each of those towns, places to stop, get food, rest, get water, hit the restroom, that sort of thing. Uh there are also over 200 railroad bridges along the whole route uh that include wood and steel trestles. There’s some pretty incredible ones. One’s like a/4 mile long and it’s like 150 ft off the ground. Uh that one runs over the Nio Barara River. Oh yeah. Um but then you’re also passing through those small towns. You’ve got prairies and then there’s some wetlands in the sandill country and then of course the sort of riparian sections around the Nio Neo River, however that’s said. Um, I’m not from Nebraska. Sorry. Anyway, uh, there also some historic buildings along the way. There’s some train depots and grist mills. And then you’ve got tons of wildlife that you can see, including rabbits, squirrels, feeasants, quail, songirds, bald eagles, turkey vultures, monarch butterflies, and more. I would imagine some stuff along the river as well. Uh, and then that river is a pretty cool place. You get tubing, rafting, and kayaking opportunities there. But then another attraction is the Longp Pine State Recreation Area. And there’s trout fishing. You’ve got camping opportunities there. You can do some archery, uh, hiking, that sort of thing. Uh, and yeah, I mean, uh, looks like a really cool trail. Obviously, that’s a ton of mileage that you can cover if you do choose to do that. The trail caters to hikers, runners, cyclists, and pedestrians. Uh, I believe there’s also a separate section that is open to equestrians as well. Um, but yeah, and I didn’t see anything specifically related to ebikes, but I’m kind of assuming based on previous research here on the show that, you know, you’re pedaling and going up to 20 mph. So, if that’s a class one ebike, uh, you’re probably fine. That’s kind of been the thing we’ve discovered as we’ve done trail systems for one whole year now. More often than not, trail bun or class one, excuse me, and you’re fine. So, uh, might not be a hard rule for everywhere, but more often than not, for sure. Um, like always, love discovering things that I don’t know anything about Nebraska. Sorry, I don’t know too much about your state, but this is just really gorgeous photos that I’m seeing here on trailink.com. Um, and as always, I’m still suck such a sucker for bridges. So, like 200 of them is awesome. I I can’t even like explain or rationalize it. It’s just like it’s like that one thing I’m a sucker for. I’m like, “It’s a bridge. I need to take a picture.” Like, I’m with you. Yeah. I don’t know if I’ve got like three kids now and I’m just like fully in my dad era where it’s like certain things I just feel the urge to stop and I take a picture. Like it’s just like what I’m at with bridges. So would love to try this out. Go hunting for all 200 of them. It’s just an insane number. Like that’s pretty awesome. So cool little gym. And uh there were also, you know, there’s a website that I found that kind of covered a bunch of festivals that happen in all these little towns throughout various times of the year. So there’s tons to see and do here. I mean, this could make for a, you know, month-long vacation getaway thing if you wanted it to be. But uh yeah, if you have anything in your area that you want us to highlight in this segment, make sure you let us know down in the comments section. or as always that email address questions electricbikereport.com. Thanks partners. [Music] All right, now it is time for John and I’s favorite section that is questions and comments from you, our audience, as pulled from YouTube and the website. Let’s dive right in with a question on the Bellatri Triker review on YouTube from Daniel Becker 9836 who says, “When you say a respectable wheel width, what is it in inches? I need any trike I get to fit through the front door to my apartment unit. This triker looks to be the best so far, even with its higher price at $23.99. So, yeah, I actually um went I I mean, I did that review, so I had to go back to the triker and actually measure. We typically do measure like on center of the rear wheels just to get an idea of things, but with tires and fenders and that sort of thing, that was actually a little bit wider than what I had noted. Uh so, the full width there is right around 28 in. uh which actually makes that trike one of the easiest to fit through a door that we’ve tested. Uh just for comparison here, the Avel Compass that just went live that I mentioned a few minutes ago uh is the narrowest that we’ve seen so far and the total width of that trike is about 27 12. So not a big difference there, but um you know, something worth noting. But then the widest is the Rad trike from Rad Powerbikes. Uh and they actually designed that to sort of maximize the standard door width. Yeah, I was like that was 100% intentional cuz I know like when we talked to them about it, they said they wanted it to be as wide and as stable as possible while also fitting through your average doorway anywhere in America. So, um, so I guess it’s kind of like a word for any like trike user. As long as it’s under 33 in, you’re typically good for your average doorway. Typically, typically you don’t want to be tipping. We’ll get in there later, but the Rad Trike is about 33 in, which does help prevent that from tipping. Uh but yeah, if you didn’t pick up on that in the triker review, that one is also super stable, even though it is on the narrower side. Uh so moving on though to a question from the Mock Wheelbas 2.0 review on YouTube. This comes to us from MHC6919. Why doesn’t anyone mention warranty duration and customer service issues? Um so that is a fair question. Um this actually ties back into a little bit of some stuff we talked about last week, but let me just kind of give you the lowdown there. So, most brands offer between a 1 and 2-year warranty. That is the pretty standard one. Um, again, that’s from reputable brands. Every now and then when someone’s asking me about an Amazon or Alibaba bike, sometimes they don’t have any warranty information posted. One of the reasons we generally steer you away from them for sure. Um, but, uh, warranty details are for sure important, but again, with kind of like that standard 1 to two year baked in, we typically only shout it out um, if it goes above and beyond. Um, that can like come down to like different factors. Price being one of them. Premium ebikes, for example, typically have greater warranties. Um, so a couple brands with notable warranties we figured we’d shout out here. Um, so Pedigo actually has a 5-year warranty including anti- theft protection and a lifetime warranty on the frame. So really good coverage there. Um, Eve, as John hinted earlier, um, they actually have one of the best warranties as well. 4 years 20,000 mi warranty against manufacturing defects on frame, battery, motor, controller, and display. That even extends to like their NVLO drive systems that they use, which is kind of cool. Um, talked with them on a review recently and they said even though and uh Nvolo themselves don’t have a warranty going that long that it’s like we’ve used these parts and systems for years and we know they go further than that. So, we are willing to actually extend the warranty basically and include that in the four year 20,000 mi. So, that’s a lot of like confidence there. Yeah, some really cool stuff there. Um, Brmpton 7-year unlimited mileage warranty against manufacturing and material defects on the main frame components. A 2-year warranty on the non-wearing parts. Electrical has a 2-year warranty that can extend to 3 years by registering your bike. And then final one we’ll talk about here is turn, which has a 5-year warranty that can be extended to 10 years upon signing up for turn care and registering your bike. And 10 year for the frame, stem, handlebar, and fork. one year on all other parts, including those that are turn or biologic branded. Turn also promises that replacement parts will be available for a period of seven years after purchase. So, pretty cool. Yeah, really cool coverage there. Again, 1 to two years is pretty like standard, but obviously it can go up from there usually with those premium brands. And like we mentioned last week’s show, the majority of brands that we review on our channel are brands we are choosing to review because they are just, you know, companies that support their products. Every now and then we kind of like have like a new upandcomer like type thing and we kind of like disclose that up front like hey they’re new trying to get their sea legs under them. But we typically just work with brands that have established reputations for a reason because warranty and uh coverage is obviously very important. Want to know that what you’re spending money on is got some guarantees baked in. So again hopefully that helps kind of clear up the question a little bit. I just on that note uh sometimes working with smaller companies that can be an advantage. We’ve talked about that sometimes where, you know, a smaller customer service team can be better at reaching out, you know, depending on how that works out. But yeah, 100%. Sometimes you will get like the, hey, we know we’re like smaller and like trying to establish that reputation. So, like we’re very quick and responsive to uh with those things. We’ve seen that before. Um, so just some things to think about there. All right, so next up though, we have a question from last week’s show from Bloom Prism, who says, “Hey y’all, new rider here. relearning to ride for the first time in 20 years and looking for some advice. I’ve got my eyes on a Velri Breeze and there are a couple of shops near me that have it available. However, to get to those shops or repairs or maintenance, I’d be relying on someone else for transportation. As much as I’d like to support a local business by buying directly from them, is there anything I stand to gain from ordering from a shop that’s more difficult for me to access? or am I better off just ordering online for a cheaper price with discount code plus free cargo rack and vendors and taking it for a tuneup at a shop closer to home. You’ve both been a great source of info while I’ve been diving into the world of ebikes and I appreciate the weekly report as always. Thank you very much. We appreciate the nice words. And the electric breeze is a very cool bike. So if that’s what you’re going with, I think that’s a really good choice. Uh but yeah, let’s let’s kind of dive into that. So bottom line is it is just kind of a personal decision for sure. You know, whatever whatever works best for you. We definitely can’t, you know, argue against choosing a better deal, whatever that means. Uh but we do also acknowledge that, you know, we benefit from direct to consumer sales. Um you know, that’s why in every review we encourage you that if the bike that we are talking about seems to fit you and you want to purchase it, we you know, you can help to support our work by using the links that we always put in the uh description box. But um you know when it comes to actual shops you know depending on how that works what brand and whatever um in the case of let’s just say you know you’re going to a Velri dealer you know the mechanics at that shop would be very wellversed in working on Velri bikes uh if you you know just buy an ebike online and tend to plan to take it to a shop that doesn’t necessarily deal in them they may or may not be willing to work on that bike. So, we always, you know, recommend reaching out to the shop that you plan to use for maintenance and just make sure that they’re okay with whatever you’re, you know, looking to purchase there. Um, you know, brands will also often have customer service teams that are, you know, willing to help you out if you want to do maintenance at home. There’s plenty of online resources for that. Um, but, you know, getting things from a a dealer, uh, also you they have access to all the parts that they’re going to need for those bikes. So, uh, again, a little bit here or there, whatever whatever works best for you. Um, you know, I I just personally, I do not own a vehicle that I can transport a bike with. So, um, when my bike got serviced recently, I rode it to my shop and then just took an Uber home. So, that was a pretty simple way to take care of the problem there. So, um, you know, if you Yeah, that’s an option, I guess. Yeah, definitely. So, I think kind of like bottom line there. You can definitely support the local shop if you want to. You can support creators like us. Again, our affiliate links do help benefit us. We’re appreciative if you choose to use that. Um, but ultimately end of the day, who you want to support that is up to you. Just go with whatever is the best, most convenient deal for you. And if you have uh dealers nearby, at least know you got some like servicing and warranty like um access that way. Definitely. All right, moving on though. This is a question from Griffin’s Ride OneUp Prodigy V2LX review on YouTube from John Spooner 4128. How tall are you? I’m 6 foot. Thinking about ordering one. Um, so I am 6’1 and I think you should probably order one. So, so let’s talk a little bit about that bike. So, while I’m 6’1, more crucially, I have a 32 inch inseam. I am more to torso than legs for most people of my height. Um, so with all of that in mind, that is a bike that does kind of skew small. That is something I’ve said. I’ve reviewed like 90% of Ride OneUp’s products. Just kind of get that way in the rotation here. Um, their products skew a little bit on the smaller side. So, just kind of like know that going into it. I found I had adequate leg extension on that bike, so I felt fairly comfortable. Now, that being said, I do think I’d maybe like swap out the stem and handlebar or something like that. I do remember uh wanting like a little bit more rise, maybe a little bit longer reach, things like that. It wasn’t unmanageable by any means, but for like optimum comfort, I probably would have changed those things up when it came to that bike. Um, so again, just some things to kind of know about that going into it. And those are pretty easy DIY like things, stem and handlebars, not crazy stuff to kind of uh swap out to make it a little more comfortable. Um, ultimately, I think it’ll kind of like boil down to how much off-roading you plan on doing. That is kind of like a hybrid style ebike where you can, you know, ride it on pavement or take it a little off-roading. Now, for me, when it comes to pavement riding, I don’t mind if things are a little bit small and kind of like make do with that. When it comes to off-roading, I like to feel very secure and planted. So, I would like definitely get a like, you know, wider handlebar, things like that. Um, if you’re going to be doing a lot of off-roading, it again might be a little on the small side. Um, I think they did change up their height recommendations for that. When I reviewed the bike, I think it was like they posted at 63. They’ve since revised that down to like 6’1, I believe. So, kind of like right there on the cusp. I think you can definitely ride it and have a good time. Um, it’s I don’t have like a permanent rankings list. It’s not something I do, but like that’s one of my like top 10 favorite bikes I’ve ever ridden. I thought it was great value. It was on my short list of if I were to go buy a bike, it would probably be one I’d take a look at. I thought it had a great motor, really good engagement. Overall, terrific value. It’s currently on sale, too. So, under $2,000. So, really good deal. And I think even if you have like a 34in inseam, it still felt like there was just enough leg extension to kind of like make that work. Again, maybe a little bit more optimized for me at 32 in. But yeah, just some things to know. I have a supplemental question to this most mostly out of my own personal curiosity, but a lot of times uh during our review process, you know, we just kind of hop on a bike and we don’t spend a ton of time like getting to know it over the course of weeks, right? And and in those cases, I think you tend to dial things in a lot more. How often do you adjust the rails on your saddle um for a review bike? Yeah. if it’s like egregious when I like hop on it and I feel like oh I could use a little bit more space there um it’s like the first thing I’ll do like I said I’ve kind of like my ideal comfort zone and if like that expands to like I can make this work 98% of the time it’s in the I can make this work it’s only been like so bad I was like okay got to adjust the rails and stuff like that. Um again where it’s like a team testing effort here and we have people on it like four weeks collectively there are like weeks across this bike. Um, you know, I I don’t usually make everything just like Griffin optimized because there’s different people having on on and off of it all the time. So, that is really why I was curious. Yeah, I I tend to not usually mess with it. Um, but you know, in the case of this where you mentioned, you know, the reach that that is something you can do with the bike as is, but uh, you know, I don’t even do it very often, but it’s an option. Absolutely, that option is there. All right, so our next question comes to us from Zach on the Hey Bike Mars 3.0 review on their website who says, “Hi, thank you for the detailed review. A lot of good information. Hey, Bike Mars 3.0 seems very similar to the XP4 750 watt adding the similar price options. It makes it hard uh for me to decide as a buyer. Not to mention, the XP4 claims a higher range than Mars 3.0, but performed worse in the review, 28.6 mi and not 36.9 like in your XP4 review. If you have to choose between these two as your main ebike, which one would you pick and why? Great questions, Zach. Always very good. This is an opportunity for a comparison. Uh, now I do want to, you know, just really clarify up front that um asking us for our personal recommendations isn’t always the most helpful just because everyone has different preferences, sizes, heights, riding styles, all of that stuff. Always good to get that out of the way up front. We’re gonna, in this case, as always with our comparisons, we’re going to go over performance data and just kind of like our biggest takeaways, both good and bad, from from the bikes. and then, you know, hopefully point you towards the one that works best for how you work and what your preferences are. Uh, so I will take the I’ll take the Mars 3.0 since I reviewed that one and you did the 750 Griffin. I’m good. Um, but yeah, starting off with uh performance data here. Uh, let’s talk about our speed and speed test. So, both of these bikes are class 2 and class 3 capable. Uh, with the Mars 3.0, O, you get a pretty even distribution of speed across all assist levels in both modes. Uh, and that is really primarily due to the fact that this bike has preset speed limits. Uh, so it’s a little bit uh a little bit uncommon with that. I mean, it’s a it’s a torque sensing ebike paired with uh, you know, these preset speed limits, and you can adjust those through the Hey Bike app. Uh, but you know, in the case of the XP4, that bike handles things a little bit differently. Yeah, it does. So, on that one, it uses a hybrid torque and cadence sensor. It’s a torque sensor technically just a little more cadence like feel. There’s no preset speed limits on that. So in class 3 mode in particular, the speeds kind of cluster together there a little in the higher power levels. We saw better speed distribution across class 3 settings though. A little bit more of that like linear distribution that we usually like to see on the graph. But but that is pretty common. I say not uncommon at all in terms of range. Actually uh the numbers that you pointed out there were uh one of them was right, one of them was incorrect. So, uh, if we’re looking at the Mars 3.0, both these bikes are very similar, even though they have different battery sizes. Again, just kind of with those speed limits, that kind of adjusts things here. But, uh, for the Mars 3.0, we had 34.3 and 61 mi with those preset speed limits. Over on the XP4, we got 36.9 and 63.4 miles. So, like John said, very similar. Eek out a smidge more on the XP4, but fairly comparable for sure. uh in our brake test. So, this is where there is a significant difference, but uh not in terms of overall safety. The Mars 3.0 had an average stopping distance of 20 ft and 8 in. And the XP4 had 16 ft 1 in, which is still a top three performer in our braking database. So, good news there. Like, both are very safe like uh brakes and are beating the average ebikes, but little undeniably better stopping power on the XP4. I mean, yeah, those those brakes are insane. They’re so powerful. Uh and that’s a custom system there. So yeah, uh on the hill test though, uh so this is at our new hill test location, the Devil’s Backbone, so the Mars 3.0 uh made it to the top in a minute and 51 seconds on throttle and a minute and 53 seconds pedaling. And then the XP4 did it in a minute 41 on throttle and a minute 39 on pedal. So throttle fairly similar, a little bit more of a gap on pedal there. I mean, it’s faster in both. And and that is interesting because the Mars 3.0 know on paper does have the more powerful motor. Um, and the XP4 is a little bit heavier, but interesting to see how that worked out. Why we put them on that hill? Find out, you know, exactly. Uh, so then big takeaways here from both bikes. Uh, the Mars 3.0. The geometry here is is pretty standard for a folding ebike. Um, but that means that the reach is a little bit on the long side. It’s not quite as ergonomic feeling as the XP4. Uh, but it is also only one of the couple of full suspension folding ebikes that we’ve tested. Uh, so, you know, the suspension is a little bit more plush on that bike versus the springy suspension seat post. Well, I was going to say one of the only a couple full suspension, the other one being also a hike. Also a hay bike. Correct. Yeah. Yeah. So, um, you know, if if ride comfort uh there I guess there’s kind of two different aspects that you’re looking at in terms of ride comfort. One is geometry, one is suspension squish. And it definitely, I would say, wins in the suspension squish department, but isn’t as strong in the uh in the geometry department. Um, the Mars 3.0 though is more all-terrain friendly. So, you have 4-in tires there that are knobbyby, and you also have that rear suspension, so you know, you can really, uh, you know, handle some fairly rough terrain with that bike. Uh, the Mars 3.0 also pairs with the Hey Bike app that I mentioned, so you can really kind of tune and customize how the bike behaves for you. also gives it a little bit more of a high-tech feel uh just because you have that connectivity. It has both front and rear turn signals uh which is just pretty uncommon in general on all of ebikes. Uh you know, Hey Bike is one of the few brands that we’ve seen that on on most of their ebikes anyway. Uh then that bike has a torque sensor as we talked about. Um but the the pedal assist system there just feels a little bit different. So, Griffin mentioned that the XP4 was sort of a blend in feel of torque and cadence, whereas this one is is pretty hardcore on torque. That makes it a little bit more responsive, but also a little bit touchier as well. So, it can I’m not going to say jerky, but you do get more fluctuations in speed. Uh, and then, you know, whether you love it or hate it, uh, the throttle can exceed 20 mph on the Hey Bike and, uh, the bike actually can exceed uh, 30 mph as well. So, some differences there. Um, you also said something about Hardcore Torque in there, which I believe was the name of your metal band back in your goth phase. Is that correct? Absolutely. Was hardcore Torque. All right. Um, I did have a band back in those days. Nice. I’m going to ask more questions about that later. Okay. Um, so a couple of distinguishing things on the XP4 750 side of things. So, this is one of the most comfortable folding ebikes we’ve tested just in terms of its geometry. A huge reason for that is the riding position is a little more relaxed and ergonomic due to a zero degree stem and relatively wide handlebars for a folder. Um, that stem is really nice. which kind of again brings that reach in a little bit more close than we typically find on the folding style. Uh bike has a lower total payload capacity of 330 lbs versus the Mars 440. Uh but its frame integrated rack can carry up to 150 lbs including a passenger with some optional accessories. So some good things you can do optionality there. I didn’t note this, but it’s it’s 100 pounds on the Mars 3.0’s rack. Oh, thank you. Good clarification there. Um it’s also just extremely sturdy, but also a little on the heavy side. Like our test bike weighed 74 lbs and we did have some Tannis tire liners on our particular model. Uh so just keep that in mind. Probably weighs a little bit closer to 70. Um it’s custom brake system. Again, one of the best performing that we have ever tested bar none. We were actually really really pleasantly surprised with that result. Um and then you know as John talked about it’s got a torque sensor. A little bit different electric ethos there with a torque sensor. Let’s make sure the ride is still comfortable and like easy to kind of get some power. you don’t have to work too hard, but it’s still has that reward. You push harder, you will get more motor power that way. And then, you know, electric does also kind of have that cache of just being the number one selling ebike brand in North America. And that’s like, no asterisks, they sell more ebikes than any other brand, undoubtedly. So, there is some comfort in, you know, knowing that, knowing that as well. Um, so ultimately though, recommendation wise, what would you say, John? So, yeah, if you’re looking at the Mars 3.0, O. Uh, we would say that this is really best for anybody who wants the that squish, the full suspension comfort and the highest possible speeds, but who don’t mind having those preset speed limits that again are adjustable. Uh, this bike is also pretty well suited for heavier riders with the higher payload capacity, as well as those who plan to do the most off-roading with the wider knobier tires and uh, those who like the app connectivity and customization. But on the XP4 side, we would say that those are that bike is best for those who don’t mind the higher weight uh for better overall performance in most places. Uh it’s also ideal for those who want the most ergonomic feel. Uh the ability to carry passengers on that cargo rack and again just the backing of one of the biggest ebike brands in the world. So 100%. Hopefully that helps you out. We’re always happy to, you know, interact with follow-up questions. So, if there’s anything that we missed there that you’re still curious about, let us know uh down in the comments. We’re happy to respond again. And if it helps you decide one way or another, let us know. Like, we always appreciate figuring out which one you end up rolling this Z. So, absolutely. But then, uh is this our Yeah, last question of the day. This is a long one. Uh this is from the Moon Cool Trike review on YouTube from John Enoch 2874. He says, “My friend just bought one and found the assembly instructions almost useless and it won’t lock correctly at the folding hinge. Watching a review is really not helpful. You haven’t shown how to fold and open the frame, how the hinge and lock work, no mention of safety when taking turns, a huge issue for all adult tricycles. Adult tricycles can be dangerous at turns. Actually, above 5 mph, they are more dangerous than electric bicycles because of tipovers. No mention of how heavy it is to lift and load in a vehicle. These are capital letters, by the way. Uh, these are far more practical considerations than the things you’ve discussed. Most people who might buy one are elderly or slightly impaired physically and will have trouble lifting it into a vehicle. No. And they cannot afford a fall. A fall could greatly shorten an elderly person’s life. Adult tricycles are not for anyone who has enough balance to ride a two-wheeler. And they cannot be safely ridden at speed in most conditions because they cannot swerve to avoid something unexpected. They will tip over. This is I think a good point to remind everyone that um I as I said earlier I enjoy it when we get some push back and this is an opportunity to dive into some some deeper things here. So what what do we have to say? So um it’s all John’s fault he did that review. So John is wrong and bad. No so in all seriousness. I’m just having fun with John. So we apologize first of all if we missed any points in that review that we could have covered better or anything like that. I would just say though when it comes to trikes um just kind of bear in mind this is it sounds like the wrong product was purchased for the different for the particular set of needs you had because when it comes to trikes and bikes they are just very fundamentally different things. Um the one area I would agree disagree with you is saying it’s unsafe for seniors or anything like that. As a matter of fact, seniors are usually the number one demographic buying trikes because they do need to be operated at slower speeds. It’s just inherent with the design that they have. So um again this is kind of like one of those cases of just you need to know that it is a different animal altogether. Matter of fact I actually like reading through this comment I thought of like my mom for example. She does not feel very safe and secure on bikes and she had it in her head like I just know once I hop on a trike I’m going to be good. I’m going to be golden. She made it about 20 ft until she tipped over. So there is just a different way you have to ride and operate these things. It’s not built in that it’s just like easier because it has three wheels. You do need to learn how to operate them safely. But in general, if you do operate a little bit more slowly, they are easier to balance on. Um, we do encourage people to take corners slowly as most seniors and trike riders just know inherently that you need to slow things down a little bit um and go slower. We, as a matter of fact, recommend, you know, we we like the trikes that give you the ability to set your speed. We always recommend to keep it around like 14 mph or so for like optimal riding. And then when it comes to going into corners, yes, slow down more dramatically than that. you know, like five miles per hour or less is recommended there. But again, so many seniors or people with other sort of like balance limitations or um disabilities or anything like that. Love, love, love trikes and rave about them all day because again, kind of like we discussed earlier in the show, ebikes help people like kind of get back some like mobility they maybe didn’t have before. It’s the same thing with trikes. Some people they can’t do two wheels anymore or they just prefer the feel of a trike and then suddenly like there it opens up and expands their world for sure. So, um, again, I kind of hope that helps a little bit. And like, you know, um, we’ve tested a bunch of different trikes and just found most of them are pretty stable. Again, you kind of have to learn how to use and operate them, but we’ve actually been pretty happy with most of the things that we’ve had come through the doors here on the in the trike world. So, you know, the Mooncool TK1 more specifically kind of like in the middle in terms of like balance and think things like that. There are some that are a little bit stronger in this regard. Um, some notable ones, we talked about it earlier, but the Brad Power Bike Brad trike, again, they went for as wide of a design as possible while still fitting in a doorway. It’s a very nice and balanced trike on that one. It’s also very low, which really helps. It It does for sure. Um, the electric XP trike 2 is another great example um of trike construction. And same with the Veltric Triker, which we also talked about earlier in the show. So, um, some of these are lighter, have narrower wheeler, have narrower wheels, not narrower wheelers, and typically are more prone to tipping at speeds. But again, when it comes to like the folding of trikes as well, we’ve al also found that most trikes aren’t all that practical with the whole folding thing. Yeah. So, a little industry secret. Um, a big reason you see a lot of folding trikes is because they’re easier to ship. Makes the boxes smaller. It makes the boxes smaller and they can actually have it like more assembled that way. So, it’s more convenient for you to unpack it. Now, there are some benefits of that. It is a little bit easier for transportation or storage. Those are kind of just like, oh, like bonus features, but largely it’s because it’s just easier to ship and uh get them in your hands that way. They’re still big and typically pretty heavy. So, you know, in the case of trikes that that do fold and that are more on the manageable side, we still recommend, you know, at least two sets of hands when you’re loading those up. Um because again we’ve kind of found that when most people like purchase trikes they’re not just loading them up and taking them around. They are heavier. They are more cumbersome yada yada yada. But again that’s just not what most trike riders are looking for. They’re just looking for something that gets them you know out the front door and just enjoying the bike paths and trails and things like that in front of them. So again um eikes have been super popular and actually some of the top selling products in the electric bike/trike world. Um so there’s a lot of people out on the road enjoying them. I wouldn’t look down on them for any reason. And you know, anyone another statement I’d probably disagree with. If you, hey, if you can ride on two wheels, that’s great. But if you’re feeling a little bit shaky on those two wheels, definitely give three wheels a try. Again, a little bit of a learning curve, but once you understand how they operate, you can really just ride them and have a great time. So, yeah. And again, thank you for leaving the comment on this review. I do want to just acknowledge that again, if if I left anything out of that review, uh, you know, thanks for calling me out on that. And I’ll be sure to, you know, call those things out in future trike reviews. Uh just to make sure that these these are things everyone should be aware of. Definitely. Yeah, 100%. But thank you so much for all the questions this week. Again, as a reminder, we could be answering your questions next week. Leave us a comment down below on this video at our website or questions at electricbikereport.com. [Music] Griffin, am I starting or are you starting? Um you know, let’s just start together. Okay. John, what time is it? It’s time for deals of the week. Deals of the week. All right. Yeah. Let’s see. We got uh pretty slim pickings this week, but we found a couple things for you. So, over on Retrospecs website, the Koa Rev 2 fat tire ebike is 100 bucks off. Uh, you know, all around it’s a pretty solid bike. It’s affordable. It’s uh, you know, not the most powerful thing out there, but that’s can be a good thing. You want something a little more reserved, then that’s that’s you. Nice change of pace. Like just enjoy the stability of fat tires. 500 watt motor just to kind of like more like a fat tire cruiser than like anything else, you know? But really nice, pleasant experience and $100 off. Hard to beat as is everything from from retrospect. Yeah, they got a lot of sales going on there as well. Um, so this one, like John said, Slim Pickins this week are just really a lot of the deals we’ve talked about in recent weeks are still up and live, so you can check those out as well. But did notice that Electric’s trying something a little bit different. So most of their models, which are again already some of the lowest prices that you will find, they’ve got a bunch of different accessory packages going with them. uh some things like on the Express 750 for example, you can get like the upgraded headlight or suspension seat post along with the purchase including uh like racks, fenders, things like that. But for fun, they are including mystery gift packages. So, two random items will be coming with the purchase of that bike and some other models that they have as well. Fascinating. They I tried to look to see if I could find a hint and either I didn’t like see it. So, I don’t know if it’s helmets or if it’s a lock or they’re sending you one of the Gremlins from the movie Gremlin. I don’t really know. They say it’s a spooky surprise. Put in the microwave. Don’t put it in the microwave. Definitely not. So, not sure what it is, but again, if you’re looking at electric uh bike, they do got some accessory packages going on, including some surprise ones. But that’s going to do it for deals of the week. [Music] As we talked about before, we take a section of the show, take out some time to really thank each and every one of you for for joining us, for writing in, for contributing to the show. So, we like to highlight a writer of the week. But before we talk about uh this week’s writer of the week, do want to just sort of wrap things up with talking about t-shirts. As I said earlier, we have a poll going on. Uh we have 21 t-shirt designs that you can pick and choose from. There’s a Google form down in the uh com or sorry, the description box. There we go. That you can uh take a look at and let us know which ones you like. Uh but also you mentioned a giveaway earlier in the show and uh we’re going to give t-shirts away to three people. We’re going to choose some lucky winners based on your comments. So, make sure to drop those down below. Let us know what bike you have, what bikes you like, how you use them, where you ride them, all of that good stuff. Uh, and you know, be sure to uh thank us for all the hard work we do. I’m just kidding. Don’t do that. That’s all good. Anyway, moving on though. I like you guys spending like the time here with us. That is thanks enough. We do appreciate the audience support. So, um, moving into our writer of the week, uh, we picked, uh, Katabaso, I think is the name off the truck FX plus7s review on YouTube, but he actually signed it off at the end. Said his name is Will, so I’ll just, you know, stick with Will. Thanks, Will. Um, really like the comment this week. A little bit of a question thrown in here, too. So, um, comment says, “First, thank you guys for your channel, your reviews, your weekly broadcasts, and your general enthusiasm. It’s clear how much you love what you do, and I appreciate you sharing your experiences with us. You most certainly are not shills.” Someone watched last night’s episode. Yes. Awesome. So, second, I have watched and read your review of this bike several times in the last couple of months. Finally, today I test drove and actually bought one. The feel is so natural, a joy to ride, and it climbs hills like a champ. No throttle needed, and it’s so light, I can put it on the same bike rack as my analog bike. So, one thing that did surprise me was that I felt more comfortable on the medium frame than the large, though my height at 510 is supposedly a bit past the max rider height for the medium, according to Trex’s website. The question, do you guys ever find that you prefer the wrong frame size for a particular bike? Anyway, thanks guys for helping me make a purchase and keep up the good work from Will. Will, first of all, thank you so much for, you know, following along with us, for the kind words, and we’re glad you ended up with the Track uh bike. That’s really It’s a sweet bike. The FX Plus 7S was a really good ride. Um, so to answer your question, uh, sometimes I think I usually kind of stick to the like sizing that’s like optimized for me, the height chart and stuff like that can be like a little bit weird and misleading because it’s a good general catch all, but like you can get very specific in like your like reach and your, you know, like stack height, like leg extension, all the different needs and stuff like that. More often than not, I can stick with what I’ve got and I’m good. Now, when it comes to like mountain bikes or something like that, if anything, especially if I’m like kind of on the cusp of two sides or two sizes, I like to size up a little bit. I like just extra stability, just a little bit like more spread out, like like whatever the case may be. I just like to feel as planted as possible when mountain biking. Um, but when it comes to a city bike, actually kind of like leaning into some of the city qualities or like really sharp handling, like kind of like darting around, things like that. So, uh, more often than not, like I said, kind of down the middle of the road, but if I’m on the cusp, just depends on the style of bike really. Yeah, that uh it’s interesting that this comes up because the one of the few bikes that I remember testing that was a smaller size that I actually really loved was the Yamaha Crosscore RC. We got the medium in and that I I think it’s because, you know, I got kind of got my start in bikes in the BMX side of things and so riding something that’s a little shorter, more nimble, like that quality in the Yamaha was really awesome. Like we got the medium. So, actually when I ended up buying an ebike, I didn’t really have a choice just because of where and how I bought it. But, um, I went with a medium there and I really like it because of that same quality. It is it’s a little bit more playful in how it handles. Um, but to to round this section out, I did want to just say Will that you will also get a t-shirt. That’s right. Um, as as will everyone who we have talked about in this section. So, since we’ve announced you here, please be sure to write us back. Uh you can email us at questionselect electricbikereport.com or fill out the form in the uh description box to let us know your preferred t-shirt size, your address, that sort of thing, so we can get stuff to you. And then those of you who are going to leave comments in the hope that you get uh one of those three t-shirts that we’re going to give away, stick around next week. Definitely watch the show. We will announce those winners and then you will then need to uh respond to us with that information as well. But that does it for this week’s Reddit of the week. [Music] If you’re still hanging out, sticking around with us, we really appreciate you joining us for 52 previous episodes and now here for this one, the oneyear anniversary. This was a really special one. We’re going to get into these treats here. That’s for sure. But uh you know, until next time, please like, subscribe, do all the YouTube stuff for sure. And again, just like John said, really appreciate you guys following along for the last year. Just want to give huge thanks to our audience for watching, for making the show possible. We’ve got some big plans with it moving forward. We’re going to be asking for your opinion and feedback. Please give that to us along the way. And also just huge thank you to again like everyone that you don’t get to see. We’ve been a little bit more open on this episode. Even have like a live stream going off to the side. Christina, Michael, I was going to say, but huge thanks to Christina, to Jaden, our camera crew, to Bruno, our editor, to Michael, Justin, like part of like the production team and our bosses. uh Mike who helps out all of our range testers, you know, Asha, Jason, um Thomas, just so many great people who like make this whole thing possible. Really appreciative of everyone and here’s to one year and hopefully many more. Many more. That’s right. That’s going to do it for this episode of the Weekly Recharge.

🎉 1-Year Anniversary Episode!
Thanks for making The Weekly Recharge one of the fastest-growing e-bike shows on YouTube. We’re celebrating with giveaways, new bike reveals, and major industry news — including a deep dive into Super73’s brand-new MZFT and a controversial tariff proposal that could raise e-bike prices across the U.S.

T-Shirt Voting Link: https://forms.gle/U1A6AGyLPwpbczvN7
Weekly T-Shirt Winners Form (Rider Highlight): https://forms.gle/CJBg6agwfRF1Dsok8

📰 What’s Inside:

🚲 Super73 MZFT Exclusive:
We interview company founder Michael Cannavo about Super73’s new direction, its youth-focused sportbike, and how the brand plans to come back stronger in 2025.

⚙️ E-Bike Tariff Controversy:
Guardian Bikes has proposed new steel and aluminum tariffs — potentially raising prices for every rider. We explain what’s happening, why it matters, and how you can help oppose the proposal before October 21st.

🆕 Other Headlines:

– Heybike Helio F folding retro e-bike
– Brompton T Line Titanium – their lightest ever!
– Bafang’s 2026 Anti-Theft Motor Tech

E-Bike Trail System of the Week:
Cowboy Trail, Nebraska – our Trail of the Week
https://www.traillink.com/trail/cowboy-recreation-and-nature-trail/

👕 Giveaway:
We’re celebrating 1 year of The Weekly Recharge and 100K+ subscribers! Win a free T-shirt and vote on your favorite design using the form in the description.

💬 Top Viewer Questions Answered:

– Which trikes actually fit through apartment doors?
– Which folding bikes handle gravel best?
– Why are warranties and customer support such a big deal?
– XP4 vs. Heybike Mars 3.0 – which would we pick?

📈 The Weekly Recharge by Electric Bike Report
Covering the biggest news in the e-bike world every week — launches, policy changes, reviews, and community Q&As.

Deal Links:
Retrospec Koa Rev 2 – https://ebrdeals.com/RetrospecKoaRev2ST
Lectric’s Mystery Gift Package – https://ebrdeals.com/LectricPromos

Accessories / Gear:
Revoray Brisk Y1 – https://revoray.com/collections/cycling-goggles/products/brisk-y1-cycling-sunglasses
Revoray Lumo – https://revoray.com/products/lumo-premium-photochromic-cycling-sunglasses

Recent Reviews:
Saris Freedom Bike Hitch Rack – https://electricbikereport.com/saris-freedom-review/
Evelo Compass Trike – https://electricbikereport.com/evelo-compass-review/

Bikes Discussed in this Episode:
Velotric Triker – https://ebrdeals.com/VelotricTriker
Rad Power Bikes RadTrike – https://www.ebrdeals.com/ebrRP-Rad-Trike
Velotric Breeze – https://ebrdeals.com/VelotricBreeze1
Ride1Up Prodigy V2 LX – https://ebrdeals.com/ebrRP-Ride1Up-ProdigyV2LX
Heybike Mars 3.0 – https://ebrdeals.com/HeybikeMars3
Lectric XP4 750 – https://ebrdeals.com/LectricXP4-750
Mooncool TK1 – https://ebrdeals.com/MoonCoolTK1
Lectric XP Trike2 – https://ebrdeals.com/ebrRP-Lectric-XPTrike
Trek FX+ 7S – https://ebrdeals.com/TrekFXPlus7S

Email questions to: questions@electricbikereport.com (or comment on this video, we love comments)

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#ebikenews #super73 #ebikereview #electricbikes #tariffs #theweeklyrecharge #cycling

00:00 – Intro
00:51 – News Of The Week
01:07 – An E-Bike brand calling for more tariffs?
05:35 – New Super73 MZFT revealed!
10:45 – New Heybike Helio F
12:34 – New Brompton T Line
15:30 – New safety tools for Bafang drive systems
17:59 – Trivia Time!
25:47 – Year 1 Recap!
33:45 – Gear Highlight
36:30 – Currently Testing & Recent Reviews
38:15 – E-Bike Trail Systems
43:21 – Questions & Comments
43:31 – Thoughts about trikes width
45:14 – Why don’t we mention warranty and CS issues?
48:23 – Should you buy your e-bike at a store or online?
51:40 – How tall is Griffin? Does the Prodigy v2 fits him well?
55:09 – Heybike Mars 3.0 vs Lectric XP4 750W
01:04:00 – Are trikes less safe than bikes?
01:10:10 – Deals Of The Week
01:12:00 – Rider Highlight
01:16:36 – Wrap Up