The Trek FX+ 2 e-bike is a jack-of-all-trades

Review: Trek's hybrid FX+ 2 e-bike puts cycling front and center.

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[ColdWetDog]

I love how low-key non-e it looks. I went Bosch for my e-bike because I know I'll be able to find support from many dealers and a replacement battery 5-10 years from now - whereas I'd worry about that with these proprietary manufacturer specific in-frame designs that seem to change for every bike or every couple years.

There are perhaps 6-10 different motors in the e-bike field with a rapidly increasing third party support system. Yes, there will be losers and dropouts but even if the bike manufacturer goes away, support for the electronics doesn't necessarily go away.

Bangood, while hardly in the 'high quality performance' class, is well established and unlikely to go anywhere.

Batteries are batteries and there are only a few common cell types. While not suggested for home repair, there are plenty of companies and individuals who can rebuild e-bike (or most anything) batteries from those readily available component cells. The rest of the bike - suspension, brakes and gearing - again is basic commodity stuff. Even if you trash the frame, you can weld it back together (usually).

 

[monkeycid]

I went Bosch for my e-bike because I know I'll be able to find support from many dealers and a replacement battery 5-10 years from now - whereas I'd worry about that with these proprietary manufacturer specific in-frame designs that seem to change for every bike or every couple years.

I'm also running Bosch, now. Annoying my previous e-bike got stolen just after its battery had separately been stolen and so replaced with a new one. Since the bike was stolen overnight with the battery in my home, I figured I'd have a great spare... only to learn that the manufacturer had refreshed the lineup and gone from Yamaha to Bosch. Oh well. The Bosch motor is much quieter and I reckon they'll keep using that line for quite some time-- and if not, it is used by many other bike models and so replacements should indeed be realistic down the line.

My bike is a 10-speed (Shimano Deore) Batavus Zonar with a class-1 compliant torque-sensing Bosch Performance line motor. It cost around $2500 so apparently I'm a fucking idiot, but in my experience you really have to cut corners somewhere if you go below $2200-ish (or rather ~23000 SEK, 25% VAT included). There is really nothing to complain about with my bike and it even handles quite well if you leave the battery at home. I guess the Dutch know a thing or two 'bout bicycles.

 

[.劉煒]

I certainly wish my eBike had a throttle.

Tbh? On mine the throttle gets a quick blip here and there (starting from a stop, the rare situation where I want to go through an intersection faster, etc) but it's not something you're constantly on, unlike a moto.

 

[.劉煒]

Bangood, while hardly in the 'high quality performance' class, is well established and unlikely to go anywhere.

Plus the bafangs are great for throwing on older bikes since they can either fit into the standard cranks (for mid drives) or are a fairly easy hub replacement.

 

[.劉煒]

Oh, I know I'll get one (or more) eventually, but while I can still keep up with my mates on my "manual" bikes, I value the boost to my cardio fitness

"Acoustic".

 

[Joey21]

I've owned 2 eBikes and a couple handfuls of "manual bikes". My first eBike was a 2005 Trek FX+, purchased for $90 from an owner who left the battery run down over the Winter and couldn't get the eBike's 'smart charger' to bring the battery back to life. I was able to coax the battery back using 'dumb charger' and slowly ramp up the voltage until the 'smart charger' would function. The new FX+ cost $2500, so that was an expensive short-term toy for its original owner. I got about a hundred miles out of this eBike, before it malfunctioned (the battery shorted when the park sprinkler turned on). The components for the FX+ was Deore, equivalent to the 'manual' FX5.

My second eBike was a $500 first gen Swytch conversion kit grafted onto the FX+. Swytch's Indigogo campaign was 1.5 years late. The controller malfunctioned after 3 months and it was out of service for 2 months before I got a functioning controller back from Swytch. After 800 miles and 9 months, the controller had another malfunction. By the time I had time to work on it, the battery had also run down and could not be brought back to life. In the Indigogo campaign Swytch stated that they would replace batteries for $50, however, when I inquired, they said they had 'run out' of first gen batteries but offered me a 'coupon' which would 'lower' the price of a new battery down to $350. I felt like an owner of a broken down car wondering if I should continue with this money pit and refused the offer.

My eBikes were marvels while they functioned. Together, I got around 1000 miles out of the two 2 eBikes for around $600, but also a lot of headaches and disappointment. With a 'manual' bike, I can fix anything that goes wrong with little effort. With an eBike, things malfunction often, and even with an EE degree, the thing is a blackbox. I don't know if my experience is typical of eBike owners, but I have two sets of eBike parts in my garage. I've heard of many eBike owners with dead batteries from discharge over the Winter. There should be a standardized "Fairphone" model for eBike components where many eBikes use the same parts and users can trade in faulty parts to be repaired and reused.

I built a BBSHD 1500W kit on my Trek 4300 that I use as a commuter (fenders, street tires, lights). I'm 4000 miles into my ownership. No battery problems, no controller problems - - everything has been quite durable. It has been exposed to rain many times. Lunacycle was my source.

I also own a Jueshai 500W mountain bike also adapted to be a commuter style bike. It has 1600 miles on it now. Only failure has been the wiring where it enters the rear axle. The insulation on wiring has been cut by abrasion and needs to be replaced. My youngest has put most of those miles on that bike. Original battery. No problems.

Both bikes use easily sourced commodity parts. As much as I admire the Trek ebikes I fear that 5-10 years into the future I would need something proprietary that I can not source and I'd be stuck with a bicycle shaped thing that I could not use as an ebike.

Also, 250W isn't nearly enough power for a hilly environment. 500W is the minimum motor size I would consider for use around my part of the world. Still limited to ~20 mph. My 1500W Bafang is spectacular on the hills but there is only so much power in a battery. I don't ride it like a moped. I ride at about 12-15 mph most places and cut the power if I'm mixing with pedestrians. No shoulder on most of the roads here. Anything that gets me up a hill and away from blind corners so I don't find myself being run over by a giant pickup truck is a good thing.

 

[Joey21]

This. I don’t understand all of this crapping on throttles. All that a throttle does is invoke the cadence sensor to suggest that the bike go faster. It isn’t some kind of superpower. Throttles are quite useful for low speed maneuvers where you need a nudge to stay vertical but a full revolution of the pedals isn’t possible or practical. And they allow for getting through an intersection a little quicker because there is no delay waiting for the cadence sensor to kick in. So IMHO bikes with a throttle offer more control and thus are safer to ride.

Absolutely correct. Both my ebikes have throttles and they are used in this exact way.

 

[bvz_1]

Better cycling infrastructure would remove the risk of a cyclist getting run over by a car - but it wouldn't help with cyclists hitting other cyclists.

Absolutely true. I would hope that as things settle down that the majority of bikes will be class 1 bikes. Having bikes careening around at 28 mph next to other cyclists who are pedaling by "hand" - even in dedicated bike lanes - is a recipe for disaster just like you say. Especially when, as you noted, many of these are first time cyclists with way too much power under their thumbs.

It probably needs to be regulated just like we have speed regulations on roads designed for cars.

 

[OptimusP83]

It looks to be secured by only a single bolt on each side, very strange. Usually has a second attachment point on the seat stay. Interesting that it appears to have a chain guard and a kickstand standard.

Yea the lack of triangulated support on that rack does not instill confidence, with me at least.Its almost like the fender is that support? But thats a really thin, and traditionally very non-structural, piece of metal to rely on as support for what appears to be a pannier capable rear rack...

I'd not trust it in the slightest with my 10-15lb commuter bag which contains my laptop which costs more than this bike. I'd try to find anything else (Axiom Streamliner is my personal favorite and I have the Disc model one one bike and the road model on another) to use as a rack...

 

[OptimusP83]

It's hard to go wrong with something like a RadCity, tbh.

Except you are relying on RadPower, which is a shit company with basically no customer support anymore. I have a RadWagon 4 and am very much not a fan of the bike nor the company...

 

[OptimusP83]

You can probably get away with that for the chain guard... but I refuse to believe that's how the rear rack is intended to be attached.

Put 5kg of groceries on that luggage rack, multiply that by that by the lever action of those luggage rack support pipes, and when you ride the bicycle over a bump you'd be applying about 60Nm of torque to the bolt holding the luggage rack on.

60Nm is more than enough force to snap a bolt that size unless it's high tensile steel (which it wouldn't be) and Trek is a reputable bicycle brand with 5 decades of experience. They surely wouldn't make a mistake that bad. It has to be attached to the seat post or at least the mud guard. It would't take much, even a cable tie would stiffen it up enough to eliminate the lever action and keep it secure with a typical luggage rack load.

It is though. Trek's press photos on their website show it mounted the same way. There just HAS to be some structural trickery in the fenders right? I mean, it can't be secured by only the lower bolts on the dropout...

 

[OptimusP83]

I love how low-key non-e it looks. I went Bosch for my e-bike because I know I'll be able to find support from many dealers and a replacement battery 5-10 years from now - whereas I'd worry about that with these proprietary manufacturer specific in-frame designs that seem to change for every bike or every couple years.

Me too. I have a Momentum Voya e+ 3 at home and it has an identical design ethos to this FX+ 2: 250w hub motor, Torque sensing crank sensor, minimalistic controls, iPhone App for GPS and data, looks like a normal bike. I think the motor system might be Mahle, but I'm not positive.

Oddly, I don't ride it much at all as I found I really prefer my acoustic bikes and I find flat bars very uncomfortable. The leasing program at my company means the Voya is basically free, but I REALLY wish they allowed me to pay for an ugrade to the Voya e+ 1 which is a Shimano GRX Drop-bar version of the same bike. That would for sure be an awesome bike that would likely take over as my daily commuter if it was an option. I'll be returning the bike to the leasing company in a few months and I'll ask about a drop bar upgrade but if not then I'll just stick with my current bikes.

 

[Dr. Jay]

I have three e-bikes in my shed and nine regular bikes.

You are living my dream.

 

[OptimusP83]

I built a BBSHD 1500W kit on my Trek 4300 that I use as a commuter (fenders, street tires, lights). I'm 4000 miles into my ownership. No battery problems, no controller problems - - everything has been quite durable. It has been exposed to rain many times. Lunacycle was my source.

I also own a Jueshai 500W mountain bike also adapted to be a commuter style bike. It has 1600 miles on it now. Only failure has been the wiring where it enters the rear axle. The insulation on wiring has been cut by abrasion and needs to be replaced. My youngest has put most of those miles on that bike. Original battery. No problems.

Both bikes use easily sourced commodity parts. As much as I admire the Trek ebikes I fear that 5-10 years into the future I would need something proprietary that I can not source and I'd be stuck with a bicycle shaped thing that I could not use as an ebike.

Also, 250W isn't nearly enough power for a hilly environment. 500W is the minimum motor size I would consider for use around my part of the world. Still limited to ~20 mph. My 1500W Bafang is spectacular on the hills but there is only so much power in a battery. I don't ride it like a moped. I ride at about 12-15 mph most places and cut the power if I'm mixing with pedestrians. No shoulder on most of the roads here. Anything that gets me up a hill and away from blind corners so I don't find myself being run over by a giant pickup truck is a good thing.

Disagree. I have ridden my 250w Momentum Voya e+ 3 on some STEEP Seattle hills and its more than capable of chugging up them at a reasonable pace, particularly on High assist. You do, however, have to put a bit of effort in too. If you're treating the bike more like a scooter where you're either using the throttle or sticking assist to high and ghost pedaling with a cadence sensor, then I can see how 250W might at first glance seem wildly underpowered. If your expectation is that it can maintain max speed at steep inclines without any real power input from the rider, then, yea, 250W isn't going to do that. I will say though, the 250W motor on my 40lb Voya seems more powerful than the 750w Bafang on my 90lb RadWagon 4. And lets not even broach the pedaling dynamics of a torque sensor vs a cadence sensor. The RadWagon having, IMO, an atrociously calibrated cadence sensor at that.

 

[monkeycid]

I too would say that 250W is enough for hilly terrain unless you literally live in some kind of h[e/i]llscape where there is nothing but hills. I'm fat and out of shape but can still put on a decent climbing pace (12-15 kmh) up the very sleep inclines that riddle my town. It does max out the motor and I have to put in quite a few watts myself, but if I can do it in my crappy condition then most anyone could, really.

 

[.劉煒]

Except you are relying on RadPower, which is a shit company with basically no customer support anymore. I have a RadWagon 4 and am very much not a fan of the bike nor the company...

Ugh. That's a shame. Seemed like good bang for the buck for a while there.

Oh well, my everyday bike is a bike friday hauladay built locally, with some aftermarket bafang bits. Totally different genre.

 

[.劉煒]

Disagree. I have ridden my 250w Momentum Voya e+ 3 on some STEEP Seattle hills and its more than capable of chugging up them at a reasonable pace, particularly on High assist. You do, however, have to put a bit of effort in too. If you're treating the bike more like a scooter where you're either using the throttle or sticking assist to high and ghost pedaling with a cadence sensor, then I can see how 250W might at first glance seem wildly underpowered. If your expectation is that it can maintain max speed at steep inclines without any real power input from the rider, then, yea, 250W isn't going to do that. I will say though, the 250W motor on my 40lb Voya seems more powerful than the 750w Bafang on my 90lb RadWagon 4. And lets not even broach the pedaling dynamics of a torque sensor vs a cadence sensor. The RadWagon having, IMO, an atrociously calibrated cadence sensor at that.

I run a 750w mid drive (not hub drive) and tbh it makes a difference when you're lugging around two kids up the same seattle hills.

 

[.劉煒]

You are living my dream.

Heh I have my eCargo and eFat, then an acoustic mtb and road bike. Then there's the kid's bikes, and the wife's...

 

[Joey21]

Most of the market for high end Ebikes, class 1s are the only bike that's legal. Faster bikes are classed as mopeds or motorcycles and require the appropriate licence and insurance.

Depends on where you live. Around here I have few regulations except that the state requires me to stay under 28 mph for my bike to be considered a bicycle. They barely regulate where I ride or the size of the motor.

 

[Joey21]

Better cycling infrastructure would remove the risk of a cyclist getting run over by a car - but it wouldn't help with cyclists hitting other cyclists.

Rarely do I even see another cyclist around here. The USA is a big place... The situation on the ground is not uniform.

 

[Joey21]

This is an unpopular opinion, but I think the entire class system for e-bikes is dumb and useless. It should be ditched entirely and there should be speed limits on trails instead. If someone is using a thumb throttle to do 12mph on the bike trail that should be allowed. If someone is on a super sporty aero shell equipped pedal power (non motorized) bike doing 30mph on a walking trail that is dangerous. The entire classification system for e-bikes is focused on weird implementation details that don’t matter. The only thing that matters is speed.

Agreed!

 

[Joey21]

The classes really need to be revisited. They make no sense at all as they are. Class 1 and 3 are essentially the same, and class 2 in the middle is really the distinguished one. There really should be separate classes for ebikes with throttles.

The speed at which the assist cuts out seems pretty immaterial, and fairly arbitrary too. It feels like the real metric which should be regulated is max motor power output, that's what's enabling electric bikes to become so outlandishly heavy while maintaining high acceleration.

Come ride your 250W bike with me on the hills around here. You may wish you had multiple times more power. Power limits are pointless if everyone doesn't live in flat country. I can pull 1300W+ climbing a hill at 10 mph if I'm not careful about how I shift in preparation for that hill.

 

[Yudansha]

Very interesting article, but I couldn't help but notice in the photos that the rear rack is not fully secured.

The front of the rack has a connection to the fender if you look closely. I don’t notice any differences with the model on trekbikes.com.

 

[OptimusP83]

I run a 750w mid drive (not hub drive) and tbh it makes a difference when you're lugging around two kids up the same seattle hills.

Oh absolutely. for the record, I’m not saying a 250w motor will suffice on a huge cargo bike with two kids on the back. I think 750w is the bare minimum I’d want for a cargo/kid hauler. preferably a mod-drive with torque sensing. As much as a Tern was way out of my price range, I sorta wish I’d sprung for one over my Radwagon.

 

[.劉煒]

Oh absolutely. for the record, I’m not saying a 250w motor will suffice on a huge cargo bike with two kids on the back. I think 750w is the bare minimum I’d want for a cargo/kid hauler. preferably a mod-drive with torque sensing. As much as a Tern was way out of my price range, I sorta wish I’d sprung for one over my Radwagon.

Bike friday haul-a-day here, with a BBS02 as a retrofit. Odo says about 5k miles on it right now. Flipping the front wheel back on it lets it fit onto a bus rack just fine, and on a train I can set it on the rear rack so it's vertical instead of horizontal so it takes up less room. Fully loaded, I can fit two grocery bags on the front basket, two panniers on the front wheels (about a grocery bag+ each), rear panniers can hold 2-3 bags on each side, and if I'm not kid hauling the hooptie is perfect size for a 20 gallon storage tote. You can haul... a LOT of stuff on a well set up cargo.