There's no real reason to own an electric bike as tough as a tank, that glides over asphalt as easily as gravel or mud and bounds up hills with no struggle.At $2,300, the Charge XC — the heaviest duty member of the British company's three-bike lineup meant to have a choice for everyone — is a seemingly perfect fit for the weekend warrior or a cycle-curious explorer.
"A gigantic challenge in design, really more than the bike, was to get rid of all the plastic, the zip ties, all the foam," Charge founder Nick Larsen told me in an interview. "That might seem like something that would be normal to most people — but if you saw the equivalent of what a bike would normally come like, it was a huge undertaking."
And when the motor kicks in, it's smooth sailing. It has three settings, from "eco" mode's slight boost up to the near-whiplash-inducing "sport" mode. I set off with two targets in mind: the oldest bike path in the United States, and the only forest in Brooklyn. Its plastic fenders also helped keep disgusting gutter water from splashing up at intersections. However, for all their utility, the fenders shake like crazy over the smallest bumps, rattling loudly nearly constantly — and I'm not the first person to notice it. These seemed easily removable, and are a small part of otherwise perfect bike.Graham Rapier / Business InsiderThe Charge XC isn't a mountain bike, despite having a frame that easily could.
After an hour or so of taking the bike on every different earthen path I could find in the park's winding ravine, I felt the bike had been adequately put through the paces.
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