Very sturdy. Easy to ride. Great gearing for hills and off-road riding. Front & rear suspension really smooth out the ride.

I found the short seat back uncomfortable, but for those rider who do a lot of off-road riding, it may be just right.

My son and I both test rode this bike recently, and both of us thought it was blast to ride. More fun than a good toy! Loved that suspension. I have to admit, I wasn't sure if BikeE could pull this one off, but they did, and how! A very fun, sturdy bike. If I had $1500.00 in spare pocket change lying around, I would have brought one of these puppies home. But we were in the market for a road bike with more speed that my son could ride to work (he's fourteen and travels about 3 miles each way to his part-time job). But if you ride trails, or have really bumpy roads in your area, give this thing a test ride. It's a kick!

Similar Products Used:

BikeE CT.

A recumbent mountain bike that really goes on dirt! That about says it ALL.

It doesn't climb as well as other mountain bikes, and then on the way downhill it faster than upright mountain bikes so when you ride with friends on singletrack they make you ride in back and then they are always in your way on the way down hill.

And I can't bunnyhop over roots and rocks.

I love this bike - I was just about to buy an upright MTB because I thought the idea of racing through the woods on a bike with my trusty dog sounded fun. But I was worried about comfort, since I only ride 'bent. This bike gave me the best of both worlds. Its extremely responsive to body english, climbs hills, races down them, cruises on singletrack at alarming speeds (for chicken me anyway). For dirt riding skip the sweet seat - you won't be sorry.

The stock Kenda Krisps are wonderful for off road riding, but a bit slow for pavement. They have the best traction on gravel of any tire I have experienced.

The bikeE bag doesnt' work well on this bike with its short seat and bar, but you can try an BikeE bag by Radical which works great.

Similar Products Used:

BikeE AT, RANS Gliss

Frame strength
Full suspension
Disc compatible
Sweetseat
Air shocks
Recumbent design
Dealer support
Bike E accessories

Weight
Air suspension
20/16 format
No disc compatible hubs
Limited color selection
No ability to upgrade to discs from factory
No FX specific fenders
Location of pump adapter in suspension fork
Needs a kick stand

After three months and 1300 km of commuting, he's a field report.

Let's start with the aspects which need improvement:

Weight - At 38 lbs in commuting trim, this is a porky ride.
It's a good TEN lbs over upright full-suspension bike in the same range. You can bring it down to 33 by electing for the low FX seat (the Sweet seat adds a whooping 3 lbs over the base seat), but even that is too heavy to be competitive. Given the importance placed up weight, I firmly believe that 33 lbs is just too heavy for the FX to become a serious competitor in the off-road field. Uprights at this price point are 5 lbs less and some high end full suspension bike are 10 lbs under the FX. This additional weight has a significant impact upon bike performance. You may the most comfortable going uphill, but you will also be the slowest. Until Bike E can bring the weight down, they will not be able to make a dent in the market.

In their defense, I will point out that they have gone where no one has gone before. At least not seriously. They have a proprietary frame and suspension fork. They do not have a six figure R&D budget. Even Rock Shox had humble beginnings and their first generations forks were a long ways from the 2.6 lb BlackBox SIDs. With time I hope that Bike E will refine their design and reduce its weight considerably.

Air suspension - Air is great in that it is highly flexible.
You can accomodate riders weighing 100 lb or 250 lb. Just pump it up or down. However, there are tradeoffs. One, though Cane Creeks have an extremely solid record, if the seals ever blew, it'd be game over. Second, Air is not what I would call plush. On this bent and the Trek R200, the AD-5 was difficult to get right. If you pump to the manufacturer's recommendations for no sag when loaded, it's too stiff and the rebound is way too fast. It slams the rear end down after the impact. The AD-5 does not have any rebound adjustment. Perhaps if it were the AD-10 or the new Cane Creek (AD-12?), this would be better. They've just never been as smooth as the Fox coil shock I had before. Still, I prefer an air shock to coil for the versatility.

20/16 format - After riding a 20/20 format (my Trek R200), it took some getting used to when transitioning to a 20/16.
It's just not as instinctive and natural as the very well balanced 20/20. However, 20/16 is necessary for the front suspension. The problem with a 16 inch (305 mm) wheel is also a more limited selection of tires than the 20 inch (406 mm) size.

No disc compatible hubs - Okay, somebody is specing dept needs a kick in the head. Here's the problem, the bike E FX comes with SRAM 7.0 hubs which are not disc comp. However, the SRAM 9.0 hubs are. If Bike E had simply increased the price a fraction, then owners could have spent $45 on the disc adapters instead of $150 on new hubs.
Either put disc hubs on a disc comp frame or take the disc tabs off. Don't sit on the fence.

No disc factory upgrade - Again, another problem in the specing dept. You have to spend $400 on after market discs when they could simply allow you to upgrade to the Hayes disc brakes which are spec'd on the NX. Save money. Save time. Make things easier. Make the customer happy. All good ideas in my book.

Limited color selection - Why only grey and red? Why not blue or green like the other Bike Es? This can't be that difficult.

No fenders - Bike E has told me that they are working on this. In any case, off road or not, they are needed. The amount of spray off the front wheel is impressive.

And now the positive aspects:

It's a bent - Excellent ergonomics (SEE BIKE SETUP!). This bike is a joy to ride. I get complements and questions all the time. People love it.

Dealer support - Special thanks to Tom of Tom's Bike Annex.
He did all the custom specing for me and helped me when my seat stays broke. They were resoldered here in Santiago and Bike E reimbursed me right away for the work. Nice job, guys.

Bike E accessories - This is where Bike E is killing Trek.
They have a dozen or so accessories specific to the bikes.
This may sound like a detail, but just try and get some fenders to work on a bent or find a computer with a wire harness that will reach the handlebars. Can't wait for those FX fenders.

Frame strength - This thing is bombproof. It could probably accomodate riders to 300 lb. I will never worry about a frame failure. However, the question is, does it need to be? To be honest, the bike is not built for cross country. It's built for free ride in terms of the strength of the components (double wall rims). I hope in the future they reduce the weight because it seems like overkill to me, though I suspect liability may be a part of the problem.

Full suspension - Well, I have to thank Bike E for ruining me. After riding a full suspension bent, a rigid road bike is about a comfortable as a proctology exam. The suspension seems very good (see my comments about the air shocks). The front is fairly responsive though it need a lot of pressure (I run 250 psi for 190 lb rider); this increase in performance over the rear is probably because the front uses an Englund air cartridge. 40 mm isn't a lot of travel, but it makes a big difference.

Disc compatible - Disc brakes are great and my hat off to Bike E for recognizing that they are the future in CC. For commuting, their all weather stopping power is crucial. I love them.

Sweet seat - very comfortable and ergonomic. I haven't used it more than an hour at a time, but it's definitely superior to the Rans in terms of ergonomics. However, it does lack the recline adjustment of the Rans as well the relfective strips on the back. The latter would really be appreciated at night. My Sweet Seat broke (the two small supports) and the welder soldered on an extension piece so that now they are about two inches farther back which I believe strengthens them considerably. Do not know why they failed so quickly, but they seem a little weak and the angle of placement is less than ideal. In any case, Bike E reimbursed my for the cost.

In summary, this is a great first attempt. It is a serious bike and should be taken as such. If you ride more technical stuff, this bent will not do as well as an upright. It's simply not as maneuverable. But it does hold its own and when the group rests, notice how everyone jumps off their upright wedgie saddle-sore inducing seats while you rest happily in your Sweet seat.

It is a long time before we see the FX on the race course as a potential challenge to the uprights. It needs much design refinement to bring the weight down. I hope this will happen in the years to come. In the meantime, my congratulations to Bike E for a job well done. Keep up the good work, guys.

E-mail me if you are in the market for an FX and have any questions.

Similar Products Used:

Trek R200