Specialized’s proprietary, 700-watt motor feels natural—sometimes to an annoying extent, as the bike is designed for you to pedal and you won’t get faster than 10 mph just by using the throttle. Also, there’s no option for a dual battery. Still, the battery well exceeded Specialized’s estimated 60-mile range. Granted, I am a small person, but I was usually hauling at least one other person on the bike with me at all times, so I still found this remarkable.
It’s easily adjustable—both my 5’10” husband and my 5’2″ self were able to switch off riding, which is important if this is your family’s all-purpose hauler. The display is intuitive, and the buttons are well-spaced apart so you don’t get confused or end up button-mashing. Also, Specialized’s accessories go a long way toward making this bike so much more useful. Yes, you could jerry-rig some Home Depot buckets to the front of your bike and drill holes in the bottoms for them to drain, but the Coolcave panniers ($90) are so much more attractive, easy to use, and helpful for carting everything from kid dioramas to a dozen tiny soccer balls.
Best Value
The vast majority of people I know who buy a cargo ebike with their own money choose the Lectric XPedition2. There is just no better value for a dual-battery long-tail cargo ebike. Out of the box, Lectric has also gone above and beyond to make its bikes and accessories easy to assemble and use. You even pop the pedals in, instead of using regular screw-on pedals.
This bike’s specs are also wild for the price. It has a 1,310-watt rear hub motor, twice as powerful as the already-powerful Globe Haul. (It has a throttle and is a Class 2 ebike out of the box, though you can use the display to unlock its Class 3 capabilities and assist up to 28 mph.) It has hydraulic disc brakes, front suspension, an incredibly large and bright LCD color display, integrated lights, and fenders.
