Retrospec Jax Rev Review: A Fat-Tire Folding Ebike

Have you ever ridden a motorcycle and not using a pedal? It’s not enjoyable. It’s particularly not enjoyable on a 63-pound bike with none electrical help. I needed to angle my foot on the pedal’s crank arm, and when it inevitably slipped off mid-rotation, my leg swung wildly and kicked off the bottom, as if I used to be using a skateboard. I’ve the Jax Rev from Retrospec, a $1,600 folding fat-tire ebike, to thank for this predicament.

A few days earlier, I used to be using the Jax Rev at 2 am on a darkish avenue in Brooklyn. I used to be cruising on the 20-mph high velocity, when immediately—Clank! I rode over a big pothole. The backside of the body smacked the street; it took just a few seconds for the vibrations rattling by means of my bones to dissipate. I used to be bodily nice, however I rapidly realized one thing was mistaken: The bike misplaced energy. 

It was darkish, I used to be drained, and I could not work out precisely what occurred to it. The battery was nonetheless operational, however the ebike would not activate. I could not get any of that candy electrical help. Oh effectively, I solely had 10 minutes left in my journey to get residence. Pedaling such a heavy bike with none help is, frankly, exhausting. That brings me to the damaged pedal. I used to be huffing on it whereas heading to a motorcycle store to see if they may repair it when the pedal broke off the crank arm. Great. 

Ticking the Boxes

All of this occurred towards the tail finish of a three-month testing interval with the Jax Rev, which has been an in any other case nice class 2 ebike. I can not converse a lot in regards to the setup course of because the bike was absolutely assembled when it was hand-delivered, however I used to be glad to see it got here with all of the accoutrements you’d need, equivalent to a rear rack, bell, entrance and tail lamps, and fenders. 

It has the identical pitfall as different fat-tire ebikes I’ve tried: It’s freaking heavy, so good luck carrying it up and down flights of stairs. The folding course of is simple, however because of the weight, it may be unwieldy. You additionally want to boost the kickstand in order that the 2 halves can stick collectively. Still, it is just a little extra elegant than the folding course of on the extra affordable Lectric XP.

That magnificence is clear in different components of the bike. The battery is less complicated to take away, although you could must twist the saddle out of the way in which (you needn’t take away it to cost it). You do want a key to show the battery on and trip the Jax Rev, nevertheless it’s located proper beneath the saddle, not awkwardly beneath the ebike like on the Lectric. 

It’s additionally engaging, rivaling one other fat-tire ebike I tested. The Jax Rev is available in a nice olive inexperienced or plain black. I had the previous, and at the least three strangers stopped to inform me how fairly it seemed. 

There are 5 ranges of pedal help to select from (with stage 5 providing essentially the most help), and there is a little handlebar-mount show with buttons you need to use to toggle by means of the degrees. You additionally get a throttle, which is helpful for once you rapidly want to maneuver at a visitors gentle, or when navigating previous bumper-to-bumper visitors on slender roads.