Result of my E-Bike test: Pretty cool - but not perfect yet
Right after I purchased my GXi GoCycle encouraged me to post a review here. But instead of sharing my first „Ahs“ and „Ohs“ I preferred to wait a bit. Now, after more than 3 months and around 700 km I believe I’m able to give a more profound verdict.
Right after I purchased my GXi GoCycle encouraged me to post a review here. But instead of sharing my first „Ahs“ and „Ohs“ I preferred to wait a bit. Now, after more than 3 months and around 700 km I believe I’m able to give a more profound verdict.
However, Trustpilot only allows 4000 characters! That’s not enough for me. So, I have to shorten the review here, but the complete one (German / English) can be found on my blog (see link below).
First of all it’s a real cool bike. It’s fun to ride it and if you do so, you definitely become an eye catcher.
The idea behind my purchase was to use a bicycle for commuting (20 km) more often. Turning on the motor in the morning should help me to arrive less sweaty in the office and turning it off in the afternoon should keep me fit.
Driving experience 5/5
Like all Gocycle, the GXi is a very compact bike and the company advertises that this does not have to stand in the way of comfortable driving and that the ergonomic position of the 3 points - saddle, pedals and handlebars - is particularly important. And that's true, at least for me, who’s rather small (1.65 / 65 kg). The 20" wheels make it very manoeuvrable and the seating position can be adjusted so that relaxed driving is not a problem - at least not from this point of view.
Frame / folding mechanism 5/5
Folding and unfolding the bike in less then 10 seconds (as advertised) may be a bit optimistic, but it's really quick and easy. The folding mechanism looks very reliable and worked fine every time. You can quickly fix the front part with the rubber band. Folded together, it can easily be stored even in the rather small trunk of my Prius and there is still room for luggage.
Rolling the folded bike by controlling it with the saddle is not as easy as it looks on the videos, but it with a bit of practice it works, too.
The frame in general and especially the Cleandrive is beyond any doubt. The completely encapsulated mechanic is a brilliant idea and a perfect implementation. The cyclist is protected from possible oil coming from the chain as well as the chain from dirt when driving. All cables are completely laid inside, which further enhances the tidy impression.
Brakes 5/5
The brakes are easy to operate and bring the bike to a stop quickly and reliably. Actually, I'm always a little skeptical about disc brakes because of the risk of bending the discs. In this case, the brakes are encapsulated, so that hardly anything like that can happen.
Motor 2/5
in my opinion the motor is unfortunately the biggest pain point, because it is not only comparatively loud, but the noise generated is also relatively unpleasant. When I sat on a "normal“ e-bike for the first time, I was surprised how I was siliently “pushed”. The GoCycle is not like that. The noise sounds a bit like an UMAC motor (although there’s certainly no AC in the bicycle) that works with brushes - similar to those that were used in cheap, screeching washing machines a few years ago. This also means that you don't have to use the bell, because as soon as the engine switches on, everyone in front of you turns around - or immediately drives aside.
Depending on where the motor of an e-bike is placed (front wheel, mid-motor, rear wheel) there are advantages and disadvantages. I did not (yet) notice the typical disadvantages of a front wheel motor (e.g. slipping when driving uphill).
The range when driving with the support of the motor is absolutely sufficient: in city mode, I easily achieved 50+ km and in eco mode over 80 km.
Motor control 2/5
The basic idea of GoCycles motor control is: based on the pedal strength the motor will support with a certain power. There are different modes predefined, which start this support at a certain pedal strength and increase the support with a certain gradient. In custom mode (app) you can define both yourself. Sounds great. Unfortunately, there is a big delay/latency here: it takes more than one revolution of the pedal before the motor is switched on or off. This is extremely annoying and it is almost impossible to adjust your pedal strength so that the motor is supporting on a constant, low level, which would also keep the noise on an acceptable level. Instead, the motor is more or less frequently turned on / off for a few seconds, which makes the riding anything else but relaxed.
I played a bit with the app, but even with an extremely flat gradient, I wasn't really happy.
The question is: why is is there such a big delay? It certainly takes some time to measure the pedal strength, do appropriate calculations and then finally control the motor accordingly - but modern chips should easily be able to do that calculation within a few milliseconds. Besides that a delay may be caused by the communication between the components, e.g. if a slow BUS connection is used for this.
The fact that even in "On demand" mode, it takes a noticeable (but much shorter) time for the engine to start would point In that direction, I believe.
Cockpit 3/5
The cockpit is very tidy. Over time, you get used to the meaning of the many red and few blue LEDs. And their meaning changes depending on the situation. Nevertheless, a small LCD module with meaningful content would be a better user interface. Especially if you want to make specific settings. This is possible by a certain sequence of turning the left / right rotary knob up / down. That is described in the manual. But you have to be fast and count the number of LEDs so that you end up in the corect mode and change the right settings. Overall this is not very intuitive, a bit 80s style, but anyway you will probably use the app for making the settings..
APP (iOS) 2/5
Well, the app will certainly not win a design award either. At least the iOS app doesn’t follow the user interface guidelines. Still, you can probably live with that, but there are a lot of bugs and the handling e.g. when you want to select a mode, which is not shown on the screen, but either left or right of the list of available modes is a bit tricky. Some values are not self explaining others simply wrong. It would certainly make sense to start from with a new app design the scratch.
Unfortunately there is no app for the Apple Watch either. Wouldn't it be nice - when you’re about to cycle home in the afternoon - if you could simply change the riding mode from “City” to “On demand” with just a tap on your watch - rather then pulling the smartphone out your pocket?
Why is there no Bluetooth interface specification available that would enable developers to implement a such a simple app? I’m sure there are developers out there who would do so - maybe I would even start programming again ...
And yes, a smartphone can be attached right to the cockpit - with 2 really cheap rubber holders. I tried it once and my mobile phone was even protected in a case. As soon as then surface gets a bit rough the phone bumps against the cockpit. In order to protect both from each other I will not use that anymore in the future. Besides that it would also hide the LEDs. Since the handlebar is relatively thick because of the cockpit, I have not yet found a suitable, real smartphone holder.
Electronic gear shift 3/5
In contrast to the GX, the GXi has an electrical hub gear. This means that when you switch gears, you only give the gearshift a short pulse and the gears in the hub are switched electrically - not manually. This is actually a good idea and it makes the "predictive shifting" possible - a kind of "automatic driving“ for the bicycle.
However, it also has a disadvantage: if the battery is empty or if the bug described below occurs, the current gear cannot be changed. That can be very annoying.
Although the "predictive shifting" works pretty well, but I still turned it off.
Driving without electrical support 5/5
In the past weeks I have covered over 200 km without any support of the motor. It worked great! The bike rides fairly easily and you make great progress. Actually, I enjoyed that much more than with the support of the noisy engine. But, there’s an annoying bug in the “on demand” mode, which I have already reported to GoCycles customer support…
Annoying bug in firmware
If you turn on the bike and leave it untouched, it turns off after 30 minutes of inactivity. Quite useful. Unfortunately, this also happens if you drive relaxed in “on demand” mode and don’t turn on the engine for more than 30 minutes. In this case the cockpit suddenly gets dark, gears cannot be shifted and even if pressing the power button while driving does not help. The pedals and wheels must stand still when you switch on the bicycle. This has happened to me more than 10 times in the past few weeks and it is extremely annoying. Meanwhile I verified that the boost button helps, so this is a work around, but I stillI hope there will be new firmware soon and I don’t mind to become a beta tester.
By the way, there are 3 different firmware versions. The EU variant supports up to 25 km/h, the two North America variants up to 31 km/h. As a test, I installed all of them - and used them only on private premises, of course ;-). The bug is present in all versions.
Paintwork 3/5
I chose the matt black version and it looks really nice. But it is very sensitive. Even though I have never leaned the bicycle against anything and always treated it carefully, there are already some spots where the paint has flaked off. I think the matte version was only introduced with the GXi. Maybe the manufacturing process is not optimized yet.
Charger / power supply 3/5
The charger is relatively large and the fan can sometimes be heard clearly, but turns off (almost) when the battery is almost fully charged. Unfortunately, there is no way to charge the bike, for example, in the trunk of a car while driving.
Accessories 3/5
The font/back LEDs and mudguards are of course essential. They are easy to install and the Busch and Müller headlights are definitely sufficient. Too bad that it lacks a USB socket and a daylight sensor.
I am currently considering to buy a front pannier or a rear luggage rack. However, the latter costs € 300 and is not even i-Rack compatible. With that gross margin, even Apple would probably be red with shame. I know people who bought a whole, new bike for less money. GoCycles’ product management should probably think this over or create a useful bundle.
Support 5/5
Customer service is essential when it comes to complex technical devices. And GoCycles customer service is excellent. Before the purchase I received detailed answers to my questions. They also responded immediately when I had small problems during set up the web shop account or when I reported the bug mentioned above.
That makes me feel good about.
Conclusion 3,5 / 5
Even though I have described some negative points here: the GXi is a cool bike.
I hope this honest review will help the company to improve the product even further. I'm definitely excited to see what the successor (s) will bring. And in the meantime I continue riding my GXi ...
P.S. Yes, “it’s electric”. But imagine, it would not have to be. Removing the battery, motor and other not needed components would certainly save 4-5 kg. Keeping the rest as it is and ending up with a ”normal” folding bike of 12 kg. Wouldn’t that be cool, too?
First of all it’s a real cool bike. It’s fun to ride it and if you do so, you definitely become an eye catcher.
The idea behind my purchase was to use a bicycle for commuting (20 km) more often. Turning on the motor in the morning should help me to arrive less sweaty in the office and turning it off in the afternoon should keep me fit.
Driving experience 5/5
Like all Gocycle, the GXi is a very compact bike and the company advertises that this does not have to stand in the way of comfortable driving and that the ergonomic position of the 3 points - saddle, pedals and handlebars - is particularly important. And that's true, at least for me, who’s rather small (1.65 / 65 kg). The 20" wheels make it very manoeuvrable and the seating position can be adjusted so that relaxed driving is not a problem - at least not from this point of view.
Frame / folding mechanism 5/5
Folding and unfolding the bike in less then 10 seconds (as advertised) may be a bit optimistic, but it's really quick and easy. The folding mechanism looks very reliable and worked fine every time. You can quickly fix the front part with the rubber band. Folded together, it can easily be stored even in the rather small trunk of my Prius and there is still room for luggage.
Rolling the folded bike by controlling it with the saddle is not as easy as it looks on the videos, but it with a bit of practice it works, too.
The frame in general and especially the Cleandrive is beyond any doubt. The completely encapsulated mechanic is a brilliant idea and a perfect implementation. The cyclist is protected from possible oil coming from the chain as well as the chain from dirt when driving. All cables are completely laid inside, which further enhances the tidy impression.
Brakes 5/5
The brakes are easy to operate and bring the bike to a stop quickly and reliably. Actually, I'm always a little skeptical about disc brakes because of the risk of bending the discs. In this case, the brakes are encapsulated, so that hardly anything like that can happen.
Motor 2/5
in my opinion the motor is unfortunately the biggest pain point, because it is not only comparatively loud, but the noise generated is also relatively unpleasant. When I sat on a "normal“ e-bike for the first time, I was surprised how I was siliently “pushed”. The GoCycle is not like that. The noise sounds a bit like an UMAC motor (although there’s certainly no AC in the bicycle) that works with brushes - similar to those that were used in cheap, screeching washing machines a few years ago. This also means that you don't have to use the bell, because as soon as the engine switches on, everyone in front of you turns around - or immediately drives aside.
Depending on where the motor of an e-bike is placed (front wheel, mid-motor, rear wheel) there are advantages and disadvantages. I did not (yet) notice the typical disadvantages of a front wheel motor (e.g. slipping when driving uphill).
The range when driving with the support of the motor is absolutely sufficient: in city mode, I easily achieved 50+ km and in eco mode over 80 km.
Motor control 2/5
The basic idea of GoCycles motor control is: based on the pedal strength the motor will support with a certain power. There are different modes predefined, which start this support at a certain pedal strength and increase the support with a certain gradient. In custom mode (app) you can define both yourself. Sounds great. Unfortunately, there is a big delay/latency here: it takes more than one revolution of the pedal before the motor is switched on or off. This is extremely annoying and it is almost impossible to adjust your pedal strength so that the motor is supporting on a constant, low level, which would also keep the noise on an acceptable level. Instead, the motor is more or less frequently turned on / off for a few seconds, which makes the riding anything else but relaxed.
I played a bit with the app, but even with an extremely flat gradient, I wasn't really happy.
The question is: why is is there such a big delay? It certainly takes some time to measure the pedal strength, do appropriate calculations and then finally control the motor accordingly - but modern chips should easily be able to do that calculation within a few milliseconds. Besides that a delay may be caused by the communication between the components, e.g. if a slow BUS connection is used for this.
The fact that even in "On demand" mode, it takes a noticeable (but much shorter) time for the engine to start would point In that direction, I believe.
Cockpit 3/5
The cockpit is very tidy. Over time, you get used to the meaning of the many red and few blue LEDs. And their meaning changes depending on the situation. Nevertheless, a small LCD module with meaningful content would be a better user interface. Especially if you want to make specific settings. This is possible by a certain sequence of turning the left / right rotary knob up / down. That is described in the manual. But you have to be fast and count the number of LEDs so that you end up in the corect mode and change the right settings. Overall this is not very intuitive, a bit 80s style, but anyway you will probably use the app for making the settings..
APP (iOS) 2/5
Well, the app will certainly not win a design award either. At least the iOS app doesn’t follow the user interface guidelines. Still, you can probably live with that, but there are a lot of bugs and the handling e.g. when you want to select a mode, which is not shown on the screen, but either left or right of the list of available modes is a bit tricky. Some values are not self explaining others simply wrong. It would certainly make sense to start from with a new app design the scratch.
Unfortunately there is no app for the Apple Watch either. Wouldn't it be nice - when you’re about to cycle home in the afternoon - if you could simply change the riding mode from “City” to “On demand” with just a tap on your watch - rather then pulling the smartphone out your pocket?
Why is there no Bluetooth interface specification available that would enable developers to implement a such a simple app? I’m sure there are developers out there who would do so - maybe I would even start programming again ...
And yes, a smartphone can be attached right to the cockpit - with 2 really cheap rubber holders. I tried it once and my mobile phone was even protected in a case. As soon as then surface gets a bit rough the phone bumps against the cockpit. In order to protect both from each other I will not use that anymore in the future. Besides that it would also hide the LEDs. Since the handlebar is relatively thick because of the cockpit, I have not yet found a suitable, real smartphone holder.
Electronic gear shift 3/5
In contrast to the GX, the GXi has an electrical hub gear. This means that when you switch gears, you only give the gearshift a short pulse and the gears in the hub are switched electrically - not manually. This is actually a good idea and it makes the "predictive shifting" possible - a kind of "automatic driving“ for the bicycle.
However, it also has a disadvantage: if the battery is empty or if the bug described below occurs, the current gear cannot be changed. That can be very annoying.
Although the "predictive shifting" works pretty well, but I still turned it off.
Driving without electrical support 5/5
In the past weeks I have covered over 200 km without any support of the motor. It worked great! The bike rides fairly easily and you make great progress. Actually, I enjoyed that much more than with the support of the noisy engine. But, there’s an annoying bug in the “on demand” mode, which I have already reported to GoCycles customer support…
Annoying bug in firmware
If you turn on the bike and leave it untouched, it turns off after 30 minutes of inactivity. Quite useful. Unfortunately, this also happens if you drive relaxed in “on demand” mode and don’t turn on the engine for more than 30 minutes. In this case the cockpit suddenly gets dark, gears cannot be shifted and even if pressing the power button while driving does not help. The pedals and wheels must stand still when you switch on the bicycle. This has happened to me more than 10 times in the past few weeks and it is extremely annoying. Meanwhile I verified that the boost button helps, so this is a work around, but I stillI hope there will be new firmware soon and I don’t mind to become a beta tester.
By the way, there are 3 different firmware versions. The EU variant supports up to 25 km/h, the two North America variants up to 31 km/h. As a test, I installed all of them - and used them only on private premises, of course ;-). The bug is present in all versions.
Paintwork 3/5
I chose the matt black version and it looks really nice. But it is very sensitive. Even though I have never leaned the bicycle against anything and always treated it carefully, there are already some spots where the paint has flaked off. I think the matte version was only introduced with the GXi. Maybe the manufacturing process is not optimized yet.
Charger / power supply 3/5
The charger is relatively large and the fan can sometimes be heard clearly, but turns off (almost) when the battery is almost fully charged. Unfortunately, there is no way to charge the bike, for example, in the trunk of a car while driving.
Accessories 3/5
The font/back LEDs and mudguards are of course essential. They are easy to install and the Busch and Müller headlights are definitely sufficient. Too bad that it lacks a USB socket and a daylight sensor.
I am currently considering to buy a front pannier or a rear luggage rack. However, the latter costs € 300 and is not even i-Rack compatible. With that gross margin, even Apple would probably be red with shame. I know people who bought a whole, new bike for less money. GoCycles’ product management should probably think this over or create a useful bundle.
Support 5/5
Customer service is essential when it comes to complex technical devices. And GoCycles customer service is excellent. Before the purchase I received detailed answers to my questions. They also responded immediately when I had small problems during set up the web shop account or when I reported the bug mentioned above.
That makes me feel good about.
Conclusion 3,5 / 5
Even though I have described some negative points here: the GXi is a cool bike.
I hope this honest review will help the company to improve the product even further. I'm definitely excited to see what the successor (s) will bring. And in the meantime I continue riding my GXi ...
P.S. Yes, “it’s electric”. But imagine, it would not have to be. Removing the battery, motor and other not needed components would certainly save 4-5 kg. Keeping the rest as it is and ending up with a ”normal” folding bike of 12 kg. Wouldn’t that be cool, too?
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