Final 12 months, we reviewed the Snapcycle R1, a fats tire e-bike. I’ve been in contact with the corporate since then engaged on a minor user-caused difficulty (I didn’t safe a motorbike rack correctly), and the crew supplied to ship out two extra bikes for us to assessment. One in all these new bikes was the Pegasus, a step-thru mannequin with all the bells and whistles.
I do know everyone doesn’t learn the entire assessment, so I’ll sum it up actual fast right here. It’s a fairly first rate bike, with good options and components, however there’s one factor readers ought to be careful for: the dimensions. It’s not instantly apparent until you dig deep into the product web page, but it surely has a “bigger than common” body dimension, and is meant to be appropriate for riders about 5’8″ to six’7″ in top, however in my expertise it’s actually appropriate in inventory type for riders 6’1″ and above. However, there are some workarounds if you happen to’re shorter and actually just like the bike that I’ll get to within the article.
First, let’s take a fast have a look at the specs and options.
Snapcycle Pegasus Fats Tire E-Bike Specs & Options
The Snapcycle Pegasus is a fats tire electrical bike that gives riders a robust and sturdy journey. It’s geared up with a 750W hub motor (1056 watts peak) and has a spread of as much as 45 miles on a single cost (w/ pedal help used, 25 miles on throttle), reaching speeds of as much as 28 mph in Class 3 mode. The light-weight aluminum alloy body is designed for sturdiness and reliability in any terrain, however given the dimensions of the bike, it’s nonetheless considerably heavy.
The Snapcycle Pegasus consists of an LCD show that exhibits vital info similar to pace and battery life. It additionally options 5 ranges of pedal help, offering riders with flexibility and management over their journey. The Tektro hydraulic disc brakes provide superior stopping energy in all situations, guaranteeing a protected and safe journey.
On prime of the first rate components (hydraulic brakes, first rate gears, and so on), the bike comes with a number of equipment many different producers cost you additional for. It has mud guards/fenders, entrance and rear racks, and a suspension seatpost commonplace.
Including a brake gentle is simple. The underside of the body has a field that opens with 4 screws (pictured upside-down right here).
The one factor I noticed the corporate not embrace is a brake gentle. It comes with a tail gentle mounted to the rear rack, but it surely runs on AAA batteries and doesn’t gentle up brighter once you get on the brakes. If that’s an issue for you, Snapcycle does promote the brake lights individually and the motor controller has a plug open for a brake gentle. The plug is accessible by eradicating 4 screws on the backside of the body.
The Elephant In The Room
As I warned readers about at first of the article, the bike’s received a reasonably large body, which is a odd alternative for a step-thru bike. Whereas step-thru bikes aren’t thought-about girls’s bikes like they as soon as had been (girls don’t sometimes put on skirts on a motorbike today, they’re standard for supply riders of all genders, and males who don’t need to journey a standard bike like them), the selection to make a step-thru bike that doesn’t accommodate most ladies does appear just a little bizarre.
Alternatively, a taller man (or very tall girls) might get numerous good out of this bike. With the ability to load bigger issues on the cargo rack and never having to swing your leg over it’s useful. For open air, searching, or cargo/supply use, the bike is an effective choice.
Snapcycle exacerbated the big body alternative with the suspension seatpost. As a result of the suspension is constructed into the submit, you possibly can’t decrease the seat all the best way to the body. I’m 5’10” and struggled with the bike at its lowest place, and my spouse (5’6″) couldn’t journey it in any respect.
We ended up asking Snapcycle to ship us a non-suspension seatpost, however these aren’t out there with the flip-up mechanism that makes the battery simpler to take away. What we ended up doing was gutting the seatpost suspension mechanism by eradicating the spring from it, which allowed the seat to decrease a number of extra inches. This made the bike usable by each of us, however in all probability nonetheless wouldn’t make it an acceptable bike for shorter girls.
One characteristic my spouse favored was the adjustable handlebar top. With the ability to elevate and rotate it made it attainable to place the seating association as vertically as she’d like, making it simpler for her to really feel comfy on longer rides.
How It Rides
As soon as we received it working nicely for us, we discovered that the Pegasus does give a fairly good journey. It’s received a good really feel and looks as if it is going to be sturdy for its worth vary.
Within the metropolis, the big body and weight make for a really secure journey that soaks up all the bumps and jumps with ease. The cargo racks left us with loads of room not just for issues, however just a little backpack pod if we wished to take a cat alongside for a journey. The body additionally has loads of actual property to assault a Bike Tow Leash you probably have a canine buddy who wants some train.
Away from pavement, the bike has some functionality, too. We took the bike on some Jeep roads, via some deep sand, and on some fundamental singletrack. It did advantageous and was comfy for all of that. I wouldn’t take the bike out on the extra technical trails, as a result of its dimension and weight would make that difficult, however for simple to medium trails, the Pegasus does the job.
In the event you head out on a path that’s straightforward for many of the journey however nonetheless has some technical sections, the bike will not be so heavy that it could’t be walked or pushed via them. So, if you happen to’re utilizing the Pegasus to discover and aren’t out looking for a problem, it’s an excellent choice.
General
I’d usually say that the Snapcycle Pegasus is a good bike in its worth vary, however provided that you’re tall sufficient for it. In the event you’re not, the R1 Step-Through accommodates riders 5’2″ and up, and the Stinger (one other bike we’ve reviewed) is nice for five’3″ and up.
All photographs by Jennifer Sensiba.
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