The Volton El Legs electric bikes offer a light weight design with balanced battery and motor integration focused on efficiency. The frame is what I would call “city style” and resemble a road bikes with thinner tubing and large 700cc wheels that use narrow tires built for speed. The rims are deep dish “aero” design meant to create efficiency at higher riding speeds. The components are mid-level and considering the limited seven speed gear range, this bike doesn’t provide the breadth of performance that other similar models like the eFlow Flight or Nitro do. Even so, the price on the El Legs is excellent and I like the look and feel of it. The most comparable bike (in terms of price and design) is the Motiv Shadow.
The motor driving the El Legs 5 is a 500 watt geared design configured as the rear hub. It’s light weight, strong and relatively quiet. It’s the same hub motor used in the Volton Alation 500 level ebikes and it’s made by Bafang. For a bit less money, you can get the 250 watt version of the El Legs (simply called the Volton El Legs) and the battery pack will be the same so weight isn’t reduced much, just the power.
Volton does a great job integrating their batteries and for the El Legs they’ve chosen a modular bottle-replacement design that sits right on top of the downtube. This of course takes up the same spot that a water bottle cage might otherwise live, but it keeps the weight low and centered and is convenient to remove for charging, lifting or transporting. The pack itself offers 36 volts of power and 10.5 amp hours of capacity which is pretty standard. The chemistry is Lithium polymer which might not last as long as other Lithium-ion or Lithium Iron Phosphate designs but comes with a solid one year warranty. While the pack is removable, the attachment point uses a threaded connector that takes a bit longer to unscrew and disconnect than some similar designs. I suppose it keeps water and dust out more effectively and may create a better electrical connection as well, but it does take longer. Just behind the battery pack, on the seat post tube, is a plastic controller box that houses the circuitry required to run the bike. It would be nice if this were somehow contained in the battery mounting clip or elsewhere but it blends in fine and pretty much stays out of the way.
The big stand-out feature on the El Legs that I’ve always gravitated towards is the headset “swing arm” shock absorber. It’s an SR Suntour Swing and is designed to offer some give when traveling over bumps and cracks in a city environment. Normal suspension forks add a lot of weight but the Swing is small and relatively light. It does not however, offer the same travel and give as a full sized fork and in my experience it was only moderately useful. As someone with back and neck pain I prefer a more upright ride, especially when traveling at higher speeds that ebikes enable, and the El Legs feels more aggressive. It’s not something I’d use every day to get to work, riding with a backpack, but it is a ton of fun for zipping around. The shock helped my wrists and arms the most I’m glad they included it. It’s also adjustable so you can change the stiffness depending on your weight and riding environment by removing the cap on the stem.
I love that this bike only weighs 45 pounds (43 for the 250 watt version). It also comes with a decent set of lights and the fenders have been upgraded since 2012 when it first rolled onto the scene. They are now extended in the rear to be more functional. I appreciate the adjustable kickstand and the break out buttons for controlling pedal assist mode that are mounted right next to the left grip on the handle bar. The LCD display is large and can be swiveled to decrease glare (as shown in the video review). The LCD shows speed, battery capacity and range as well as assist level. Considering the bike uses a pedelec system, it works pretty well and offers a good response when riding around. I actually prefer pedelec for city riding because you don’t have to push as hard as you would with torque sensing systems. Of course, it also keeps the system less expensive. The twist throttle on the right grip is pretty standard and quite fun to use with the 500 watt motor, offering lots of get up and go. This is a fun, efficient ebike at a good price and the company is very responsive to customer needs considering most of their stuff is sold through the web. They do have a few outlets across the country, check out their website below for location info.
Pros:
Light weight design at 45lbs (20.4kg) makes it easy to maneuver, lift and transport (especially if you take the battery pack off)
Flat top-tube is easier to mount on some car racks for transporting the bike
Large, intuitive LCD computer with external button set mounted near left grip for easy reach
Front and rear lights work well and provide safety when riding in the city
Fun aerodynamic rims are efficient and look nice, also add strength
Large 500 watt geared motor offers lots of power for acceleration or climbing
Front and rear mechanical disc brakes offer good stopping power, even in wet riding conditions
Battery position keeps weight low to the ground and evenly distributed across the frame
Front and rear fenders keep mud and water away, extend far enough to keep feet and shins pretty dry
Solid one year warranty on frame, motor, battery and charger with good customer support from Volton
Removable battery can be charged off the bike which is very convenient for commuting or if you don’t have room inside for the entire bike
Overall good looking bike with attention to details such as matching paint, integrated cables and even a matching LCD
Cons:
Battery pack and controller box take up the downtube and seat post tube areas that might otherwise be used for a water bottle cage
Rear light is not wired in to run off of the main battery, easy to forget to turn it off or on, less convenient
Headset swing shock doesn’t offer as much travel as a full sized suspension fork
Lithium Polymer battery isn’t quite as efficient as other Lithium-ion chemistries
Only offers seven speeds vs. 10 or 21 on other city style electric bikes
High cross winds catch the aero rims and are more noticeable than regular shallow rims
narrow and small tires don’t absorb shock very well, cracks and bumps are more noticeable at high speeds (though the swing shock does help somewhat)
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