Vvolt Slice Lite e-bike evaluate: sensible city e-mobility
MSRP $2,049.00
“Each Slice Lite design favors practicality, from the carbon drive belt to the unequal-size wheels.”
Professionals
- Light-weight: straightforward to hold or transfer
- Carbon drive belt: upkeep free
- No gears: straightforward to function
- 360-degree lights: excessive visibility
- Versatility: adjustable cargo field possibility
- Hydraulic brakes: good stopping energy
Cons
- Increased price than many others
- Pace restricted to twenty mph
- No customary mirror
- No brake lights
Vvolt’s Slice Lite epitomizes the city mobility firm’s imaginative and prescient of an all-purpose utility e-bike for operating errands and getting round city. The Slice Lite is a comparatively light-weight e-bike that blends ease of use, easy upkeep, and flexibility. Each design resolution for this compact journey favors practicality, together with its Gates carbon belt drive and different-size wheels.
Vvolt Slice Lite: objective and greatest use
The Slice Lite is cleverly designed for optimum use as a utility e-bike for operating errand. The photograph above exhibits that the entrance and rear wheels and tires are totally different sizes. The bigger 24-inch by 3-inch rear tire may help clean the e-bike’s journey, whereas the 20- inch by 3-inch entrance tire can decrease the middle of gravity if you use the non-compulsory, however extremely really useful Cargo Field.
With out the Cargo Field, which provides 4.7 kilos, the Slice Lite weighs solely 52 kilos. Even with the mixed weight of almost 57 kilos, it’s nonetheless considerably lighter than most e-bikes.
The Slice Lite isn’t your best option for an train bike, long-distance touring, or exploring off-road areas. With its comparatively low-power motor and low-capacity battery, the Slice Lite isn’t a powerhouse — however it doesn’t must be. The load, pace, and vary combine would be the proper resolution for a lot of city dwellers.
Vvolt Slice Lite: energy, pace, vary, and charging
As talked about above, the Slice Lite doesn’t depend on spectacular energy numbers to do its job. The 36-voltrear hub motor places out 350 watts of steady energy and 550 watts of peak energy. You’ll be able to configure the Slice Lite as a Class 1 bike with powered pedaling help just for higher vary or depart it in Class 2 mode to make use of the thumb throttle and pedaling to name on battery help. In both case, the highest pace is 20 mph.
The Gates carbon drive belt connects to a single gear on the rear hub, so there’s no shifting wanted. The one-gear setup and the Gates belt imply decrease weight, much less upkeep, and for much longer sturdiness.
The Slice Lite’s 56.7-pound weight shall be extraordinarily welcome if it is advisable carry it up or down stairs or raise it in tight areas.
The e-bike has 5 ranges of powered pedal help that may be chosen on the colour show utilizing a handlebar-mounted management pad. Vvolt makes use of a mix of torque and cadence sensors, plus a pace sensor, to answer rider pedaling power and pace.
In accordance with Vvolt, the semi-integrated battery mounted on the highest of the decrease body tube bar makes use of LG cells and is UL-listed. The 36V, 14Ah battery shops as much as 496 watt-hours of energy, which is about common for e-bikes. Due to the Slice Lite’s low weight, the 55-mile most vary ranking remains to be fairly respectable and never unreasonable should you keep on with pedal help degree 1 or 2. Recharging the battery with the included 2A output charger ought to take about seven hours from empty to full, or about two-thirds as lengthy should you cost to 80%, which is a good suggestion for longer general battery life.
Vvolt Slice Lite: consolation, dealing with, and braking
As talked about above, the Gates carbon drive belt has a number of benefits, together with cleaner and quieter operation, no want for cleansing or adjusting, and for much longer life than metal chains. The Slice Lite additionally has Tektro hydraulic brakes with 180mm disc rotors, which have glorious stopping energy and don’t require lots of stress on the levers.
The e-bike has no entrance, rear, or seat publish suspension, and the 3-inch-wide tires have little sidewall flex. Whereas using, you’ll really feel important bumps, rocks, and holes, however paved surfaces aren’t a problem.
The Slice Lite is properly geared up with entrance and rear fenders, which helps preserve the bike and rider’s clothes clear when roads are moist or muddy. The handlebars and the seat are adjustable, and the Slice Lite is rated for riders starting from 4 ft, 9 inches to six ft, 4 inches in peak.
Altering the seat peak is a minor chore as a result of you need to use an Allen wrench to loosen a nut beneath a rubber cowl on the built-in taillight beneath the seat. Adjusting the handlebar angle and peak is far simpler because of a flip-up clamp that locks and unlocks it.
The Slice Lite was comfy to journey, even over a few of our neighborhood’s broad pace bumps, though I slowed down for them.
The Slice Lite’s headlight and taillight are seen on the edges, entrance, and again of the e-bike. When you add the non-compulsory Cargo Field, as seen within the accompanying photographs, you have to take away the headlight from the body’s head tube and reinstall it in a cutout on the decrease fringe of the entrance of the field. Each tires have aspect reflector strips, which provides to the e-bike’s aspect visibility.
There isn’t any customary or non-compulsory brake mild with the Slice Lite, which is unlucky. The bike additionally lacks a mirror, which can be disappointing in an e-bike meant for avenue using. Vvolt sells an adjunct bar finish mirror that may work with the Slice Lite, and I’d positively suggest becoming the bike with a pair of mirrors.
Vvolt Slice Lite: using impressions
By design, the Slice Lite is a straightforward option to seize for a journey or to run an errand. The ability supply with pedal help felt pure, and it was straightforward to achieve and maintain the 20 mph most pace whereas pedaling on flat roads.
The bike additionally feels peppy utilizing the thumb throttle, which is mounted on the handlebar to the left of the precise brake lever. The Slice Lite wouldn’t maintain 20 mph utilizing the throttle solely, which is in step with the specs sheet, which states that the throttle was restricted to 80% of accessible energy. It was shut, although, staying at 18 to 19 mph.
I didn’t anticipate the Slice Lite to make it up our pretty steep driveway, proven above, utilizing the throttle solely, however it did, though simply barely, and with nothing within the cargo field. I needed to contact down with my ft a number of instances to take care of stability, however there was adequate torque to do the job. In different take a look at runs, utilizing powered pedaling help, the bike went up the driveway slowly, however quick sufficient that I didn’t must put my ft down.
General, the Slice Lite was comfy to journey, even over a few of our neighborhood’s broad pace bumps, though I slowed down for them. Whereas there was no suspension, the journey was much less harsh than anticipated and by no means stunning.
The Slice Lite isn’t a speedy e-bike, however that’s not its objective. When you’re searching for a simple-to-ride e-bike to get you from right here to there with out fuss and far quicker than strolling pace, the Slice Lite does the job properly.
Vvolt Slice Lite: choices and upgrades
Aside from bar finish mirrors, the opposite notable accent for the Slice Lite on the Vvolt web site is the Cargo Field, which holds as much as 40 kilos of cargo. You’ll be able to slide locking adjustable rails within the field ahead and again to carry contents in order that they received’t bounce out whereas using. I used them to safe a pair of stadium seats within the photograph above, however you could possibly additionally use them with a single bag of groceries or another partial load. As you too can see above, the within backside of the field additionally has rails, so it’s not a terrific pet provider.
Our take
The Vvolt Slice Lite e-bike is an effective selection for an on a regular basis transportation various, particularly should you journey on comparatively clean, flat roads in a city or metropolis space. The $2,049 checklist value is a bit greater than I anticipated, particularly for the reason that Cargo Field that provides a lot to its versatility is a $199 possibility. The Gates carbon drive belt and hydraulic brakes are huge pluses, and the Slice Lite’s 56.7-pound weight shall be extraordinarily welcome if it is advisable carry it up or down stairs or raise it in tight areas.
The Slice Lite is an fascinating distinction to the equally $2,099 Rad Energy Bikes RadRunner 3 Plus, which has a entrance suspension fork, 120-pound cargo capability, and extra hill-climbing torque. Nonetheless, the RadRunner 3 Plus weighs 75.5 kilos, almost 20 kilos greater than the Slice Lite with the Cargo Field put in. The Rad e-bike excels in carrying lots of weight, however the Vvolt Slice Lite is best if it is advisable carry the bike.
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