Priority Current Plus Ebike Review: Serious Power, Effortless Fun

I’ve been an avid biker for arsenic agelong arsenic I tin remember. As a kid, I’d cruise my BMX astir municipality pinch friends each time during nan summer, reveling successful nan state and autonomy that only comes from your ain ride. Decades later, my preamble to nan ebike segment has provided a renewed consciousness of that nostalgic joyousness for nan unfastened road.

As a comparative newcomer, astir of my ebike acquisition complete nan past twelvemonth aliases truthful has been pinch comparatively cheap ebikes, for illustration nan Propella 9S and Priority’s e-Classic Plus. So erstwhile Priority offered maine a chance to effort nan overmuch pricier Current Plus, my first mobility was, “What do you get from an ebike that costs complete 3 grand?”

In this case, nan short reply is range, style, features, and power. Lots of power, which whitethorn beryllium nan biggest cardinal to nan Current’s success. As a throttle-equipped Class 2 ebike that converts to Class 3, you tin perfectly blaze connected this point astatine up to 28 mph pinch pedal assist, and there's virtually nary elevation that tin slow you down.

Most importantly, nan bike’s punchy centrifugal keeps you safe successful sketchy situations. Simply footwear up nan centrifugal velocity to level 5 and fto nan Current Plus occurrence you done postulation aliases trim done engaged roads. I seldom pushed nan centrifugal supra nan midpoint, but erstwhile I needed nan power, it swiftly arrived, affording maine nan state to cruise virtually anyplace connected Portland, Oregon’s mean streets.

The Current’s awesome artillery scope adds to that go-anywhere feeling, letting maine thrust worry-free for days without nan request to apical it off. That benignant of state and autonomy has brought backmost that BMX feeling, taking maine from ebike tourer to existent commuter.

Greaseless Lightning

As a direct-to-consumer bike, nan Current Plus needs immoderate assembly erstwhile it arrives. A section motorcycle shop tin do nan occupation for you for astir $150-200, which I urge considering for beginners. If you’re much ambitious, you tin combine it yourself, but Priority still recommends having a shop springiness it a once-over for safety.

Otherwise, nan Current Plus is highly hands-off from a attraction standpoint. The Gates Carbon Drive loop requires nary lube aliases grease and is claimed to past up to “2-3 times longer” than chains, while Priority tested nan 750 Wh artillery for up to 90 miles per charge connected nan lowest pedal-assist speed. Letting nan motorcycle loose up and down nan hills of southeast Portland for weeks, I squeezed retired a still-impressive 60 miles per charge, springiness aliases take.

I tested nan motorcycle pinch nan five-speed Shimano Nexus cogwheel system, but for $200 much you tin switch successful nan Enviolo CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission). This is simply a switch that you mightiness see if you're hauling a batch of gear—it's overmuch safer to beryllium capable to make mini adjustments to nan torque if your motorcycle is dense aliases off-balance—but if you don't person a kid aliases 2 clinging to nan back, you astir apt won't request it.

While nan bike’s mid-drive centrifugal is overmuch smoother than nan front-mounted eClassic, I noticed immoderate pedal buzz erstwhile starting nan motorcycle successful higher gears. Downshifting to lower-tension gears eliminated nan buzz, and nan simplified loop thrust made it brilliantly soft to displacement to immoderate cogwheel astatine a standstill. After a fewer rides, I was shifting and swapping done centrifugal speeds without thinking, for illustration driving a car pinch a manual transmission.

Before long, I was flying crossed municipality for illustration a pro, progressively leaving my car down arsenic Portland’s rainy wintertime turned to sunlit spring. And man, does this point fly. When boxed successful astatine 20 mph arsenic a Class 2 bike, I was hitting nan apical velocity successful seconds from thing supra nan 2nd pedal-assist centrifugal speed, truthful you’ll apt want to person it to Class 3 from nan show settings if section laws allow. After converting, I still only deed astir 26 mph connected flats, but that was accelerated enough.

I spent nan mostly of my clip betwixt nan first and 2nd pedal-assist speeds, but erstwhile I sewage tired (or curious), moving to nan 4th aliases 5th speeds was a blast. It’s empowering to cognize you tin make immoderate elevation your … subordinate, allowing you to take virtually immoderate way to your destination. Need to drawback up aft a precocious commencement aliases get free of a car connected your tail? Punch up nan velocity and fto it rip. It’s genuinely a joyful feeling.