FX+ 7s 500-mile Ride Report

Very happy so far. I was pleasantly surprised how fun it is to ride. Handling is agile and it feels quick, but it's rock solid stable in corners and at speed.

The TQ motor lives up to the hype — it's quiet and generally stays in the background. It feels more like you're just in really good shape than having a motor pushing you along. It's powerful enough for me to cruise in the low 20's on flat terrain and I can push it up to 28mph at a sprint pace. No problem with pretty steep hills. The motor does have one mildly annoying quirk, which is that it makes a little grinding noise when there's not enough pressure on the pedals to fully engage the clutch. TQ says it's an inherent part of the design and nothing to worry about and it's easy to work around.

The components are fine out of the box, but I suffer from upgrade-itis and customized a few things. New seat and grips (Ergon), suspension seat post (Cane Creek), pedals (Trek Line Elite) and since the rims were tubeless ready I installed a set of 40mm Pirelli P-Zero TLR Race. I run them at around 35psi for comfort, and they are super quiet and grippy. I also swapped out the 11-48 cassette for an 11-39 to get a tighter shifting range to optimize cadence. For safety I added a mirror, bell, blinking tail light and spoke reflectors. I also installed an Abus rim lock.

One tradeoff is that the design of the cockpit doesn't allow any stem adjustment. It looks great but it's a proprietary handlebar shape with a Quad-Lock phone mount/mag charger and integrated head light. But I found I can dial in the fit with seat adjustments. Optimal seat height and setback aren't as critical as they were on my Madone because the motor takes some stress off the knees and I'm not looking for max efficiency, so I can run the seat a little low and more forward. The riding position is a nice balance of being not too upright and not too aggressive, for me.

The other tradeoff is battery capacity. It's fine for most of what I do, but for anything over 20 somewhat hilly miles I use the optional range extender. But I respect the design choice because it's what keeps the bike around 40lbs. Also, you lose a water bottle mount with the step through version, which is a consideration if you use the single mount for the range extender.

I'd describe this as being a great bike for anyone who likes the art/physicality/aesthetics of riding but wants a little extra help or likes to ride at a higher average speed than a non-electric bike. Personally, I love the feeling you get when you're locked into it with good form and a nice cadence, and this lets me do that in style.