Utility - Bike Commuter Hero

The line between true mopeds and e-bikes has gotten very blurry. With the advent of powerful, light electric motors and high-capacity lithium batteries, e-bikes have gotten light, powerful, and fast. This means that a modern e-bike can weigh less than a traditional moped while giving you the same level of freedom and speed that you'd find in a gas-powered bike. These three moped-styled e-bikes draw on both classic mopeds and powerful motorcycles for their design. They're fast, fun, and totally effort-free, with big electric motors that make pedaling entirely optional. When you're in the mood to save battery, however, the pedal-assist modes enable you to push their range out to truly impressive levels, giving you the flexibility to make long, round-trip journeys on a single charge. The Bikes In Question RadRunner Plus The cheapest of the three options, the RadRunner Plus manages to bring an impressive array of features to the table. Front suspension, a light. a step-through frame and a rear seat make it incredibly convenient to ride. While it lacks power compared to the other two models, it's got more than enough juice for you to cruise along on flat streets at close to the class-2 e-bike limit. RadRunner Plus The RadRunner Plus is a head-turning electric utility bike that comes fully-loaded with an all-new collection of upgrades and accessories. Buy Now From Rad Power Bike We earn a commission if you click this link and make a purchase at no additional cost to you. Juiced Scorpion The luxury option, the Scorpion has dual suspension, a gigantic motor, and similar step-through styling to the RadRunner Plus. An included light, fenders, and a generous rear rack help to make it just as easy to ride, if not easier. While it's more expensive than the other two, you get a bit more bike in exchange for your money. Scorpion X The new Scorpion X electric moped-style bike delivers an upgraded riding experience with more power, speed, and range! Equipped with a new electronics system and custom RetroBlade motor, Scorpion X offers an epic e-bike value loaded with super premium features. Buy Now from Juiced Bikes We earn a commission if you click this link and make a purchase at no additional cost to you. Super73-ZX The more stripped-down Super73-ZX gives you almost no amenities, but it weighs 40 lbs less than the Scorpion. This makes it feel incredibly responsive and fun to ride. With no fenders, suspension, or light, however, you might find yourself adding the pounds back on (and spending more money) if you want to use it for regular city riding. Weight, Design, and Build Quality One of the biggest differences between the bikes here on this page is weight. Despite the huge numerical difference (62lbs for the Super73-ZX, 74.4 lbs for the RadRunner Plus, and 103 lbs for the Juiced Scorpion), the weight of these bikes is simply a reflection of what's on the bike. The Super73-ZX has no suspension, fenders, racks, lights, or even gears on the pedal assist. The RadRunner Plus offers all of those things, but skimps somewhat on the motor, enabling it to come in at a fairly normal weight for an e-bike you don't expect to have to pedal. The Scorpion, on the other hand, embraces the weight of its kit. Instead of cutting weight, Juiced has doubled down on the bulky, moped-style bike and slapped a huge motor on instead. This means that the bikes feel very different to ride, but not necessarily how you'd expect. While electric motors aren't instant, the Scorpion's 1800W peak hub motor lets you zip around with throttle power alone. The Super73-ZX is even more nimble, as the low weight and the 1200W peak output motor combine to deliver terrific acceleration. The RadRunner Plus, by contrast, feels a bit sluggish. It's still fantastically fun to ride, but you'll probably use the pedals if you want to maintain 20 miles per hour, even on fairly flat rides. As far as design goes, all three of these bikes clearly are influenced by motocross, mopeds, and motorcycles. Fat 20" tires and thick frames sell the idea that these are powerful people movers, even though they're totally devoid of gas engines. The step-through frames of the RadRunner Plus and the Juiced Scorpion make getting on and off a breeze. The Super73-ZX has a more traditional frame, although it's got a motorcycle-style seat in lieu of a traditional bike seat. The Scorpion shares this feature, planting a rear rack behind a long, flat seat cushion that works well with the rear suspension to keep riders comfortable. The RadRunner Plus is the only bike with a traditional bicycle seat, which makes sense: it's the bike you'd expect to pedal the most. These are somewhat pricey e-bikes, and the build quality reflects that. They've got solid frames, puncture-resistant tires, and plenty of attention-to-detail in both the general design and the subtle engineering of individual components. All of these should last for years. Components Perhaps the most critical component of these three heavy, powerful e-bikes is the brakes. The RadRunner Plus and the Super73-ZX both offer mechanical disc brakes, while the Juiced Scorpion comes with hydraulic disc brakes for more stopping power. It's a welcome addition to the heavier, more powerful Scorpion, but it's definitely a thing you'll feel lacking on the Super73-ZX and the RadRunner Plus. You can get by with the mechanical disc brakes on the other two bikes just fine, but they're both easily more than three times the weight of a fairly normal road bike. Some extra help with stopping power would certainly be appreciated by most riders. The RadRunner Plus and the Juiced Scorpion both have front lockout suspension forks, enabling you to turn them into rigid forks if you'd like to exchange ride smoothness for efficiency and speed. The Scorpion's hydraulic front fork is paired with a spring-based rear suspension system, giving you an impressively smooth ride. The RadRunner's front fork is a more traditional spring, but you'll get by just fine on most city rides. Both bikes can tackle the occasional dirt trail with ease. The Super73-ZX does NOT have any suspension, however. While the motorcycle-style seat has plenty of padding, this is a very odd bike to ride over uneven terrain. It's smoother than you might expect, especially with the fat 20" tires, but you'll find yourself standing on the pedals more than you would on the other two bikes. It's an odd choice, especially given that this is the fast, fun bike to ride of the three. The Scorpion and the RadRunner Plus both have a number of gear options on the rear derailleur, with 7 on the RadRunner Plus and 8 on the Scorpion. The Scorpion actually has a slightly smaller gearing range, capping out at 32 teeth on the rear cassette vs 34 on the freewheel of the RadRunner Plus. This is totally fine, as the gears on the Scorpion are more for your convenience than anything else. This definitely isn't a bike you'll need to pedal. The RadRunner Plus, on the other hand, gets comparatively more out of some human-powered assistance, so the Shimano Acera derailleur is much appreciated. With no gears on the Super73-ZX, you'll find pedaling less flexible and more awkward than on the other two bikes, but with the low weight and fairly large motor, you should be okay. As far as accessories go, the Scorpion and the RadRunner Plus are fully kitted out with racks, fenders, lights, and noisemakers. The Super73-ZX is not. It's honestly impressive how many things the RadRunner Plus manages to fit in the default package while weighing a mere 13 lbs more than the Super73-ZX, but some of that likely comes to a smaller motor. The difference here is clear: if you want components beyond a frame, wheels, and a motor, choose the RadRunner Plus or the Juiced Scorpion. If you just want a moped-style e-bike that's fun to ride or you'd prefer to add components yourself later, the Super73-ZX is the better choice. Range and Speed These days, the speed of e-bikes is just as limited by regulations as it is by the power of their motors. Class-2 e-bikes do not need to be pedaled and cannot go faster than 20 miles per hour. Class-3 e-bikes must be pedaled, but can go to 28 miles per hour. All three of these bikes are heavy enough and conservatively geared enough that they'll struggle to do a full 20 miles per hour uphill, even with pedal assist. They will, however, do close to 20 quite comfortably on flatter ground with some user assistance. The RadRunner Plus is the most underpowered of the three. In real riding conditions with max pedal assist, you'll struggle to average 20 miles per hour, although some of that comes from starting and stopping. Still, expect a comfortable 16-17 mph and about 26 miles of range on the highest pedal assist level. On the lowest pedal assist level, expect a LOT of range. Some riders report going well over 70 miles on a bit more than half the charge on the lowest pedal assist settings. This is more due to the motor doing very little than anything else, however, as these riders were doing quite a lot of work with their legs. The Super73-ZX is fairly new and there isn't a whole lot of user data about how it performs in real-world conditions. On limited test rides, however, the range seems consistent with other e-bikes with similar batteries and motors. Expect about 20-25 miles without pedaling on a single charge and 40-50 miles with lots of help from your legs. Due to both the big motor and the lighter overall bike, you'll go faster than the RadRunner Plus, especially when you're not pedaling. Don't expect to hit a full 28 miles per hour often, however. The Juiced Scorpion is the fastest bike of the three, but it still might feel underpowered to some riders. It looks and feels a LOT like a motorcycle, meaning that it's easy to forget you're riding an e-bike and expect a motorcycle's incredible acceleration and top speed from a light electric motor. You don't get this here. You do, however, get 24 mph of very achievable speed on the highest level of pedal-assist and up to 28 mph in ideal conditions. The bike has no problems with hills, especially when you're willing to pop the derailleur into low gear and help out a bit yourself. As far as range is concerned, the weight isn't doing the bike any favors, but the battery is slightly bigger than the other two bikes on this page. Expect about 25 miles on the throttle or 40 miles on the pedal assist. It's worth noting very briefly that Juiced does sell a Hyper Scorpion, which blows the regular Scorpion out of the water when it comes to range and speed. A 1,000W motor makes it feel a lot closer to a gas bike, while a 25% larger battery keeps the range quite similar. It's a bit more expensive than the regular Scorpion, however, and it's much more likely to run afoul of local restrictions on fast, powerful electric bikes. Final Verdict Overall, the Juiced Scorpion definitely has the most bike of the three e-bikes reviewed here. With lots of base components, including front and rear suspension, fenders, a rack, a light, and 8 speeds on the rear derailleur, you get plenty of equipment with your bike. The powerful 1800W peak motor and generous battery give you lots of range and speed, while the step-through frame makes the bike incredibly convenient to mount and dismount. The only downsides here are the price, which tends to be higher than the other two, and the high weight. These detractors are fairly sane consequences of all of the stuff that you get when you purchase this bike, making it a great choice for anyone looking for a moped-style e-bike. The RadRunner Plus offers two big advantages over the Juiced Scorpion for some riders: it's lighter and cheaper. Not only do you get incredible range on lower pedal assists, but you also have a bike that feels a bit more nimble and fun to ride when you're not fully utilizing the 750W hub motor. It's still got front suspension, fenders, a step-through frame, a motorcycle-style light, and a rear seat that can carry cargo, making it a good option for city commuters who want a moped-style e-bike. It's less powerful than the Juiced Scorpion, however, meaning you'll have to make use of your pedals a bit more often. The Super73-ZX is clearly marketed towards a different class of riders. It's light, powerful, and fun, but it's totally devoid of any base accessories and it's not as easy to pedal due to the lack of gearing. If you want to go for short rides in the city for fun, it's probably the most nimble feeling option here, but you'll struggle on hills. Long journeys and regular commutes would probably be better suited to the other two bikes. For pleasure, though, the Super73-ZX is a brilliant option.