X2 Longer term ride impressions - ongoing
A rolling record
I’ll be coming back to update this page periodically in reverse order, meaning the newest updates are up top while the first ride(s) are at the bottom of the page.
~300 miles, 3.5 months in
Considering the fact the LudiV2 doesn’t (yet - in work) update and retain mileage, it’s somewhat of a guess at this point, using my ride logs to approximate, but - it’s probably pretty close as I’m logging at least most of my rides.
Time-wise, it’s right at 3.5 months, which includes through winter, so I’m expecting to be putting on some more miles as we’re entering warmer weather.
At this point, no failures of any kind. I’ve made various changes to the bike, most of which were purely by choice - controls layout, new longer dropper and remote, throttle lever, brake rotors, wheels and tires + converted to tubeless, pedals, grips and Ergon SM Core seat. I also swapped out the RockShox rear shock for a DVO Topaz Air T3, and added a headlight and rearbrake-sensing rear light. I’ve swapped my original top tube bag to a phone armband which sits flat on the top tube. I added F/R Mudguard Mini fenders which are decent, but need to go to the longer version yet.
I also picked up the parts but haven’t yet upgraded them, for the Yari front fork upgrade to Lyric Ultimate spec via new air spring and RC Charger damper.
l’ll be building a wheelset for the bike - ARC35 27.5 i35 32h rims, DT 240S Hybrid front hub, DT350 Hybrid rear hub, Alpine III spokes. I don’t need to in this case, but want to build my own, and might as well go for ‘bulletproof’ in this case.
Meanwhile, we routeinely do ~15 mile rides as our norm - not the longest, not the shortest, but works for us on weekends. The bike has been to the coast, numerous trails, some single-track, greenways, and pretty much all around.
I also managed to ride an M500 equipped ebike while over in the EU for a bit, which was interesting as it’s the X2’s M600 motor’s ‘little brother’(250W) - some might say crippled bu EU over-regulation… which wasn’t a bad ride really, other than the assistance cutoff, at least for milder riding. I could see the M500 being decent enough for a more road-going and light trail bike, but I do really like the LudiV2-equipped M600 so far.
At this point, there aren’t many changes I’m looking to make, certainly not ones it ’needs.’ I’ll likely add some more frame protection/laminate, pull the motor for re-greasing, should probably pull the forks and grease the headset for good measure.
I expect a new firmware/app release is coming soon - hoping to see a few changes including a working odometer.
I’d like to find a replacement control pad that can be made to work with the DP C240 display. The display is small but not terrible, but the ‘hanging dongle’ for the power button just isn’t well thought out IMO, just waiting to get smacked and broken. Looking into options.
Oh, and I expect to look a bit more into weather-sealing the bike a bit more.
300 miles in; still loving it!
First Rides
Finally was able to do my first real ride today - a 15 mile loop of dirt and gravel, then another 5 miles or so on random paths, 90% of which was in PAS L2 of 9. I threw on a RockBros phone/top tube bag I had from my BBHSD fat tire bike for now, with a basic emergency tool kit in it ‘just in case,’ but it wasn’t needed.
I dropped to around 70-something percent battery starting at full…I wish the DP C240 display would allow setting to voltage instead of percentage only, as percentage is typically unreliable as to actual battery state.
The bike was overall very good - soooo much better than my BBHSD. Brakes and overall geo feels good, although I’m not so sure on the seat.
I'll need to take a look at suspension settings, likely too stiff on compression; will probably go nearly full open on compression damping for the next ride.
I also rode for a bit of flat with zero assist - wasn’t too bad but didn’t try it up one of the long inclines…
Surprisingly, I also got my wife to swap bikes for a bit
So I rode her Bosch-powered Gazelle for a few miles. Better yet - she liked it. :)
The torque-sensing on the LudiV2 is pretty nice overall; doesn’t seem to stutter or overrun, although I think we both agreed the Bosch assistance is a bit more progressive - I was reminded of the first time I jumped on the X2 and was surprised as the bike was assisting almost as I put my foot on the pedal. I haven’t been able to get my phone to keep a BLE connection to the controller yet, but might look into lengthening the assist ‘ramp’ if it's possible to do so, and if not, request it from the app/controller developer.
Having said that, it can be adjusted to easily, IMO; no waiting for assist like my BBSHD, pretty natural feeling but ‘more’ power at the rear wheel..really nice, IMO, and once moving I really didnt notice much difference in feel vs the Bosch - not a bad thing. I’d say default L2 of 9 PAS levels is above Bosch ECO but unsure if it’s at tour level or not. I set my bottom display line to power but can’t get that information from my wife’s bike.
I need to get a better feel for real range, sort my BT connective issues and some minor things/customize it for me, but overall very pleased.
For my purposes, I absolutely think this was the right decision over the Z1/Ultra, and certainly over the other options from other vendors.