My ongoing review Prodeco Phantom X

wiuhh

10 mW
Joined
Mar 26, 2012
Messages
21
Location
boston, ma. usa
hi all, been fan for awhile and would like to say thanks to all the builds youve shared! (the reason i just spent $1300).

the prodeco phantom x, first impresion is its gonna be awesome. i got it out of the box,very easy assembly.has some minor problems mostly tune up,wheel trueing needs, more on this later. anyway quick guestimate on a even quicker set up and were off to the mean streets of boston.(battery came fully charged!!!) long story short what was sposed to be a short slow i wanna say prudent first ride turned into a two hour marathon ride(not the full 26 miles ). i did make a bunch of stops but i was simply having so much fun i lost track of time, so now its too late to do a real review ill add one in a day or so and i plan on updating this thread a few times over the summer.

so quick review, went approx 10 miles(google map approx) mostly at full throttle meant to go slower and meant to pedal more. i doubt it goes 20 mph, ill do more accurate range and speed tests someday. bike goes. well. id guess more like 10 to 15 mph and even the gentle grades of boston require some pedaling but i found myself fake pedalaling alot and just crusing elec, why let the bastards know i got 500 watts making me look like a cycling god. acceleration is slow to non existitent with out pedaling but pedaling as hard as you can at full throttle is very addicting and the bike gets up and goes. so sorry for the teaser/lame babbling review ill make some time soon for a more indepth 1st day.

e bike day 1. i give it a 7.5 out of 10 stars tho i think i will be raising that to 9 stars after a profesional wheel truing/tune up.

p.s. note to self must get a good rear view mirror quick!
 
hey all. finally got enuf time to sit and type some so heres my actual 1st review and maybe from time to time ill stop by and update with some real world range/speed numbers. phantom x 500w rearhub motor, 9ah 36 v bat.2012model

first of as a bike its surprisingly regular bike feeling to pedal, kinda like and old heavy 70s bike(a really ass heavy 70s bike that never existed). once i found a good way balance/grip it (sorta verticaly) it wasnt to bad to carry up a flight of stairs. as i mentioned before very easy assembly, battery was charged and i was riding right out of the box so my pedaling experience is very short/flat terrain based.

the folding aspect works very easy i dont like the lock locking knob. the hinge and its lock are nice beefy solid and id say good but the lil saftey knob to prevent accidently opening the hinge lock is kinda wimpy/cheesy looking tho it hasnt opened while riding yet!!

otherwise i love this bike so far. it does make biking fun. you cant really do zero pedaling especially in traffic, not if you want to live, the acceleration by pure elec is just to slow, especialy from a stop, or if you want to make a big power move your gonna need to contribute some, tho i find myself cutting cars off like i was on a motorcycle expecting gobs of power and then being forced to pedal for my life with no where to else to go. pedaling hard under full elec is very addictive and alot of fun.ill have a better idea on how much pedaling i need to add during longer trips, but for 10 to 12 miles of first time weeee riding i only pedaled for fun/ immediate need otherwise i cruised alot at 3/4 power which on dark city streets was fast enuf.

where this bike seems to shine is when your at speed and just weight of your foot pedaling with elec on fairly level roads. im guessing 10 to 15 mph is more realistic then the advertised 20 mph. absolutley guessing ill measure get acctual numbers. admitedly it will go faster right off the charger but i think 15 mph for 15 to 20 miles with minimum pedaling seems very possible. going uphill slows the motor down noticably and boston doesnt have very steep hills, but minimum pedaling with the motor makes the world flatter.

in short for the price $1300 its a solid bike, with big fat tires, big brakes, folding frame, front suspension, and supposedly a two year warranty that covers everything including the battery in full no pro rate. it is definatley ass heavy and probably not built for off road but so far on paved roads handles well, front suspension feels good but im allready wishing for rear suspension, im definatley gonna add a suspension seat post. even with the really nice padded vented seat it comes with im feeling the bumps, tho im alot softer then i used to be. i ordered the bike right off ebay and had it in a lil over a week. kinda of an impulse buy i was gonna build my own untill i saw this bike and so far im very happy with it. i plan on putting alot of miles on this bike so well see how it does.

as far as the quality it seems very solidly built, had a couple of defects but they shoud be easy warranty fixes, well see how that goes later.
prob#1 what i thought was wheel trueing problems is brake rotor problems. the tech at my local bike shop says that its a caliper alignment to the rotor problem tho i would say warped rotors the rear more than the front. i have a pretty extensive auto repair back ground and i might be expecting too much but i can see a deviation in the rotor when i spin the wheel and if i dont back the brakes out more than i would like the rotors chirp/drag on the brake pads when free spining in a way i would say has to be a warped rotor. ill make a service call soon and see what prodeco has to say. wichever is causing the problem my current option if i want brakes that can lock the tires or any firmness in the grip is means my tires dont free spin more than a couple of turns. if i back em off for free spin doesnt feel right braking and the grips go right to the floor but maybe im expecting too much from bike brakes. 135mm disc front and rear??
prob#2 no way to tighten the front reflecter because the clamp is the same diameter as the tube so you cant tighten it.nit picky and i fixed it easy with a dunkin donuts napkin just mentioning for review purposes.

if any one has any questions or comments feel free to add to this thread.
 
Is it shifting smoothly? Thanks again It seems many reviews from people that just got this bike are unhappy with it. It's almost like the top speed and acceleration has droped from the 2011 version most are saying it's more like a 350watt. I don't know I wish Prodeco would just make the bike what they claim it to be or at least close. I'm thinking I still might buy one but also wonder if I wait for the 2013 version if maybe it will be better. I hope things pick up for you and you continue to enjoy the bike. I'm on foot it still sounds better then walking. if you had it all to do over would you still buy it.
 
the shifting seems to work as well as any pedal bike tho i do forget to pause my pedal presure and wait for a gear change before i shift again while under elec assist, which is what i would guess people are complaining about, under e assist while pedaling you go thru the gears quick the motor can stay at full but the pedal pressure has to be light while you shift and if you plan on multiple gear changes you have to wait for the shifter to go thru all the gears inbetween before you pedal hard. in short its always been my fault ie i came to a stop in high gear and try to beat traffic and i pedal too hard/shift incorectly too fast.

ive never ridden any others so i cant compare wattage feel but i love this bike and in a fairly flat dense city it rocks. between car doors,traffic,broken bottles,pedestrians im constantly backing off to 1/2 throttle. i constantly stay with/beat traffic with burst pedaling/red lights

ill get a cheap bike comp and post some accurate speed/accel/distance hopefully in the next couple of weeks but yesterday i did approx 18 to 20 miles and the battery still had 2 of 3 lights lit. i did pedal a lot being my first long trip. ill do a pure elec test when i get the bike comp and post you some semi acurrate results.

i dont know your sit. but id say(only my first week) its a lot of bike for the money with wicked brakes it stops quick. if you dont mind say adding the approx pedal power of going say 5mph on flat ground with reg bike it will keep its speed up a hill and you have to help from a stop. it will get cranking right along eventually on its own but acceleration while steady is less than your average human could provide tho the machine never tires.
i bought mine for multipule reasons ocasional transportation/exercise/fun toy/fits my apt/no operating cost i get free elec/no insurance/i live in a fairly flat city with really aggresive drivers my odds of survival depend on not exceeding 20mph. the bikes not perfect, ill do a detailed likes and dislikes as well as get the comp and give some measured results soon.but if you just need transportaion than you cant beat a moped yet not without spending enough to buy a car. i bet the 2020 model will be amazing imo e trans is the future tho now and for the next few years they will be overpriced/growing pains/limted power and range/overweight etc.

give me a couple of weeks ill get some real stats posted but might i suggest you check for a dealer and see if you can test ride. or worse case and i cant verify their claim but check your seller mine claimed if in original condition/box up to 30 day for a full refund tho i never checked shipping details or have i tried to return(keeper for me so far).
 
update.

got lucky today and the rain held off and i had some free time to do an all electric no pedaling range test.

i google mapped a lil test track route near my ap. so i can ride till it dies. the course is 1.5 miles(according to google) its approxamently 1/3 uphill 1/3 downhill and a 1/3 flat.

on the real world conditions side of things im 5'10" about 197lbs i brought a few pounds worth of bike lock, water, tool kit, and my best staightaway was into a 5mph headwind.

note i did a quick stop every 4 laps to check tempature(by hand) of battery and motor aswell as check the battery gauge on the battery(there are two guages 1. on throttle 2. on back of battery) times are from a cell phone no second hand. ill redo a more accurate test with a comp later.

start 1:54
lap 4 check 2:15
lap 8 check 2:37
died completley no warning on the begining of the 12th lap. at approx 3:00 forgot to check right when dead
definatley no later than 3:00
the throtle battery guage simply reads full untill battery went dead than it read empty, the battery battery guage read 2 out of 3 lights lit on stop 4 and 8 and no lights when dead.

the battery and motor felt same temp as rest of bike on all tests and both battery guages are of no real value. the bike was obviously more peppy and did better on the hills during the first half tho im pretty impressed with 11 laps(x 1.5= 16.5 miles i think) again no pedaling whatso ever. even on the second half of the test the bike just chugged along and it would eventually reach a decent speed on the flats i was fully expecting to get the 12th lap in but when i say it died with no warning/indication it was like it shut off maybe some battery saving feature ive read you shouldnt discharge below a certain voltage.

side note my previous recharge times(all 3 of them) were in the 2 to 3 hour range from completley dead was a lil over 5 hrs
 
Prodeco employes cheap voltage based useless "battery meter" so common on China brand components ebikes.
For proper batt capacity meter display must communicate with battery capacity chip incorporated into batt BMS.
CHIP calculate batt capacity and communicate it display.
Cycle Analist also calculate Ahours used, maybe they should just install CA?
I doubt it it is a case on Prodeco.
Read nonsense in above thread when High Power C says that Prodeco is "American made".
IN American made you would expect American made parts, right?
E+ can be called American made for sure with US made motor/controller build .
As far as I know Prodeco is your typical China motor/China controller ebike on fancy frame.
Correct me if I am wrong.
 
miro13car said:
Prodeco employes cheap voltage based useless "battery meter" so common on China brand components ebikes.
Read nonsense in above thread when High Power C says that Prodeco is "American made".
As far as I know Prodeco is your typical China motor/China controller ebike on fancy frame.
Correct me if I am wrong.

i agree the battery guages are useless.

i believe its advertised as american built i do not know where they get the component parts. as they are located in fla for me they are not your typical china motor on a fancy frame as i can sue them if they dont honor their warranty.( i dont really know that either i just assume i can do something)
 
They can be located wherever, they buy components from China maybe except frame no doubt and assembly bike in Florida.
High Power Cycles calls Prodeco American -made ??????
Again , you would expect America-made use American parts, right?
So how you call E+ bike or Tidial Force bike or Optibike bike?
Just read threads abot Prodeco on this subforum , even brake levers are no Western brand names but China brands, Prodeco rep wrote here.
What decide about ebike reliability is motor/controller mainly and they are China brand .
They can provide warranty, that does not change facts.
Battery meter says it all.
Of corse many Western brands are made in China , even Toshiba is made in China on Japanese robots wit Japan supervision.
China brand is a completely different animal made in horrible conditions and QC is a joke. THAT is the difference.
 
Yes it's all made in China you been telling us that for like a year now don't forget the tires, tubes, rims, spokes, and E+ with it's NiMH battery is made in the USA. If the E+ had a lipo I would be buying one but for now lipo's come from China. If it did have a lipo it would cost 5K might as well kick in another $2500 and buy the stelth fighter
 
It's just I don't understand why you don't tell us something that could help us every now and then. I don't care if you bash prodeco I know it's junk made China but to nver give us any anything more then what part of the world it's made in is kinda a drag. Do you not care to help us tards with our crap bikes then why are you in the prodeco threads.
 
lets please keep this thread about my bike!

if you want to start a thread about prodeco or the trade inbalance between america and china i recomend you start one and tell us all about the american made computer/phone/tv you own. in short dont preach it sounds like your trying to sell something.
 
I do write about your and my Prodeco unless you don't have Prodeco.
Not about any trade imbalance, I never mentioned., read my posts.
 
Wiuhh the time laps you told us about was that at 3/4 or full throttle. Also do you have a dealer in your city or will you just ship it back if you need warranty work done. I 'm a bit worried because I live in a state that has no dealer.
 
hey frog,

depends i mostly went full throtle especially up hill but backed off some on the downhills. i tried to avoid doing anything that could be considered battery saving, as i really wanted to get an idea of the range/speed i could expect but obviously traffic or turns sometimes chose otherwise.

im not in a prodeco dealer state and im not sure what will happen should i need to use the warranty. im hoping that if its not something simple that could be self solved by tech support and fed ex.(for parts not bike) they might allow a profesional bike shop do the work but i might have to eat some of the labor cost.(in theory a prodeco dealer would be contractualy locked to an hourly labor rate probably lower than standard rate)

again i dont know im just speculating but cmon its a bycycle. yes theres a hub motor,battery,controler etc but the rest is just a bike. you will eventually need to learn how to take the rear wheel off anyway so pretty much everything e bike related other than the rear wheel is bolt on(or similar). theres the rear battery/controler cargo rack looking main part, wiring to rear hub motor and wiring to the throtle, and brake shut offs. the rest is standard bike stuff. im working on getting a digital camera ill try and post some close up detail pics soon maybe.
 
WARRANTY UPDATE.

i still havent contacted prodeco about my brake rotors(over tourqed at factory?) because they have improved with every ride. ill put some more miles and keep an eye on them and see if the problem returns. im torn im glad my bike doesnt need service but i kinda wanted to see if the alleged warranty is real. hopefully i never need the warranty.
 
wiuhh said:
WARRANTY UPDATE.

i still havent contacted prodeco about my brake rotors(over tourqed at factory?) because they have improved with every ride. ill put some more miles and keep an eye on them and see if the problem returns. im torn im glad my bike doesnt need service but i kinda wanted to see if the alleged warranty is real. hopefully i never need the warranty.

I hope so as well I'll try and make this the last dumb thing I ask you wiuhh. I don't know how to ride a bike with gears. I think I know this much that when I shift I need to be peddling. But what about down shifting before a stop like if I want to go from 6th to 1st do I need to be peddling. Also can I even go from 6th to 1st in one shift or do I need to go from 6th to 5th on down hitting each gear. Seems either one would not be easy before a stop each time. Thanks in advance
 
Some of the modders in here will bash any production bike. That's just how they roll. I have a phantom X and a lipo powered first build, my wife has a hebb. I use the phantom x monday thru friday to go to work. Great commuter bike. It's reliable and the lifepo4 won't start a fire at work. The genesis I use on sat. and sun. for thrill riding.
 
HATES,LIKES,DETAILS

hey all, cold wet weather has been nice enuff to give me some free time, so heres a bike nerd rant.in future ill try and edit in pics as well as post some bike computer accurate ranges and speeds.

THE HATES (in no order)

weight distrubution,

rear motor with a rear battery is too ass heavy. since a front motor is a bad idea for a few reasons, how about in the future models redesign the frame to accept a verticaly mounted battery in front of the seatpost/frame(i know theres a hinge i say it would fit). which would also allow a rear cargo capability. im no engineer but what you want to go for is as forward and as low as you can get the battery or if nothing else the rider a lil forward and/or the rear wheel a lil rearward. i agree the bike rides/handles/stops very well but it lacks a certain nimbleness that could be lifesaving in traffic. its just tacticaly unsound to have that much weight that high and that far behind you,yes it works and you can get used to it,its a balance/feel thang but just trust me prodeco my ideas are the future! use engineers/computers and get the battery forward and low in all future models.

center stand,

you would be better off to throw your bike as hard as you can at the ground then to subject your bike to the impact that it would recieve from trusting this lil gem. between the high center of gravity and the handelbars tendency to suddenly spin randomly 180 degrees this center stands apparent only funtion is to get your bike closer to the speed of light on its way to the ground. which it will attempt to do even after a solid wiggle test, your hardest stare down, it wont matter the second you look/try to walk away it will basicaly launch your bike at the ground. to top it all off it doesnt even work when your not using it because the chain is permanently trying to cut one of its legs off. hated on day 1, removed on day 2. a truly epic fail at a very simple goal.

thumb throttle/battery gauge

yah my hating a thumb throttle(bike screams twist throttle) is personal preferance and unfair but the integrated battery gauge has to go. first off neither of the battery gauges has any real function if you were expecting any battery/range information. atleast the battery, battery gauge is push to test and very small just bright enuff lights while the three multi colored lasers on the throttle which can be seen 2 to 3 miles out, did i mention they were bright? are allways on while you have the key on. and i thought electicity was to be conserved. even if the loss was very small its amazingly annoying and attracts unwanted attention especialy in a city, even in the day time. hated on day 1, covered by electrical tape on day 2.

the key

yah the key. it locks/unlocks the battery and turns on/off the juice to the throttle and does that very well. so what could possibly go wrong here? how bout you can remove the key while the battery is on the bike with the battery in an unlocked posistion. you might be asking why would anyone ever want to leave their battery on their bike in an unlocked position? well while your pondering that one consider the key while your riding sticks out the left rear SIDE of the bike. im not making that up ill try and edit in some pics in the future. MY REALLY IMPORTANT KEY STICKS OUT THE SIDE OF MY 2 WHEEL BIKE (sorry bout the caps) its a really smart integrated battery/controler/key and lock that all needs to be moved as mentoned above but they easily should have put the key on top below the seat and or recessed for obvious reasons.

ive previously mentioned the hinge locking knob,the front reflector, as well as my brake rotor problem. some other design improvements this bike could use but arent exactly hates.

rear light

kinda dont like the integrated battery/rear light, its a cool idea and a very nice saftey feature but id prefer to get my own lights as well as i strongly dont like the on/off switch that allows someone to turn my rear light on and drain my battery while the key is off. also ive heard if it gets wet you cant shut off the light till it drys out. all in all a nice idea but bad in practice. trying to do to much leave, a battery a battery and a light a light.

its a very nice 7 speed which has a cool left grip twist shifter. the over all gear ratio is much too low idk what the ratios are when changing a front sprocket but id guess it needs a jump 2 or more ratios higher. 2nd and especialy 1st gear are pretty useless and i have trouble keeping up with the rpms needed for any meaningfull pedaling assist in 7th at approximently the 15 to 17 mph rate and up. ill get a comp and post semi accurate date in the future. its probably intentional to keep speeds down as its probably shaky legal ground for a new tech. but i would definately pedal more and use less assists on long flat/slight down hills etc.

i should also mention 220lb weight limit probably do to folding hinge but it gives me a legitimate reason to keep most of my friends from riding it maybe this should go in likes.

my last mention for future redesign should include rear suspension i plan on adding a rear suspension seat post as the increased speed and time on the bike can be a lil bruising. tho i run the full 40 psi in the tires.

THE LIKES

too many to list i love this bike so far and im very happy with my purchase. ive been sorta researching/reading about custom builds and was conviced i wanted to build my own untill i started reading about this bike. as mentioned its far from perfect but its alot of folding bike for 1300 dollars. and a very nice integrated design that has some battery placement design teething issues but all in all with a 2 year warranty from a company located in america its a tuff bike to beat for a 1st time ebiker like myself in reasonably flat/windy city. the almost motorcycle feel with the big disc brakes and the big fat tires really make it fun to ride and easy to stop.

some nice also mentions, thicker spokes, really nice padded vented seat, brake shut off switches, and a very solid feeling front suspension. easy assembly/directions,owners manual,very nice multi tool/tire spoons and a three way allen wrench

i also like the quick to use folding feature as well as the folding pedals, a real space saver. its very simple/fast tho a lil akward and i have to lower the seat to get a full fold(im not loosing the steering bolt to get the handlebars the additional 90 degrees for its complete fold) its easy enuf for my apartment and works like my own bat cave turnaround in a way. i havent tried on public trans but its a nice if i ever need feature.

im more of a function kinda guy but i feel i should mention the excelant fit and finish. its a very clean, nice,minimal, wiring harness with an integrated battery/controler almost stealthy.looks even better in real life. the paint job is top shelf for a bike and if any of the writing(decals) are stickers i cant prove it. its a realy nice paint job and i believe all paint.

its not a moped,its not a bycycle, it can be either tho in a limited way but where this bike is worth the price in a pioneering(folding ebike) still too heavy still to expensive kinda way. is if your interested in some pedaling, not hard pedaling, light a lil more than the weight of your foot pedaling combined with resting when ever you want i find myself having alot of fun running errands/cruisng the scenery while getting some excersize and not worrying about the heat or hills or headwind etc. you basicaly set your pedal assist level and adjust the throttle for speed. so far id guestimate real world electric assist only, speed/range, to be much closer to 15 mph/miles than 20mph/miles but i could see with a perfect flat track with no stops/wind and a lighter rider the magic advertised 20 mph/mile range is possible. obviously range and speed can go up with pedaling tho electric assist shuts off at 20mph but truly 15mph is faster than you think in a city. i have years of motorcyling experience and this is a whole differant ball game. traffic will not respect you they expect you to be going slower and tend to pull right out in front of you. same for pedestrians(human car shields), broken bottles,road iregularities and car door openings while forced to stay in a 2 foot lane. maybe after a season or so ill want more acceleration or range but i believe 20mph is more than enuff for a city bike.

so for me for now im more than pleased with its speed/range. you sorta need to pedal from a stop or up a hill unless your in no rush what so ever and dont need to go farther than say approx 15 to 17 miles between charges. i could add a higher amp battery after the warranty ends tho i plan on waiting for the next generation batteries so i hope the alleged 2000 charge cycle is enuff.
 
Frog said:
wiuhh said:
WARRANTY UPDATE.

I hope so as well I'll try and make this the last dumb thing I ask you wiuhh. I don't know how to ride a bike with gears. I think I know this much that when I shift I need to be peddling. But what about down shifting before a stop like if I want to go from 6th to 1st do I need to be peddling. Also can I even go from 6th to 1st in one shift or do I need to go from 6th to 5th on down hitting each gear. Seems either one would not be easy before a stop each time. Thanks in advance

np your more than welcome to ask as many as you like but im gonna pm you as i want to keep this review thread.
 
Sounds like each owner might have a nit pick at this or that on the bike, but otherwise the bike functions as designed quite well. Though I really dislike folding frames myself, this bike is getting a good reputation so far.

If the thumb throttle bothers you that much, you can convert it. Throttle body is usually pvc, so you can glue a short piece of 1" pvc pipe to the rotating part. Easy on the glue, so you don't fix the throttle in place. After its out of warranty of course.
 
Hey, so it just got caught in a downpour and my battery light (rear night light) is stll glowing red even though the light is switched to off. Should I be concerned?
 
After a day of drying out, the red light turned off, so I guess everything is OK. I recharged the battery, so we'll see what happens. Any ideas as to why the red light stays on when the battery gets wet? I definitely need to buy some fenders. My front wheel was throwing up a rooster tail that kept spraying my face. The weatherman completely screwed up last night.
 
Any ideas as to why the red light stays on when the battery gets wet?
That is a universal condition on Phantom X. Mine does it too.
 
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