Hello everyone, I've had the Phantom X since November of 2011. Since then I've averaged about 40 miles per week on it, meaning I have well over 800 miles on it thus far. On this review I will not mention specs since you can easily find that on the prodeco website or on other reviews...
I'm 5'8 and I weigh in at about 150 pounds. The phantom x's seat and handlebar can be easily adjusted to your liking. The weight of the bike is centered behind you (due to rear hub motor and lithium battery). Riding it was a little weird at first being that having that much weight centered behind you somewhat limits your ability to lean too much during turning, or make very sudden turns safely. Regardless of this though, I quickly acclimated to the feel of the bike. You will get a very clean and smooth ride with it. The motor provides an acceptable amount of power for inclines, so I've never caught myself stand pedaling up a hill. The weight centering of the bike does however impact the kick you would expect from this 500 watt motor. I haven't been on any other e-bikes, but judging from the posts I've read I would say that the motor feels like more of a 400 watt one with the weight factored in (more so if you are a heavier rider). This isn't a problem for me because with modest pedaling and the throttle pushed to the max on a flat or slight incline I can still max out at around 18-20 mph without exerting myself. I would like to add that if you take the battery off the rack this bike feels like a regular mountain bike with no weight problems as far as I'm concerned. The battery can be locked on the rack, removed from the rack, and used to 'start' the bike with a neat little key. The key has to stay in the battery key slot when the bike is on though. Some people complain that having the key sticking out is dangerous, but unless you're planning to bike through a forest I don't see how it will ever be an issue. Only about an inch of the key sticks out. The battery level indicator located on the back of the battery to the left of the light features a red button that can be pressed to indicate 100% , 75%, 50%, and 25%. This is a lot more accurate than the indicator on the handlebar. I don't even pay attention to the indicator on the handlebar actually. Just know that once the green light disappears and only half and empty are lit you should charge the battery before going for a ride longer than 3 miles. Oh, and the battery dies pretty quickly during the first ride. This is a common occurrence so don't be alarmed. Once you charge it up again after this you should get the full mileage advertised. I have enjoyed having this bike. It has been a huge time saver, and every ride I get out of it is a great experience. A bike of this expense and quality will not be of low maintenance however. To get a long life out of it you will have to take care of it. Next I will discuss the issues I've had with the bike that others have also seemed to have.
When I took the bike out of the box and assembled it (took no longer than 10 min for assembly) I noticed that the back 1/3 of the battery rack had been slightly bent. Due to my anxiousness to ride it I still forced the battery onto the rack ( DONT DO THIS). Removing the battery several weeks later was more than a pain. If your rack is bent or not I advise you to oil the rack. Once I oiled the rack I never had a problem with removing or putting on the battery again. The removal process should not be difficult at all.
I am not the only phantom x owner to have a bent rack right out of the shipping box based on other reviews and posts that I've read. I'm pretty sure that it was bent during shipping. This bent rack did however cause a major issue four months down the line. After first putting on the battery I tried to pull it off the rack using the provided battery handle. I put a great deal of force into it without any success or budging, so I gave up and didn't remove the battery for several weeks as mentioned before. Doing this weakened the handle for sure, and the third or fourth time I removed the battery (sometime in February) the handle completely broke off, taking the entire back of the battery off (light and all). The interior of the battery was exposed, wires and all, and I knew I had to call prodeco to see about that mythical 2 year parts warranty. I called them that same afternoon, and they just wanted to make sure that they had my warranty information. I shipped the battery back a couple of days later. If you have any problems with bike parts after the first 30 days you are responsible for shipping whatever it is you need sent back to prodeco. Shipping the battery back was a bit expensive, especially since I had to get a new box for it too, but it had to be done. I advise you to keep all the boxes the bike came with for at least two months, and never throw away the box the battery came packaged in. I had my fixed battery back within 2 weeks. So the warranty holds true after all (they pay for shipping it back to you btw). I also advise you to hold the sides of the battery for removing it from the rack to avoid ever breaking off the handle like I did.
My last issue with the bike is with the rotors. When you get the bike they say that it takes several rides for the disc brakes to 'break in'. I guess this is somewhat true, but me being naive and lacking in any bike knowledge when I got the bike I figured the wobble/pulsating feeling I was getting while braking with full force was the brakes 'breaking in'. It was not though. This pulsating feeling was soon followed by a chirping metal to metal sound for both rotors that randomly went away and randomly increased in loudness, persistence, and pattern. I recently did a ton of research online and I've come to the conclusion that both my rotors have been warped from the very beginning haha. It's not noticeable by the eye, but they are definitely warped based on the sounds and issues I've been having. I emailed prodeco last night to see about getting new ones. I found one other similar post about a phantom x owner complaining about his rotors producing this same chirping metal to metal noise. I like to believe that my bike was in perfect condition before it left Prodeco's factory, so I've also blamed the rotor issue on the way the bike was packaged during shipping and handling during shipping. I mean what are the chances of both my rotors being warped before leaving the Prodeco factory?
Well this is it for my review. I was added to the waiting list for the Phantom X in early August of 2011 and I did not see my bike until November 2011 haha. But it was worth the wait despite the few issues I've had. You will not find another bike with these features at this low a price. If you decided to get any prodeco bike do not follow in my footsteps. Straight out of the box if you have any issue with your bike (a bent rack, rotor/disc brake problems, etc) and the issue is not a simple fix, make sure to contact prodeco within that 30 day window to avoid any additional costs on your behalf. Judging from my problems all of them stem from packaging and handling of the bike during shipping. Hopefully Prodeco has made packaging safer for the Phantom X since November.
I'm 5'8 and I weigh in at about 150 pounds. The phantom x's seat and handlebar can be easily adjusted to your liking. The weight of the bike is centered behind you (due to rear hub motor and lithium battery). Riding it was a little weird at first being that having that much weight centered behind you somewhat limits your ability to lean too much during turning, or make very sudden turns safely. Regardless of this though, I quickly acclimated to the feel of the bike. You will get a very clean and smooth ride with it. The motor provides an acceptable amount of power for inclines, so I've never caught myself stand pedaling up a hill. The weight centering of the bike does however impact the kick you would expect from this 500 watt motor. I haven't been on any other e-bikes, but judging from the posts I've read I would say that the motor feels like more of a 400 watt one with the weight factored in (more so if you are a heavier rider). This isn't a problem for me because with modest pedaling and the throttle pushed to the max on a flat or slight incline I can still max out at around 18-20 mph without exerting myself. I would like to add that if you take the battery off the rack this bike feels like a regular mountain bike with no weight problems as far as I'm concerned. The battery can be locked on the rack, removed from the rack, and used to 'start' the bike with a neat little key. The key has to stay in the battery key slot when the bike is on though. Some people complain that having the key sticking out is dangerous, but unless you're planning to bike through a forest I don't see how it will ever be an issue. Only about an inch of the key sticks out. The battery level indicator located on the back of the battery to the left of the light features a red button that can be pressed to indicate 100% , 75%, 50%, and 25%. This is a lot more accurate than the indicator on the handlebar. I don't even pay attention to the indicator on the handlebar actually. Just know that once the green light disappears and only half and empty are lit you should charge the battery before going for a ride longer than 3 miles. Oh, and the battery dies pretty quickly during the first ride. This is a common occurrence so don't be alarmed. Once you charge it up again after this you should get the full mileage advertised. I have enjoyed having this bike. It has been a huge time saver, and every ride I get out of it is a great experience. A bike of this expense and quality will not be of low maintenance however. To get a long life out of it you will have to take care of it. Next I will discuss the issues I've had with the bike that others have also seemed to have.
When I took the bike out of the box and assembled it (took no longer than 10 min for assembly) I noticed that the back 1/3 of the battery rack had been slightly bent. Due to my anxiousness to ride it I still forced the battery onto the rack ( DONT DO THIS). Removing the battery several weeks later was more than a pain. If your rack is bent or not I advise you to oil the rack. Once I oiled the rack I never had a problem with removing or putting on the battery again. The removal process should not be difficult at all.
I am not the only phantom x owner to have a bent rack right out of the shipping box based on other reviews and posts that I've read. I'm pretty sure that it was bent during shipping. This bent rack did however cause a major issue four months down the line. After first putting on the battery I tried to pull it off the rack using the provided battery handle. I put a great deal of force into it without any success or budging, so I gave up and didn't remove the battery for several weeks as mentioned before. Doing this weakened the handle for sure, and the third or fourth time I removed the battery (sometime in February) the handle completely broke off, taking the entire back of the battery off (light and all). The interior of the battery was exposed, wires and all, and I knew I had to call prodeco to see about that mythical 2 year parts warranty. I called them that same afternoon, and they just wanted to make sure that they had my warranty information. I shipped the battery back a couple of days later. If you have any problems with bike parts after the first 30 days you are responsible for shipping whatever it is you need sent back to prodeco. Shipping the battery back was a bit expensive, especially since I had to get a new box for it too, but it had to be done. I advise you to keep all the boxes the bike came with for at least two months, and never throw away the box the battery came packaged in. I had my fixed battery back within 2 weeks. So the warranty holds true after all (they pay for shipping it back to you btw). I also advise you to hold the sides of the battery for removing it from the rack to avoid ever breaking off the handle like I did.
My last issue with the bike is with the rotors. When you get the bike they say that it takes several rides for the disc brakes to 'break in'. I guess this is somewhat true, but me being naive and lacking in any bike knowledge when I got the bike I figured the wobble/pulsating feeling I was getting while braking with full force was the brakes 'breaking in'. It was not though. This pulsating feeling was soon followed by a chirping metal to metal sound for both rotors that randomly went away and randomly increased in loudness, persistence, and pattern. I recently did a ton of research online and I've come to the conclusion that both my rotors have been warped from the very beginning haha. It's not noticeable by the eye, but they are definitely warped based on the sounds and issues I've been having. I emailed prodeco last night to see about getting new ones. I found one other similar post about a phantom x owner complaining about his rotors producing this same chirping metal to metal noise. I like to believe that my bike was in perfect condition before it left Prodeco's factory, so I've also blamed the rotor issue on the way the bike was packaged during shipping and handling during shipping. I mean what are the chances of both my rotors being warped before leaving the Prodeco factory?
Well this is it for my review. I was added to the waiting list for the Phantom X in early August of 2011 and I did not see my bike until November 2011 haha. But it was worth the wait despite the few issues I've had. You will not find another bike with these features at this low a price. If you decided to get any prodeco bike do not follow in my footsteps. Straight out of the box if you have any issue with your bike (a bent rack, rotor/disc brake problems, etc) and the issue is not a simple fix, make sure to contact prodeco within that 30 day window to avoid any additional costs on your behalf. Judging from my problems all of them stem from packaging and handling of the bike during shipping. Hopefully Prodeco has made packaging safer for the Phantom X since November.
