Super73’s fashionable, retro merchandise are probably the most seen among the many standard moto-style e-bikes, which resemble Nineteen Seventies minibikes or miniature bikes greater than they do conventional bicycles. The Super73-R Journey, is the highest of the road within the firm’s vary of off-road-styled fashions, packing on all of the extras: full suspension, a strong rear hub motor and a large 960 watt-hour battery.
I took it out for greater than 60 miles of driving throughout Chicago’s streets and a few mild off-road trails to see the way it fares in opposition to the competitors — and whether or not the options justify its almost $4,000 price ticket.
Super73-R Journey A tricked-out moto-style e-bike that’s tons of enjoyable — however expensive Super73 The Super73-R Journey electrical bike is a retro motorcycle-style electrical bike that’s nice for getting round in type and it’s higher constructed than its opponents. It’s impractical and costly, however it’s a very satisfying trip. $3,995 at Super73
What we appreciated
A robust motor and sensibly geared drivetrain will get you as much as 20 mph on the street and 28 mph off street. Mark Knapp/CNN Underscored
It’s simple to assemble
Super73 actually makes it simple to start out loving the R Journey. Moderately than making you do loads of the meeting like most direct-to-consumer manufacturers, you get an virtually utterly assembled bike by way of a courier service that’ll coordinate supply with you and make sure you obtain the package deal.
Opening up the field, there’s simply the matter of attaching the handlebars to the bike body and screwing on the pedals. Inside quarter-hour of receiving the Super73-R Journey, I had it able to trip, and about half of that point was simply eradicating the protecting foam. Meeting requires simply two instruments that come within the field. The one draw back for brand spanking new homeowners is that you just’ll must personal (or purchase) your personal instruments individually if it is advisable make changes on the bike.
A snug, peppy, even pleasant trip
The Super73-R Journey is about to jet. The bike comes able to roll in its default Class 2 mode, which permits each throttle operation and pedal help as much as 20 mph, although you may swap to off-road mode, which is Class 3 — pedal help solely however with a prime velocity restrict of 28 mph. Both method, the 750W motor (that’s the higher restrict for e-bikes) is as much as the duty.
Tough pavement pits and potholes can pack a wallop, however the Super73-R Journey’s full suspension and knobby, fats tires soak them up with aplomb. And if you’d like kind of help, the front- and rear-suspension parts have compression, preload and rebound changes, permitting for a stiffer trip for clean roads or a extra supple trip on bumpy roads and trails.
The setup offers you extra leeway to get off the overwhelmed path, although as Tremendous 73 has instructed us, its bikes aren’t actually meant for critical off-road use (most MTB trails are understandably off-limits to motorized autos, together with e-bikes). On unfastened gravel, I might really feel a bit of drift right here and there, however the Super73-R Journey cruised alongside securely on the kind of terrain I’d by no means have managed with the slick-tired Super73-R Brooklyn, which I virtually took for a tumble turning by way of gravel a 12 months in the past.
Stacking the lengthy, well-cushioned seat on prime of all of it retains the Super73-R Journey feeling particularly comfy for fast journeys and lengthy rides alike.
Although it’s nestled inside the body’s major triangle quite than top-mounted, the Super73 R-Journey’s massive battery is styled to look a bit like a gas tank. Mark Knapp/CNN Underscored
The beefy battery is nice for some prolonged rides
A robust motor on a heavy, 89.2-pound bike that’s not meant for pedaling — that’s a recipe for critical battery use. Fortuitously, Super73 features a 48-volt, 20-amp-hour battery good for nearly 1,000 watt-hours of energy. That’s about as massive as they arrive on e-bikes. In my testing, that was good for 27.6 miles of just about pure throttle driving in Class 2 mode and a stunning 25 miles in off-road mode earlier than the voltage had sagged sufficient that acceleration bought sluggish and speeds dropped off. In Class 2 mode, I used to be capable of stretch the battery out to 29 miles earlier than the bike couldn’t muster sufficient energy to speed up from a standstill. In Class 3 mode, that second got here at 26.7 miles.
This isn’t distinctive vary for an e-bike. Opponents just like the Ride1Up Revv 1 are capable of go farther — on that bike, I bought as much as 36.1 miles of largely throttle-only when restricted to twenty mph in Class 2. Nonetheless, this can be a respectable if not spectacular exhibiting for Super73. For those who’re eyeing round-trip commutes beneath 20 miles, it’s a secure wager the Super73-R Journey could make the journey on a single cost.
A sturdy construct that feels premium
What units the Super73-R Journey aside from the remainder of the R-Sequence is its off-road design, which options deeply knobbled tires, a multispeed drivetrain and an prolonged seat to accommodate extra driving positions.
There’s no denying that the Super73-R Journey feels exceptionally effectively put collectively and is made with solidparts. Even driving it exhausting over potholes I’d by no means dream of hitting on a street bike, the Super73-R Journey doesn’t creak or groan. Few parts give off that uncertainty that comes from a scarcity of name names. Solely the entrance thru-axle fork lacked any clear branding (Super73 tells us it’s provided by LK suspension), however the dual-crown design and beefy stanchions and lowers appear strong and carried out effectively.
The coil-spring rear suspension is from DNM and has 85mm of journey and a few Super73 stylings pasted on prime. The e-bike-specific Tektro Dorado hydraulic disc brakes are additionally reassuring, particularly with an extra-large 203mm rotor within the entrance that gives main stopping energy. Even the thumb throttle looks like a step up from a number of the cheaper ones I’ve come throughout, like that on the Juiced CrossCurrent X or Ride1Up Turris. Admittedly, a twist throttle would have been a bit extra enjoyable.
A loud horn that claims, “Hey, I’m bikin’ right here!”
After I’m driving the Super73-R Journey on the streets of Chicago, I’ve to take care of visitors. Whereas the velocity of the bike helps me preserve tempo with the move of automobiles on most streets, I nonetheless face down the occasional automobile that fails to note me or pulls a dicey transfer, like edging into the bike lane. To get drivers’ consideration, the Super73-R Journey features a highly effective horn that does loads higher job than simply about any bell will. It’s loud sufficient that I really feel a bit of responsible after I by chance press it.
Gears are useful
Like most moto-style e-bikes, the Super73-R Journey isn’t actually meant for lots of pedaling. It has pedals, letting it qualify as an e-bike, however you received’t wish to use them a lot. The driving place and saddle aren’t good for efficient or comfy pedaling. That is in all probability why loads of moto-style e-bikes simply go for a single-speed transmission. The Super73-R Journey bucks the pattern and slaps on an eight-speed cassette. It may appear pointless however I discovered the gearing really useful for a extra assured trip. At any time when I needed to begin from a standstill, I pedaled out within the lowest gearing to offer the motor some assist and get the bike transferring sooner. At excessive speeds, that type of low gearing would make for awfully unfastened pedals that spin freely, so with the ability to shift to a excessive gear turned the pedals into barely extra assuring foot pegs. The low gear additionally proves helpful when the battery dies, as I can get the bike transferring way more simply with low gears obtainable.
What we didn’t like
The flat, motorcycle-style saddle is comfy for tooling round, however the mixture of the shortage of adjustability of the saddle and the awkward attain to the pedals meant it was exhausting to discover a good place when the terrain bought rougher. Mark Knapp/CNN Underscored
Type apart, not meant for mountain biking or motocross
In any type of driving — bicycle or bike — for those who’re going to sort out something apart from clean pavement, you typically have to face up and get your weight out of the saddle to go over an impediment. However though the Super73-R Journey is supposed for rougher terrain, with a suspension and tires that do an amazing job absorbing jolts, they will’t take in every part, and the driving place — a low saddle however with a clumsy attain to the pedals — makes it more durable to confidently stand out of the saddle than on a extra conventional bicycle. After I took the bike off street I discovered myself in both a really low squat or standing with my arms virtually straight down, neither of which was optimum. However this isn’t a complete shock, because the R-Journey is known as a life-style machine, meant extra for enjoyable playing around on simple terrain than it’s for critical off-road use.
The massive battery takes without end to recharge
Having a virtually 1,000-watt-hour battery is nice in terms of vary however not so nice when it comes time to recharge. A battery that measurement goes to take a while to fill. That’s compounded by Super73’s inclusion of only a 2-amp charger with the R Journey. It took a bit of over 10 hours to completely recharge. At that fee, you may be inclined to cost in a single day to keep away from shedding a full day of potential driving simply to recharge, however charging e-bike batteries when you are asleep or out of the home is discouraged as a result of potential hearth hazard. Super73 has its batteries licensed to UL2271 and its bikes to UL2849 for its R- and S-Sequence fashions, particularly since few e-bike makers have taken this further measure. (It’s curious Super73 doesn’t promote this wherever, although — they need to!)
By comparability, the Ride1Up Revv 1 features a 4-amp charger for its 1,040-watt-hour battery that cuts charging time right down to nearer to 5 hours. It’s not UL licensed, however it additionally doesn’t have to be babysat for lengthy.
The lighting might be higher
The Super73-R Journey headlight has little or no room for adjustment (it’s kind of a fixed-angle system), and the tail mild is small and stealthily sandwiched between the body and rear fender. The very last thing you need from a taillight is stealth, although. It limits visibility, so autos behind you won’t be capable of see that you just’re braking as simply as they’d from a extra uncovered taillight. No less than the sunshine is aware of the brake levers.
The fastened headlight could also be extra in step with the aesthetic stylings of the bike however proves much less useful consequently. The place the Ride1Up Revv 1 I just lately examined had a big headlight with an adjustable angle in addition to excessive and low beams, the Super73-R Journey simply shines in a single path: straight forward. It’s a lot brilliant, however with the ability to not less than alter the angle might have been helpful for on-road and off-road driving alike, because it might have allowed riders to prioritize seeing the bottom close by on tough terrain or seeing farther forward once they’re flying alongside on the bike’s prime velocity.
The lights are higher to have than not, and it’s handy that they’re built-in into the bike and may due to this fact draw immediately from the battery. Nevertheless it’s a bit of lackluster right here for such an costly bike.
Perched atop the beefy fork you’ll discover a set of comfy riser bars. We just like the cockpit apart from the smallish onboard show, which we discovered small for mapping and felt had us reaching a bit too typically for our telephone to entry capabilities from the companion app. Mark Knapp/CNN Underscored
The app isn’t excellent, however it is advisable depend upon it for necessary capabilities
To place it bluntly, Super73 doesn’t have probably the most spectacular bike laptop. It’s a small unit with a spherical display screen no larger than a smartwatch show. It might probably show one metric at a time and makes use of a hoop across the circumference to indicate battery stage. To make up for this, Super73 depends on a smartphone app that gives maps, bike statistics and customization of the bike’s velocity mode. All of it syncs with the bike over Bluetooth.
Sadly, I’ve run into bother a number of instances connecting to the bike over Bluetooth, and in every case, I’ve needed to cease and re-pair the bike with my telephone. With the app linked, the small show on the bike can present map instructions, which sounds nice in principle however proved subsequent to ineffective because the instructions would cease updating if my telephone’s display screen locked. Leaving my telephone unlocked, it labored effectively sufficient, however it’s a waste of my telephone’s valuable battery life and each replace to the instructions interrupted audio playback from my telephone. The bike additionally resets to Class 2 mode at any time when it powers off, so if Bluetooth refuses to attach, you may’t put the bike in off-road Class 3 mode. Principally, the connectivity doesn’t appear polished sufficient or as much as par with the match and end of the bike itself.
Backside line
The Super73-R Journey sits between two worlds: customary e-bikes and electrical bikes. Between that and a $4,000 price ticket, it runs into loads of competitors. The Super73-R Journey actually has type and it’s effectively constructed, however it prices virtually twice as a lot because the Ride1Up Revv 1, which is a completely compelling various with related styling, respectable high quality, extra energy, extra vary and higher equipment.
That stated, with bikes just like the R Journey or the Revv 1, practicality and worth for cash is probably not major issues. These are meant for enjoyable, type and largely motorized use and actually have extra in frequent with electrical bikes. They aren’t meant for environment friendly pedaling or cargo lugging, so it is probably not totally truthful to check these bikes to extra conventional electrical bicycles sport or utility-oriented fashions just like the Co-op Cycles Era e1.1 or Velotric Thunder 1, which supply tons of options and sensible equipment for a lot much less cash than even the Revv 1. However for those who’re set on the type and keen to pay for the high-end construct high quality, you might wish to try the Super73-R Journey.