I ordered the Phantom X through an Ebay seller, Bike-smiths. After the original order placement I never dealt with, or heard from them again, instead all interactions were with Daniel at Prodeco.
My order was placed in mid may and after multiple delays of “waiting for parts” or “we couldn’t get ahold of you”, I finally received the bike in mid July.
It came almost fully assembled, only the seat needed to be attached and the handlebars straightened and tightened. The battery was even fully charged a slid right into place.
Unfortunately, while unpacking the bike and doing the assembly I was pulled way and didn’t complete it till later in the night. When I rolled the bike out I couldn’t pedal. It was then I noticed the crank/pedal assembly was bent, binding the chain against the frame. It happened during shipping because the bike folds and it bent the assembly
I contacted Daniel at Prodeco and he told me to take it to my local bike shop he would ship out the part and pay for the repair, unfortunately during the summer months my bike shop runs about a week for a repair so it was almost August when I 1st got to ride the bike for the 1st time.
1st Impression, this bike is HUGE, its heavy and its solid, it’s understandable that Prodeco would warrant this bike for 2 years as it’s very well built and very solid.
The 1st full weekend of use I developed a flat rear tire. Short of a full NASCAR pit crew allow yourself a lot of time to fix a flat on the rear tire.
The manual that comes with bike is from the Prodeco Storm, with a 1 page addendum explaining that the Phantom X manual is still under production, unfortunately the Storm is a totally different bike with a front hub motor and a battery pack that is hung from the seat tube. The Phantom X is a rear motor and the battery is supported on a platform mounted on the rear frame, making removal of the rear wheel to fix a flat a real production. So the manual that came with the bike wasn’t useful.
Also because the rims are a deeper style, the inner tube needs to be an extended valve type, and even then it’s tricky to fill with air, I needed to use needle nose pliers to hold the stem to fill it with air. Luckily my bike shop had 1 extended valve tube in stock and I ordered 2 additional for future use.
One of the 1st additions I made was to add a rear platform/rack and trunk bag, mainly because there’s no place on the frame to install a water bottle cage. The bag actually helps conceal the enormous 19” long battery that extends out behind the seat post. It took me several attempts to find a seat post mounted rack that would fit without hitting the battery or making the seat too high. I’m almost 6’ and I could see this being an issue for a smaller person. The bag has been useful on longer trips as I’ve carried the charger as well as snacks, water and tools with me.
The 2nd addition was the speedometer/computer. Note to newbies wireless computers won’t work on electric bikes as there’s too much electrical interference !!
Performance – I’ve ran the bike through 10 battery cycles, the last 8 have been with a speedometer in place. Although Prodeco stated I should get about 40 miles per charge, my range has been from about 25 miles, for unassisted riding, to 35 miles with “battery management” assisted pedaling. The very best I did was 38 miles.
Speed – without pedaling on a flat grade the fastest the Bike has gone is 16-17 MPH, with medium tempo pedaling I’ve increased it to about 19. The gear ratios are a bit undersized and the highest gear full pedaling got me to about 22 MPH.
A note about the gears ratios (please note I’m not a gear head or engineer, I simply like riding bikes, so excuse me if my terminology is incorrect) gears 1 through 3 are all but useless while the motor is being used. Without the use of power they make perfect sense to push this heavy bike, but while the motor is engaged they’re useless.
Gears 4 and 5 are useful if the motor speed is at about 50% use, gears 6 & 7 are the only gears which allows you to add any real speed.
If I had 1 design request I’d ask prodeco to provide better gear ratio’s to allow for more pure pedal power above and beyond the motors abilities.
Comfort - The bike is comfortable, it takes bumps well, has shock absorbers on the front forks and the seat post. It can get a little bouncy at times, and it rides heavy, almost like a scooter some times but does give you nice, bike-like control and feel too
As I’ve gotten used to the feel and nuances of the bike my mileage / performance has increased.
The bike has nice pick-up it doesn’t seem to bog down under power, even on hills it shows very little loss of torque. I’ve learned to pedal from a complete stop, build up speed and then engage the motor, this seems to extend the battery’s range a bit.
I’m a larger individual 6’ 220 and I’m sure a lighter person would get better mileage and speed
The handlebar has a 3 light power indicator, green, yellow and red to indicate power left in the battery. The manual states yellow means 60-10% power is left …. It’s definitely closer to 10%, if you hit the yellow light you better be headed back home because this bike is exhausting to pedal without any power.
It’s Mid November now and I’ve taken what I assume will be my last ride of the season since its freezing here now. I have 10 battery cycles and I’m continually getting 30-35 miles per cycle. I’ve enjoyed riding the last few months and found myself going out riding, even if for shorter jaunts then I did riding my road bike or hybrid. It’s a fun addition to my bike collection.
I’m a little upset that it took Prodeco so long to get this bike to me. I’m not in a warm climate like Florida so my “season” is all but done. If your going to order I’d suggest being patient and plan on about 2 months for delivery
I hope this review helps. I’ve read a lot of posts on this board and the knowledge you guys have is incredible. I’m simply a bicyclist that was looking for a pre-built, high quality, low maintenance electric bike, and I think I found that in the Phantom X I hope to continue testing other bikes in the future and I feel this was a good 1st purchase of an electric bike for me
My order was placed in mid may and after multiple delays of “waiting for parts” or “we couldn’t get ahold of you”, I finally received the bike in mid July.
It came almost fully assembled, only the seat needed to be attached and the handlebars straightened and tightened. The battery was even fully charged a slid right into place.
Unfortunately, while unpacking the bike and doing the assembly I was pulled way and didn’t complete it till later in the night. When I rolled the bike out I couldn’t pedal. It was then I noticed the crank/pedal assembly was bent, binding the chain against the frame. It happened during shipping because the bike folds and it bent the assembly
I contacted Daniel at Prodeco and he told me to take it to my local bike shop he would ship out the part and pay for the repair, unfortunately during the summer months my bike shop runs about a week for a repair so it was almost August when I 1st got to ride the bike for the 1st time.
1st Impression, this bike is HUGE, its heavy and its solid, it’s understandable that Prodeco would warrant this bike for 2 years as it’s very well built and very solid.
The 1st full weekend of use I developed a flat rear tire. Short of a full NASCAR pit crew allow yourself a lot of time to fix a flat on the rear tire.
The manual that comes with bike is from the Prodeco Storm, with a 1 page addendum explaining that the Phantom X manual is still under production, unfortunately the Storm is a totally different bike with a front hub motor and a battery pack that is hung from the seat tube. The Phantom X is a rear motor and the battery is supported on a platform mounted on the rear frame, making removal of the rear wheel to fix a flat a real production. So the manual that came with the bike wasn’t useful.
Also because the rims are a deeper style, the inner tube needs to be an extended valve type, and even then it’s tricky to fill with air, I needed to use needle nose pliers to hold the stem to fill it with air. Luckily my bike shop had 1 extended valve tube in stock and I ordered 2 additional for future use.
One of the 1st additions I made was to add a rear platform/rack and trunk bag, mainly because there’s no place on the frame to install a water bottle cage. The bag actually helps conceal the enormous 19” long battery that extends out behind the seat post. It took me several attempts to find a seat post mounted rack that would fit without hitting the battery or making the seat too high. I’m almost 6’ and I could see this being an issue for a smaller person. The bag has been useful on longer trips as I’ve carried the charger as well as snacks, water and tools with me.
The 2nd addition was the speedometer/computer. Note to newbies wireless computers won’t work on electric bikes as there’s too much electrical interference !!
Performance – I’ve ran the bike through 10 battery cycles, the last 8 have been with a speedometer in place. Although Prodeco stated I should get about 40 miles per charge, my range has been from about 25 miles, for unassisted riding, to 35 miles with “battery management” assisted pedaling. The very best I did was 38 miles.
Speed – without pedaling on a flat grade the fastest the Bike has gone is 16-17 MPH, with medium tempo pedaling I’ve increased it to about 19. The gear ratios are a bit undersized and the highest gear full pedaling got me to about 22 MPH.
A note about the gears ratios (please note I’m not a gear head or engineer, I simply like riding bikes, so excuse me if my terminology is incorrect) gears 1 through 3 are all but useless while the motor is being used. Without the use of power they make perfect sense to push this heavy bike, but while the motor is engaged they’re useless.
Gears 4 and 5 are useful if the motor speed is at about 50% use, gears 6 & 7 are the only gears which allows you to add any real speed.
If I had 1 design request I’d ask prodeco to provide better gear ratio’s to allow for more pure pedal power above and beyond the motors abilities.
Comfort - The bike is comfortable, it takes bumps well, has shock absorbers on the front forks and the seat post. It can get a little bouncy at times, and it rides heavy, almost like a scooter some times but does give you nice, bike-like control and feel too
As I’ve gotten used to the feel and nuances of the bike my mileage / performance has increased.
The bike has nice pick-up it doesn’t seem to bog down under power, even on hills it shows very little loss of torque. I’ve learned to pedal from a complete stop, build up speed and then engage the motor, this seems to extend the battery’s range a bit.
I’m a larger individual 6’ 220 and I’m sure a lighter person would get better mileage and speed
The handlebar has a 3 light power indicator, green, yellow and red to indicate power left in the battery. The manual states yellow means 60-10% power is left …. It’s definitely closer to 10%, if you hit the yellow light you better be headed back home because this bike is exhausting to pedal without any power.
It’s Mid November now and I’ve taken what I assume will be my last ride of the season since its freezing here now. I have 10 battery cycles and I’m continually getting 30-35 miles per cycle. I’ve enjoyed riding the last few months and found myself going out riding, even if for shorter jaunts then I did riding my road bike or hybrid. It’s a fun addition to my bike collection.
I’m a little upset that it took Prodeco so long to get this bike to me. I’m not in a warm climate like Florida so my “season” is all but done. If your going to order I’d suggest being patient and plan on about 2 months for delivery
I hope this review helps. I’ve read a lot of posts on this board and the knowledge you guys have is incredible. I’m simply a bicyclist that was looking for a pre-built, high quality, low maintenance electric bike, and I think I found that in the Phantom X I hope to continue testing other bikes in the future and I feel this was a good 1st purchase of an electric bike for me
At lower speeds its possible but its not even close to the ease of riding my road bike with no hands, which i can do for miles, on this bike it's not a very good idea.
