For this review I will cover 3 things
The bike itself
The range extender
The pannier bags
The bike itself is great, although it's so heavy it feels like a tank.
I am a big guy and weigh approx 340lbs so I needed a bike that handles my weight. The Jugg Ultra duo 3 easily handles this. Once you are mounted it feels like a normal bike and handles well. I have to 4" fat tires, which are new to me, but make gravel roads a piece of cake. I do wish there was an option on the Biktrix shopping site that optionally includes something like tuff-liners to be added before the tubes are put in. Or maybe a tubeless option. As it is the tires are vunerable to flats.
Assisted peddling and a throttle are new to me, and boy it is awesome. You can feel the endorfins without being exhausted too. I like that. My biggest wish is for an option to have a bigger front crank. I find that when using the smallest gear and the high-end of my cadence the speed tops out about 20 mph. I would really like to go faster than 20 without having to peddle like crazy. I'm used to many gears from my other bikes. There isn't much I would change on the bike but this is definitely one of them.
I found I like a peddle assist of 3 being the most comfortable, spoiled already.
From my limited riding, I love the bike. It truly does open up the world to you.
The bike rack is a heavy thing, the bars seem thicker than another one I have on my recumbant, my old paniers (from a different bike) do not fit well due to the bar diameter. I did spend $100 on the offered panniers. I am sorry I bought them. The mounting depends on straps only and that is a big disappointment. You need top hooks over the bars and a lower hook for the bottom to make them solidly mounted. Hand tightened straps are never solid and will work loose. I don't like that. If I was smart I would have looked for other alternatives.
More options I wish for:
A mirror would be great.
A cell phone holder would be nice...maybe not viable due to so many variations.
Canecreek Thudbuster seat post
I spent another $150 on short-travel seat post. I really, really regret that. That is because the seat attachment assembly is a poor design. It's insane for one person to reassemble if it ever comes apart. New bikes always involve at least 100 seat adjustments to get dialed in to max comfort. Between height, tilt, forward or back rail adjustments, it takes a while to get right. Unfortunately, the assembly is finicky and the whole thing (my entire weight) depends on the robustness of a single bolt that is not big enough for the job. Plus you have to torque the crap out of it to keep it from rotating, there are no friction guards (teeth) to keep that from happening. So when going down the road at 20 or so and with a little uneven terrain, bounces will almost certainly rotate the seat tilt out of position. You can readjust in the field, but not well so your ride is compromised. (you can't really get the torque you need from a portable multi-hex tool). The normal seat post (thankfully was shipped with the bike) has a much better design. A bigger bolt and small gear teeth that mesh together to prevent tilting. Easier to slide forward or backward on the seat rails so you can position as good as can be had. So the Thudbuster is a bust for me.
Range Extender
For me, the range extender is essential. With my weight I need the extra juice for range. I don't know what my max range is but it's a lot less than 100 miles. It is a variable depending how much I use the throttle and peddle assist level. I would hope for 50 miles but I'm pretty sure it's closer to 40. That being said, I have no regrets using the throttle or higher assist. It's just way too much fun.
With the exceptions mentioned above, I have no regrets purchasing this bike and plan to put a great many miles on it.
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