JackRabbit XG Review | Mini But Mighty! This Micro E-Bike Is No Kid’s Ride
The original version of the jack rabbit was designed to help college students get across very large campuses this new version of the bike the XG includes a lot of upgrades that are designed to make it a lot more versatile so what are the big things that stood out during our
Testing and did Jack Rabbit succeed Let’s Take a Ride and find Out Welcome back to electric bike report I’m John and we’re going to dive into everything the XG brings to the table but very quickly if you’re interested in picking up an ebike for yourself please make sure you’re subscribed to the channel and you have notifications turned on WE upload new reviews a couple
Times every week and we want to make sure you find the best bike for you so first things first about the XG here it’s not technically an ebike as it does not include pedals and in fact jack rabbit calls it a mini electric motorbike since it’s powered completely
By a throttle we think of it as a scooter alternative because it has a lot of the same portability but it’s more stable and comfortable and if I’m being honest I think it looks a lot better as well I normally introduce a bike by talking about one of its components or a
Specific feature that it includes but for this one I’ve got to talk about just how unique it feels to ride it’s impossible to sit on the XG without being a little silly and just having a huge amount of fun it kind of feels like
A toy in that you have no choice but to feel like a kid again and that’s not something I can say about many bikes I’ve tested part of that experience is due to the bike’s size but the other part is its 500 W rear hub motor the
Original version of the jack rabbit used a 300 wat motor that worked totally fine but we noticed a huge difference with the extra 200 wats in speed hill climbing power and just overall fun I mentioned portability earlier and jack rabbit took a pretty unique approach to that like the original version of the
Bike the XG can be carried around with an optional shoulder sling but the handlebars can also be rotated 90° to make the whole thing almost completely flat this allows it to be stashed in pretty tight quarters like a dorm room or a camper without taking up a lot of
Space and I think that makes it a bit more practical than even a lot of proper folding bikes another big highlight with the XG is the fact that it comes with dual 36v 151w batteries that are removable and fully integrated into the top tube the OG version includes Just One battery so
In theory this should double its range and that’s actually one of the things we tested so stick around for our range test section a bit later in the review instead of pedals there are folding foot pegs that have a really solid feel and then the XG is specked with 20-in X 2.4
In CST tires there’s also a mechanical disc brake system with 160 mm rotors and the one on our test bike was a mixed system with a front caliper from bids and a rear caliper from power both of which we’re not all that familiar with the faux leather saddle is made by chifa and
The seat post includes a sort of plug-and-play tail light that flashes when the brake levers are squeezed there’s a tiny headlight up front as well with a similar plug that connects to a port in the frame and then the XG comes with 620 mm lowrise handlebars with standard rubber grips aside from
The brake levers the right handlebar is where all the action happens there’s a simple and straightforward black and white display where you can turn the bike and the lights on and off or swap through the three different power levels and then next to this display is a thumb operated throttle lever Jack Rabbit
Offers a pretty impressive number of accessories for the bike I mentioned the shoulder sling but there are also options for a cargo basket a suspension seat post a storage compartment a cup holder and even a lightweight cargo trailer that can hold up to 100 lb to wrap everything up though the XG comes
In a single frame size with four color options including black white yellow and this red it weighs a total of 33 lb with the batteries installed or 29 lb without and it is both UL 2271 and UL 2272 certified that covers just about everything on the spec sheet so let’s
Dive into our test results and see how the XG performed The jack rabbit XG is a Class 2 bike with throttle power up to 20 mph so we brought it up to its top speed when testing the brakes we measured the distance it took the bike to stop after applying the brakes and repeated the process three times to get an average
That average was 28 ft 2 in which is a good deal longer than we hop to see in this test for context the original version of the bike stopped in 29 ft 9 in with a single rear brake and the XG does have a bit of extra weight that makes it
A little bit harder to bring to a stop there’s also a bit of a challenge when it comes to a bike with this short of a wheelbase if the brakes are too good then you’ve got a good chance of flipping over the handlebars we were glad to see both
Front and rear brakes on the XG and in general these felt fine when I was testing the bike but considering their slower performance we still challenged Jack Rabbit to find a more effective solution mechanical brakes often work just fine on bikes in this weight range and the Tetro Aries system has always
Done really well for us but there are plenty of other options out there as well maintenance would also likely be a bit easier if the bike used a more commonly found brake System let’s take the jack rabbit XG out on the bike paths for a speed test there are three power levels for the throttle that I want to check out and then we can also see how quickly the bike can hit 20 mph with the maximum amount of output
All right we are here on the jack rabbit XG to do a speed test uh I’m stopped right now just because there are no pedals here so uh with the throttle in eco mode I’m going to sort of kick off and then hit the throttle it will start
Up when you’re in high mode from a dead stop but for Eco and mid you got to give it that little bit of a kick but we have got a fairly steady building acceleration here not too Punchy which is nice it’s very manageable and casual and so we’re going right around 15 1/2
Mph 15.6 was the max that I’ve seen so let’s go with that I’ll jump it up to Mid mode and not feeling a whole lot different you know a little bit more output from the motor here but not a huge difference in feel getting a couple miles per hour
Over where we were though so let’s get around this Bend but it looks like we’re around 18 and A2 18.7 is the max that I’ve have seen yep all right so let’s go up to high mode so this is a class 2 uh e scooter
SL bike and the max here is a little bit over 20 actually 20 7 20.8 is the max that I have seen nope scratch that 20.9 okay we will call that our speed test on the jack rabbit XG let’s go see how fast the throttle can reach 20
Mph all right so we are back on the jack rabbit XG to do a throttle acceleration test we’ll see how fast the motor can get this bike up to 20 mph when the throttle is in high mode so we’ll start in 3 2 1 go all right so definitely faster
Punchier acceleration in this mode picking up speed fast and I’ll just call it when we hit 20 right about now so I think eco mode had a really good starting point with the max of 15.6 mph that’s definitely enough speed to get you to your destination but it’s not so
Much that you feel like you’re on a rocket I actually really liked the gradual build in acceleration in that setting the mid power level kicked things up to 18.7 mph but didn’t really feel much different in terms of the strength of the output but that changed
In high mode where there was a lot more power and punch and I hit a Max of 20.9 mph in that setting as you could see I had to kick off with my feet to get things moving in eco mode and I had to do the same thing in mid if I was
Starting there the bike takes off just fine from a stop in high mode and I’d definitely like to see that same ability extended to the other two settings but otherwise the data from our Test shows a really great distribution of power there are really consistent increases in speed
Between settings so they’re each pretty distinct and that made it easy to find the right power level for the ride I definitely didn’t expect this much power from the XG when looking at it and I think that really added to the overall fun Factor I’ve got to knock off a
Couple points for the startup issue but overall the XG still gets a solid a in this Test I was really curious to see if the xg’s Dual batteries would actually give it twice the range of the original version of the bike and we did two separate range tests to find that out we rote it in eco mode and high mode until it ran out of juice and tracked our
Mileage both times with straa the OG Jack Rabbit had a single power level and one battery that gave us 9 1/2 M over 45 minutes the XG beat that in both of its tests we covered 13.9 mi in 50 minutes using its high power setting and then we
Smashed the old record in the low power eco mode with 19.5 Mi over the course of an hour and a half both of those results exceeded our expectations even if only by a slim margin which means that the motor is pretty efficient we anticipated that our high mode test would take about
36 minutes and give us about 12 miles with the 500 W Motor and the total battery capacity of 302 W hours in reality we saw a 39% increase in time and a 14% increase in distance when we tested the original version of the bike we found its range fairly limiting it
Was definitely enough to serve its intended purpose of getting across campus but it wasn’t that practical for anything outside of a pretty small radius the Dual batteries on the XG are definitely a game Cher that really open up the possibilities it can certainly still help you to get to class on time
If you’ve got a massive campus but now it can also be used as a Commuter or errand Runner or a portable explorer that you can bring with you in a larger vehicle as it is I give the XG another solid a in this test but just a couple
Days before we filmed this review Jack Rabbit released a 340w range Buster battery that can be purchased separately for about $400 we didn’t get the chance to test it but the brand claims you can get an extra 14 miles for each of the standard batteries that you swap out for the
Range Buster and that’s up to a total range of around 48 mil that sounds pretty solid to me We performed our standard Hill test with the jack rabbit at hellhole Trail which is a paved path that’s a third of a mile long and it has an average grade of 12% the original version of the jack rabbit didn’t have the power to make it
Up the hill but I’ll pass you over to our test rider Justin so you can see what happened with the XG all right here at hellhole with the jack rabbit and we’re going to see if this little guy I guess I should call a big little guy since they’re bigger
Version um can get it up I am on high power and so far right down to about 8.2 mph I actually don’t have a ton of expectations that this makes it up hell ho but we we’ll we’ll find out here so down to 7 mph 6.2 5.9
5.8 doing a little better than I expected um again it’s not a big bike by any mean it’s not like it’s got a massively over hard motor on it um but it is going to make it up this first section of hell hole um so far the motor
Is pretty quiet I in terms of like the frequency it’s on the lower end of things I’ll let you listen to it kind of as we hit this next section here this last deep section um so you can hear for yourself Yeah so as you could hear it’s not very loud pretty quiet and stealth and it’s going to make it up um barring something unpredictable like it it went down to about 5.2 m per hour there on that section um and that’s it so overall it’s going to make it I don’t it’s not
Going to be like the hill Champion by any means um but if it were I’d probably be saying don’t buy this thing so feels pretty good power given what it is and I’m curious to see the overall score on it yeah coasting right right now around 12 mph probably finish right around 12
To 13 and we’ll go to the tape and see how it did Justin’s done enough of these tests that he’s got a pretty good feel for things and he was totally right in saying that the XG wasn’t the fastest but also that’s probably a good thing he
Made it to the Finish Line in 2 minutes and 3 seconds with an average speed of 8.8 mph obviously that’s Leaps and Bounds beyond the original Jack Rabbit and in comparison to full-size ebikes with 500 W rear hub Motors it landed a little below average there are a couple of big
Contributing factors to that first the xg’s motor and Battery are both 36v instead of the 48 volt systems that we often see at the 500 W Mark Lower voltage means that power moves slower from the battery to the motor so the motor has less energy to use at any
Given time second the motor produces a peak of 590 wat and 35 newm of torque which is clearly enough to do the job but also on the lower end of the spectrum with that in mind the xg’s results make perfect sense and we’ve got to give it some serious credit for
Finishing this test this is another area where the xg’s upgrades really made a big difference and once again made this version of the bike a lot more Practical we’ve gone through all of our formal testing but now I want to bring things back to a more personal level let’s take one more Spin and talk about the main things that influence the ride quality of the XG and we’ll wrap things up back here in a
Jiffy all right we are back Again One Last Time on the jack rivit XG to show you what it’s like to ride so again this is uh more of an e scooter than an E Bike even though it looks like a bike but uh has a mostly upright riding
Position here I’ve got a little tiny bit of a forward lean going on but that’s primarily just because of the size of the thing uh but it is available in a single frame size that fits Riders from 4′ 9 up to 6′ six actually pretty impressive range of accommodation there and that is
Mostly because of the 7 in of adjustability in your saddle height with the seat post length uh but then also you can adjust your reach and your handlebar height a tiny bit uh by rotating loosening up the standard stem here and rotating the angle of the
Handlebars uh there is a second uh joint here in the stem and that is actually just for the sideways rotation of the handlebars for when you are folding the bike flat uh but there is no outward adjustment there there is a rigid Fork here so no suspension but you get a pretty decent
Amount of cushion from the tires those are 20-in by 2.4 in CST off-road tires uh they’re not too huge and chunky but they have I’d say kind of a low profile off-road tread and that gives you a little bit of flex stability in where you can take this bike and uh again
Better stability and and some cushion as well so the last thing we’ll talk about is the motor that is a 500 W rear hub that’s pretty Zippy uh especially because of the size and weight of this bike there’s no pedal uh assist because there are no pedals but you do have the
Throttle with three levels of power and uh that functions you know generally as you would expect for a thumb operated throttle uh a couple different acceleration levels and speed limits so you have some control over how fast you’re going but in any case let’s call
It there and head back to the studio so we can wrap up our discussion on the jack rabbit XG I’ve talked quite a bit about the fun Factor here but that really is something that I have to reiterate again because it’s not an obvious thing that I can
Just point to on the bike this thing is super Zippy and very maneuverable and full-size ebikes just have a completely different feel we were fairly skeptical of the advertised height range but we had our shortest and tallest testers in the office try it out and they said the
Fit was great Kaylee is 5’4 and Michael is 6’5 so we were pretty close to both ends of the spectrum and I think verification on the taller side is a bit more useful considering how small this bike is there’s definitely a different type of fit here since Riders don’t have
To worry about getting proper leg extension when pedaling I found the bike to be really comfortable though and that was mainly because of the really nice faux leather saddle I also found the bike really easy to use there’s no need to shift and when you’re selecting between the different power levels I
Liked how the system steps up and down instead of cycling through the three settings bottom line the ride quality is great and I think the XG earned itself an A+ I think the jack rabbit XG can take some thought to wrap W your head around just because it’s so unique I think that effort is really worthwhile though just because of how much fun and potential this bike has sure it’s a niche bike that’s made even more Niche with a price
Tag currently between $1,500 and $2,000 but I think it’s clear that this version of the bike is way more versatile than the OG version and it can do a lot more than you might guess just by looking at it the upgraded motor and the extra
Battery gave the XG a real Edge in our speed range and Hill tests and the changes Jack Rabbit made to the frame fixed one of our minor complaints about the original version Without Really affecting the bike’s handling this version of the bike is a little bigger and heavier but we think those are
Worthy trade-offs there are still a couple of areas with room for improvement with the brakes at the top of the list the brake system that comes on the bike is far from terrible but we think its performance warrants an upgrade to a name brand system we also hope Jack rabbit gives Riders the
Ability to get moving from a complete stop in Eco and mid power levels but that part’s a pretty minor thing in the grand scheme overall we were really impressed by the XG and we definitely think it has a place for you if you want a super fun and portable bike that
Doesn’t require any pedaling if you’re interested in this bike then I can confidently say you will not be disappointed and I encourage you to check out our link to Jack rabbit’s website down in the video description please use that link to help support us if you found this review helpful it
Won’t cost you anything extra but it lets us know you value our in-depth reviews and if you want even more detail check out the link to our written review and if you have any questions you can drop us a line down in the comments section here or at electric bik
Report.com thanks for taking a ride with me today please don’t forget to like And subscribe and I’ll catch you next time again I’m John with electric bike report and this is the jack rabbit XG W
For current pricing on the JackRabbit XG, click the link below:
JackRabbit XG – Lightweight & Compact XL Micro eBike, Red
For a full detailed written review of the JackRabbit XG, click the link below:
The JackRabbit XG is the second iteration of the brand’s namesake micro e-bike/scooter. With no pedals, the bike is powered by throttle and can carry its rider up to 20 mph. We tested its speed, range, braking power, and more in our JackRabbit XG review!
Fun is the name of the game with the XG, as we discovered in our testing. This zippy little e-bike has the power to make anyone’s day better – just hop on and see!
It’s easy to think that the XG is a toy made for kids; it’s one of the smallest e-mobility devices we’ve seen. But as a bike made for college students, RV campers, and more, it packs a serious punch thanks to its 500W rear hub motor!
What’s something RV campers and college students have in common? Tiny living spaces! The XG folds nearly flat so it can be stashed in tight quarters and quickly made road-ready once again. JackRabbit also offers a convenient shoulder sling allowing users to carry the bike indoors.
Check out our JackRabbit XG video review for more!
0:00 JackRabbit XG Intro
00:48 JackRabbit XG – Overview
04:59 JackRabbit XG – Brake Test
06:15 JackRabbit XG – Speed Test
10:19 JackRabbit XG – Range Test
12:28 JackRabbit XG – Hill Test
16:08 JackRabbit XG – Ride Quality
19:50 JackRabbit XG – Conclusion
#jackrabbitbike #microbike #electricbikereview
