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The VanMoof X3, as posed in Seattle's Carkeek Park.
Single-molded handlebars cut a striking figure.
Another angle at the park.
The VanMoof X3, as posed in a yard.
I've yet to find anything that comfortably fits within the bungee-strap stand on the front.
That's a pretty firm bicycle seat. I'm not personally a fan, especially since the X3's motor-assisted pedaling means you'll keep your butt parked on it without any need to stand for firmer pedaling.
Official VanMoof glamour shot.
VanMoof
For some people, a review of the VanMoof S3 electric bicycle can begin and end with its stunning design. The same goes for its eyebrow-raising $1,999 price tag. Both seem to go hand in hand: this is a pricey electric bike, and it sure looks like one.
Honestly, I've never tested a bike that has garnered so much universal drool, and I emphasize that at the top of this review because everything else about the VanMoof X3 ranges from serviceable to questionable. My month-long testing period was never interrupted with serious issues in terms of reliability or battery life, thankfully. Instead, I kept wondering what, exactly, this company was charging a whopping $1,999 for. Usually, each time I had that thought, I'd see yet another passerby make a face, like I was a bikini model in an '80s beach-romp comedy, and think, "Right. It's the looks."
Starting with the automatic gear shifter
The VanMoof caught our eye for reasons other than its aesthetics (though those didn't hurt). We accepted VanMoof's offer of a tester bike primarily because of its unique, automatic gear-shifting feature. The bike's basic sales pitch appeared to be: set it up via an Internet-connected app, then comfortably ride with adjustable, motor-powered pedal assists, made all the niftier by not needing to click your bike's gear up or down.
Otherwise, VanMoof's X3 (for heights of 5 feet to 6 feet, 5 inches), much like its slightly larger S3 sibling (for heights of 5 feet, 8 inches to 6 feet, 8 inches), largely resembles other ebikes in terms of features, with enough key differences to merit a full review. Let's start with that automatic gear-shifting system, which will lead us through various other X3 features and quirks.
How does it work? Though the X3 comes packed with an electric motor, a built-in battery, and even a GSM tracker, its actual sensing of your bike motion begins and ends with a speedometer. This factors hugely into the automatic gear-shifting feature, since it only kicks into gear when you reach various velocity thresholds. The VanMoof app (which isn't required to use the bike, but highly urged by its manufacturer) lets you pick from three gear-shifting presets: flat, hilly, and custom. Open the "custom" tab, and you'll get to pick the exact speeds at which the X3 shifts up when accelerating, and a separate list of speeds that will trigger a down-shift when decelerating.
What does it mean to customize the gear-shifting profile?
VanMoof
The answer: these options hinge entirely on velocity, not on grade or altitude. In practice, this leaves much to be desired, should your ideal route mix hills and flatter roads.
Three bell options, but they all stink. Buy and attach a physical bell ASAP.
More options. That "speed limit" setting is no longer available, thanks to a system update that checks your region before locking your maximum speed.
When you don't want to use the app's unlock function, you can use the built-in buttons to unlock.
The on-bike display confirms each digit of your three-digit passcode.
Max speed?
Unfortunately, VanMoof enforces a speed limit no matter where you ride, and that limit is even worse in Europe. American riders can pedal to speeds as high as 20mph, while Europeans can max out at 17mph. Once you reach or exceed your region's max speed, the X3's gear shifter automatically drops to its weakest first gear to prevent you from accelerating. This doesn't include an active braking system, however, so you can still careen downhill at whatever pace physics allows.
When riding on a flat road using the app's "flat" preset, this system works exactly as advertised—and in impressive fashion. Gear shifting clicks into place while pedaling with nary a noticeable lurch or noticeably slow reactions by the gear-shifting system. Again, you're riding a pedal-assist ebike, not a ride that offers automatic throttle—riders still should expect to exert, but the effort needed on a flat road is minimal and steady.
However, I live in a hilly neighborhood of Seattle, where an average ride—either running errands or commuting—includes a mix of steady inclines and declines, along with occasional extreme elevation changes. Before riding, I poked around the VanMoof app in search of any settings that might auto-respond to elevation conditions. I found none. The X3 does not include any sensors like accelerometers or gyroscopes to determine elevation changes. As a result, this velocity-based system struggles to quickly aid riders with the kind of downshifting I'd want the instant I hit a monstrous incline—or a combination of a maintained higher shift and supercharged electric boost.
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Instead, before approaching a hill, I found myself needing to park, pull out my phone, wait for the VanMoof app to sync with the bike, and then switch my riding profile from "flat" to "hilly." Users must deal with the same obnoxious stop-and-refresh requirement whenever adjusting the amount of pedal-assist boost the bike's motor offers (offered in a number range, from 1 to 4). I've never tested an ebike that makes users park to adjust a pedal-assist system, and this particularly annoyed me with the VanMoof.
I'm a relatively athletic rider who likes to mix up pedal assistance on ebikes: I start with less assist, while I'm feeling fresh and wanting some exercise, then crank up the assist to either tackle major hills or ease the final leg of a ride. The VanMoof takes me out of that use case, and between that and its stupidity about hills, I found myself leaving it at its maximum-assist setting at all times, lest I be caught in a pickle.
Honk and boost
The handlebars include two buttons, though neither offers a shortcut to adjust the gear-shifting system or pedal-assist level. While riding, the left-hand button activates a "horn," which plays a digital sound effect from a built-in speaker, and the right-hand button toggles "boost" mode. This delivers an extra jolt of battery-boosted pedaling strength in a pinch—like, say, when you need to climb a hill. While this button is held down, the engine will drive additional pedal assistance.
Both of these buttons underwhelm, however. The horn can be customized with one of three prebuilt sound effects available in the VanMoof app, but there's no getting around how weakly this sound effect carries in an average ride through traffic. Should safety be a priority for your commute, you'll want to attach a physical higher-frequency bell as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, the boost button seems to offer a predefined boost above your current pedal-assist level, as opposed to a universal maximum. Meaning: if you're riding with a mild pedal-assist level (2 out of 4) and approach an extreme hill, the boost button will effectively get your pedal-assist level to a 3. For some of the extreme Seattle hills I've faced, that's not enough boost. In this case, you'll need to get the app out, switch the pedal-assist to the max of 4, then use the boost button to throttle your pedaling up to a "5"-ranked boost.
To be clear: that boost button is
not
an automatic, engine-driven throttle. You can't press the button and expect the bike to surge forward automatically. Worse, holding the boost button does
not
immediately up-shift the gear system. When I wanted to rapidly accelerate from a dead stop to cross a busy traffic intersection, the VanMoof could feel dangerously sleepy, even with the boost button held.
Battery and lock
You'll see this skull when the bike is locked. Worth noting: this display also shows your battery level and current speed while riding, and it requires glancing down to see—which is absolutely unsafe to do midride. Curious placement there, VanMoof.
VanMoof
Thanks to a built-in battery, you need to plug directly into the VanMoof X3 to charge it.
Closer look at the slot.
The built-in 504Wh battery, as exposed by an official VanMoof bike shot.
VanMoof
How the tires look after some dusty, muddy riding.
On a rainy day, this cover will save you from a bad case of wetbutt.
Built-in light is wedged handsomely and produces very impressive amounts of light. The bungee-cable stand, on the other hand, is awful at holding or securing small items. I don't quite understand it.
VanMoof
After coming to terms with those issues, I settled on an ideal VanMoof X3 riding setup: the "flat" gear-shifting preset, the maximum "4" pedal-assist setting, and a serious reliance on that boost button whenever I reached a moderate hill. (I still had to switch the gear-shifting preset whenever I reached a particularly steep hill, then switched it back to "flat" once I returned to reasonable inclines and declines.)
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seat cushion?
Owing to the bike's pedal-assist features, I found my butt stuck to the X3's seat more than usual. If you don't like a firm or narrow bike seat, the default VanMoof option may hurt your tush as much as it hurt mine.
With those settings straightened out, I found that the bike primarily worked as advertised. You can expect an ample amount of pedal assistance with either the "3" or "4" preset enabled, and between those and the boost button, I never found myself needing to stand up and exert in order to smoothly accelerate to a speed of roughly 20mph.
I never ran into issues with battery life dramatically depleting, and VanMoof's estimate of 37 miles on a full 504Wh battery (at level-4 assistance, with daytime running lights) comes close to matching my own testing experience, maxing out at roughly 32 miles. In good news, should the bike's battery entirely deplete, its 41-pound body doesn't feel
quite
that heavy to ride with zero assistance—which I learned after riding for two blocks with the motor off.
Yes, you'll feel the difference without power, but it's good to know that the bike doesn't lock up without power. The system
will
seize up if the built-in lock is engaged, of course. And if you're particularly protective about your pricey bike, you'll appreciate the almost feather-touch sensitivity of the X3 when its built-in lock is enabled (which can either be engaged through the app or by tapping the "lock" button on the side of the back wheel). Move the bike at all, and a loud, high-frequency speaker will aggressively chirp; keep trying to move the bike, and that noise will get louder and more consistent. Personally, I seriously wish the settings menu included a toggle for a
much softer
initial chirp—like, say, when you have the bike parked at a busy rack, where it will likely be innocently jostled. Like, count to five before freaking out, VanMoof.
The built-in GSM tracker offers all of the built-in overkill tracking you might want for a pricey bike, should someone decide to lift your screeching bike off the ground and load it into the back of a van. Burglars would apparently need to saw the bike in half to pick that tracker out of it. You can also pay VanMoof an additional theft-proof fee to get a 100-percent free bike from the company ($350 for a three-year guarantee), should some scofflaw successfully steal yours.
Sadly, the built-in battery is just as wedged into the bike's body as the GSM tracker is. Any X3 recharging requires running a cord from a wall outlet to the bike itself—plus, you can't stash and swap a backup battery for a particularly long ride. The included power brick's cables max out at around 108 inches, which isn't long enough to run from my front door's nearest power outlet to the safest place that I can park my bike outside. A full charge takes about four hours, while a single hour will recharge to about 50 percent.
