Review: Gocycle GXI

A dizzying amount of gear flows in and out of my home every year, but Gocycle's GXI is the one that’s brought me the most joy during this pandemic. With the help of this electric bike, I saw my family for the first time in months. I also managed to go all the way from Brooklyn to midtown Manhattan (a long trek) for a dentist appointment. These are things I could have done on my regular bicycle, but I know I would've struggled on the longer trips and ended up a sweaty, exhausted mess.

Unfortunately, at $4,799 it's also the most expensive product I've ever tested. No, you do not need to pay this much for a good ebike (here are our fave ebikes). But this one folds! And it takes up a minuscule amount of space in my tiny New York apartment, shifts automatically, feels (relatively) lightweight, and provides a smooth ride without needing to fiddle with anything. It's like a car—just hop on and off you go.

There are a few things I love about the GXI.

First, it folds—fast and easy. You unlatch the handlebar stem to collapse it down, then unlatch the middle of the frame and fold the bike in half. That's it. It takes a few seconds to shrink this thing down to a little under 3 feet in length, which means it takes up very little room in my small apartment (around half the length of my normal bicycle, and not much thicker). A strong two-legged kickstand keeps it upright.

I fold it everywhere, like when I'm entering a bakery to grab a cake (with a mask on!) or before I step into an elevator. I never need to lock it up somewhere—and risk it being stolen—because it's compact enough to tote or roll around. That brings me to my second favorite part of the GXI.

Photograph: GoCycle

At 39 pounds, it's also one of the lighter ebikes around. It's about the same weight as the 7-Speed Propella ebike, and it's a godsend compared to the 63-pound Lectric XP I'm testing. Sure, it's not as light as my 25-pound non-electric bike, but I can still carry it with ease—handy when my building elevator stops working. (That might not be the case for everyone; my colleague Adrienne So tested a different Gocycle ebike that's about the same size, and she found it too heavy.)

Unlike ebikes that have you choose levels of pedal assist while moving, the GXI has an app that lets you preset when you want the 500-watt motor to kick in and how much. If you want to break a sweat, you can have the motor start after harder pedaling, with its full power jumping in later so you're forced to exert more effort. If you want an easy ride, the motor can immediately ramp up to full power after just a little pedaling.

I prefer this system over choosing levels of assistance while I'm pedaling. I did start and stop several times during my first trip so I could dial down exactly when the front-hub motor dished out pedal assistance, but once I had it down, I didn't need to tweak the app much after. I set up two modes, one for when I wanted to feel the burn and one for the hot days when I wanted to enjoy the ride and the cool breeze on my face.

Finally, I love the GXI's automatic gear shifting. There are three gears (it uses a Shimano Nexus 3-speed transmission), and while you can manually shift through them with the right handlebar grip, I mostly relied on what Gocycle calls Predictive Shifting. As the name suggests, it figures out when you'll want to shift and does it for you! It almost always nailed the exact moment I'd have shifted—one less thing to think about.

The GXI is a smooth ride. The thick "all-weather tires" handle everything from a grassy field to pothole-ridden Brooklyn streets without a hitch, and the front and rear hydraulic brakes halted me in my tracks as quickly as needed. The rear suspension never made things feel too bumpy, though I will say the Velo D2 Comfort saddle isn't super comfortable on longer rides. I recommend some bike shorts to keep your derrière pain-free.

The dashboard display in between the handlebars is filled with a row of 10 LEDs, which indicate how much battery is left (10 percent per LED), and three vertical dots in the middle show what gear you're in. Ten LEDs on the right side show the speed you're riding. This is all easy to read while riding, but I'd be lying if I said I picked it up instantly. I had to refer to the manual several times before it all clicked.

Photograph: GoCycle

There's a futuristic-looking "daytime running light" (DRL) on the front too, but Gocycle says it's not meant to be used as a front light; it's there to make you more visible on the road. For other accessories, a phone mount is included in the box, but my unit didn't have it. I hope it's better than the one on the Gocycle GX, which broke the first time I tried to put my phone in. You can use your own, but the stem extension is so thick you'll have to make sure the mount will fit around it. Mine didn't, and I had to awkwardly mount my phone on the left grip, obstructing my access to the DRL switch.

I'm 6'4" and weigh 218 pounds, which is right up against Gocycle's 220-pound recommended rider maximum, and I initially thought the GXI would feel too small. (It looks tiny!) But I had no problems, especially since the seat post and handlebars are quite adjustable. (You'll need to use the Allen wrench cleverly hidden under the seat.)

Rider weight impacts the bike's range, along with a variety of other factors, like elevation and how much you rely on the motor. Gocycle says the GXI has a range of up to 50 miles; after cranking the most out of the motor and often cruising at the top 20-mph speed for 19 miles, I had about had 40 percent remaining. It's more than sufficient for the kinds of trips I make, but your mileage will vary.

You can remove the 375-Wh battery from the down tube, but the GXI is compact enough that I just plopped the bike next to an outlet to recharge it. The included fast-charging brick is massive, but it juices it all back up to full in four hours.

The GXI looks as simple as it rides, in the best way. I had several people flag me down at traffic lights to ask what I was riding (despite the big "GOCYCLE" lettering on the down tube). There are no exposed cables, no visible chains or cogs—it's a sleek, worry-free machine.

But there are some small things that could be improved. For example, the protective cover for the charging port just fell off the bike one day. So did the rubber hook that neatly keeps the frame together when folded in half. I'm also not a huge fan of the front pannier (bike pack), especially since you have to take it off when folding the bike. And for the price, a front light and a rear rack would have been useful, and the motor could be quieter.

The $4,799 GXI is a luxury most people can't afford, which is unfortunate, because I want everyone with a small apartment in a big city to ride it. It took only a few trips to become my favorite way of getting around.

If you like the idea of a folding electric bike, Gocycle has some cheaper options you should consider, like the GS ($2,799) and the GX ($3,299). I've also tried the GX, and while I really liked riding it for a month, it can't match the GXI.