Review: Super73 S2

Scrambler-style electric bikes are having a moment. Inspired by the on- and off-road classic motorcycles of the 1960s, they buck the prevailing trend of lightweight, discreet designs. Instead, they loudly advertise that they're not like those sleek beach cruisers and city ebikes that try to appear as regular, non-electric bikes. Scramblers want to be seen.

The Super73 S2 is such an ebike, and riding it feels like I'm driving my old Jeep Wrangler. Like my Jeep, it darts around and can change directions quickly but is nervous and twitchy in tight and high-speed turns. It's not a corner-carver. It rides like a truck—a fun truck.

Unfortunately, repeated throttle malfunctions, among a few other problems, made me feel a little too tense on a few rides to comfortably recommend this ebike.

The Super73 S2 is a Class 3 ebike. You can use the hand throttle to take it up to 20 miles per hour without pedaling and receive assistance from the electric motor up to 28 miles per hour while pedaling. That's because the rear hub motor runs at 750-watt continuous power and 1,200-W peak power. That's three times the power of a lot of cheaper ebikes.

Photograph: Super73

But change the settings to Unlimited mode and the motor unlocks to 1,200-W continuous power and 2,000-W peak power. That'll carry you past 28 miles per hour, which could be a problem. In a lot of states, it's not legal to ride an ebike at those speeds in public places.

There's a cadence sensor at the pedals to detect when to turn the electric motor assist on and off, but it's not very nuanced. Pedal slightly and the bike rockets off. There are four levels of electric assist, and in the top two levels, I get the feeling that I'm not really pedaling the S2 (similar to my colleague's experience with the Lectric XP). I never broke a sweat.

It's a weighty, single-speed bike without any extra mechanical gears to select, so it relies heavily on the electric motor. That means it can eat up battery life fast if you're not economical and you use the throttle all the time. I ran out of juice on an early test ride, and pedaling this heavy thing home was as tiring and tedious as the rowing scene from Ben Hur. So I gave up and walked. It's not a bike you'll ever want to pedal with the electric assist off.

Part of the reason I ran out of battery is that I didn't charge it properly. Not my fault! When you plug in the charger, it lights up green. That means it's not charging. You have to press the power button on the battery to turn it on, which is when the LED turns red to signify that it's recharging. Strange. At least the battery is removable so you don't have to lug the whole bike to an outlet.

The company says the big 960-watt-hour battery offers a range of 75 miles, or 40 miles if you're blasting around on throttle-only at 20 miles per hour. It's hard to say if these range estimates are accurate, because I often had trouble completing long rides for two other reasons—the fenders and a malfunctioning throttle.

For my last test ride, I took the S2 out for a spin on a clear day when the roads were wet with snowmelt. I've never ridden any bike, even one without fenders, that spit up so much road water onto my face and body. It was like being in an evil shower that dispensed muck. It was so bad that I had trouble seeing the road, so I had to stop the test ride early and head home. When I looked in the mirror later, I found muddy road water on my helmet, in my hair, all over my face, and down my clothes.

This issue could stem from the size of the wheels, but the tiny, insufficient front fender was definitely a problem. Fixing this might be tricky. I'm not aware of a company that makes aftermarket replacement fenders confirmed to fit the S2. There are plenty of aftermarket fenders that are designed to fit bikes with commonly sized wheels, but because the Super73 is such a unique shape with short, extremely wide tires, they probably wouldn't fit.

Photograph: Super73

Then there's the throttle malfunction. While I was heading back home on that same, wet trip, I was coasting behind traffic when all of a sudden the bike went to full throttle. When that happens on a 1,200-watt, 28-mph ebike, it's like somebody hitting a nitrous-oxide button. Ebikes have brake levers that cut off power to the motors when pulled, as a fail-safe, but sudden acceleration is dangerous when you're not expecting it. After almost ramming the back of the van in front of me, I chalked it up to a glitch.

But it kept happening. Over and over, the bike would go to full throttle, or I'd stop pedaling but the bike wouldn't stop accelerating. Other times, I'd be pedaling and suddenly get no power until I blipped the throttle, which would bring the electric assist back on. It was acting glitchy all over, which made for a tense ride home.

At a crowded intersection, I was at a red light when the bike suddenly launched me into a crowd of pedestrians in the crosswalk. Thankfully, I caught it with the brakes before I toppled anyone. I did some research to see if other S2 customers were having the same issue. Sure enough, over multiple forums, people were reporting the same throttle woes. This problem didn't appear for the first few weeks I had the bike, but all those rides were taken on dry roads. As soon as I took it onto a wet road for the first time, the malfunctions appeared within 15 minutes.

Super73's engineers say they couldn't replicate the problem on my test bike when I shipped it back, but they suspected it needed a firmware update. The company says it has heard of similar issues, but that a firmware update should solve them.

I remain skeptical. If it's a firmware issue, why would it happen only when roads are wet? It makes me suspect the controller isn't sufficiently waterproofed, but I can't say that definitively. I asked the company if it tested the bike in wet conditions, but it did not confirm or deny this.

Photograph: Super73

It's hard to get past those dangerous faults, but the rest of the bike feels well built. Super73 didn't skimp on the details. All the cables and wires from the handlebars are routed through the frame, which gives the bike a tidy, clean look. The LED headlight is huge and awesome for lighting up the road on a dark night (630 lumens!), and the integrated LED taillight is hard to miss. The metallic white paint is a very nice touch as well, but you can also get it in black or metallic steel.

The motorcycle-style seat is comfy, but it's non-adjustable and somewhat low at 31 inches tall. Super73 says the bike fits anyone from 5'1" to 6'8" in height. I'm 5'10", and I already felt like a bear sitting at a school desk. There’s a smartphone app that pairs with the bike, but unlike brands like VanMoof, you're not forced to use it to ride the bike. That's good. I rarely want to bother with anything more than the LCD screen on the handlebars.

The S2 is a fun bike—one with heaps of power. And I had a good time riding it … until I didn't. Super73 would have a recommendation-worthy bike on their hands if it could eliminate the throttle issues and offer a front fender that actually works.