Commuter bikes don’t have the same limitations as many other bikes. Mountain bikes should glide gracefully over all types of abusive terrain; Road bikes must combine high performance with enough comfort to allow the rider to stay in the saddle for hours on end. All a commuter bike needs to do is get you comfortably and reliably from A to B on typical roads with a minimum of fuss.
So it’s been surprising how rarely the commuter bikes I’ve tested have gotten it right. At the lower end of the price scale, as you might expect, the compromises required have a big impact on the experience. The high-end solves these deficiencies, but at prices comparable to those of high-end bicycles in specialized categories. I have never come across something in between the two: affordable, without compromises.
But I may have just found my ideal commuter bike: the Velotric Discover 3. It’s comfortable, has a great combination of components, and costs just under $2,000.
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Velotric’s first entry in this line, discovering 1It marked a promising start for the company. While it was definitely in the “necessary concessions” category, the shortcomings were relatively minor and carefully chosen. Since then, the company has expanded considerably, introduced many new models, started working with local dealers in the US, and moved up a few notches.
The third version of the Discover illustrates the luxury movement. It costs almost twice as much as the original Discover, but you get a lot for that price. The hub motor disappeared and was replaced by a mid-frame motor produced under contract for Velotric.
While it still has a cadence sensor that you can select through a menu, the Discover uses a torque sensor by default, providing much more integration with your pedaling. Cadence sensors simply record when the pedals rotate; A torque sensor records how much force you’re applying to the cranks. The latter makes the power assist feel more like that: a leg aid rather than a replacement for effort.
