Every niche of bike or ebike has a fairly clear mission statement right in its name. Mountain bikes go off-road. Gravel bikes go off-road, sort of, just on gentler paths. Cargo bikes carry cargo, and folding bikes fold. But the commuter bike, also known as the city city, also known as the urban bike? What does it do? A little bit of everything.Don’t be fooled by the Velotric Summit 2’s chunkie-than-normal off-road tires. It’s a commuter bike through and through. I hauled light cargo on it, used it for errands around Brooklyn, and rode it plenty over some roads that, while not off-road, were certainly off. Seriously, that last blizzard up here really wrecked the roads. Not for a second did I mind that the Summit 2 wore such beefy tires.velotric summit 2 – Credit: Matt JancerTL;DR – My Quick VerdictThe Velotric Summit 2 is a street bike at its core, just with chunkier tires that give it some capability to tackle gravel paths. Take it on that trip through the park, but don’t expect it to follow the mountain bikes on hardcore off-road paths. For as much as that sounds like a con, it keeps the bike lighter and simpler than a full-on mountain bike. It’s no lightweight at roughly 60 pounds, but its solid build quality, powerful motor, and strong brakes make it an excellent do-it-all bike, even for the city.(opens in a new window)VelotricSummit 2(opens in a new window)Available at VelotricBuy Now(opens in a new window)how i testedNew York City is a great testing ground for ebikes. Despite the proliferation of bike lanes in recent years, most of the city is still something like an obstacle course with all the delivery trucks, fellow bike traffic, and cracked pavement awaiting repair. That’s what you get when you pack in so many millions of residents, commuters, and tourists into such a small smattering of islands. I rode through puddles (on purpose), potholes (not on purpose), and zipped in and out of traffic as I crossed Brooklyn, and I didn’t give it an easy time. I couldn’t have, even if I’d wanted to.an everyday ebike… with big-ass tiresThe Summit 2’s tires are puncture-resistant Kenda MTB (mountain bike) rubber that measure 27.5 by 2.4-inches. Those aren’t as wide as a fat tire ebike, but they’re more substantial than a typical commuter bike’s tires. They add weight, so if you rarely hit a gravel trail you can rightfully ask why you’d want the weight penalty that comes with them or the expense of having to replace them when they wear out. But they functioned well over Brooklyn’s messy streets, never threatening to lose their grip the way many skinnier bike tires do here.I didn’t go out of my way to put the puncture-resistant part to test, although I ran through a healthy smattering of shattered glass in a bike lane the other day and came out no worse for wear. I did, however, purposefully run through a bunch of mystery puddles to see whether the fenders would block the stank water spray or splash me with mysterious street puddle water that’d either give me superpowers or kill me slowly. The fenders did their job. I never got hit with a drop (that I know of).integrated headlight on the velotric summit 2 – Credit: Matt Jancerand a real screamerBraking performance was phenomenal. In New York City I don’t have to stage or schedule any panic braking tests. I just resign myself to the inevitable pedestrian to step off a curb into the bike lane as they rub on their phone, or a car to make a left turn onto a side street without looking, or another cyclist to run a stop sign, and then I can grab two fistfuls of brake lever, utter unto the Brooklyn sky a short prayer and a curse, and hold on for dear life. The Summit 2’s Shimano MT200 hydraulic disc brakes were powerful. If I let go at the right moment while braking as hard as possible, I could’ve probably launched myself into low orbit.That Summit 2’s 750W inner rotor rear hub motor can push it to a 28 MPH top speed while you’re pedaling (and up to 20 MPH using the hand throttle), after which you can use the nine-speed mechanical gearset to carry you faster if you don’t mind the electric motor taking a vacation and shutting off after 28 MPH. That’s a class 3 ebike thing, not a specifically Velotric Summit 2 thing. That motor, though, is a brute. It measures 750W of continuous power, but it’s capable of 1300W peak power.arkel shopper pannier bag on a velotric summit 2 – Credit: Matt JancerThis bike felt fast. It accelerated so quickly, all the way up to 28 MPH, that most of the time I chose to ride in traffic out of caution for the other cyclists in the bike lanes. At top speed the Summit 2 is traveling at just about twice the speed of a normal, non-electric bike. Coupled with the strong brakes, riding the Summit 2 felt like driving one of those high-performance versions of an SUV. Not small or lightweight like a sports car, but powerful and fast all the same. Velotric says you can get up to 95 miles of range on a charge if you’re economical with the electrical assistance. I, however, found it too much fun to turn the electrical assistance to the highest of four levels and let rip.weight and cargoGive it a cursory look and you’d miss it—the rear cargo rack. Low profile to an extreme, the top of the rear fender actually pokes through it. You won’t be able to strap boxes down on top of the rack, but that’s not really the main purpose of a rear cargo rack. They’re for hooking pannier bags to the rails. I rode around with an Arkel Shopper when I had to hustle a package across Brooklyn, and the rack performed as good as, well, a few bits of tubular metal welded together. I certainly didn’t approach its 66-pound limit, which is double what most third-party rear cargo racks can handle.The bike itself weighs 57 pounds without fenders, kickstand, or pedals. It’s a laughably weird way to state the weight for an ebike, and I’m not sure why Velotric does it. I’m drawing a blank as I try to think of a competitor that does the same. Listing ebike weight minus the batteries, sure. Plenty do that. But with all the little bits missing? Weird, man. Let’s just say the bike weighs about 60 pounds, which is right smack dab in the middle of average for an ebike.the fender poking through the top of the velotric summit 2’s cargo rack – Credit: Matt JancerThe 500-lumen headlight is plenty bright, and like any ebike I’ve ever seen up close it runs off the bike’s battery. So do the two tiny, vertical slit taillights mounted down on the frame near the center of the rear wheel, too low for following cars to see all that well. The adjustable front fork suspension was cushy enough to absorb the coccyx-shattering impacts of the potholes that the recent blizzard pockmarked over the streets. There’s no rear suspension. The Velotric’s grips and saddle were comfortable, if not anything spectacular. I’m happy to see bike manufacturers paying more attention to these components. It used to be that even a lot of pricey bikes came with uncomfortable junk.One of the more recent revelations among ebikes are built-in compatibility with Apple’s Find My and Google’s Find Hub tracking networks, which allow an owner to see their bike’s location from another device and receive alerts if it’s moved without their permission. The Summit 2 has compatibility with both. It’s peace of mind for if it gets stolen, and also just for remembering where you parked it.charging port on the velotric summit 2 – Credit: Matt Jancerthe velotric summit 2 at a glanceThe Summit 2 marries the upright riding posture, integrated lighting, and fully fendered wheels with the chunky 27.5 x 2.4-inch tires of an off-road bike, creating what Velotric calls a hybrid bike. Not a hardcore off-road ebike, it’s nonetheless a fantastic jack of all trades. Carrying cargo, running errands, and even tackling some light, unpaved paths are all well within the bike’s capabilities. Not to mention that its powerful motor rockets the bike to 28 MPH faster than most other class 3 ebikes I’ve ridden. Just go easy on the power if you want to reach its claimed 95-mile range between charges.Contest Alert: VICE Playlist ProjectIf you’re making music, VICE just launched the Playlist Project, a global song contest built around real life moments. Instead of genres, you’ll submit songs to a specific category that fits your track. Entries are open now, with cash prizes and VICE social & editorial features on the line. TAP HERE TO LEARN MORE AND ENTERis it too heavy for the city?Not really. The Summit 2’s larger-than-usual tires notwithstanding, it isn’t really much heavier, larger, or more cumbersome than a typical commuter-style, general-purpose ebike. Sixty pounds is right on the mark as average, especially for one with full fenders, a 28 MPH top speed, and a battery large enough to eke out nearly 100 miles between charges.If you like the Summit 2 but think the concessions toward mild off-roadability make it unsuitable to a life spent mostly on the streets, I wouldn’t let it deter you. The new Aventon Level 4 ADV rides on more typical city bike tires and weighs 61 pounds. Same deal with the Velotric Discover 3, right down to the exact same 61-pound weight. You don’t give up any real urban ability with the Summit 2.see the compact inner rotor motor on the rear wheel? – Credit: Matt Jancerthe bottom lineCompared to its stablemate, the fat-tire Velotric Nomad 2X, I found a slice of magic in the Summit 2 that I didn’t find in the Nomad 2X. The latter just didn’t click for me. It, too, was fast and powerful, but it was a full-suspension, more off-road oriented ebike. The Summit 2 was 23 pounds lighter and simply better suited for city riding. Not that the Summit 2 was all that dainty.Could Velotric have saved some weight by equipping the Summit 2, or a version of it, with less chunky, narrower street tires? Yeah, for sure. But the big Kenda meats don’t really detract from the Summit 2’s practicality for every type of ride. You can commute on it, joyride on it, take it down some mild gravel paths, carry moderate amounts of cargo with it, and even keep up with city traffic.(opens in a new window)VelotricSummit 2(opens in a new window)Available at VelotricBuy Now(opens in a new window)The post The Velotric Summit 2 Ebike, the Confident Commuter Bike With Big-Ass Tires appeared first on VICE.