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The Velotric Summit 2 Ebike, the Confident Commuter Bike With Big-Ass Tires

The Summit 2 is a versatile ebike good at many things, and it’s got big, beefy off-road tires.

By Matt Jancer | Reviewed by Ysolt Usigan

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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.

TL;DR – My Quick Verdict

The 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.

Summit 2 (opens in a new window)

New 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 tires

The 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........

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