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Gocycle's G4 e-bikes come with more powerful motors and wider tires
The entry-level G4 model starts at $4,000.
At nearly 20-years-old, Gocycle is one of the oldest players in the folding e-bike space. Since 2009, with the release of the G1, the brand has been iterating on its own distinctive take on what an electric bicycle can look like. Today, Gocycle announced its G4 lineup of e-bikes, bringing a couple of notable enhancements to a design that's now more than a decade old.
Those enhancements start with a new "G4drive" electric motor that outputs more power and torque. Taking a page from bikes like the Cannondale Topstone Lefty, the entire G4 lineup features a single-sided carbon fork. According to Gocycle, the design increases vertical compliance, which is a technical way of saying the carbon is better at absorbing bumps on the road, leading to a more comfortable ride. On the handlebar, Gocycle has added a USB port you can use to charge your phone when the G4's battery isn't powering the e-bike.
Attached to the fork you'll find a wider tire that features a new tread pattern that Gocycle has reinforced with a silica compound for better grip. The fact it's wider, allowing it to hold more air, should once again help create a more comfortable ride. As with the GXi, you can fold the bike down in about 10 seconds. A newly added titanium pin keeps the folding joint aligned.
Elsewhere, the company has managed to make the e-bike lighter by tweaking components like the disc rotors. The result is that G4i+, the lightest (and most expensive) of the new G4 models, weighs just 36 pounds — though that's still heavier than the 24-pound Hummingbird.
The entire Gocycle G4 lineup is available to preorder today in the US, Canada, UK and EU, with the G4 coming in at $4,000, while the G4i and G4i+ cost $5,000 and $6,000, respectively. Other than more premium components in the latter two models, the most significant difference between the G4i and G4i+ and the G4 is that they feature a battery with a 50-mile range. The G4 is limited to 40 miles on a single charge. That said, all three versions of the e-bike come with the company's 4A 36V charger, which can get the higher capacity battery on the G4i and G4i+ to full in about three-and-a-half hours.
