Direct-to-consumer bike brand Velotric has introduced a pair of utility-oriented bikes, the Go 1 and Packer 1, that share a basic frame design and provide your choice of capacity. The Go 1 is a utility bike with a 500-watt motor and a beefy integrated rear rack design, capable of carrying a single passenger or load of cargo up to 120 pounds, while the Packer 1 is a longtail cargo bike with a 750-watt motor and a 176-pound-capacity extended rack that can handle a couple of kid passengers or a whole lot of cargo.
As part of our ongoing search for the best electric bikes, we’ve been riding both bikes for everyday errand running and light hauling for several months to figure out which one belongs in your garage.
If you're looking to haul a couple of kids to school, the Packer 1 can handle it, and there's room for your stuff too. It's surefooted and powerful, looks great, and has room to sock away plenty of your stuff for the ride to work.
A compact and capable hauler for a kid and your stuff, the Go 1 is a well-designed, powerful utility bike that's fun to ride and can handle most any road you'd want to take it down.
What we liked about them
Smartly designed bikes that fit most riders
Velotric has built wisely on the platform established with their earlier city and utility bikes, so the front ends of the Go 1 and Packer 1 will seem familiar to anyone who’s seen the brand’s Discover models.?Both bikes are one-size-fits-all — the design we think makes the most sense for utility bikes, which make a lot of sense as shared rides for a household — with a low step-through design that easily accommodates riders of most sizes.
A suspension front end soaks up the bumps, and the low center of gravity makes for a fun, stable and predictable ride. Hydraulic brakes give you positive control of your speed, and the torque sensor provides responsive control of the motor.
The battery (UL-listed; always good to see as fire safety experts recommend purchasing bikes with batteries certified by an accredited independent testing organization) is cleanly integrated into the downtube, and releases easily with a key lock. Frame elements are IPX6 rated, while the battery is rated IPX7 for all-weather use. While you wouldn’t want to ford a river with either bike, there’s no need to worry about heavy rain as there is with some other e-bikes we’ve looked at, such as the Aventon Level.2.
The bikes come with integrated Apple FindMy transponders, giving you some chance of tracking it should it go missing (or if you just forget where you locked up), but thankfully the bikes aren’t otherwise dependent on an app for day-to-day operation. (We don’t like bikes that depend on app control — while they may have appealing features, you can really run into difficulty if you want to share the bike, or if the company you’ve purchased from has server issues.)
We also dislike having to depend on an app for ride info, and thankfully Velotric hasn’t done that here. The Go 1 and Packer 1 use the same large bar-mounted display and control unit we’ve seen on the company’s earlier models. The intuitive computer gives you all the information you need and control over power assist levels, lighting, throttle and anything else you need to access.
Plenty of power on tap, with a battery that can back it up
The Packer 1 comes equipped with a 750-watt hub drive motor, while the Go 1 packs a 500-watt model. For city riders looking at short unloaded jaunts, wattage isn’t a huge factor (250- and 350-watt motors are fine for moving a rider along on flat ground — that’s likely more power than you’d be putting out on your own riding unassisted, assuming you’re a reasonably strong rider). But for hauling passengers or cargo you need more oomph, especially if you’ve got rolling terrain to deal with, and both of the Velotrics deliver. We’re used to seeing 750-watt units on cargo bikes, but it’s nice to see a 500-watt unit on the smaller Go 1.
Either way you go, there’s plenty of power here for most any terrain; we had no problem getting the Packer 1 up the 10% and 12% grades on our 22-mile test loop at full Class 2 speed, and scarcely noticed a fully-laden basket on either bike. This was clearly better performance than we saw from many lower-powered bikes. The Go 1 in particular may be a better choice that the 350-watt Co-op Cycles Generation e1.1 if you’re looking for a small utility bike for challenging roads.
The 14.4 Ah battery supplied with both bikes (they use the same unit, as they share a front-end design) charges fast — less than 6 hours from empty — and promises just over 50 miles of range under ideal conditions.
Easy assembly
While assembly is something you’ll likely only have to deal with once, it’s nice to see the process smoothed out as much as possible in direct-to-consumer models, and Velotric has really thought through the process with the Go 1 and Packer 1. The bikes come shipped in a box that opens on the side and lays flat to give you a working area for assembly; instructions are clear and include links to video walk-throughs, and all tools and accessories are packaged in numbered boxes that make it simple to negotiate assembly.
Plus all the tricky tasks that give a new owner pause (installing a stem, for instance) are already taken care of. You just need to mount the bars, electronics, saddle and pedals and you’re ready to go.
Each bike was up and running in 20 minutes. Torque specs are given for all parts; it’d be nicer to see a torque wrench in the kit since it’d come in handy for bar mounting, but it’s not the end of the world. The only hitch we ran into was that our Packer 1 test model arrived with the front wheel and disc slightly out of true — the box likely took a hit in shipping. I had the tools on hand to deal with the issue and was able to correct everything on my own, though the company tells us that this would be handled for a buyer by Velotric arranging for a local bike shop to do the repair.
A different approach to car replacement
More so than most electric cargo bikes we’ve checked out recently, the Velotric bikes are equipped with passenger carry first in mind. While they are capable cargo haulers — the Packer 1 especially, with a 176-pound limit — the initial round of accessory offerings is aimed primarily at carrying kids. Footpegs and plates, seat pads, a handrail and a moto-style tandem handlebar are available, making it a breeze to order a bike that’s perfect for getting the kids to and from school.
If you have any interest in carrying an adult, you’ll want to keep in mind that? the Go 1 is really only for kid hauling, with a 120-pound cargo rack weight limit — you’ll definitely want to opt for the bigger bike if you’re thinking of taking a teenager or adult along for a ride.
Rack-top cargo baskets with liners are available for both bikes, as well as a front basket that’s stylish and a good size for a lock, small backpack and other frequently needed items. The Packer 1 also has a cool integrated bag (with a combination lock!) behind the seat tube that’s great for a tool kit and other essentials. But I’d love to see panniers and other carrier options that could take advantage of all the room to either side of those big rear racks..
What we didn’t like about them
For now, the rack and accessories are optimized for passenger carry over cargo
While carrying people is a totally valid take on the “car replacement” idea, other bikes, such as the Rad Power Radwagon 4 and Tern HSD S+, are more flexibly designed for dual passenger and cargo use, letting you mount your existing bags and accessories to make efficient use of all of the available cargo room.
While Velotric sells a wide range of rack-top accessories, from baskets to seat pads, that cover passenger carrying and everyday object loading really well, the racks on both the Go 1 and Packer 1 aren’t well-suited to either standard or quick-release panniers. The bamboo rack top covers a lot of real estate on both bikes and doesn’t leave many mounting points for quick releases, plus the heavyweight tubing is thick enough that not all Ortlieb-style top quick release clamps can grab on, and there’s no lower eyelet or other clear mounting point for old-school pannier hooks that depend on an elastic band.
Also, while the baskets are very nice indeed, once you’ve mounted a rack-top basket on either bike, there’s no clearance below it to use a quick release bag should you have one that fits (if you use bags, you’ll need to leave them on the bike if you use the basket). And on the Go 1, you may need to unmount the neat mesh leg protectors if you want to mount a pannier that uses a plastic hook for security..
Overall, even with a garageful of bags, this left me struggling to find a solution since Velotric doesn’t yet offer bags for these bikes (the company tells us that bags are in development). Basically, you’ll need to mount panniers that are secured with straps or velcro or basket-style versions that mount with bolt-on hardware. I would have liked a lower rack rail for standard panniers to provide more carrying options..
I’d love to see the brand refine the rack and basket design for Go 2 and Packer 2, and in the meantime, I look forward to a lineup of compatible bags that let riders take advantage of the copious rack space both bikes provide.
Cable routing could be cleaner
While we really like the overall build, the front wiring harness (which is the most complex part of assembly) could be better thought out, especially with regard to the front headlamp. In operation, the lamp is certainly great for visibility, but for night rides, the robust cable loom obscures the headlamp’s throw, at least in the default position. If you install the front basket kit, you get an extension cable allowing you to move the lamp out of the way, but we’d love to see this element of the design cleaned up to give the stock build a little better utility.
Bottom line
The Packer 1 and Go 1 are both great electric utility bikes, especially if the cargo you’re interested in hauling is a child or two. With their simple operation, wide size range and clean design, they make perfect school drop-off and pickup vehicles that parents can share easily. They aren’t bargain basement priced for direct-to-consumer models, but they are well-built and spec’d, and a reasonable value for money, especially considering the quality electronics, water resistance and obvious attention to everyday rider needs.
The one downside here is that until Velotric brings out their line of panniers for these bikes, the cargo carrying options are still a little limited compared to those available for other electric cargo bikes or to the wide universe of Xtracycle-compatible accessories for traditional models, and the rack design rules out a lot of existing options, at least if you aren’t willing to do a little customization on your own.
